Camp and Revamp

So I've seen a LOT of new blogs just about daily life and what-not, and I decided, hey, why not! It's a lot easier for me to draw spiritual connections from the every day anyway. Let's get an update on my life, shall we?

Well, my friends, this year has brought a lot of new things into my life. I finished my first year of "real" college, joined (and then promptly quit) a sorority, had 4 different jobs, was a counselor at Middle School camp for 5 days and have been in a long distance relationship for the better part of a year. This week has been particularly interesting...

As all you tax-paying Americans know, I had the privilege of filing my taxes for the first time. I was due to get a pretty minuscule return, but a return nonetheless and I never received it. I spent a lovely hour and a half (ON HOLD) with the IRS and finally spoke to someone that asked me if I had moved to Georgia or received my return of over $1,000. Welp, not that I know of. She directed me to an Identity Theft Affidavit which I gleefully filled out and now must mail to the IRS in order to get my actual tax return. 

That was the highlight of my week so far. School starts on Monday and I could not be more excited. I love school. There. I said it. I'm making it known that I, Zarina Marie Champagne, LOVE school. Not to mention that now that the new Student Wellness Center has been built, I will be workin out all day, errday. Well, pretty much. 

What did I learn at Middle School Camp? Well, I was a counselor in a 7th and 8th grade cabin. These girls care about two things: boys and hair straighteners. Not necessarily in that order. However, I also talked to a lot of hurting girls last week. It was surprisingly difficult for me to share my testimony since it wasn't all that long ago that I gave my life to Christ. The story of His unfailing faithfulness and love in my life didn't occur to me until the situation that my family went through last year, and that isn't really something I enjoyed reliving every time I met a girl going through a similar situation. But I do know that I was able to help them because I'd already lived through it. It was cool being the fun counselor, and I can't wait til next year. Oh! But what did I learn? Stop being bitter, Rina. Stop being bitter and holding grudges. You can't change the past. You can't change how other people act. You can only control how YOU live and act, and really, I don't wanna control it. I want Jesus to control it. Because He sure knows that I don't do a wonderful job of it all by myself. 

So dear readers, I hope you've enjoyed my more relatable saga of my life, and can't wait to talk to you later! 

Loooooooove,
Rina

Sunday Blurb: Spoiled

So I was in church this morning, and it was just one of those mornings for me, yknow? One of those mornings where you've heard the sermon topic more than enough times, you don't know any of the songs the worship band plays, the people around you are dancing or just being weird, and the sanctuary is just too hot.

It hit me this morning, once again, a very simple lesson from God. As I listened to the worship band and the 2/3 of the songs I didn't know, this thought actually went through my head: "I can't worship because I don't know these songs."

And shortly after that, I realized how incredibly ridiculous I was being! The music, the atmosphere, the sermon...none of those things should affect your ability to worship. In Colossians, we're called to do everything we do to the glory of God (Col. 3:17). I talked to my lovely friend Katherine once about how making a PB&J can be worshipful. Have you ever truly lived an entire day with that mentality?

It's difficult to see past what our own ideas of worship are sometimes. But that's the beauty of worship! God uses all of our uniquely different talents and mindsets an thoughts to worship Him in one cohesive group. It's when you allow the worship experience of others to hinder your own worship experience that you're in the wrong.

Don't limit what God can do in your life by putting Him in a box. Be open to learning new songs and trying to find the new message and a new way to apply it to your life in the sermon you've heard a billion times. Try to see the beauty in how others worship knowing that God works all things together for good for those that love Him (Rom 8:28).

Not My Job (a blurb)

With today being graduation Suday at FBC, I'm brought back to the events of last year's graduation Sunday. I remember standing at the back of the auditorium and awkwardly walking down the aisle to the orchestra's fanfare with 10,000 cameras on me. One thing I remember most about last summer is the death of Mr. Appelo, and how much of a shock it was. Well, today, his gorgeous daughter, Rachel, spoke in front of the church giving her testimony and about the impact that event had on her. (You did an awesome job, Rachel, and your shoes were killer, by the way...)

So I remember the events in my life surrounding that day, and surrounding graduation Sunday. And the one thing I learned last summer is probably one of the simplest truths of the Gospel. You cannot CONVINCE anyone to believe in God. Oh, sure, you can read all the books on theology and have incredible doctrinal knowledge and be the most intelligent speaker there is...but you can't convince anyone of The existence of God. You just can't! It's not possible for you or me, in our finite power to do that.

Now, I'm not saying God can't and doesn't use those things to bring people to Him, but it's not because you changed their heart. You don't have that power. I don't have that power. God is the one who can do that. He's the only one who's able to soften a heart, change a mind, and save a soul. We're just allowed the amazing privilege of being able to have a part in God's process.

