Let God Drive

God has recently been telling me to write in my blog. So  out of faithfulness, here I am writing. I want to share an update/ realization in my life. I know in the past about God and cars, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back and read! Anyways, on to what God has been teaching me, 

Let Him drive your car in life.

I don’t mean actually take your hands of the steering wheel while you’re driving down the interstate, that would not be good. What I’m saying is let God take control of your circumstances, relationships,  finances, career, EVERYTHING. At first it’s going to seem a little weird to give someone else control of your life. It’s like letting someone drive your car and there going a way that you’re not used to at all. During those times you want to say to God, “where are you going, are you using Waze or something” But trust me once you let God take control it all makes sense. 

Recently in my life I began to let go of my strong grip on my steering wheel in life, and let God become my driver, and I just sit back and enjoy the ride. 

Here’s what I mean by that, In December 2018 I graduated college. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Was I going to go to grad school? Was I going to get a job? These are questions that I asked myself and others asked me as well. These were questions that kept me up at night and kept me very busy applying for jobs and graduate school.  My life verse has always been Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” But putting it into action was so hard for me. 

After much thought and prayer, I realized, I genuinely have no idea only God knew what was going to happen in my life. Once I let go of that anxiety that was gluing me to the driver’s seat and let God take over, things got so much better. I realized I have done absolutely everything that I could do to prepare myself for a job and graduate school and I have to let God do the rest of the work. 

In February after I gave some control over to God, and I got a job as an SLPA. I was so excited at first, then I was like wait God what about graduate school, what about a boyfriend,  etc. Eventually I let go again and God blessed me with an amazing Christ-Centered Boyfriend, funny that his name is Christian, but still wanted a little control of the wheel. Then BOOM road block, “you’ve been put on the wait list for distance education at the university of south Carolina”, is what I read sitting at a picnic with my boyfriend, lot tears and anger came out. God this isn’t right, are you using Waze? What’s going on? Luckily I was with Christian during the time I read this email he took my hand and we just prayed about it. This prayer began to rip my final fingers off the steering wheel.

Through the next coming weeks I finally let go of the steering wheel that I was still holding on a little too tight to. Weeks passed and I got an email that stated that I was off the wait list. When I got the email, I didn’t even have much emotion, because I wasn’t so worked up on being in control. Here I realized I need to continue to 

Just let God Drive

He doesn’t need a copilot, backseat driver, or even a GPS to tell Him where to go. He’s got it under control in my life as well as yours. God is continuing to show His faithfulness in my life and I hope to share more with you soon! Thank you all for reading! 

 God has recently been telling me to write in my blog. So  out of faithfulness, here I am writing. I want to share an update/ realization in my life. I know in the past about God and cars, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back and read! Anyways, on to what God has been teaching me, 

Let Him drive your car in life.

I don’t mean actually take your hands of the steering wheel while you’re driving down the interstate, that would not be good. What I’m saying is let God take control of your circumstances, relationships,  finances, career, EVERYTHING. At first it’s going to seem a little weird to give someone else control of your life. It’s like letting someone drive your car and there going a way that you’re not used to at all. During those times you want to say to God, “where are you going, are you using Waze or something” But trust me once you let God take control it all makes sense. 

Recently in my life I began to let go of my strong grip on my steering wheel in life, and let God become my driver, and I just sit back and enjoy the ride. 

Here’s what I mean by that, In December 2018 I graduated college. I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. Was I going to go to grad school? Was I going to get a job? These are questions that I asked myself and others asked me as well. These were questions that kept me up at night and kept me very busy applying for jobs and graduate school.  My life verse has always been Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” But putting it into action was so hard for me. 

After much thought and prayer, I realized, I genuinely have no idea only God knew what was going to happen in my life. Once I let go of that anxiety that was gluing me to the driver’s seat and let God take over, things got so much better. I realized I have done absolutely everything that I could do to prepare myself for a job and graduate school and I have to let God do the rest of the work. 

In February after I gave some control over to God, and I got a job as an SLPA. I was so excited at first, then I was like wait God what about graduate school, what about a boyfriend,  etc. Eventually I let go again and God blessed me with an amazing Christ-Centered Boyfriend, funny that his name is Christian, but still wanted a little control of the wheel. Then BOOM road block, “you’ve been put on the wait list for distance education at the university of south Carolina”, is what I read sitting at a picnic with my boyfriend, lot tears and anger came out. God this isn’t right, are you using Waze? What’s going on? Luckily I was with Christian during the time I read this email he took my hand and we just prayed about it. This prayer began to rip my final fingers off the steering wheel.

Through the next coming weeks I finally let go of the steering wheel that I was still holding on a little too tight to. Weeks passed and I got an email that stated that I was off the wait list. When I got the email, I didn’t even have much emotion, because I wasn’t so worked up on being in control. Here I realized I need to continue to 

Just let God Drive

He doesn’t need a copilot, backseat driver, or even a GPS to tell Him where to go. He’s got it under control in my life as well as yours. God is continuing to show His faithfulness in my life and I hope to share more with you soon! Thank you all for reading! 

11 Ways to Make Your Dorm Feel Like Home!

11 Ways to Make Your Dorm Feel Like Home!

I loved decorating my dorm room to feel like home, it was easy and didn't cost way to much. I'm so thankful for my roommate, parents, and everyone else who helped make this dorm look so amazing! One of the main thing to remember is to reuse old items that you already have!


