In Him

It's bedtime. But I can't seem to drag myself into bed quite yet. Because it has only been a few hours since I stumbled upon this beautiful verse.

For in Him we live and move and have our being.

Acts 17:28a

What could be more simple, straightforward, heart-moving as that? I just can't get over it. God has wrecked me with these simple 11 words. I know I have heard them before- most likely countless times. But this time I paid attention. This time, I heard the question behind the words- "Are you living, moving, and being in ME? Are you recklessly abandoned and completely reliant on ME alone?" As tears streak down my face and I realize that everything I have and do and am is in Him, I pray that there will be less of me and more of Him. That those words would always be on my lips- "less of me, more of YOU." 

5 Things Friday- Things that have made this week awesome

Things that have made this week awesome

1. Garage sale-ing this morning and Savers last night- snagged some great deals!

2. Spending lots of time with VYC people.

3. Slumbie with my future roomie last night- spent lots of time planning out our room!

4. Looking forward to an AWESOME last night of the VYC summer series on Sunday (yeah, I know, technically not THIS week, but I have been looking forward to it!)

5. Making this weekly planner (I've decided the daily one is just too planned out). Here's one without the header.

Life Binder

Happy Saturday!  So on Thursday I shared a lovely little organizational tool. And I told you all about the Life Binder. So here's the promised post showing you how I did it and what's inside. Let's get started. I'm just going to tell you how I did mine, but obviously if you were to make one you can adapt it to whatever you need to help you keep your life organized. Here are the different categories I used:

• Every Day

• God

• Time Management

• Finances

• Fitness

• Organization

• Random

• Recipes

All set up in the cool air-conditioned lounge. Paper, sharpies, cutting utensils, computer for inspiration, water for hydration, friends for company= 4 hours of lovely crafting!

For each section I used a divider ($0.98 for 5 at Wal-Mart) and went to town on it. I used scrapbooking paper, sharpies, and quotes printed from the internet to decorate mine, but you could use whatever you like! And, like I said, I went to town. So mine is all very random and just whatever I was feeling, so if you are more of a type "A" personality with your organization, you could always color coordinate and make all your tabs the same, etc. However I'm more of an organized clutter kinda gal.

In my "Every Day" section I printed off a bunch of the daily sheets,  2 to a page and front to back so that 4 are on one page.

In my "God" section, there are multiple resources. I put scriptures, tips for inductive Bible study, questions for the first couple chapter of John, and other random printouts I have from church, Navs, etc. You could even use this space for journaling or recording prayers or doing a Bible Study you print out. However, all that stuff is in my journal and elsewhere for me.

You can find schedules galore in my "Time Management" section. I have my class schedule for next semester, schedules for VYC this summer, as well as my weekly calendar.

My "Financial" section is filled with charts waiting to be filled out. Mine are pretty simple- "date, what purchased, store, and amount."

In my "Fitness" section I have put a couple different exercises and workouts to try as well as lists and printouts of healthy foods, snacks, etc. I plan on making a workout log as well.

My "Organization" section contains a couple printouts of organizational tips. One that I especially like that has helped me purge my room a bit, which you can find here.

Everyone needs a "Random" section for those pieces of paper that you just really want to keep but that don't really fit anywhere else!

I don't have any recipes in my "Recipes" section yet, however I do have a cool kitchen conversions chart as well as grocery lists.

So here's the whole thing, tabs and all! I'm considering making a couple more categories, just for fun! I also need to make the cover as well.

5 Things Friday- Things I am thankful for

Things I am thankful for

1. Renewed (or maybe just NEW) passion for RAing this next year

2. Honest friends who will tell me my shorts look like mom shorts and that I should thus get rid of them

 3. Fun Friday at work= free lunch from our boss

4. Face time I will get with my parents this weekend

5. All the amazing VYC interns I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know this summer

Confession

I have a confession.
I'm really bad at managing my time. But in the last 24 hours I may have become obsessed with organization and time management. I just never knew it could be this fun! It all started when I stumbled across this little beut:

{click for printable version}

Be still, my heart.

So, after my breathing finally returned to normal, my brain started working. And I decided that it was about time that I had a Life Binder. Yup. I think I just made that up.

So here's the deal. I can be REALLY good at wasting time. Like, trophy-winning good. Yet I desire to give my time fully to the Lord and let Him shape it into what He wants it to look like. I want to use the time He has given me learning and growing and loving. I want to be productive and faithful to the responsibilities He has entrusted to me, while still having time to seek Him and love others. And it just so happens that He has wired my brain in a way that works really well with little lists like the one above. There's just something inside of me that says "yes!" to lists and jumps with joy when those lists are pretty.

Enter the Life Binder. The culmination of lists, recipes, charts, notes, goals, and everything important that can be put on paper. Where creativity and productivity collide. The thing that just might start my school year off right, so maybe I'll have one less time-wasting trophy in the case. Or maybe I'm just being idealistic. But hey! It's been fun to make, and there's always the off-chance it will stick. So, have I wetted your appetite to see what's inside this baby? Perfect. Come back in a few days. :)

A work in progress

"Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old.
 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert."

Isaiah 43:18-19

I am in a constant state of being sanctified, changed, taught, and molded. Praise the Lord that He loves me too much to keep me where I am. Now, I just need to remember to not dwell on the former things and instead focus on what He is doing in my life now, how he is bringing forth a new thing.

5 Things Friday- Things that make me want to scream, etc.

Things that make me want to scream, cry, punch something, shake someone, pray, and DO something

1. There are an estimated 100,000- 300,000 children sex slaves in the US.

2.  Within the first 48 hours of being on the street, one in three children are lured into prostitution.

3. The average age of entry into U.S. sex trafficking for girls and boys ranges from 11-14.

4. Pimps commonly sell minor girls for $400 an hour on America's streets.

5. In many states, victims of child sex trafficking get arrested rather than their pimps and johns ("customers"). Seriously?

*Statistics taken from Reject Apathy magazine