The few verses I wanna leave you with are what I made my anthem last summer after wading through a painful number of apologetics books. So just mouse over these links and you can read too.
Isaiah 61:1-2
Colossians 1:21-23
Ephesians 2:8-9
Ezekiel 36:26-28
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Why Make Things So Difficult?

This is just gonna be a short little blurb, but I feel it should be said.

Why do we make it so difficult for other people to come to Jesus? Why do we make people feel like they need to be dressed up, fixed up, and perfect before they can come to Jesus? It's not Biblical and it's entirely frustrating. People don't need to be perfect before they come to Jesus, because if we waited til we were all perfect...well, no one would even be able to come to Jesus. People aren't going to be able to just stop sinning all together once they meet Jesus. I mean, when's the last day you lived an entirely sinless day since your salvation? That's what I thought.

There's a difference between accountability and being so caught up in trying to be this perfect Christian living a perfect Christian life and trying to tell others that that's the right way to live. When we try to live a perfect life after salvation, how do you think that looks to non-believers? Well, personally, it looks like we're trying to earn our salvation, and that's not what Jesus intended. People just need you to show them God's love, and that's what we need to be doing. The point of being a Christian isn't to say you go to church. It isn't to try to convert people. It's to show people God's love and let them see why you are choosing to live in such a way that pleases Him. Ultimately, THAT is what we should be doing. We shouldn't strive to be perfect - we should be acting like Jesus, knowing that we aren't going to be perfect this side of Heaven. We're going to mess up and THAT'S OKAY. Jesus loves screw-ups. He wants you, and everyone else, to just come as they are. He won't turn you down no matter how far gone you think you are, no matter how "good" you think you may be. He wants it all. He wants all of you.

Love and the Church

Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile, but I'm finally finished with my first semester at UNF, and something really cool happened to me tonight.

Tonight was my little brother's Senior game night with the rest of his graduating class. It's so weird to see him doing all the same things I was doing a year ago. It's crazy to think an entire year has passed by since I was experiencing the same things a year ago. A lot of things change. A lot of things stay the same.

Today, Dano had graduation band practice, and I remember telling my mom in the car that that was my favorite part of the weeks leading up to graduation. Spending time with people that I'd grown up with but hadn't ever REALLY gotten to know. Getting to be silly and laugh and thinking that we'd always be that close. But things change, people change, life goes on. I'm not bitter -tonight brought back a lot of really fond memories! I miss my friends. I miss that golden time where everything seemed completely in place, completely unchangeable, like we'd always be friends and always have that same opportunity to converse and mess around and talk about God and the future.

But now, I see that some of my friends are in Germany spreading the Gospel. My two very best friends and another new friend all moved to Alabama. Friends that I had all throughout middle and high school now have other things that occupy their time. It makes me reflect on what I've done the past year. Have I made an impact on people? Have I made an impression on the people that I spend time with?

My topic for this post is the church, and if you know me, you know that I'm a huge proponent of the saying that the church is NOT a building - it's about where God's people are gathered. And tonight, at the Bermudez's house, while playing games and eating hamburgers and just socializing with new people going through the same thing I went through a year ago...I felt a tremendous amount of relief. At school and with new people I meet at school, I feel the need to show everyone that I'm different. That I am who I am because God loves me, and I want to share that love with them, and show them that God is so much more than just a cosmic being who created us. He's so much more than a myth. So much more than a genie who can grant all of our wishes. He's holy (1 Pet. 1:16), and He's perfect(Ps. 18:30), and He wants a relationship with you (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8). He wants to take care of you, and He wants your burdens (Matt. 11:28), and He wants to be your safe place. He wants to be your refuge, and all you have to do is ask (Ps. 18:2, 91:2).

So tonight was a relief for me because all of the people who surrounded me shared that mindset. The adults were encouraging to the next generation who would be graduating, and everyone was so at peace with everyone else. And I had to imagine that that's what Heaven will be like. No fighting, no garbage, no stress. Just relief, and peace and calm and forever with the Creator of the Universe - because that's what the church is supposed to be! We make it so difficult for people to come to Jesus without even realizing it. When really, all we need is to love them the way Jesus loves them. I'm not saying that we need to sanitize the Gospel. I'm just saying that this world is hurting. People in this world feel so unloved and so unimportant, and what are YOU doing for them? What am I doing for them?

If we claim to be God's people, we should act like it. It applies to me too! We're called to love one another, and make allowances for other peoples' faults (Col. 3:13). When people are around us, they shouldn't just see that we're "good Christians." They should see a difference in how we treat each other, and how we handle situations. They should see us as a unified group, willing to take care of them, and not to judge them. After all, isn't that what Jesus did for you? (1 John 4:8-11)

A PR Perspective on Christianity

This is just gonna be a short little blurb on something I realized today. As many of you may know, I recently switched my major from Chemistry to Public Relations. Lately, in my Introduction to Public Relations, we've been learning a lot about how to send a message to the public in a way that correctly shows your representative organization's statement of values.

