Good morning lovelies! We're back. With a bang. It's a beautiful sunny April day today (finally, cause God's somewhat sarcastic and likes to play april fools jokes with the weather.... "HA, IT'S NOT SPRING. IT'S STILL WINTER.") Anyway.
Hey girlies! Missed you! Sorry it's been so long since our last post. We know you've been asking. I've been wanting to put something up for a really long time and I'm finally sitting myself down and doing it!!
So ha. God has been teaching us SO MUCH since the last time we posted... Like, CRAZY STUFF. Totally changing my life and Morgan's... I'm not really sure what exactly we're going to write about today, but we know we want to touch on some of the lessons we've been learning.
Well, I recently started school at lifetime academy to become a personal trainer through Lifetime Fitness which is SUPER exciting :) I hope to graduate in December, but it will be different to have to do school all summer... so that will be interesting. I can't wait to use what I'm learning to help any of you or your friends who have any health or fitness questions. :)
I've been learning a lot about prayer and it's power. I took my prayer life from asking God for things and telling him about my life to starting out my prayers with praise. I asked, "how would it change my attitude every day if I started it with praise?" And it's really given me a brighter outlook on my situation in life. When I praise Him for all that he's done I realize that I have nothing to complain about... even when the WORST has happened to me or to others in my life. God is still there and unchanging and he still takes care of us so well...Praising God makes me see how powerful and gracious he is and gives me peace and assurance as I go about my day and I am able to rely and trust in him more than I was before, knowing that he always has my best interests in mind. And the same goes for everybody else.
The other thing we've been learning is about our identity. How we are princesses to a king and how we don't need to succumb to the culture. I've been learning how I don't need to go around telling people that I'm a Christian because my actions speak for themselves. I don't need to prove to anybody that I am a Christian because I just am one, just as I am a princess. But because I AM a Christian, I have the responsibility of drawing others to Christ, and that's opened my eyes to see how I dress, interact with my family and friends, how I view myself, and how I think...
In this culture, our identity has so much to do with what you wear or how you adorn ourselves. But reality, it's not about what's on your skin at all. It's about your inner light and how you present yourself and how you love and care for your soul. Then, you respect yourself and watch what you say and do, realizing that you have value in your womanhood in this culture where our value is found in the eyes of scrutinizing men and women.
I'm going to summarize what Morgan just said to me out loud :)
She listened to a sermon on 1 Peter 3. As a princess and a servant of the Lord, she has realized how her daily focus should change. When she wakes up to get dressed on a Sunday morning, she used to spend so much time thinking about her outfit and what kind of shoes or what jewelry she wanted to wear that day... but upon pausing to think about what that passage says, she realized that her inner self was SO MUCH MORE worth attending to. And that translates to every day as we live our lives worshiping the Lord. God's purpose on our lives is SO MUCH GREATER than feeding the lust-driven eyes of our culture. Why do we care so much about what people think of us when Almighty God has called us his own (Isaiah 43:1-7), and we belong to Him and therefore have a purpose set on our lives (1 Peter 1). Are we living lives focused on that eternal purpose or on something else (Colossians 3:2)?
So the other day, I was talking to my mom about the family and God's purpose for the family. During that conversation she mentioned how men are being devalued and demeaned in our culture, even more than women. Now, the feminist in me stopped and was absolutely horrified that she would speak such blasphemy... but upon listening to her words (a learned habit...) I realized that in many ways she was right. Men are not encouraged to lead, succeed, love authentically, live respectfully, or be creative in masculine ways in our culture at all. Instead they are encouraged to be masculine versions of women (chew on that one, and if you have any questions, just ask :) ). So, if women are so precious to God, and created as a prize, then if men are encouraged through media and social culture to demean women, then not only women are loosing value in culture's eyes, but so are men. So, ladies, I urge you to live as dignified daughters of the King in order to protect the honor and value of men and women alike. We are God's precious creation meant to be treasured and loved, and we ought NEVER SETTLE for less.
Please, don't take our word for it. Compare everything that we say to what you see in Scripture. Hold our words up to the Word of God which we honor far above our own words, and see for yourself what the Truth is.
Seek God in His Word and you WILL find Him. Period.
Love love love,
Mo and Jewels
"But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
and honored, and I love you,
I give men in return for you,
peoples in exchange for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”
Isaiah 43:1-7 (English Standard Version)
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Our First Lesson Together: When God Feels Far Away
A couple months ago, around October, I came home completely exhausted and depleted from my adventures in Chicago. I was desperate for healing and absolutely aching from the pain that had been inflicted upon me, and quite frankly, that I had inflicted upon myself in the previous year. Now, I was constantly and completely overwhelmed by my life. When I say constantly, I mean constantly. I was not able to get dressed in the morning without feeling completely helpless and stumped about my entire life. This is not an exaggeration.
