Saturday, September 28, 2013

Everything is possible With God♥

Happiness is a form of courage...Since the last time I wrote you, I've been meaning to preach this message to you guys but before I do that I have a few anecdotes to update you on.

In case, you missed my last VLOG, I finally figured out what I want to do with my marketing degree and writing qualifications. I've decided that I want to work as a publicist. In case you aren't that familiar with the term, a publicist is someone who handles press for a public figure or a celebrity. They basically help an agent manage the person's career and reputation. There will be a lot of writing involved and I may be asked to speak at press conferences and I will interact with my clients and various media affiliates but basically it's a great way to tie my passion with my degree.

So, as some of you know, I was put on acne medicine prescribed by my endocrinologist. At first, I didn't notice any difference but around the third week I was on them, I noticed that I started to have stomach pain after I ate and sometimes even a stomach upset. Besides that, it looked as though my acne was getting worse. So I missed a whole week of my favorite class Personal Selling (note the sarcasm) because this class was after lunch. Anyway, last week was a trying week, health-wise.

This week, I had such a beautiful weekend, I figured I would turn over a new leaf and start attending all my classes again. Yet, Monday morning my alarm clock never went off because somehow I had set it for 6:45 p.m. instead of a.m. so I missed my shift at work, as well as my first marketing class. I woke up around 12:30 to turn on my phone and I had gotten five texts from my mom saying she hadn't heard from me and was very worried about me. I called her and let her know what happened and by this time, it was raining cats and dogs outside so I knew there was no way I was going to be able to go eat and get to Personal Selling on time. So I ended up not turning over the leaf since it basically got washed away in a rain puddle.

On Tuesday, I woke up feeling so so tired even though I had slept through half the day on Monday. Then, I was getting ready to go to my Guest Service class when I hear someone on my side of the apartment jostling stuff around. I open my door only to find a girl moving in. I had seen her a lot around campus so I felt as though I knew a little bit about her. Hopefully, I get a new friend out of it. Anyway so I went to my Guest Service class that I had my first test in and decided to call in sick to work because I didn't feel good and had a lot of homework to do, one of those being for Personal Selling. Yet, I had lunch with my friend Demetre and after he texted me asking me if I wanted to drive to Wal-mart with him when he got out of class. I figured it would be a quick trip, I would go to dinner, and then have time before I went to Bingo that night to do my homework so I said sure. We got back and I invited him to eat dinner with me and then we ended up just waiting on line for bingo to start. Then, I planned to do my homework after Bingo. Yet, once inside Bingo, I was hit by a bus of exhaustion, and everything in life started to fall on me. The pressure was evident from all sides. I got back to my room and called my mom and ended up crying my eyes out because I missed some of my friends that had graduated, I was hella tired, and I still had to do my homework for a class I strongly disliked. I just had a very severe moment of insecurity and decided to post a facebook status asking some of my friends to cheer me up because I forgot how great I am.

The next day after realizing what I was going to do about personal selling, I woke up feeling relieved and at peace. To top it off, it was as if I got six letters from dear friends when I logged into facebook. This is what some people commented on my status:

I haven't felt so loved in a long time. Thank you to all that were there for me when I needed saving because let's face it, we all need saving sometimes. I told you before, God's got me♥

On Thursday, I woke up after finally sleeping fully through the night. I mean I almost didn't even wake up to take my thyroid medication, that's how deep of a sleep I was in. I finished Mandy Hale's book Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass. After I finished it, I tweeted the picture below with this tweet:
This tweet ended up getting me a follow back from Mandy Hale herself but it was retweeted six times and favorited by 13 people. Needless to say, I felt pretty GREAT!


Friday morning, I went and had a meeting with my advisor about my internship next semester which will end up being on campus with the marketing director since I don't have a car, and about the rest of my classes I must take to graduate in May. I also turned in my graduation application so I'm excited about that but it's a bit bittersweet. My friends who have already graduated know exactly why.♥

I also found out I got paid so I was able to start a payment plan for my Spring bill and the lady I spoke with was so compassionate toward me paying my own way. To me, yeah it sucks but it actually felt like such a grown girl moment that I don't mind at all. God will work everything out for me simply because HE LOVES ME♥

Before I begin shedding some light on something that God asked me to talk to you about, let me just mention how good God is. I started my payment plan yesterday (Friday) and today I was called into work early this morning to cover someone else's shift for three hours. Yeah, I didn't get to sleep in but God knows I need the money so he provided the extra paper. haha. I've got a DADDY and he's RICH, man :) Plus, it was such a compliment that even though I messed up at the beginning of this week, they still consider me a responsible employee that they could trust me to open the library and handle things without a supervisor. 