Today, I went to the flea market with my dad and my siblings. (Dad was picking up his Fury, with the all-new, super-awesome sound system.) So Sarie and I left, and on the way out, there was a fairly common sight that you see in Jacksonville: a homeless person with a poorly-made cardboard sign. The message on the sign was also fairly common: "Homeless and Disabled. Please Help. God Bless." The man was limping, and you could tell that there was something wrong with his eyes. And something about this man just really made me want to help him. I just had this strong gut feeling to give him something, to help him out. However, because of all the horror stories I've heard about helping people and having them turn out to be ax murderers, I texted my dad and asked him to give him money on my behalf. As I watched him limp past me, I was filled with compassion for this man who wasn't begging...just walking past with a sign. He never approached a car. He never spoke to anyone. He just walked by with his sign.

The second part of this story is also fairly common: a youth group car wash on Beach Blvd. collecting money for Jesus or Orphans, depending on what sign you read. From far away, I could tell that they were obnoxious. They were running up and down the median, and shouting out how we should donate because it's for Jesus! It's for the orphans! And maybe that kind of enthusiasm is good. But they approached my car, and when I didn't acknowledge them, they physically knocked on my window and told me they knew I could hear them and proceeded to give me a speech about why I should donate. At that moment, I felt entirely embarrassed for their youth group. What in the world would make that okay?

The comparison between these two people to me was blog-worthy. I'm not saying that to raise money for a youth group missions trip, we should have disabled people not asking for money. It wasn't a difference in appearance. It was a difference in attitude. I believe in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5), it says that the meek shall inherit the earth. The verse that came to my mind was Matthew 25:35. In the New Testament, we're given two commandments to follow: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. How are you taking that literally today? Who are you feeding? Who are you clothing? Who are you showing love to today? Are you representing your organization (in this case, God) in a way that expresses His value statements?

The Encounter

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! I realize it's been awhile, and I hope you'll forgive my lack of posts last semester. For those of you who didn't realize, my family went through an awful lot. If you wanna know, just ask. I don't mind talking about it. I was also going through a pretty rough time spiritually. Looking back, blogging probably would've helped me out. My hindsight is 20/20. What matters is that I'm back and have a pretty great story to tell you.

My momma recommended a movie to me the other day called "The Encounter." If you've ever asked me for a book recommendation, one of my top ten favorites is called "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger." This movie was very similar. (You know me, and you know that I give pretty heavy spoiler alerts, so you've been warned, dear readers.)

My opinion of this movie is that it was completely brilliant. In case you were wondering what the basic premise is, you can click the link above to supplement what I'm about to tell you. The movie is basically about five people who encounter Jesus and are able to ask Him questions about anything and everything going on in their lives. They have all kinds of different issues and backgrounds, and a lot of very common theological debates are explored. It caught my attention from the very first scene, and my cousins and I were completely glued to the television for 90 minutes.

I'm not going to review the movie for you guys. You are all perfectly capable of watching the movie. Instead I wanna talk about the impact that movie had on me. Like I said earlier, my famil and I went through a lot last semester, and are still dealing with a lot of the repurcussions of that drama. I didn't want to admit how badly I let it affect me spiritually. I know I usually like to write long analogies about God and the Bible and Jesus and Christian living. But today I just wanna leave you with some very simple thoughts.

Jesus doesn't need church. Jesus doesn't need you to tell other people that they're not living correctly. Jesus doesn't even need you to tell other people about Him. He's got it covered. He can do everything on His own. He doesn't need me to write this blog. He doesn't need me to do anything. He doesn't need you to do anything. He doesn't need the church to do anything.

Before you go and jump on my case...He's God. He can handle everything. The blessing is that He wants to use us, and He delights in making us feel loved. What we need to realize is that we aren't capable of doing anything significant without Him, because He is ultimately significant. He doesn't need us...rather, we need Him. And a lot of us, myself included, are way too stubborn and way too self-sufficient to accept the fact that we can't do it alone. We can't live life by ourselves. We weren't meant to. Jesus wants to take our lives and give us peace. He can take all the cruddy stuff in our lives and use it to make us beautiful people. He's not going to make our lives perfect. He's not going to take away the suffering. But He can make it bearable. And He can get us through it.

A very wise person I know always tells me that everything happens for a reason. Do you know what that reason is, or are you still searching? Do you know what your purpose is, or are you still trying to discover it on your own? Maybe it's time, in this brand new year, to try something different. Maybe you need someone else. And maybe that person is Jesus.