Friday, January 9, 2015

Tethered to the Rock



Have you ever felt like your life was both spiraling out of control and at a standstill at the same time? Like, only your life had frozen while the rest of the world continued on? This past semester was like that for me.

On August 15, 2014, I attended my mom's wedding. A couple of days later, I ventured off to college to begin my senior year. On September 9, however, everything changed. That morning, my mom passed away in a car accident. Time froze, all forward motion ceased. On September 12, while at my mom's visitation, my dad's dad passed away. Another blow to my life, confidence, faith and motivation. Today marked four months since mom's death.

I was only a few weeks into what I expected to be an easy semester and it already seemed like it was turning out to be the hardest one of my life. How do you think about school after your mom passes away? How is there a possibility to focus on anything else when it seems like all that's brought up in conversation is death? Why was all of this happening to me?

When I received the phone call that my mom had passed away, I was sitting in the office of the Dean of Students with he and the school's counsellor. I knew something wasn't right, and I was right. After I regained a little composure, Dr. Bannon began calling my closest friends on campus and asking them to come sit with me while I waited on my dad to get to Pineville.

My best friend Jade was one of the first ones there. She hugged me and prayed with me. Something she said stuck out to me. "Lord, let her see that even this will work for your glory. That even this is part of your plan. Let her find her comfort and peace in You."

Everything from that day is a blur except for that part of her prayer. Essentially she prayed that I abide. 

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5 ESV)

The concept of abiding has gotten me through this semester. It is by God's divine intervention that I was taking a religion class in which one of our focal verses was John 15:5. To abide in God and in His Word takes obedience. Obeying God's will requires faith, confidence in knowing that God will lead you through.

Without the Lord's guidance, I would not have been able to handle losing my mom and my grandpa in the same week. Without His loving arms holding me up, I would have fallen and lost everything I've worked so hard for throughout my college career. Without being tethered to the Rock, to the Firm Foundation, I would have been washed away by the raging seas of life.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27 ESV)

So why am I telling you all of this? To encourage you. We all go through hard times. There's someone right now going through far worse than I have been through, just like there is someone experiencing a hardship more difficult than you are. When we experience those trials, though, we have a firm foundation upon which we can depend. We have a steadfast Rock that withstands all corrosion. 

The Lord is bigger than everything you're going through, you just need to abide in Him. 

At Passion Conference in 2013, I heard Beth Moore say that God is faithful even when we are faithless. She is right. God is perfect, right? Right. Being perfect means that He cannot be unfaithful to His Word. He is for us. He does work everything together for our good and His glory. Trust in Him.

If you need prayer or to talk to anyone, drop a comment. I'd love to know how I can be praying for you. Hope you all have a wonderful day and continue seeking the Lord.

With Love, 

Alexa

Monday, January 5, 2015

Influenster Review: Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect ADVANCED Serum

Hey everyone. I've tried posting this vlog before, but it was taking years to post. So, I'm going to try it again. :) This is my review of the Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect ADVANCED Serum that I received complimentary for testing purpose in my #FrostyVoxBox from Influenster.