One day, I was at church, just attending the service with my family (as was unusual for the girl that had always been super involved in church). I ran into an old friend. Morgan. I stopped her and we started talking. I asked if we could sit for a moment or two and when I sat her down, I went on and explained to her that her testimony had completely rocked my world. It was so often that I was able to wake up in the morning because I knew that God had brought Morgan through the same things that I was going through, and I saw with my own two eyes that she was just fine. I explained these things to her and she was deeply touched by the truth that her life had changed mine radically and was daily helping me to live more fully.
From that point on we just began living life and doing some of that together. All that has led to, first, this blog, and second, working together to teach young women in the church. Now, I don't know how long this will last, or how long God will allow us to continue doing this together, but for now, I'll take it as a blessing, and it's been absolutely fantastic.
So this morning, Morgan and I taught a seminar class for Junior Highers at our church. Our topic? When God feels far away. We've both definitely experienced feelings of distance from God and had desperately wondered what to do. After talking for a while, we decided the best way to teach the seminar was to first pray... A lot of prayer went into this thing... and second, to go over the history of the Bible and recall how people in the Bible, mostly the Old Testament had dealt with feelings of distance from God.
I want to take a little bit of time to run through this with you. If you have time, sit back and answer two questions:
1. Who is God?
2. Who are we because of God/ in relationship to Him?
What do you come up with? Now keep that list and add to it as we review the lives of several characters from the Old Testament over the next few weeks.
Preface
Creation! In a sweep of beauty and magnificence the God who was and is and is to come stretched out his mighty hands and with them created man and woman upon the earth that he had sung into existence with grand trio of His trinity. Splendor and awe filled the heavens and the earth as the angels stopped and stared at all of what was made, from the cells of the plants to the creeping animals upon the vibrant green grass to the stars that now hung in the heavens to give light to the brilliant night. And God proclaimed: "It is good."
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve walked along in the garden with no shame and nothing to hide. They were intelligent and fully awake and alive. Their lives were stimulating and full of creativity and glory. They wore the mark of their creator's hands shamelessly and lived in the utter wonder of His presence.
Then Eve approached the tree. She was tempted. She believed the serpent's lie and ate the fruit. The fruit that God had commanded her not to eat of. The only command that God had given Adam, she broke. She gave some fruit to her husband, and he also willingly chose to call God a liar and do the only thing God had commanded him not to do. I imagine their world seemed to fall under a haze as they looked down at themselves in horror, realized that they were naked, and then, falling, utterly ashamed. They ran away and hid from God.
Then, God was walking through the cool of the day. He called out to them, "where are you???" I can hear the ache in his voice, the understanding and the desperation... yet somehow a hint of forgiveness that stung to devastation upon the two new-found sinners. God obviously knew where they were... he knew what had happened... yet he chose to seek them. He sought them and they were found, naked and ashamed. As they were. They were banned from the paradise that they had once known and cursed from the perfection that they once owned. But not without hope. From the very beginning, God shows his mercy. He gives them life, he gives them hope, and he gives them a future.
Even when man spit in the face of God, calling his truth lies, he sought them out, and found them, giving them hope for the future, even in the midst of the curse that he spoke to them. Looking at Genesis 3 we will see that God says to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Who ultimately crushes Satan's head? Christ. Who's the ultimate promise and hope for the cessation of our separation from God? Christ. Of whom was the promise made even right after man sinned against God? Christ.
So who's our hope for unity with God? Christ.
Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:31-39) No.
Does Christ speak to God on our behalf as the blameless sacrifice for our sins? Yes. (Romans 9:31-39)
If God is for us can anything be against us? No. (Romans 8:31-19)
So Thank GOD for Christ.
Yes, maybe God feels far away, but is God nonetheless so so faithful to those he has called? ABSOLUTELY. Read Romans.
Questions, Comments, Concerns? Please leave a comment below or send us a message somehow. We would love to talk to you more about this topic.
The next character that we will be talking about is Abraham, and how God remained faithful to him even though he was a mere imperfect man of faith. (Hebrews 11).
So much love.
Jewels
One day, I was at church, just attending the service with my family (as was unusual for the girl that had always been super involved in church). I ran into an old friend. Morgan. I stopped her and we started talking. I asked if we could sit for a moment or two and when I sat her down, I went on and explained to her that her testimony had completely rocked my world. It was so often that I was able to wake up in the morning because I knew that God had brought Morgan through the same things that I was going through, and I saw with my own two eyes that she was just fine. I explained these things to her and she was deeply touched by the truth that her life had changed mine radically and was daily helping me to live more fully.
