The smoke alarm needs new batteries.

Curse that incessant chirping. Kept me up all night.

Homework should be overtaking me, but I can't shake thoughts of Jesus... so I'll focus on that instead.

I have been caught up in an ongoing journal conversation with one of the girls in my small group.
Every girl in our group has a journal and they can write prayer requests, praises, ask questions, or just vent. It's pretty sweet. Anyhow, this particular girl asks great questions. Without divulging much information, we've talked a lot about faith, what it means to have faith (looking at Hebrews 11), being sure of salvation, etc... most things I've asked in my faith journey. From our recent "conversation", I had some thoughts that made sense only after I put them on paper. I mentioned how comical it was that only after writing it do I realize I'm relearning things like mustard-sized faith.

The Lord is in the business of dealing with the matters of the heart. He absolutely loves it when people seek Him out on their own accord. The fact that we actually ask God is the main point. That is faith. It's stepping out and talking to One that you can't see or hear or touch [we sound like freaks at this point] and expecting beyond all expectations that you'll hear something back. There is no proof for our faith, only faith and hope. "And hope does not disappoint us," gives me hope. I would say the next step after talking to God about us is to trust that He will actually work. Sometimes we think that trust is a secret thing that we just suppose we have - but it's a mindset. A mindset to focus on God's truths and look for evidences of them in our life. Once you start looking where God is working, most often you'll realize He's been speaking for quite a while, and He's been showing Himself to you, just probably not in the way you'd expect. So, in a way you have to watch for the unexpected. It's rather fun... remember Hebrews 11?

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (verse six)

On being sincere with God, I've had a lot of tearful, sincere nights with God. I've actually yelled at Him, which I thought was pretty sincere. It takes you being vulnerable to the nth degree with Him ...and if you're uncomfortable with that, that's okay. He really does understand. Once again, our sincerity comes from the heart. And our heart is where the King of the universe resides. So He is intimately aware of the matters of our heart. Even when we don't understand it in the least.