30 Days Of Me

I haven't blogged in a while, so thought I would start back up by doing a 30 days of me challenge!!!!  :)

Here we go!!
day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
day 2- the meaning behind you blog name
day 3- a picture of you and your friends
day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have
day 5- a picture of somewhere youve been to
day 6- favorite super hero and why
day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
day 8- short term goals for this month and why
day 9- something youre proud of in the past few days
day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad
day 11- another picture of you and your friends
day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one
day 13- a letter to someone who has hurt you recently
day 14- a picture of you and your family
day 15- put you ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play
day 16- another picture of yourself
day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have
day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them
day 20- someone you see yourself marrying or being with in the future
day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy
day 22- what makes you different from everyone else
day 23- something you crave for a lot
day 24- a letter to your parents
day 25- what I would find in your bag
day 26- what do you think about your friends
day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge
day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?
day 29- in this past month, what have you learned
day 30- you favorite song

The Battle Is In Our Thoughts

Recently I have been struggling with decisions I have made and in the process of making.  Wondering if I am making the right ones, wondering if God is proud of me, and wondering if I will ever know when I am in His perfect will for me.  The truth is, there have been times when I have felt that complete peace but even in those times.....I wondered if it was my own peace or a peace brought on by Him. 

I know, this sounds weird and confusing and God is not the keeper of "confusion".  So with that being said, I have started to pray and pray for this chaos I call "thoughts" become a battle I hand over to Him.  A battle that when negative thoughts, doubts, or worries come in....I hand them over to Him.  I take my thoughts captive!

"Reject negative or sinful thoughts as soon as you become aware of them." Max Lucado

Easier said than done.   However, when I was doing my Bible study the other day, I realized that my negative thoughts are a HUGE reason for my confusion.  I start to focus on the bad, whether it be my bad decisions in the past or current.....I allow the enemy to come into my head and remind me of all the times I have failed and sinned.  I allow him to tell me how unworthy I am and how ugly I am inside and out and most horridly, how guilty I am.  I don't take my thoughts captive.  I allow the enemy to run with my mind and before I know it, I'm confused.

"Control yourselves and be careful!  The devil, your enemy, goes around like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat." 1 Peter 5:8

Taking our thoughts captive is vital.  We can't possibly think positive or Godly when we allow the enemy to take over our minds.  It really is a battlefield of the mind, it really is a spiritual warfare between good and evil and it all begins in our head.  If there are negative thoughts  that keep lingering, tell God.  Have a relationship with Him and share your frustrations and your thoughts and give it up to Him.  Get lost in prayer!  Get lost in Him.

Retraining my mind is something I have been working on for a while now and I have realized lately how vital it is to be positive and to think purity and lovingly.  I pray for God to fill my whole thought process with love and His spirit!  I pray the same for you!  Remember, He is love. Let that love fill your whole being and your whole thought process!  Be blessed today and remember to take your thoughts captive! Nothing is more important than a healthy spirit and a healthy mind!

My Soul Has No Wrinkles

So, a lot has happened over the last week.  Some things that have left me in awe of Him and His love for me.  Some things that have made me question what I am really doing with my life and circumstance that have allowed me to realize that I have not been completely putting God first in my life.  I try to be a good Christian.  I pray, dig into The Word, and talk about Jesus non stop.  However, the one thing I have failed to do is to totally trust Him and trust how He wants my life to unfold.  So many times I take matters into my own hands and end up creating my own destiny.  I have done this over and over again. 

My Aunt Ofelia came to visit and if you have kept up with my blog over the years, you know how much this woman means to me.  She is the most precious person in my life and I always adore my time with her! 

She is just so amazing!  I spent the afternoon with her yesterday and we talked about so much!  We talked about God, relationships, and death.  In our talk about death we talked about aging.  She explained to me that she had asked God the other morning if she was getting old and wrinkled and she said He answered her with "your soul does not have wrinkles".  We giggled but I walked away so inspired by that one comment. 

As we age, we begin to wonder where the time has gone.  We look back and remember the bad choices we have made, the loved ones we have lost, and we often find ourselves wondering if we truly did everything in our lives that we were supposed to.  As I said my prayers last night before bed, I wondered if God felt the same way about my soul, that it has no wrinkles.  See, somebody like my Aunt who has given her whole life to serve Him, I know does not have one wrinkle in her soul.  As I sat in prayer with my head hanging down, I wept.  I asked Him what I could do have a soul and a life to honor Him.  I asked Him questions about love and life and what I needed to change for my life to be more honoring to Him.  I fell asleep in prayer (I do this often because I pray and pray and pray until I wake up the next morning realizing I never quite ended my prayer).  As I awoke this morning, I felt His warmth in my spirit and He whispered, "I will make you wise and show you where to go."  As I did my Bible study this afternoon, I stumbled upon Psalm 32:8, "I will make you wise and show you where to go."  I love how He confirms when He speaks. 

