TGIF - I Am Second... Let Me Tell You About Who Is First

I Am Second... Let Me Tell You About Who Is First

Inspired by the “I am Second” movement and Jeff Jones

Song: Background - Lecrae

I’ve never met anybody who, in describing Jesus says He’s a bad guy. Everybody that I know believes that Jesus was a wonderful person, a great teacher, a great philosopher. But when you actually look at who He said He was, when you read books like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He claimed to be much more than a great teacher, or great leader or great compassionate person. He claimed to be God Himself. Who looked down from Heaven above, stood up from His glorious throne where He was being praised and living the GREAT life, and said “Excuse Me, My children need Me.” Who then came to this planet, took on flesh to live among people just like you and me with all of our hurt, suffering and sin. He did this because the Bible says first of all that He wanted to “identify” with us. He wanted to know what it was like to be us, to live in the world, to be relatable. And then He came to suffer and die on the cross for our sins to take the punishment that you and I Deserve. “When you ever heard about a hero dying for the villains?” – Andy Mineo…We should have died 1,000 deaths for our sins, but He died so that WE could Live. He SAVED us…So when you think about who Jesus is, He didn’t come to be just a great man. He came to make it possible for us to know God.

That is who is First. Therefore, everything you do in life should be for Him; to please Him, to serve Him, to make Him happy. Everything. Because EVERYTHING He did, was for You.
#IAmSecond
#LiveSecond

TGIF – Finding Your Purpose

TGIF – Finding Your Purpose
(Lesson inspired from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren)
Song Recommendation: Identity - Lecrae

 “Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.” – Colossians 1:16 Your life is not about you. You were born by His purpose for His purpose. We always ask self-centered questions like: What do I want to be, what should I do with my life? However, focusing on yourself will never reveal your life’s purpose. “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.” – Job 12:10. You did not create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for. The only way to figure that out is to ask God. Always remember, you were made by God, for God. Only through Him will you discover the meaning and purpose of your life. The easiest way to figure out how an invention works is to ask the creator! The same is true for your life purpose: Ask God. Try to figure it out yourself, you will always end up at a dead end. “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for...”- Ephesians 1:11 In order to find out your purpose, have a relationship with Jesus Christ and ask Him.

Peace Grace and Blessings

THE BEGINNING

Bonjour a France! I apologize so much for the delay of my post. I have been here a little over a week and have been STRUGGLING without Wi-Fi! But it is finally up and running. Therefore, post will now be coming more frequently!

To begin, I want to thank everyone who has kept me in their prayers. Your prayers are deeply appreciated and I want to let you know God has definitely been blessing me and keeping me tightly under His arms.

Well, after 12 hours in airports and on planes, I finally arrived in Calais, France. I flew into Brussels, Belgium and had to drive an hour and a half to reach my new home, and I must say this city is beautiful. I am right on the coastline. The beach is only twenty minutes from my apartment (or “flat” as they call it here in France). You can pretty much see London from here (not really LoL), but London is only a 30 minutes ferry ride or 30 minute train-ride away. As stated before, Brussels is only an hour and half, Amsterdam is about 2 ½ hours away, and Paris is 3 ½ hours away. I am residing in the BEST location to go exploring around Europe. I am not complaining at all. On days off I WILL be about that traveling life! However, the best feature of this city is that they have a HUGE mall with a giant H&M! :-D

After a week of being here I can honestly say I love my teammates!!! They are incredible. From day one they have been nothing but extremely nice and welcoming. They have embraced me with open arms. Best part, THEY UNDERSTAND ENGLISH thank you Jesus!!! You do not know how much of a help that really is. My French is pretty much nonexistent so them understanding English is definitely helping us bond and become closer. We have already, voluntarily, been to a basketball game together and out to eat together. Also, they are enjoying teaching me French and I am enjoying learning. They are truly God-sent because they have made this transition to France as easy as it can get! I do not feel out of place, or alone amongst a crowd at all.

Practices are definitely different than back in America for sure. First, difference and the most important is that my coach coaches in French! Like I said before, thank you Jesus for my English speaking teammates. It is literally like the movie Love and Basketball, where one of my teammates is translating everything he is saying for me. It is quite funny because is literally sounds like gibberish to me when he speaks. Even though I do know enough French to get me by, all I understand in practice is my name, and “ball,” and “pass.”

Second difference is that basketball is now my full-time job. I am no longer going to class and then going to practice. Instead, I am just practicing twice a day for an hour and half to two hours. I have one practice in the morning and one in the early evening. It is definitely tiring and my legs are currently struggling already. Also, since they do not believe in ice baths here, or ice at all for that matter, I definitely had to invest in some freezer icepacks and find a spa that does deep tissue sports massages (which I have found! Calais is awesome!!! J) Yes Vanderbilt spoiled me with the massages we use to get J. I have to take of my body. *shoulder shrug* Overseas is a long season! We have 11 games in the month of September alone! Realize that is almost half a season in college! And realize my season ends in May here!

All in all, so far, I could not have asked for a better situation. There is NOTHING I can complain about. My coach and my team speaks English, my teammates are lovely, my apartment is brand new and amazing, Calais is a beautiful city in a prime location, it has American food, and it has two malls in which I can do work in! My situation could have been drastically different, but Jesus made sure I was in the best situation, for me, that I would be able to fulfill His purpose. I am truly blessed and highly favored. I would not be here today, in this beautiful city, without Jesus and His grace. I am so grateful God has ordered my steps to be here, at this point in time. All praise goes to Him!

Peace Grace and Blessings
T.C.