1. Paintings! 
 Painting make the dorm feel cozy and like home! I made these with left over wood from the desk hutches my dad helped me make. I used scrap book paper to cover them with modge pouge and I made the letters with my circuit!  I love having bible verses around my dorm to inspire me through the year!

2. More Paintings!

3. A desk hutch!

Desk hutches are great to go over the desk and give you plenty of places to put everything!

My Dad helped me make this desk hutch from wood from Home Depo.

4. Lights 

  

These lights from Target made my dorm look so bright and like home! 2 strands of 25 lights did the perfect job!

5. Pillows

I ordered adorable throw pillows covers from the wish app. They were cheap and all I  needed to do to them was to add stuffing to them!

6. A Bed Skirt

The Bed Skirt made my bed look so nice! It was made from a fabric shower liner from Walmart and held up with a shower curtain tension rod!

7. Head Boards 

These head boards were made with fabric from old shower curtains used in my last dorm room. The old fabric was used to cover a piece of ply wood the size of the bed to make the head board. 

8. Door Decor!

This door decoration was super easy! I covered the bulletin board with wrapping paper from hobby lobby and ribbon. The dots and koala were made with my cricut. Adding pictures also makes the door  super cute!

8. A Bulletin Board 

Luckily my dorm room came with a bulletin board. I covered it with wrapping paper, ribbon, and a banner I made with my Cricut!

9. A kitchen area! 

This kitchen was super easy to do! It is made with wooden crates from Michael's!

10. Storage

This organizer is from Walmart, since my bathroom is a little small this organizer is great for bathroom supplies, cleaning supplies, and anything else you might want to store! 

11. Find Friends and Find a Church!

One of the easiest ways I found last year to feel at home was to find friends who had things in common with me through clubs and classes. Another way was to find friends at church near your new college home to help and encourage you through the year!

Enjoy Your School Year!

Waiting

         So my last post was about a “Jesus Moment” well this post is a little different in that is more like a reflection, so I guess we could call it a Jesus Reflection?

         This semester I got a job working with kids with autism in Columbia. I've really enjoyed working there and learning new things everyday. Through my experience I never really thought that God could teach me so much in a short amount of time. I’ve learned that he put a passion in my heart for kids with special needs and He can use me through that passion. I also learned an important lesson, to wait.

     Waiting is something that I have been working on with my client at my job. Every day I would have to her to wait at least five times during the therapy session. I would tell her "okay you need to wait" and she would. But sometimes she wouldn't be all that happy about waiting.

      Through this I've realized God has been telling me what I have been telling my client every day “okay you need to wait" even though it isn’t that fun all the time, scratch that, waiting is never fun, but it needs to be done and God can really reveal Himself in those waiting periods.

The bible says:

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!     

   Psalm 27:14

It’s okay to wait and though the waiting it’s also good to be present in the plan God has you in right now.

         This 2nd semester of college has been tough with some difficult classes, learning how to change a flat tire, and adjusting to college life. I constantly find myself just wanting to be in the future wherever that may be. I have no idea what my future holds, only God does.  

      I need to be present and wait. This is a constant problem for me, in high school I was ready to move on to the next step, college. But now that I’m in college I’m just ready to move on to the next step which I have no idea what that even is. I need to trust God and wait to see what amazing thing he will do with my life.

            God has a plan for you too! I hope by sharing my journey others will be inspired to see God in different ways throughout their life.

 I will end this post with my life bible verse, which I ended my last post with. You should read my last post if you haven’t!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

God Bless!

-Rachel Chandler

Jesus and Cars?

 Today I had a Jesus moment. To me, a Jesus moment is when you experience something a you feel as if God is answering a prayer in that moment. 
    For starters, I just finished my first semester of college. I have to be honest, it wasn't easy. I had to adjust to a whole new life. New friends, new church, new food, and new school. One of the hardest things of the semester was finding out that a masters degree in speech language pathology (for those of you who don't know what speech language pathology is, it's a degree to become a speech therapist)  typically takes 2 years, that will be 6 years total for me. I always assumed it was going to take 5, I was wrong. After finding out this information I began to question my major a lot. Was it really worth 6 years of school just to help people with their speech? I began to pray and ask God to show me if speech was the right path for me.
   Today, I went looking for cars with my mom because my parents insist on buying me a new car as a high school graduation present and because my dad wants to drive my car. 
   As we were searching for cars today one of the cars salesmen was showing us the prices of different cars and he began asking me about where I'll be driving my car the most. I told him I was a college student at Columbia College. He then asked me "what's your major?" And I told him speech language pathology. He gave me that look people always get when I tell them my major because they have no idea what it is. I then told him that it was to be a speech therapist. Then he begin to tell me about how he had a speech therapist in elementary school. He told me about how he had a stuttering problem in elementary school and that he scared to talk because of it and he had low self esteem. Then he said "speech therapy really helped me I really appreciate what your doing, thank you." That was my Jesus moment, my answer to my prayers, and my encouragement. 
     Many people say God works in mysterious ways and I agree. Who knew that a cars salesmen could be the answer to my prayers. Today I realized with speech I can make a difference in people's life, which is something I've always wanted to do. I am where God wants me to be and he has it planned out for me, I just have to follow. 
   I hope by sharing this I inspire others do be on the look out for Jesus moments and see what God has planned for their life. 

     God bless!
- Rachel 

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.