14 in 14

Happy New Year! What better way to ring in a new year than by creating some new goals?? [Well... besides celebrating with family and loved ones, of course.] Here are 14 goals I have for the year of 2014... if they happen-- they happen, if not-- nobody's the wiser (besides all of you lovely people). So maybe these are more hopes and dreams rather than goals. I'm hoping for 2014 to be a bit more healthy, a tad more responsible, and a lot more creative! 

1. Run a 5k
2. Learn a new song on the guitar
3. Live on a budget
4. Try a recipe outside of my comfort zone
5. Repurpose something
6. Get a job (after EDGE Corps ends in May)
7. Finish reading the Divergent Series (and see the movie of course.)
8. Make [at least one] art journal, mini-album, or scrapbook
9. Wear my hair in a style I've never done before
10. Actually print and use something from my Printables board on Pinterest
11. Purge my closet
12. Memorize The Navigators' Topical Memory System (60 Bible verses)
13. Knit something- scarf, blanket, headband...
14. Keep up with the blog! 

What are your goals, your hopes and dreams for 2014?

Guest Post: Ministry in Nursing

Editor's Note:
I met Becki through the Navigators in college (how else would I have any friends?!). She is a joy and cares deeply for others. Becki is a registered nurse in Eau Claire and is currently working in oncology. She loves drinking coffee, playing Scrabble, and dancing. She hopes to be able to travel the world, meet interesting people, and become a wife and mother someday. Becki can do almost any impression of Kristen Wiig and she has seen every episode of The Office multiple times. Whether for a laugh or a good cry, she's your girl! -HB

Ministry in Nursing

When Heather asked me to be a guest blogger, she told me to write about something I’m passionate about. My first thought was, “Would anyone really read a whole blog post about how much I love coffee?” 
[I’m sure there would be a few interested readers.] 

But the thing I am really passionate about is my ministry in nursing. I say ministry in nursing because I decided a while back that I never want to view nursing as just a job that pays the bills, or as a career that runs my life, but as a ministry that God has chosen, prepared, and designed me for. While many of my fellow RNs would say that they chose nursing (for the patients, for the intellectual challenge, for the job security…), I would say that God chose nursing for me. 

I am thankful that in months of applying for nursing jobs and waiting, God corrected my mistaken identity. You see, for a while I thought my identity was in being a nurse. I felt like if I didn’t do what I had gone to school to do, I wasn’t living out my calling. But then I realized, I would only ever live out my calling if I understood my identity as a beloved daughter of Christ. 

We can choose to live in God-centered identities that pursue His mission or we can choose to live in self-centered identities that wear a “Jesus is my homeboy” t-shirt. 

I have been an oncology {cancer} nurse for about two months. Being a novice at anything is unsettling, but especially so when it revolves around other people’s lives. When I tell people I work with cancer patients, most people’s first response is:

“Oh, that must be so sad! Isn’t it difficult?”[To this question, I have no easy answer.

If I’m being flat out honest – yes. It is extremely difficult. But it is also extremely rewarding. One day I might be holding a patient’s hand while they cry and the next I might be singing Christmas carols with a patient who loves to sing. One day I might see someone on the edge of death and the next day I will send a patient home ready for another day of life.  

It is a rollercoaster of emotions and a mess of mercies. 

In the short amount of time I have worked as an oncology nurse, I have learned so much from my patients. One man gave me this simple advice on his 87th birthday: “Be honest. Work hard.”As a dying woman wrote her own obituary, she told me the best thing she ever did was ‘marry a good friend’. 

Each patient teaches me the value of life. Every person deserves dignity in life and in death. [After all, Christ died an undignified death so we might have LIFE!]

They are teaching me to live a life that is worthy of the calling I have received (Ephesians 4:1). A life that brings hope, peace, and unconditional love. A difficult but eternally rewarding life. 

So while I know it is difficult, I would challenge you to live this kind of life. Remember who(se) you are. Allow God to show you why you’re here. And as my good friend Heather puts it,
Live Loved. 
Becki

Woah.

Psst... to give you can click on the "Support hb" link to the right or click here.

Dangerous Women Pt. 2: Grounded in Love

So remember when awhile back I wrote a post on being a dangerous women? [Guys, if you've gotten this far, stick around... this applies to you too- the quote is just directed at women]. Here's a reminder of the quote I was writing from:

“A dangerous woman is alive! She knows she is deeply loved by God and grounds herself daily in that love. She delves deeply into the truth about who she is and claims her unique temperament, gifts, passions and dreams. She refuses to let fear stop her as she responds to God’s calling on her life. And out of her fully alive heart, she radically engages with the needs of the world.”- Lynne Hybels

I want to explore the next aspect of living a life that is dangerous to the kingdom of darkness- knowing you are deeply loved by God and being grounded in that love. 

If you think about it, this is the very same concept that I sign off with every post- live loved. So you might as well just read the post that describes why I sign off with that and be done with it. Just kidding. I'll give ya a little more.

You are deeply loved by God. You are deeply loved by God. You are deeply loved by God. I cannot say that enough, and you cannot hear it enough. So how do we root this truth so deep down into our hearts that we are grounded by it, that no earthly thing can tear it away?

Pray and ask God to open your eyes to His incomprehensible love for you. Ask Him to show you in new and big ways. Ask Him to make you aware of the little ways He loves you. Ask Him to cultivate in you a deep gratitude for His love.

