Reflection Paper

When I first decided to expand my education, it had been so long since I had been to school, and I was very hesitant. I talked at length about my decision with my husband and with his encouragement, decided to enroll but still was not quite sure which degree program to enroll in. I knew that this was something that I had always wanted to do since I obtained my Associates Degree in Nursing, but I did not have the courage, nor did I want to give up the time with my family and children. I second guessed my abilities and my knowledge because it had been so long since I had been in college. Now that my children are about to graduate high school and

(New International version). “I will be your God” has a great impact on my life. I think that establishes relationship, that is something I had to learn because I grew up in the church and sometimes we get lost in the church, Every Sunday we come but we miss the message. At least that’s where I was. My first lady and Mother of our church kept telling me “I don’t have it yet”. I didn’t understand in my own foolishness. I believe it was 2015 and I went through a severe depression and the only thing that could help me was “God” that I learned for myself who God was. Until I came to the point of acknowledging Christ I struggled, every door seemed closed, and I hated myself and who I was becoming, Now God has blessed me with a Job, and with confidence in myself and more importantly confidence in Him and who He says I am. I personally know after all my ups and down and my own experience that in my life, God is who He says that He is, and even on my worst day, He still is that He is “God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'“(exodus 3:14), Nobody has to tell me this, I know this because God kept me

I spent my days in prayer and praise. I served Him from my heart, not wanting anything in return. I simply wanted to be an obedient vessel. Suddenly, I found myself in a situation where I wanted Him to move and He did not, as far as I could tell. There were other situations in our finances, family, and at the church where I had been frustrated by His timing. However, He was always faithful. This particular time was different for me. This was my baby. I wanted her whole, and I wanted her whole right now! My very life and breath depended on Him. He was my source. When I took the teaching job, my Source was cut off. I could not find Him. Devastation was not the only emotion I felt. For the first time since I had given myself to Jesus, I felt truly

Growing up the daughter of a minister, Jesus and my faith have always been a major part of my life. When I was five years old, I accepted Jesus into my heart. Ever since then, I have seen God move in mysterious ways through my friends, family, and myself in mysterious ways. Recently, I have seen God reaching out to me through an eight year old boy from Haiti. This young boy has shown me the true meaning of God’s love for us and how God always has a plan for us.

Sometimes my christianity seems inevitable. I grew up with two parents and an older brother who had all accepted Jesus into their hearts. I don’t even remember the day I first accepted Jesus into my heart. I was only three years old and adults in my church were encouraging me to make the most important decision of my life. Over the years I’ve struggled with my unbelief and the temptations of societal pressures. Yet throughout the turbulent times, I’ve never doubted God’s existence.

While not every child who goes through grief has a faith-based background, God’s concern remains for each young person. In fact, Christ rebuked His own disciples when they were stopping the children from coming to see Him, as Jesus told these men, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matt. 19:14 NIV). Pond (2012) explains that children must have people in their lives who are willing to remind them that even during pain or suffering, “the only path to be taken is one of unrelenting determination to rely on the assurance of a relationship with God based on faith, supported by His character, and ignited by hope only found in the knowledge of His eternal purpose” (p. 48). These truths must be put into words that children can understand; and if cognitively this is impossible, the constant reminder of God’s faithful love offers them that needed reassurance. This faith can be regularly passed to the child through family, clergy, church workers, and friends.

Ever since I was in 3rd grade, God has guided me to live the way he intentionally put me on Earth for and to share his word. In grade school, my friends and I were on the playground at Maple Glen Elementary School. We were on the playground on a sunny, warm day with the black tar mulch, and I approached my friend who was climbing on the rock climbing wall. I said hello and continued to tell her about God. I explained how he watches over us, and how he cares for us because we are his children. She had many questions as to how this was possible because she has a mom and dad on Earth. I explained those were her earthly parents, but she has an eternal father in heaven. She said that it was kind of confusing, especially because of how young we were. She went to

Through this reflection I will discuss the impact of both healthy and unhealthy relationships have had upon my personal life. Through the examples of my father and my youth pastor Steve I will explore how my image of God as a father has grown and developed and how healthy and unhealthy relationships have changed that. I will begin by reflecting on my unhealthy relationship with my father and the negative impact that has had on my image of God. Secondly I will reflect on my healthy relationship with Steve and the positive impact that has had on my image of God. Finally, I will reflect on how this has impacted my personal and spiritual growth as well as how I approach relationships.

