Be Still and Know

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 46:10 

 Job applications, resumes, group projects, 

precepting in the ICU (ON NIGHTS!!), doing ministry, working, dealing with graduation stuff, making big LIFE decisions, being a daughter, 

grand-daughter, sister, cousin, friend, bridesmaid, church member, college kid, and the list goes on... 

You see, the theme of my life lately has been one of busyness and chaos, yet the Lord is in COMPLETE control of it. 

In all of this I desire to endure, persevere, and mature. 

I've heard many people say "Lauren, you are almost there. Just think about that BSN behind your name and you'll get through". That is great and yes, there is a LOT to look forward to with the accomplishment that is within reach now. However, there was and is a LOT to be learned through the process. The Lord has taught me a lot about Himself and myself through this journey of nursing school. I would hate to miss even more of Him and what He has yet to teach me in these last days. 

Last year around this time a nursing student from UNCC tragically lost her life to unexpected  liver cancer.  

She was never able to experience the BSN behind her name. 

 What if I never get to use my BSN? 

 What if I never get to help a patient?

 Will I have wasted my life?

I don't want to waste my life; I want to be used!

Not just now, but for the rest of my life, and especially during these final weeks as a college student.   

I learned something dynamic that I wish I would've learned earlier on and that is the necessity of  boundaries. The Lord LOVES to use people to establish His kingdom, when He doesn't even need to.  

He does this with great joy!  

However, He calls people to glorify Him in all areas of their lives.
No matter how large or small your capacity is, we all need boundaries.  

Without boundaries we will "burn-out" or be "doing", yet not be engaged and that's a very dangerous place to be. 

I am a very scheduled individual, anyone who knows me can attest to that. 

 I love to make use of every minute! Productive, right :)

I believed a lie that "if I'm doing something of during every minute, rising up early and going to bed late, then I must not be wasting my life. I'm making very good use of it, right?" WRONG.

  While it is no fun to have to stay back while your friends go away for a retreat to the mountains or your family is having a barbecue; you may have just made a very wise decision. 

Not everyone will understand, but that's the beauty of it all. 

They don't have to. 

We all need to pull away and spend time alone, still, and before the Lord.

I am a people-pleaser.  

Yet, boundaries allow me to serve people in a much healthier, God-honoring way. 

Kind of ironic, huh?

 By saying "no" to some people, activities, events, or scheduling my day a little differently,  I am actually freeing myself up to love and serve Christ and others better. 

If I am not abiding in Christ then how am I to function?

 My time alone with God HAS to be a priority before anything else. 

Now, please understand I'm not perfect. 

There are definitely days that I miss getting in the Word and I experience the difference in my walk with the Lord.

Apart from Christ, I can do NOTHING. (John 15:5) 

It has been such a privilege to serve in Campus Outreach during my time at UNCC. This ministry has been a gift from the Lord; it has drastically impacted my life and helped me to know Christ better. This year the Lord has blessed me with  some precious freshman friends that are hungering and thirsting to know Christ more.

He has entrusted them to me to help them mature in their faith. WHAT?!

 I'm still blown away that the Lord delights to use His people to accomplish His work at hand.               

 That was NOT my plan when I committed to go to UNC-Charlotte or for the rest of my life. 

Oh, how the Lord's plan is different and WAY better than I could've began to imagine. 

So, I don't want to waste these last weeks.

I want to make an impact on the Kingdom for God's glory. 

 I want to give all that I have been given to those special young ladies. 

I have open hands before the Lord, for Him to do with my life whatever He pleases.

 I am not currently engaged, married , or preggers; therefore, I literally have the opportunity to go and do anything that I want at  after college. 

A few weekends ago Kristin Niland and I traveled to Charleston, SC to meet with the Medical Campus Outreach (MCO) staff. There is an opportunity for me to serve God as a nurse in the community and also as a MCO staff in the nursing program at MUSC.  

 There is nothing holding me back except my idol of comfort;  having to leave my family, leave the town I grew up in, move to a new place, meet new people, go to a new church, and get a job all in a city that I don't know much about.

 (Except that it has amazing restaurants, is BEAUTIFUL, and I'm sure I would have lots of visitors!)  

It was so good just to hear the possibilities of how the Lord could use my life for His glory and how my faith in Him would be challenged. 

My two loves (Nursing and Discipleship) in one. Perfect! Right? HAHA!

Now, comes the difficult part. 

BEING STILL & TRUSTING.

Yes, although the opportunity sounds nothing less than perfect and I should/want to be packing my bags to go now. 

I keep hearing the Lord tell me "Lauren, BE STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD." 

 It is definitely a challenge for me to BE STILL, for any length of time. But, the Lord has been very precious to me during this season and my moments of stillness. 

 I pray that I get more of HIM in the process and not get caught up on the BSN.

 So, whether its to the freshmen girls in Sanford, my future nursing staff, patients,children, family or the nursing students at MUSC;  

My heart utters the same words that Paul and Timothy spoke to the Colossians,

 "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible, and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.For I want you to know how great  a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all treasures of wisdom in knowledge. 

Colossians 1:9-17, 2: 1-3

May I be USED UP 'til I breathe my last breath, resting fully in the sovereignty of an Almighty God who holds all things together.  

HE IS GOD.