This past summer, I watched the BVOV (Kenneth Copeland's bible teaching tv program) and he had Jesse Duplantis on as a guest preacher. Jesse Duplantis was teaching on Mark 10:27 which I will explain in a few minutes but something he said during this teaching struck me. He said: "How is it that this world is so quick to believe the news, the government, even the bad reports, yet God is good and he wants to love them, and they are so quick to deny the truth of the Bible?" That really makes no sense honestly. 

Mark 10:27 says in the Amplified translation of the Bible: Jesus glanced around at them and said, with men [it is] impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.♥

If you are always looking to the world to fix your problems, nothing truly will ever get fixed. The world can only give you temporary fixes to your everyday problems. For example, doctors can give you medicine to treat your condition but only God can heal you so completely that people with cancer can go into remission and never see another sign of the cancer, or people who are crippled can suddenly walk and have no pain whatsoever. 

Another example, someone who was a poverty stricken drug addict with no one to call family can end up once saved, a blessed pastor of a church with a powerful testimony of being an over-comer through Christ. A student who just graduated from college may have a part time job and not have any other source of natural income coming in but with God have enough to not only pay off all their debt but have enough leftover to pay off someone else's debt too. 

Nothing is impossible for God. He has healing, salvation, forgiveness, love, redemption, mercy, cars, houses, more money than any worldly government, divine connections, etc. God has everything you can ever need and more. So, if you are struggling right now with any situation in your life, talk to God because if you ask him, he will turn your black and white wold and turn it into a life filled with colors more vivid than the brightest rainbow. Looking at your circumstances and trying to do anything in just your strength will honestly never get anything completed. You can have it all and more with God but first you have to ask. It says in James 4:2-3: You have not because you ask not. James 4:5 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

God wants you to talk to him because nothing is impossible for him so stop accepting your struggle and ask God for wisdom of what to do about it. Do what you can and then rest in God's grace knowing that God will take care of you. In the Our Father, Jesus prayed "on earth as it is in heaven." That doesn't mean we have to wait until we die to go to heaven and live in mansions and walk gold streets. That means how it is in heaven is how it is supposed to look in the life of any believer right now, today, on earth. So listen up! God wants you healed, loved, blessed, prosperous, successful, not in debt, not broke, not saying you can't afford things when your Daddy can afford everything. Talk right, child! Speak things that be not as though they were. It's really easy but people in this world, even those that call themselves children of God, would rather accept their struggle and just complain about it and get sympathy from non-believers than receive what God has left to them in His Will. I really cannot stress how much it ticks me off when people don't want God's help but they are quick to accept another loan from the crooked bank, the in-debt government that wants to remove 'under God' from the pledge, or the insurance companies. It's a crying shame how sad I feel for these people who are so very ignorant.

Other translations of Mark 10:27 that I found basically say the same thing but I like the Message translation the best. Yet, here is the New Living Translation first: Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God."

The Message translation: Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it."♥

I'm sorry if I offended anyone by getting so fired up for Jesus but these are blatant things written in the Bible and if people in this world, especially religious minded people, would stop regarding the Bible as a book of literature and see that it is a legal document of an eternal contract put into effect by Jesus's blood and a WILL written by a Father to His children of all they are heirs of, then maybe you will be able to see the truth I speak. And no, this isn't hearsay. This is Biblical truth. Receive it or leave it. You're choice!



Lastly, here is my new VLOG and no I'm done preaching to you:

Until next time, remember: We were created to live in God's image. Why would we live in anything less than blessed?-George Pearsons♥

Love Times Infinity,
Chelsea
xoxo
God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Smile and the World Smiles With You: Senior Year in College So Far♥

Happiness is a form of courage...
Hope this blog finds everyone doing well. Here's a VLOG for you: Life is too short...send me a letter or a car♥ Watch that, and then we will begin.

You didn't click the link...Click it!

Ok, now that everyone has watched the VLOG (and shared it), the story can begin.

