"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions."

2 Timothy 4:3

Is this not so true of our society today?  If we are offended by something that a teacher says, we block them out right away.  We do not want to listen to someone challenging our opinions! We have become so selfish and prideful! We think that we are always right, and when someone tells us we are wrong, we are offended, and, instead of seeking the truth and determining if what the words of the person challenging us have merit, we run to another teacher who will tell us exactly what we want to hear.  In this sense we have become unteachable! We need to be running towards truth, not away from it!  In the book Taste and See by John Piper there is a chapter where he addresses 10 reasons to love the truth, and one of the things he mentions is that Biblical truth will be rejected by some.  We need to make sure that we are firmly grounded in the truth and that we are not rejecting sound teaching but clinging to it.

Unmovable!

Unmovable. Unshakeable. 

Let my roots grow down deep. 

Unmovable. Unshakeable in You.

And I wanna be like a tree

Planted by the streams 

Of living waters.

I know. I know. enough with the rooted theme right? But I couldn't help but post the words of this song.  These words were stuck in my head as soon as I heard them! I mean, this is my greatest desire and a constant prayer of my heart.  When I heard this song the first picture that came to my mind was a strong, plush tree growing by a beautiful rushing stream with clear, fresh water.  I want to be that tree!  As a student at a public university, lies are constantly being thrown at me, and in order to reveal theses as lies I have to be founded in Jesus Christ!  For me, this means staying in God's word, praying continually (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and having faith in my God!  A tree that is planted far from a water source is not as strong.  So we must make sure that we are surrounded by the living water (aka Jesus!) that will help us dig deep roots.  In my own life, I have consistently seen that when I neglect getting into God's Word and spending time in conversation with my Heavenly Father, I get discouraged and find it easier to be swayed by some of the world's lies.

So it started off like this...

So I am not really the journaling type. I have tried in the past to keep one, but it just has never stuck.  When I saw one of my friends had created a blog I thought it was pretty cool, and I have been telling myself for awhile that I should create one for myself.  That was like two years ago, but, when one of my professors gave us an assignment that requires us to participate in an online environment, I decided that it is probably a good opportunity for me to finally create this.

 

I guess I will start by saying something about myself...Most importantly, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. He is the one I seek to model my life after. He has redeemed me from my sins (He's my Savior!), and He satisfies my every need! I'm a college student who has a passion for missions! I am a nursing major. I have worked for two summers at an amazing place called Fort Caswell with some other amazing people and I LOVE all the friends that I have made in my time working there. I have so many great memories there, and, hopefully, I will be spending a couple more summers there! I love the beach, but the mountains are good too. I like soccer and hiking and swimming and running among other sports. Gooo Titans (just throwing that in there ;) haha). People tell me I'm sarcastic...yea I guess I am a little :)  I love heart-to-heart conversations and spending time with friends and family. I like speaking spanish, and wish I was fluent. I have been to the Dominican Republic twice to share the Gospel with the Dominicans, and God continues to break my heart more and more for the people there. I can't wait to go back! This blog's name is from an experience that I had in the DR. At the end of my trip, one of our leaders was praying for each of us and gave us each a word that he felt God was leading him to tell us. The word he gave me was rooted. This word has become one that has been extremely important in my life. Colossians 2:6-7 is one of my life verses, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." I want my roots to grow down deep in Christ so that I am unmovable and unshakable in my faith in Him! The verse in Colossians goes on to say that we shouldn't be taken captive by the hollow philosophies of this world. No matter what this world may tell me, I don't want to base my life on its deceitful lies, and with Christ as my strength, I will live my life solely to glorify Him!