I don't have all of the answers and I will always fall short but I know I have a loving God who I can come to and ask questions, who I can call upon when I'm not really sure what I'm doing or what I am supposed to do next.  He always comes through for me and He always guides me.  I need not worry about what the next chapter in life is because He already has it written for me.  All I need to do is follow His lead.  He will show me where to go and most importantly, He will always smooth out the wrinkles in my soul! 

Momma's Birthday and Raul's Memorial

I know we're already in June but I have to document spending my Momma's birthday with her (better late than never). 

Moving back to Texas has been awesome.  I've been able to spend holidays and special occasions with family that I missed so much when I was in Arkansas.  My Mom's birthday is April 12th and we celebrated it twice!  I know she loved it and she certainly deserved the special time!

The first celebration was spent with a few family members.  We took her out to eat and enjoyed a few laughs and lots of love!  I hadn't seen my Mom smile that big in a long time!  She really enjoyed herself!

The second celebration was the following weekend when my sister and brother-in-law came into town from Oklahoma.  I KNOW my Mom really enjoyed that!!!! 

That same weekend we had my cousin Raul's year memorial.  I can't believe it's already been a year since he passed away.  It has gone by so fast and the pain feels as if it just happened yesterday.  The family was able to get together and celebrate Raul's life and spend some time together.

Family time is always amazing and I'm truly blessed to have the family I have!!!!  Love them!

Daisy, Easter, and Miles For Missions

I just want to share my sweet picture of Daisy.  For the past two months, I have been taking Daisy every Friday to get a special treat. 

Doggie cupcakes from Cake!!!!  She loves them!

 

 

My first Easter living back home was great!  I was able to see sweet Andrew get Baptized.

 

 



After Church with sweet Andrew.....I headed over to my Momma's and colored eggs. 

 

 

We then headed over to my Aunt Nancy's and spent the day with family!  We had so much fun!

 

 

After the Easter holiday Pursue Missions had a Miles For Mission's walk to raise money for mission's trips and we had success!  It was a great time and we raised money and spread awareness about spreading the Gospel in other countries!  I must say, God is GOOD!!!!!

 

 

 

Monday Afternoon Update

On my way from an amazing family trip to Colorado! It is so beautiful there! God is amazing!!!!

Crystal's Norway Mission's Trip

Friends and Family,

 
I just wanted to let you know I have the opportunity to go on a short term mission trip to Norway.  We will be working with Sean and Hanna Christie. Sean is a guy from Lubbock who has a heart for missions and left to Czech to become a missionary and got married to Hanna a Norwegian girl. They have been married a couple years now and now have 2 kids. They are now living in Trondheim, Norway where she is from. They have settled in and now want to start a church there in the community. Norway is majority atheists and not many Christians are in the area. They have a home group and we will be working with them praying for the foundation of the country and doing some local outreaches in their community.  I’ve always had the desire to do missions work and now have a great opportunity.  I’m so excited to visit the country, learn about the culture and more importantly grow the kingdom of God. 

 

While on the trip we will spend the mornings doing construction work, the afternoons playing with and aiding children, and the evenings doing street ministry and revivals.  There were only two of us chosen to go and I am completely humbled and honored!

 

The cost is approx $2,250 per person and each person is responsible for paying their own way.  I’m excited to have the opportunity to serve and to minister, and I ask you to join me in the ministry.  I am seeking your support and prayers for the trip.    

 

If God lays it on your heart to help with the cost of the trip there are a couple ways you can donate:

·         Make checks out to Church on the Rock and in the memo line write Crystal Garza / Norway Missions.  Please mail the donations to Church on the Rock, 10503 Slide Road, Lubbock, TX 79424

OR

·         Donate online at www.pursuemissions.org, click on Payment à https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst-11f7dd à Enter Support Amount àSelect Mission Location: Norway à Enter Crystal Garza in Comments  

 

Whether or not you are led to offer financial support, please use this letter as a reminder to pray for the safety of our travel, our health and most importantly those we will encounter in Norway.  Your prayers are so important and greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you for your support and am excited to share this experience with you.

 

His therefore Yours,

Crystal Garza

 

CryssieGarza@aol.com

Meetin' Up With The Ol' High School Crew

I have been slightly behind on blogging updates and for that, I apologize!  Busy busy busy.....

A few weeks ago one of my besties from high school came into town on business, so I met up with him and some of our other high school buddies!  It was great to see them and I'm pretty sure we all enjoyed ourselves!

Yesterday was Cory's birthday and today we're supposed to be getting together for dinner with him and his beautiful wife; however, not sure if I will be totally up to par for that but we'll see.  I still have a couple of hours to rest up! :)

Friday Morning Update

My sissy and big brother are in town and I am in total bliss....especially because they are house hunting!!!!!!!! Eeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! I would be in total bliss if they moved back home!!! Eeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

Monday Morning Update

This weekend I was asked to go to Norway for a missions trip in June! I am so pumped!  So, if anybody out there wants to bless me with financial assistance email me at cryssiegarza@aol.com and of course prayers are always welcome.
Other than that, life has been pretty busy with work and such. I am super happy with being busy!