Zuckerburg say what?

[English 2000, digital media & culture]

While visiting the Yahoo! homepage, I came across this particularly disturbing article. The titled yelled “Facebook Timeline Mandatory”. Excuse me, what was that? Mandatory? There are reasons I chose not to switch to Facebook’s new face. I like the old set up just fine. It is easily navigated and is a bit simpler than the new timeline layout.

Starting this morning, the new Timeline feature — that up until now has been an optional switch — is now mandatory.

I have read many unkind statuses aimed toward Zuckerberg for the new face of Facebook. I understand that as a social network Facebook has to continue striving for the next big thing in order to stay on top, but is it necessary to one up the competition when the face is perfectly fine already? As if Facebook was not stalker friendly enough. With the new timeline feature you can go back to all the dirty laundry ever posted with a simple click. There is no more hassle of scrolling for what seems to be hours through wall photos and pointless statuses.

Not only does my dirty laundry get put on the line for easy access, but I am now forced to succumb to what is popular by Facebook. I no longer have the choice to sit back and stick with my “old-fashioned” styled layout. Besides the schoolwork and tax season coming up, I now have to find the perfect cover photo for the obnoxiously large welcome space of the new layout. Are you trying to kill me Facebook??

I am not happy Mark Zuckerberg, not one bit! I should learn from Google and Wikipedia and blackout my Facebook for a day. But then again, you probably would just change that without my permission too.

Jessica, the beautiful

There are so many beautiful aspects to life. To some, it is natural occurrences. To some, it is witnessing a change in life. To me, it is light. I love the light that comes from the afternoon at five. The light peaking through an array of autumn leaves and branches bring forth a warm feeling. The light within beautiful people, such as Jessica. Don’t let her often somber expression fool you. She is bursting with love, beauty, and light. The light that will never fade. It is my honor to present these portraits to you.

No longer will you need the sun to shine by day, nor the moon to give its light by night, for the LORD your God will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Isaiah 60:19

Stop SOAP! Wait..

[English 2000, Media in the culture]

I am going to go ahead assume most of you reading this post know about the latest attempt by government to end viral piracy and shutdown other websites that are illegally publishing media. If you haven’t heard of the SOPA/PIPA issue, you can Google it- or can you? Google along with many other leading websites went “dark” for 24 hours yesterday. They completely closed off all access to their website as a public demonstration of their hate towards the [potential] new bill.

Did those websites change the minds of the government by shutting down for a day or did it only aggravate the mess out of everyone else who indulges on the free, convenient information Wikipedia or Google provides? I do not think their 24-hour protest did much to the minds of the government, honestly. I tend to agree with the quote made by Twitter’s CEO Dick Costolo.

Closing a global business in reaction to single-issue national politics is foolish.

Now now before you jump my case, hear me out. I am totally on board for booting the governments attempt to lock down the Internet for piracy reasons, but shutting huge websites down for a day wasn’t the most efficient way of doing it. But like many others out there, I also signed the petition to stop SOPA. I did this partially because I agree with having Internet freedom and partially because I was hoping to unlock the gates of Wikipedia by submitting my vote against the issue. I will give them this though: you my Google/Wikipedia friends are quite kind. As well-known companies on the infamous World Wide Web, you gave up 24 hours worth of revenue. You saved millions of people from spending money while browsing your sites. Kudos to you! Next time can you at least keep a little information up for grabs? I would hate to have to actually go to the library for once.

daily bread

It’s hard to be satisfied in Him. It’s hard to be full in Christ, especially when I quench my Spirit. I allow myself to be distracted away from the love He wants to pour onto me. Do you, as a Christian, ever feel drained and ready to give up? Isn’t that a crazy thought? I’m guilty of having it though. It’s crazy to think I would be drained from this amazing gift of grace He freely gave me. How selfish does that make me? I had to have a reality check and realize “sister, it’s not because of the Christian life that i’m drained, it’s because of the lack of life, i’m drained.” The moment I step out from underneath is love, my Spirit is quenched. I’m holding back all oxygen and life from it. Before going to sleep last night, I open Beth Moore’s “Breaking Free”. The chapter I left off of just so happened to be titled The Fullness of Unfailing Love. I knew before even reading the intro. this would be a wake up call from the big man above. I’m not going to lie my first thought was “awwwwe mannnn…” It’s not fun getting a wake up call from God. Partially because He’s not like my earthly father. I can’t cutesy my way out of it. The entire chapter was about finding satisfaction in Him. Coincidence? I think not! She opened up her key points with this prayer from Paul:

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.  Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

This prayer wasn’t new to me. I discovered it in Prague through a sermon on Love by Francis Chan. That sermon resonated with me so much. Being overseas for a long amount of time starts to get at you. I was away from comforts, family, and my closest friends. The one thing I wasn’t away from was Christ and His love. Seeing Paul’s heart through his prayer challenged me. I began to pray that same prayer for my team and my family. I wanted to know understand His love and I wanted others to experience it. After making that my prayer for the rest of the summer, I tangibly felt a change. I was still ready see my family, but I was content in Him.