In my life I have had a couple different outlooks on the bible itself, but only one outlook of God himself. As a child I was the youngest of three children and atop of it all, I was the only girl. I had rough upbringing, a father that was never there unless he had to be in order keep us out of foster care and said I wasn’t his; “he found me under a rock”, because he only produced boys, and a mother that “always promised to change”, but was in and out of abusive relationships, was addicted to drugs and alcohol and influenced her children to follow her footsteps. My brothers in deed did as she persuaded due to their own self will, but I on the other hand did not. In order for me to just get through each day, I went to school and spent my days afterward at our community church. I owned a bible, a beautiful white one with gold edges and I treasured it, it went everywhere with me. I believed in the words written in that amazing book for the longest time, up until I started asking questions that could not be answered. From the age of 6 to 13 I was deep in religion and loved it in every way. When one church would turn me away because of my thoughts and question’s, I would find another to join, though soon I quit having to look. During one of my mother’s apparent brief sober times, we started our own church for the homeless. I felt blessed, and believed that my mother was redeemed by the Lord and that things would change, well they didn’t. For only three short months later my mother

Scripture testifies to how God has cared for his family throughout the ages, making a way for his children to live with him forever. As the Lenten season begins, God’s master plan is to form and fashion a human family to share in the infinite love of the Trinity (Hahn, 1997, p. 1). Starting with Ash Wednesday, Hahn compares how despite a father’s best intentions to keep his promises, he is only human, and will not always be around when his children need him the most, while our eternal Father, God, will never fail to fulfill his word.

Our hearts and minds need to be touched by the Power of God. So many lives are broken, relationships damaged and despair is a guest in so many homes. There are prodigals wandering in the wilderness that God desires to bring home to their rightful place with the Father. Just like the people of Athens we must get to know the God we worship. We need an intimate relationship with our Father through the power of his Holy Spirit dwelling in us and working through us for the extension of God’s Kingdom.

While growing up in a dysfunctional household, I learned not to trust other people primarily my mom and dad. My parents were inconsistent and my father was a very angry person. My father graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary when I was young (5 or 6). When he was in Seminary and then teaching Bible College he was able to keep his anger under control. He was fired from teaching at Dallas Bible College and started several of his own businesses. This is when his anger was at its worse and continued until his death in 1986. I know God took him at a young age to relieve him of the hell he had created. Despite his destructive anger he did teach taught me and my brother about Jesus. My father did model his love for Christ in many ways. I knew he loved Jesus and somehow realized at a young age his addictive behaviors were something he

Many times in our life, we felt down, depressed, and it seems that nothing goes right, and we ended up thinking and asking ourselves, “Where is My God?” the one who promised me with abundant blessings and gifts? The one who vowed to love me for eternity? And the one who said, “I will never leave you, my child, for I had loved you before the day your mother beget you.” We tend to lose faith, turn our backs to Him and be drowned with the miserieswe are into, for there was no voice, we pray a river but there were no answers, we cry for signs but there’s no remedy He offers, it seems like the pain is endless and trials are infinite.We limit ourselves with our own box, forgetting that our God is eternal and problems were just temporary, that our God is bigger than any storms that may come-up to life. For God is great, God is good, righteous and always have His own “perfect timing”.

A challenge is an obstacle that one must defeat with validity that it has been overcome, while fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something is harmful. No life-changing challenge worth conquering comes without a dash of fear. In my life, I’ve faced what I thought was a lot of challenges. From having a dad that left to be the first in my family to go to college directly after high school, I’ve confronted a lot of obstacles that have generated fear. However, nothing could prepare me to the fear that I faced at my first SEARCH retreat.

From Brothers, Cousins, Uncles, Grandparents, and dear friends, I come from a line of servicemen. Whether it is Firemen, Policemen, Marines, Army soldiers, all of these men were impeccably brave. Even though some without combat, I still believe what they did takes an attitude not much people have. While observing them all throughout the years, I noticed how much being a part of their branch means to them. Though they knew, I had no idea why they valued this so much. My brother, 18 now, will leave for the Marines June 26th, this means giving up his whole college life and a small, but important, portion of his life. When he gets back he will no longer be a growing young man. When he finally returns home, he will be the age of around 23-24. And still why do they all do this.