Woah. Wait a sec. REWIND!

Hey guys, so wow. Ok, I feel kind of embarresed. So I read over my blog post that I just wrote for February and at the end I realized one huge thing... I didn't even mention any of God's work in ministry, and that's terrible. Ha, I was far too wrapped up in my own self and didn't even mention it. Forgive me.
So here is what has been happening with ministry. Gosh it has actually been extremely beautiful. This half has truly shown the amazing works that only God can do. I have had the honor specifically to be asked to be a confirmation sponser, as well as be a small group leader to 2 amazing women's groups. The Lord has helped build such amazing relationships with these girls that sometimes I don't know how he did it. It is truly an honor to have these souls open up to me and to come to me about prayer and other life struggles. And the only thing I can do is lead them to Christ, and share his beauty and love for them; He does the rest.
This half I prayed to fall more in love with the ministry, to aquire a zeal for it, and the Lord truly answered those prayers. Seeing him work in the lives of these young women strengthens my own faith in him as well. He is such a beautiful mystery.
It wasn't until the other day when I found myself saying "God I don't feel like I'm doing anything here..." that God stopped me and I realized that of course I'm not doing anything here... He is. I can help with the mission, but only God does the moving, the working, and the transforming of hearts, not me. And so I am thankful for He Is. If I may ask, please pray for me for dieing to self. Sometimes it's so easy to get wrapped up in what the Lord has been doing in our personal lives and forget to praise him for what he has done through us, without us even knowing, and simply because He Is our God, and continues to love us still. Pray for me and know I am praying for you.

God bless you all,
Erika
"For i have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God."
Ephesians 2:8-10

Beautiful pictures

Picture of some of my amazing sisters and a picture of a beautiful soul I had the pleasure to encounter the other day :) for you Gus!

"I make all things new"

Oh my golly. Hello :)
Alright so February blog post coming at you! Are you ready? Yay, me neither! I honestly just cannot believe it is already the end of February! And that I'm turning 22 on the 16th of next month! Craziness!
Wow, well alright let me begin by saying that this month has been absolutely trying in some areas but also undeniably  beautiful in others. But before we get into what I have learned this month, let's recap it shall we? Duh! Yes.
So as most of you have probably known for a while,  February holds 2 very special celebrations, and the first is... Groundhogs Day!! Ha, just kidding, Valentines Day :) <3  Now, I don't know about you lovely people but my Valentines day was beautiful... let me explain, this was the first year that I took Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the King of my heart and my desires, as my Valentine. Is that beautiful or what? Well it gets better my friends. In very special ways that only my heart and soul know, Jesus romanced me and called me his own through some of my deepest visible and invisible desires. A quick summary of my Valentines day would be... "Your love is better than wine" (Song of Songs 1:2) to say the very least. Ah! He is amazing. I hope all yours were well, if it wasn't then I am sorry.
Now, for the second, ok, well it really isn't a "celebration" by too many people's standards, but it is the beginning of Lent. The reason I say "celebration" is because really we get to become more like Christ through Lent, and that's something to rejoice in. Let's face it Lent is hard, but then again, following Christ is always hard, but also always beautiful. My struggle this Lent was finding something that was " good enough" to give up. I began, like usual, to kinda stress about it... but after talking to others about this, it was brought to my attention that nothing will ever be "enough". Christ died for us and our sins and nothing we will ever do will be enough to earn that gift. "For it is by grace alone that you have been saved" Ephesians 2, that is one of the main things I learned this month. So happy lenting everyone. For me, a few things I am doing are personal, but I'm fasting from social media ( El snapchat, fb, instagram) and am praying more to our beautiful Blessed Mother. So don't worry, try your best and know and accept that Christ's love is a gift. It's hard, but freeing. :)
To end this post, I want to share a couple more things I learned this month:

I am unique and beautiful, exactly the way the Father has made me.

Christ is a mystery, and not all mysteries are scary.

Loving hurts so much sometimes, that you don't know if you can do it anymore... but Christ can through you.

Be patient with myself. The Lord already is so I should be too. "Love is patient" is the first line of the Lord's explanation of a better way to love. 1 Cor. 13: 4

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.

And most importantly, let yourself feel pain, it's crappy ya, but without it there is no true forgiveness of yourself, or others.

There is much more to say, but as John writes in his gospel, I would need a thousand pages to write about how much the Lord has done. (summarized of course) haha. But hey, know that I am praying for you and that you are loved. I really mean that. Thank you for reading. Happy Lenting.

Love: Erika

Part of the Journey

Hey everyone, so I am currently in crazy spiritual desolation, but hey that's part of the spiritual life and we keep going right? Right. "This to shall pass"  Please pray for me to trust the Lord and to always remember how loved I really am by him, and I will pray the same for you. Love you all and thank you. Happy Valentines Day, Love in every way possible.

Sincerely: Erika