Renew your mind and meditate on His Truth. Spend time in God's Word, keeping a look-out for truth about how much He loves you. What we spend time thinking on is what we start believing. If the thoughts you are thinking aren't true and don't line up with God's truth, get them out of there! Replace them with the truth you find in His Word.

Ground yourself in the truth of God's love for you DAILY. We're humans. We forget easily. Far too easily. The antidote to this is to remind ourselves often. Be asking God to open your eyes to His love daily. Meditate on the truth you find daily. Position yourself under His love daily. And maybe, just maybe His love will go so deep in you that you are grounded in it, rooted in it, like Paul talks about in Ephesians.

"...that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3: 17-19

Weekend Wrap-Up: Holiday Cheer, Year 2

Last year near the end of November I did a Holiday themed Weekend Wrap-Up, and I thought it was about time to bring that back! With the ridiculous viral-ness of articles and videos on Facebook these days you may have already seen much of this, but in the off chance that you swing in different circles than I do and haven't, I wanted to make sure you got to partake this holiday season. :)

1. Of course what better way to start off than with Pentatonix again!?

2. Check out this Christmas Playlist... I'm definitely going to be looking some of these up. Grooveshark, anyone?

3. This is just ridiculous. 

4. Here's a couple free Christmas phone wallpapers you can download.

5. Spice up your manicure with some holiday fun!

And remember... JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON! 

P.S. For more great holiday inspiration, make sure and check out my "Holidaze" board on Pinterest!

How Being on EDGE is a Lot Like Being in a Relationship

So in case you didn't know, I am currently in FLORIDA headed into my last day of what has been a week-long conference for my job with The Navigators. How blessed I feel to be spending time in a warm and beautiful place with hundreds of others who are doing the same work on campuses all over the nation! It has been an encouraging and challenging week as I've heard speakers, attended workshops, and caught up with friends from Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Illinois, and all over the US!

As we were given some time to reflect on the things we had learned from our year and a half on EDGE Corps so far, I had one burning thought- being on EDGE is a lot like being in a relationship. Let me break it down for you.

My time spent on staff with The Navigators has been incredibly refining.

Whew! If there's one thing I've learned on EDGE it's that I am a sinner and I NEED Jesus. Every. Stinkin'. Day. Doing full-time ministry has exposed my selfishness, my desire for control, and just how much I need God's grace. I have seen both my pride and my insecurities clearer this past year and a half than ever before. I have been more aware of my weaknesses and shortcomings. But I have also seen clearer how much God loves me and wants to take me further than I am right now. 

I have learned that it's not about me.

Like I said- full-time ministry has exposed my selfishness. It has exposed my desire to serve self. To be comfortable and have it easy. But it's not about me. Life isn't about me. It's not about people loving me and serving me and being as comfortable as I can. It's all about loving Jesus, and loving people. If I'm not doing either, then any of the work I do is just a noisy gong. As a follower of Jesus I am called to lay down my life for others, as Jesus did for me. And I think I have realized that calling even more now that I am vocationally doing ministry.

I have been forced to trust and depend on the Lord more than ever in the past.

Again. Jesus. I need Him. Being on EDGE has presented circumstances that have grown my trust in God immensely. [Two words- support. raising.] I have had to depend on Him in a very real way for my livelihood. I have had to rely on His power to make any of the work I do be productive for His Kingdom. I have had to trust that He would work in students' hearts even when things seemed to be at a standstill. I have seen God come through for me in huge ways and my dependence on Him has deepened.

These lessons I've learned while on EDGE seem eerily similar to lessons learned in relationships. Maybe that's just life. Maybe God chooses to refine us and teach us and humble us through the circumstances we find ourselves in. Maybe He uses whatever means He wants to reveal Himself to us. And those means are happy and hard and joy-filled and uncertain and wonderful and messy all at the same time.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Happy winter! Although the first day of winter is still a good month and a half away, I feel justified in this greeting. Yesterday I woke up to a car covered in leaves (that I had to brush off with my ice-scraper) and today I woke up to a nice layer of ice. So it seems that the seasons have changed overnight and we are now in that season that us frozen chosen live for - winter! Construction will be done soon and we're headed into months of indoor activities- such as reading, cuddling, and watching seasons upon seasons of TV shows. So, without further ado, I bring you a few of my favorite things... inspired by the changing of seasons!

Candles. I have been obsessed with candles the last few days! Especially the WoodWick variety. It's a crackling candle. How could you not love that? One of the few pros of the change in weather is that it's perfect for cozying up with a good book by the fireplace (or clump of candles in my case).

White Collar. Ok. This show has always been one of my favorite things. But I just discovered there's a new season playing! And I seriously cannot wait until I have time to (cuddle up by my clump of candles) and watch the new episodes. If you're looking for a quality show, this is it. Humor, thievery, enduring friendship, and loads of white collar crime action.

Mystic Topaz. How cool is this stone? One of my friends has a ring and I fell in love instantly! It's different from every angle you look at it! AND fairly cheap. Win-win.

 

Quillows. A quilt that can fold up into a pillow. Who knew this was a thing?? After looking for a photo on Pinterest I realized that they are apparently usually geared toward kids, but I say pish-posh to that. Best. Invention. Ever. Also, you can stick your feet into the little pocket and your blanket won't slide off you!

Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Just read it. I've only read the first book, but let's just say I devoured that sucker and am so excited to (again) have enough time on my hands to get into the second in the series! (But the real question is... will I go for White Collar or this first??) Plus, Divergent will be coming out in theatres in March so you should probably read it before then so you're not one of those sad people who is a fan of the movies but has never read the book.