Call Me, Beep Me...

...if ya wanna reach me, if ya wanna page me, it's okay!  ~ "Kim Possible Theme" 

HAD to finish it! :D #90skidprobz Anyways...

Yo!

So, I had a great Google hangout with my besties the other night, and it just made me think of all the ways everyone communicates nowadays. Obviously there's speech. You go out to Starbucks to meet someone and you talk about your week, what you've been thinking about, etc. You've got writing letters AKA" snail mail", that is barely used except when it comes to bills and birthday cards. You've got email which is now kind of considered a form of "snail mail." You've got IM, which is basically like the chat on Facebook or the DM on Twitter or the chat on Google +. You've now got video-talk, which includes Skype, Oovoo, Google + hangout,Facetime on Apple products, and I think even Facebook has a video option now. There's texting and phone calls too, but rarely do people ever call one another anymore. It's become "too awkward," and texting is usually the number one preference, especially among teens and young adults.

And there are all sorts of ways to just keep people generally updated: the obvious ones being Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Why tell someone what you're doing when you could send them a video of you doing it? Why settle for a simple picture of the sushi you are gonna eat when you could use oh-so-many different filters to make it look more colorful than it really is and then you can share it with your friends? Wanna send an ugly face to your friend, but don't want him to save the picture to his phone? Say no more. Send them a picture of your best ugly face that will allow them to view and enjoy it for only 2 seconds!

Anyways, on to my point...

I am trying my best this summer to keep in contact with all the people I care about. But I am now realizing how hard it is...I told some people I'd call them a certain amount of times a week, I told others I'd write them letters and we could be "pen pals," I've texted so many texts this summer alone that I'm sure that if I didn't have the unlimited plan, the phone bill would be as big as the US national debt right now. I've called a few people too, but barely. And I've been keeping up with one person through the Facebook message thing because it's the easiest thing to use since my friend is travelling a lot.

It's just amazing to me how much communication happens in one day. I can't tell you how many people I talk to in one day, much less how many forms of communication I use on a daily basis. And it amazes me how much just communicating with people encourages me.

And when I think about how communication assists encouragement here in the world, I think of the communication Christians have with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and how communication with him should be the best encouragement we receive!

He communicates to us in different ways as well! After Jesus ascended into Heaven, he gave us the Holy Spirit, who lives within every Christian. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and guides us in our decisions. He prays for us and expresses our prayers in ways we can't (you can thank Bria for this part of the explanation. I could not put this into words haha!)

He has also given us His Holy Word, the Bible. So many times Christians (I'm including myself as well) forget how important the Bible should be to us. When things get hard, we go to it as our last option, our last hope. We expect it to be a genie in a bottle and we open it up and think, "Show me what to do! Everyone else isn't giving me the answer I want! Give me the solution to this problem! Grant me my three wishes!" (well, maybe not exactly like that...)

But the Bible should be daily encouragement to us. We should want to read our Bibles everyday to see what the Lord wants to reveal to us. If we want answers, we should read our Bible! This doesn't mean that we get the answer we want or that we get a straightforward answer, but in some way, we will be encouraged.

And lastly, there is prayer. This kinda goes hand-in-hand with the Holy Spirit, but we are to daily be praying to our God. We all have needs and wants, and who better to tell them to than our Heavenly Father? Again, it doesn't mean we get the answer we want, a straightforward answer, or an answer right when we want it. But when we pray, we have faith that God will answer in some way, whether it's "yes", "no", or "not now." 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "pray without ceasing" meaning continually pray! Pray throughout the day, not just when it's meal time! 

What I try do is this: when I think about someone during the day, I try to stop what I'm doing and pray for that person. Sometimes something will happen that will remind me of a friend's situation and I'll pray for them. It really isn't that hard. There's no formula for praying, just talk to God like He's your best friend (because He is! :) )

I know I may be "preaching to the choir," but it's not going to hurt anyone to be reminded of these things. Shoot, maybe some of you didn't know these things at all! And I hope I was able to help you understand how we as Christians communicate with God.

Well, I'll say one thing: I'll be praying that God gives me the wisdom to keep up with my friends, whether they're only a few hours away or in a different country! And I'll also be praying that God gives all of us the motivation to speak to Him through prayer and hear from Him through His Word!

Also, if any of you needs prayer for anything, don't hesitate to contact me about your prayer requests through email! My email is mishruss94@gmail.com ! Your requests will remain confidential, and I will genuinely pray for them as often as I can remember! 

I hope y'all's weekend has gone great! I just had an awesome time with some friends from college celebrating one of their birthdays! So good to fellowship with them! Gotta get to bed soon though for church tomorrow! :)

LOVE Y'ALL!
*~.Mishy.~* (^^) <3