I’ve said all that to say this, fullness in Him comes from His love. I’ve got to learn to wake up with vigor and freedom. There is no condemnation in Christ so when I have thoughts of giving up I can’t be ashamed. I have to boast in my weaknesses and allow Him to do His job. The moment I quench my Spirit I give voice to Satan. This doesn’t mean his is victorious over Christ. It means that i’ve allowed Him to enter my mind and feed my thoughts.

Each morning, I’m challenging myself to pray Paul’s prayer of God’s love. I challenge you to do the same and take note of the love and fullness He pours on you.

Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Psalm 94:10

my story, finale

my beautiful mentor

During the summer of 2009, God opened my eyes for the second time. I desired to be sold out for Him like I was initially, but I was starting to allow doubts and guilt to creep in. Satan was on the prowl and I was starting to allow him to affect me. I can remember thinking that I wasted so much of my life and influence for temporary fixes. I allowed my heart to harden because of petty hook-ups. I thought of myself as filthy and unworthy of the salvation that He wanted to pour onto me. I was discrediting His love and grace tremendously.

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Ephesians 5:14

He got a hold of my heart at the Student Life Camp of my 11^th grade summer. The pastor [who I can’t remember his name] spoke about Galatians 5. He preached about the freedom that Christ brings. He told me that I am no longer a slave to sin. Christ’s death on the cross set me free from everything. Free from present temptations, past sins, and sins that I will commit in the future.

God no longer sees me, rather He sees His Son. When I became a Christian, there was a transaction that happened. Christ took my heart and my life and placed the Holy Spirit within me. He guides me, leads me, and is the face of my soul. Because of that, God sees His Son when he looks at me. God sees my heart and if God sees my heart then He sees Christ within me.

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17

This was a complete mind grenade for me. I tried to erase my past. I tried to find a way to forget everything that happened. When in reality, only Christ has the power to erase my past and redeem me. I was hoarding on something that was already complete. The moment I turned back to Him, my past was gone! No longer did I have to worry about it.

I picture a treadmill. I was sprinting and getting nowhere. I was only wearing my Spirit down and allowing Satan to win the battle. The pastor spoke distinct words that have stuck with me for 3 years now. He said that as a Christian His blood COVERS me. I am beautiful to God because He sees the blood of His son on me. I am beautiful through and because of Christ.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Ukraine, Summer of 2010

At that moment, the pain and the guilt of my past left. I felt it no more. It was as if God said, “Finally my daughter, I’ve been waiting for you.” He poured so much love and grace into my heart at that moment. Since that night at camp, my walk has not been the same. I still fall, but when I do I don’t hoard on the sin I’ve just committed, rather I run to Him. He shows me how without Him I can do nothing. I fall and rough myself up pretty badly, but now He is there to pick me up and shed His grace on me.

That is redemption. It is not just a single moment in a Christian walk. It is a daily cry to the Creator of the world. It’s daily falling on my face realizing that I am a wretched person in need of His daily love and mercy. [Here's a blog post that deals with similar topics discussed tonight. Find it here if you're interested]

If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.  The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. John 15:18-19

Much more has happened in my walk after junior year, but I won’t lead you on too much longer. I’ve talked a lot about my body issues on here. You can read about my journey with that here and here . Since the year I gave my heart to Christ, He has enabled me to go on mission trips to Ukraine twice and Prague for a whole summer. He has placed me in a group of friends that has a heart for the campus and the world that reflects His. He has shown me the importance of community and mentorships. He has brought a fella in my life that treats me with respect and love and pushes me to further my love for Christ.

on a tram in Prague

I appreciate your thoughts and kind words in reply to My Story. I do not want you to read my testimony and look down upon yours if you are a Christian. Everybody’s story is different, that’s the beauty of the Gospel. It reaches everyone from all different places. The one commonality between everyone’s story is the redemption Christ brings. Do not let Satan steal you from that. You are a new creation in Christ. Grasp that and embrace the freedom you have in Christ. Quit condemning yourself and allow God to work in your life like never before.

If you have any questions about what I have said or if you want to know more details about my story please email me! I am not ashamed to tell you what God has done for me.