       Senior year thus far is going really well. Well, at least it was for the first two weeks. I like all the classes I'm taking. If you asked me what my favorite class was a week ago, I would have said personal selling. Mostly because I knew that class was going to be a thorn in my side because it is about talking to people (gasp!) and selling things. Yet, in the first two weeks, I attended every class and whenever the professor for that class would call on me, because I was keeping up with the reading, I knew every answer. I felt like such a genius. I even got an A on my first assignment for that class and I was so thrilled because this was one of my major classes. It just felt like maybe I was meant to do this marketing thing.

        One thing I started doing this year is wherever I went on campus, I would smile at people who passed me by. With everyone owning Iphones and being obsessed with what Justin Bieber just tweeted, most people don't make eye contact anymore when they walk by people. This world has become way too shallow, if you ask me. So, I'm on mission to change that and one way I'm doing that is by warming the world with my smile. It was a funny experiment at first because I could tell that people didn't expect me to smile at them, and I could tell I made some people's days. haha.

My mission for you: Pay attention to people around you. Smile at them. Say hi. Ask someone you don't know how they are doing. Say thank you. Hold the door for someone whose carrying a lot. Hold the door for someone just because. I want all of you to start spreading love wherever you are. Maybe, just maybe, if we all do this together, we will be one step closer to a more peaceful world. And, if not, hey, maybe we will make a new friend. Unlike the rapper Drake, I'm all about new friends. What do you say?

God finally started taking care of my bill. On the last blog, I believe I wrote that I owed Saint Leo over 11,000 dollars. My bill is now down to $8,682.38 because God gave me more financial aid when I didn't expect anymore and $1000 dollars was also removed from my bill because I dropped a class. God is good♥

Last week, I had dinner with two of my friends. We were just talking about a bunch of things. I decided to tell them about something that happened that made me happy. I wasn't asking them for their approval. I just wanted to say, "Hey, this happened to me. Be happy for me." Yet, instead of being happy for me, one of my friends had to give me her opinion about what happened. My other friend did say she was happy for me but first she laughed about the whole situation after my other friend gave her two cents. Needless to say, I felt like I was being mocked by my own friends. I left dinner feeling very upset and started to cry. I was praying and asking Jesus, "Am I doing the right thing here? You understand why I'm upset." I went to walk out of the building to go to Apartment Five and I looked out the stairwell window and I saw this:

   I rushed back up to my room and got my camera and headed out the door.
  God was giving me a sign that I was doing the right thing and to not let the haters ruin something beautiful that he established. God is so good to me♥

Then, that night when I got back to room( and most nights unless it's raining) this is my view. God paints me a beautiful sunset to watch out my window each night. I also saw a plane fly overhead which made me smile because I believe when you see a plane fly overhead, it reflects someone far away who misses you or is thinking of you. Thank you to whoever was thinking of me right then. I miss you too♥


Last weekend, I spent the night at my friend Sarah's house. I also had gotten personally invited to a frat party but Sarah and I didn't go but we still had our own party. As soon as I got to her house, we watched what else but the movie Sleepover.

Then, we both realized we were starvin' like Marvin so we decided to make homemade pizza:
 While we made the pizza, we had chips and hummus and beer all while jamming out to Hunter Hayes and Demi Lovato, of course.

 Barkley was more than happy to help us make the pizza. Look how happy he looks.

 Here's the gluten-free pizza that Sarah made. I made regular pizza and Sarah and I loaded on the cheese.

     Sarah's mom also made Sangria and salad and tater tots for us. Needless to say, whenever I go to Sarah's, I definitely don't starve. I think I gain a few pounds but hey, it's all good.♥

Here's my dinner (minus the tater tots and Sangria)

   Once Meghan got there, we watched Now You See Me and Sarah made Gluten-free brownies which we topped with chocolate ice cream. You just drooled on your keyboard, dude. Not cool.

      Then, because I was high on Sangria and chocolate, we decided to watch My Fair Wedding with David Tetura on Netflix. I know, I know. We are such girls.

    On Sunday, Sarah and I woke up early and she made me gluten-free pancakes and bacon. Her mom made me a big bowl of grits from scratch (the good kind) which she put cheese in for me because that's how I like my grits. I was just really excited about the grits because I grew up on them and they are one of my favorite breakfast foods. I guess I'm a little bit southern after all.

