Tara Thompson - Random post #5

One of my favorite songs is called “Give Me Faith” by Elevation Worship. The first time I heard it was during Intervarsity here at CNU. I literally started to cry right in the middle of it. The lyrics are so real and at the time it was exactly what I needed to hear. It says, “Give me faith, to trust what you say, that you’re good and your love is great. I’m broken inside, I give you my life”. This is something that I constantly need to ask the God to do in my life. Being a Christian is really difficult sometimes, and having faith in something that I can’t see or touch makes it that much harder at times. However the song goes on to say this, “I may be weak, your Spirit strong in me. My flesh my fail, but my God you never will”. The truth is that I will never be able to truly have faith with out God giving it to me. I am utterly weak, and incapable of such a thing, however the Lord is good and promises to provide us with it if we earnestly seek Him.  

Tara Thompson - Random topic #4

One of my favorite movies of all time is Serendipity. I’m a huge fan of the thought of destiny, and this movie flirts with that idea a lot. It is a chick flick that takes place in Manhattan (another reason I love it so much) about two people who meet one Christmas Eve looking for presents. They fall for each other, but the woman won’t immediately give her number to this guy so she writes it in a book then sells in back to a used book store, and the guy writes his number on a $5 bill and buys something with it. She insists that if they are meant to be together they will come across one of the numbers and they’ll know. However they leave that night and don’t see each other for many years. It isn’t until they are both preparing to get married that they can’t stop thinking about each other and realize that they might in fact want to see what would have happened. When all seems lost, the girl finds the $5 bill with his phone number and the guy is given the book with her number in it by his fiancé. It is clear in that moment that they are mean to be with one another. It may sound cheesy but it is such a great movie, and emphases the thought of luck with out looking for it. 

Tara Thompson - Random Topic #3

A new song has recently come out called the WOP. I’ve never been much of a dancer, or at least not a good one. However, for some odd reason, this song has caught my attention and I have tried desperately to learn how to do this dance. A lot of my friends can do it, and they all make fun of me for not being able to, but I can’t. I am determined to learn though. I’m not sure why I want to learn how to do this dance so badly, but it is something that has taken up a lot of my time. The other night my roommate and I sat on my deck smoking black and milds while drinking Sangria and trying to Wop. We coached each other in where we felt like the other could improve, and encouraged one another not to give up. Unfortunately, I’m stuck here still unable to fully Wop. I promised myself I would not give up though. I’m committed to learning this dance though, however long it takes. I’ll WOP everyday if I have to! Just in case you haven’t ever seen the WOP I’ve inserted this video to show you what it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f00upW1eZP4&feature=relmfu

Tara Thompson - Random Topic #2

As you know my best friend’s name is Sally Duff. I met her freshmen year, and it took 5 times meeting me before she remembered my name. I remember at first I thought she was kind of rude, and I didn’t really think we would be that good of friends. However, the more I got to know her the more I realized how awesome she was. Meeting her, and meeting so many other people my freshmen year made me realize the importance of never judging a relationship by the first impression. I’ve met tons of people who I thought I would love and have ended up not being fond of at all, and vice versa, I’ve met people who I thought I would hate and have ended up loving to death. My theory is that it takes a long time for you to really know someone, and I want to get to that point with as many people as I can. I love having glimpses into people’s hearts. I think that it is there that one finds true beauty in a person. Vulnerability is one of the most genuinely beautiful things in this world, and also something that is taking advantage of much too often. 

Tara Thompson - Random Topic #1

This question started creeping its way into my mind a long time ago, but has recently blown up and consumed my thoughts. Usually the term what if has somewhat of a negative connotation. It has a way of creating scenarios in ones mind, scenarios that take over lives. Many times people ponder the what ifs of their love life, their future career, other dreams they may have, or possibly thoughts of betrayal, heartache, or temptation. When those what ifs start consuming you it is never a good thing, and it is so important to do what you can to avoid them. However, I have a what if that isn't so bad after all. In fact, I think that it could make a huge (and really good) impact in my life, in my relationships, and my walk with the Lord. My lingering what if questions have been something like this: What if I gave Him everything I had? What if I stopped being afraid? What if I let go of this constant need for control? What if I listened? What if I wasn't so hesitant? What if I allowed the Spirit to take over my life completely? You see, I've been in this relationship with Jesus for a while now. I'd say it has been official for about 5 years. I've had some extreme highs, and some lowly lows. I've experienced the Lord's incredible grace, His overwhelming peace, a consuming joy, and a greater love than I could have ever imagined. He has yet to disappoint me. In fact, he has done the opposite - he leaves me speechless in all the right ways. Yet, despite all of that, I still have such trouble trusting Him. I'm not sure why though, and the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make ANY sense at all. When I really look back, I can see the times God was calling me and how I deliberately ran from it. Why? Why would I ignore something that is so obviously of God?
Last week I was talking to my roommates (who are basically the greatest people I know) and Jamie was telling us these crazy stories she had heard over the weekend. She told us this one about a woman who has a faith that I've never seen before. She is intent on listening to the Spirit wherever she is, and she is intent on following its lead. One day she got into her car and simply asked, "which way God? Left? Right? Straight?" and as she was driving around she felt this overwhelming call to stop at this random house. As she sat in her car, she thought about how weird this was: what was she suppose to say? Just go up to the door and say, "oh hey...uhhh...I think God wanted me to come to your door." However, despite the nervousness she had, it did not stop her. She walked up and knocked on the door. A man came to the door, and it looked like he had been upset about something. She told him the truth, that she had been driving around, and she felt this overwhelming feeling that she needed to stop at this door and tell him about Jesus. The man began to sob. When he finally spoke, he told her that moments ago he had a gun to his head, asking God to show Himself to him if he wanted him to live.
How crazy is that? I still have goosebumps when I think about that. Since then, I've heard so many other similar stories. So I have to continue to ask myself, what if? If I let go of my insecurities, doubts, fears, pride, and selfishness what would God show me? What would he let me take part in? I can't imagine the things I would experience. It is scary though because I know that it won't always be easy. However, I also know that I believe in a good God, and that whether the path He takes me on is easy or not, it will be incredible.

Tara Thompson - Outside reading #5

I read an article on one of the filmmakers of Kony 2012, Jason Russell recently. CNN had an article about the rumors that Russell had been drinking and taking drugs, which led him to partake in some irrational actions. The media was all over this so quickly, bashing Russell and then bashing Invisible Children because of his actions. It always amazes me how the media can turn something good into something horrible so easily.  Regardless of what Russell has or hasn’t done, Invisible Children is a great cause that is simply trying to bring justice to some of the most oppressed people in our world today. I understand that not every one cares about what is going on in other countries, but Joseph Kony is a very real and malicious man who is hurting people all through out central Africa and he needs to be stopped. The fact that people will get so caught up in one of Russell’s mishaps that they overlook the raw reality of what is happening to innocent people who are suffering is absolutely ridiculous. The truth is that people mess up all the time, but our society needs to stop focusing on one man’s faults and start seeing the bigger picture: There is suffering going on and we need to do something about it.