From that point on we just began living life and doing some of that together. All that has led to, first, this blog, and second, working together to teach young women in the church. Now, I don't know how long this will last, or how long God will allow us to continue doing this together, but for now, I'll take it as a blessing, and it's been absolutely fantastic.
So this morning, Morgan and I taught a seminar class for Junior Highers at our church. Our topic? When God feels far away. We've both definitely experienced feelings of distance from God and had desperately wondered what to do. After talking for a while, we decided the best way to teach the seminar was to first pray... A lot of prayer went into this thing... and second, to go over the history of the Bible and recall how people in the Bible, mostly the Old Testament had dealt with feelings of distance from God.
I want to take a little bit of time to run through this with you. If you have time, sit back and answer two questions:
1. Who is God?
2. Who are we because of God/ in relationship to Him?
What do you come up with? Now keep that list and add to it as we review the lives of several characters from the Old Testament over the next few weeks.
Preface
Creation! In a sweep of beauty and magnificence the God who was and is and is to come stretched out his mighty hands and with them created man and woman upon the earth that he had sung into existence with grand trio of His trinity. Splendor and awe filled the heavens and the earth as the angels stopped and stared at all of what was made, from the cells of the plants to the creeping animals upon the vibrant green grass to the stars that now hung in the heavens to give light to the brilliant night. And God proclaimed: "It is good."
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve walked along in the garden with no shame and nothing to hide. They were intelligent and fully awake and alive. Their lives were stimulating and full of creativity and glory. They wore the mark of their creator's hands shamelessly and lived in the utter wonder of His presence.
Then Eve approached the tree. She was tempted. She believed the serpent's lie and ate the fruit. The fruit that God had commanded her not to eat of. The only command that God had given Adam, she broke. She gave some fruit to her husband, and he also willingly chose to call God a liar and do the only thing God had commanded him not to do. I imagine their world seemed to fall under a haze as they looked down at themselves in horror, realized that they were naked, and then, falling, utterly ashamed. They ran away and hid from God.
Then, God was walking through the cool of the day. He called out to them, "where are you???" I can hear the ache in his voice, the understanding and the desperation... yet somehow a hint of forgiveness that stung to devastation upon the two new-found sinners. God obviously knew where they were... he knew what had happened... yet he chose to seek them. He sought them and they were found, naked and ashamed. As they were. They were banned from the paradise that they had once known and cursed from the perfection that they once owned. But not without hope. From the very beginning, God shows his mercy. He gives them life, he gives them hope, and he gives them a future.
Even when man spit in the face of God, calling his truth lies, he sought them out, and found them, giving them hope for the future, even in the midst of the curse that he spoke to them. Looking at Genesis 3 we will see that God says to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Who ultimately crushes Satan's head? Christ. Who's the ultimate promise and hope for the cessation of our separation from God? Christ. Of whom was the promise made even right after man sinned against God? Christ.
So who's our hope for unity with God? Christ.
Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? (Romans 8:31-39) No.
Does Christ speak to God on our behalf as the blameless sacrifice for our sins? Yes. (Romans 9:31-39)
If God is for us can anything be against us? No. (Romans 8:31-19)
So Thank GOD for Christ.
Yes, maybe God feels far away, but is God nonetheless so so faithful to those he has called? ABSOLUTELY. Read Romans.
Questions, Comments, Concerns? Please leave a comment below or send us a message somehow. We would love to talk to you more about this topic.
The next character that we will be talking about is Abraham, and how God remained faithful to him even though he was a mere imperfect man of faith. (Hebrews 11).
So much love.
Jewels
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Relentlessly Radiant Living
Welcome to Relentlessly Radiant Living! Thank you so much for liking our page and following us. My name is Morgan (or Mo, as Julia likes to call me) and I wanted to finally introduce myself and share a little about myself with you (though many of you know me!) and a bit about why Julia and I decided to start this blog.
Currently, we live here in Minnesota. I have to say, it has grown on me. I was born in the South, raised in the East, and then moved here to the-land-of-the-never-ending-
Meanwhile, I live here with my family - my four siblings and my parents - and have grown to love it and its quirky people. I am the oldest of the five kids and have loved being so. I graduated high school two years ago, and it came as a shock to everyone (including myself) that I did not move back South... where I would never again have to to start my car a half hour before driving it due to -20 degree temperatures (#minnesotaprobs)... However, until I freeze, I am studying to be a personal trainer and working in women’s ministry, and I am very excited to see how God uses us and this site.