    After we got ready to go, Sarah and I decided to head to the Wiregrass Mall. Sarah offered to treat me to Panera Bread before we went browsing which I thought was so nice. I promised her I'm a cheap date and only got a cup of brocolli cheddar soup and a cup of water. They swiped my Panera rewards card and it turned out because it was recently my birthday, I was entitled a free pastry. I looked in the glass at all the pastries and couldn't decide. My eye kept wandering to that very big brownie so I picked that. Yay for a free brownie when I didn't expect it.♥

Once at Wiregrass Mall, we only went to Barnes and Nobles and Charming Charlie's; our two favorite stores. I almost splurged and got this Marilyn Monroe book that was only seven dollars but knew I was in need of toilet paper so I saved my money. I successfully walked out of both stores without buying anything. Of course, my favorite section of Barnes and Nobles is the journal section and they had this cute leatherbound journal that had an embroidered heart on the front. Yet, I just mentally put it on my wish list and kept browsing. Sarah and I had fun in the journal section though when we found this journal with a picture of Ryan Gosling on the cover and a speech bubble that said "Hey girl." We couldn't stop giggling. I know, I know. We are such girls.Sarah almost bought it.

Before we left Barnes and Noble, I went over to the Business section and found a whole four bookcases with Marketing and Selling books on them. It was so exciting to see a section with books about my industry. 

Sadly, I got some sad news on Sunday (refer to my VLOG above) and spent the rest of the day in a very weird emotional place.

On Monday, I was so tired from a long, somewhat restless weekend, that I didn't want to go to my classes but I did. Plus, I was still emotionally disturbed over the news. So, when in my personal selling class, I was called on to get up in front of the class and role play a selling technique, I was already pretty upset. Needless to say, I was not in the best place to talk in front of people and I know I looked like all types of a hot mess up there. 

As soon as I got out of that class, I burst out crying because I just felt so disappointed in myself( plus I was way too tired for words). Thankfully, on the way back to my room, I saw my friend Demetre and he gave me a big hug and cheered me up. 

Yet, the self-doubt I felt kept haunting me. I just kept reliving my hot mess of an experience in personal selling. The images and sounds would just play before me like a really bad, unedited movie.

I couldn't take it so I decided not to do my homework, got in my pjs and just catch up on General Hospital. I didn't get very far, and just was way too tired. I headed to bed. The next morning my alarm went off at 7:45 although I don't have my Guest Service Management class until 11. I turned my alarm off and said, I'll get up at 8:30. Eventually, I just realized I didn't have the strength to get out of bed. It just was rough. 

Thankfully, after a day spent with my boyfriend Jesus, I was on the mend. Wednesday was a much better day but it still was stressful when I got my graduation application and talked to my advisor about my internship that I should be doing next semester in order to graduate in May. I just couldn't handle the pressure and started to cry because the reality of my life sat before me. The fact that I wouldn't be a student anymore as of May hit me and I realized I would technically be a real adult in the working world. Yet, in all the madness, I didn't even notice what God had done for me in order to get me to see the beauty of it all:

I'm sure you can see what I saw but let me get all poetic and describe it. My cookie I had gotten from the SAB was shaped like a heart. In that moment, the line from Bruce Almighty popped in my head, "And that's the way the cookie crumbles." Yet, I remembered God loves me so this cookie isn't going to crumble because God is for me. He is working in me. He is with me♥

And the church says, Amen!


     On Thursday, I took my senior picture. Yes it was a cap and gown picture which I will share with you when I get it (unless it looks ratchet) but I finally felt emotionally ready to face life again. Maybe you can tell that from this picture:
 My hair even decided to cooperate for me on Thursday. The universe was definitely for me getting my senior picture (finally!). 

On Friday, my roommate Anet was getting ready for bed early because she had to get up at four a.m. because she had a race in Gainsville. I decided to draw her a motivational picture and yes, I know my drawing skills suck, haha.


When I was watching Joyce yesterday, she said something that brought tears to my eyes: 
God chooses people who don't have a lot of an idea what they are doing.  He chooses people that don't have a lot of education, don't have any money, don't have anybody to help them. He says, "Go, and I'll be with you." Notice the Go part is first."♥

Hope you find inspiration in those words as well but personally, I see what God is telling me. Yeah, personal selling is something I definitely don't want to do as my career but it's going to mold me into all God wants me to be.
My mom even told me that if I keep getting up in front of the class and talking, by the end of the semester, I'll be so comfortable in front of people, I could be a stand-up comedian.
I love my mom!

Hopefully, you decide to send me a letter but if not, I'll be ok. God's got me.

Until next time, remember, The good you do today for others, the same people will forget tomorrow; do good anyway. -Mother Theresa♥

Love Times Infinity,
Chelsea
xoxo
God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~









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