Give the Girl Jesus

 by Rebecca Kiser The past couple of months these same two bible verses started popping up everywhere and in a hundred different contexts:  Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Psalms 16:11, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” The more they kept showing up, the more I struggled to understand why. Yes, they’re amazing bible verses but how do they apply to my life? It didn’t hit me until I was watching the Today show one morning (with one boxer next to me and the other on top of me, because that’s life at my house) and Kathie Lee and Hoda were talking about New Year’s resolutions.  Our New Year’s resolutions are things we believe will make us happy. They are the things we want to achieve, they are our dreams, they are our ideal lives. But God didn’t design us to chase goals and ideals to make us happy - he molded each of us around a common need ...

by Rebecca Kiser If your family is anything like mine, you go around the table at Thanksgiving dinner and everyone tells something they are thankful for. People express their gratitude for things like family, their job, their health, or if you’re my brother, the food. But what you’re unlikely to hear is anyone say they’re thankful for the bad times they had this year. The times they were struggling and the times they doubted they were going to make it through. The times they were weak. It’s easy for us to be thankful when things are good, when we make it to the mountain tops. But you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wants to give thanks for the valleys. While the mountain tops are beautiful times for us, they are not where we grow.  From my own experiences, I see that every time God did amazing work in my heart it was during a hard time. I tend to get a little bit cocky on the mountain tops. At first, I see God’s hand in the situation and am thankful to Him for it, b...

By Rebecca Kiser Honorable Mention: Abagail Conyers Social media is a huge part of our culture. For many of us, it’s the first thing we see in the morning and the last thing we see at night. It’s how we keep in touch with hundreds of  “friends,” share our opinions, and sometimes even receive national news. Although it’s role in our lives varies between generations, it’s safe to say most of us are more reliant on social media than we ought to be. The average adult spends around two hours a day on various social media outlets, while it’s a whopping nine hours a day for most teenagers. These statistics ignited a question for me: What happens if we take away social media? Cold turkey. Just there one day and gone the next. I figured this, like all crazy ideas, would be best executed alongside my best friend, so I enlisted Abby to join me in a 21 day social media fast. Here’s what happened: So… Why? Before we dive in, you have to understand the underlying motives that...

by Rebecca Kiser “Our hearts ache but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:10 All my life people have told me I could be whatever I wanted. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, they asked (as if a 7 year old has any clue) and no matter what the answer, they were excited and told me I would excel at it. But now, I’ve apparently reached the age where I should know for sure what I want to do, but the pool of acceptable career paths seems to have shrunken. Now they tell me to dream big. "Are you sure you don’t want to be a neurosurgeon?" "An Aerospace Engineer?" "A millionaire entrepreneur?" No longer is my heart’s desire a good enough answer, I could always go bigger. They make suggestions and tell me, “You’re gonna do big things!” and, “You’re gonna be successful.” What does that even mean though? What kinds of things are considered “big”? Wha...

by Rebecca Kiser Do you ever get tired of the christian answers? Like when life is being particularly unfair, and you know if someone quotes you another encouraging Bible verse you’re gonna grab the nearest heavy object and launch it through the wall? What about being the positive one; the one giving those answers? Does it ever become too hard to manage that automatic, encouraging response you’ve perfected? When life makes you feel like you’re unraveling, do you ever just want to take a minute to unravel? My best friend moved across the country. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him…” All of my friends betrayed me. “I know the plans that I have for you… Plans to give you a hope and a future.” I got fired. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart...” There are literally not enough hours in the day to get everything done. “I can do all things...” NO! I’m over it. I need some sympathy, some time to be mad, and, ...

by Rebecca Kiser I’m not talking about every single person you ever hang out with, or even all of your friends; I actually think a lot of those people need to be non-christians. No, I’m talking about your absolute closest friends. The ones whose houses are your second homes, the ones that have to be the first to know about every event in your life, the “Call me, I’ll be there,” kind of friends. Every Jesus girl needs these people to be other Jesus girls. First of all, there is a difference between a christian girl and a Jesus girl. Just because they are Christians and go to church and all that good stuff does not mean they are the Jesus girls who we’re talking about here. Jesus girls are the ones who are actively pursuing God and the life He has for them. They are the ones who are legit about their faith and let it be the guiding factor in their lives. The most important friends in your life have to be Jesus girls, and here’s why: Who you hang around influences your cha...