I know many of you may not be Christians, and my hope is that you’ll plug in with us anyway! When Julia and I first began discussing our vision for this blog, we had originally thought the focus would be primarily health, fitness, and highlighting unique socializing and dining venues here in the Twin Cities (like, not Applebee’s or the bowling alley). Those are fun things, don’t get me wrong! As two 20-year-old women who live at home and don’t have the regular “college opportunities” to socialize with people our age and see new places, we really wanted to show that even at home, there are plenty of inexpensive ways to get out, have fun, meet people, and broaden horizons. One thing Jewels and I have found that we love is swing dancing at this cute dance studio in St. Paul called Social Dance Studio. It has given us the opportunity to learn something new for only $4 dollars (with student ID), and meet other 20, 30-somes, like us... (that aren’t creepers).
As fun as finding neat places to go is, and writing about health, we both realized we can’t write about our passions and interests and leave out our number one passion and life interest which is our faith in Jesus Christ and serving you lovely ladies out there.
So why do we call our blog Relentlessly Radiant Living? We really wanted a name that would sum-up the whole of Julia and me and what we stand for and live out in our own lives. We are RELENTLESS, which means unyielding or not relenting against the enemy. All of us have a past, and though we may not realize it, we are fighting a great enemy who wishes to keep us captive to our sin and our past, whatever it is. There is someone who is greater though, and He came and has set us free from the bonds we find ourselves in. I know Julia and I have overcome great battles against the enemy because we have a new power and strength in Christ that is healing our past and building our future. We are RELENTLESS. We are warriors and we will no longer yield to the enemy and his lies.
This leads us to our second word choice in our name, RADIANT. We (you) are RADIANT. Radiant means a ray of light, brightness, joy, and hope, which the enemy whispers to us women that we are not, and never can be, because of the “past” we carry, or the person we believe we are. Well, Julia and I are here to radiate (emit light and hope) on that lie and say that you ARE radiant.
Our last word LIVING pretty much explains itself. We wish that all of you young ladies and women would see the potential in yourselves and choose to want to live Relentlessly Radiant Lives because in each and every one of you is a relentless warrior that has seen the battles of life, yet radiates light in the darkness, and chooses to want to live that daily.
Our blog will discuss how to live radiantly and relentlessly and bring up some thought-provoking questions and topics that might challenge you.
PLEASE let us know what you think!
Truly Always,
Morgan Tracy
Julia Feland
Monday, January 20, 2014
Glad to see you, Lovely.
Beautiful Women, oh my goodness I wish I could see all of your beautiful faces as you read this. I am so excited about what is happening in my life and in my friend Morgan's... So much has happened that I totally have not been expecting. Turns out, after I came home from a year living in Washington state and a couple months after that in Chicago, Illinois, I come back to Minnesota and start working in my old youth group and find cute little Mo. Who knew that we have always been basically exactly the same person?!
So we're on a journey. God knows that's super cliche, but really. I mean come on. I've been all over the Northwestern quarter of the US this last couple years... But really. I've been waiting around a long time to see what kind of purpose my life has, and really, I'm starting to see it. I stopped trying to find something that I couldn't see and just started looking at two things. God's Truth, and who I am. God also knows that Morgan and I haven't really completely discovered how things are gonna go down... nonetheless we feel like we're starting to have a clue... And that's nice. :) And hey, having a friend like Morgan is the best freaking thing ever. I absolutely love it.
So enough rambling.
Mo and I. Yes. I like to call her Mo. No one wants to write M-O-R-G-A-N unless they're like a man and in love with her. So Mo. Beside the point. We are two 20-year-old women who absolutely love a few things. :) Let me share with you.
Photo credit: juliagracef @Instagram
So we're on a journey. God knows that's super cliche, but really. I mean come on. I've been all over the Northwestern quarter of the US this last couple years... But really. I've been waiting around a long time to see what kind of purpose my life has, and really, I'm starting to see it. I stopped trying to find something that I couldn't see and just started looking at two things. God's Truth, and who I am. God also knows that Morgan and I haven't really completely discovered how things are gonna go down... nonetheless we feel like we're starting to have a clue... And that's nice. :) And hey, having a friend like Morgan is the best freaking thing ever. I absolutely love it.
So enough rambling.
Mo and I. Yes. I like to call her Mo. No one wants to write M-O-R-G-A-N unless they're like a man and in love with her. So Mo. Beside the point. We are two 20-year-old women who absolutely love a few things. :) Let me share with you.
- Jesus (foremost!)
- Wholesome food (the good stuff)
- Exercise (as we are both aspiring health gurus)
- Women (inspiring you, lovelies)
- Family (wonderful and terrible as they are)
- Enjoying and grasping life as we have it now (Amen)
So we were wondering if you love even one of these things, and if you do, if you wouldn't mind sharing in our journey as we seek to follow God's will for our lives? We are on an extraordinary adventure and would love it if you wouldn't mind coming along :) We'd like the company.
Let us know.
Love,
Jewels & Mo
Photo credit: juliagracef @Instagram
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