Can I just flip a switch and believe please?

Ughhh...

Do you ever look at the way you're acting and get really frustrated at yourself?

Because you know something in your head but for some reason you don't really truly believe it...

why is that?

Why do we have such a hard time fully grasping certain things and believing them with our entire being?

We can know them to be true but it is just knowledge.

Knowing and believing are two very very different things.

So here's a question that has been haunting me for 9 months...

How do you make yourself believe?

You know in your head that something is true, and by this point you've realized that no matter how many times you tell yourself you believe you really don't believe it deep down...

So how do you make yourself believe?

You want to believe it's true with everything in you, but you just have zero faith in the promise.

There is no reason for you to doubt and you know this.

You serve a God who can do ANYTHING, and you know this.

So the fact that you doubt this promise is kind of a contradiction in what you believe about your God if you really think about it.

Because if you REALLY believed that your God can do anything there would be no doubt in your mind that this could happen right?

So why do you doubt?

...Why do I doubt?

If you're reading this and are totally confused and have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry. These are just the ramblings of an over thinker.

Complete Transparency

I seem to be an insomniac now...I've been staying up till like 3 or 4 every night and for no other reason than I'm not really able to sleep. Too much on my mind...Too much time to think about what's on my mind...This is why I like to stay busy.

Coming home on breaks I seem to realize each time more and more that I'm meant to live the crazy adventurous stupidly busy life. I have a love hate relationship with it but it's definitely what I'm supposed to do.

But at the same time it's easy for me to hide behind being busy all the time because I don't have to think about things because I don't have time to. I think I just need to find the balance between being really busy and hiding from my own thoughts and when I do have time, over thinking and over analyzing everything. It's never been a good thing when I have too much free time to think and I'm not sure why.

I watched the movie P.S. I love you with Danielle tonight. I'd never seen it before...I don't cry in movies like ever, and I cried in this movie. When it was over I had this overwhelming urge to bawl my eyes out and I couldn't think of a reason why I needed to. Maybe it's just one of those things that builds up over time and then ever once in a while you just have to let out the flood waters.

I hate crying.

I've been having lots of urges to sit out somewhere in nature alone and play guitar and write and sing...but I haven't.

You'd think that after 9 months I would stop running away from it. Why am I still scared of my calling?

No matter how many times I tell God I'm done running and I believe and am going to start walking in faith that it's true, I always seem to go back to that...

What's my problem?

I want to believe I do, so badly. Why do I doubt? Why do I fear? Why can't I just take an anti doubt pill and just believe?

He's proven Himself to me so many times. He's shown me that He's going to prepare me. He's given me opportunities to practice and get comfortable. Yet I still doubt.

I don't want to be like Moses who argued with God about how he wasn't able to speak to the point that God got angry and said ok how about your brother. How lame is that? Why is it so hard to believe God sometimes? We know that He's able to do anything and everything He chooses. So why is it hard for us to trust Him when He says He will do something?

In Mexico after the wreck I stood there in the rain and starred out at the mountains in the distance thinking about why this all happened. Just then the rain stopped, the clouds started to pull back, and this rainbow appeared.

God had everything under control. He never promised us smooth sailing. There will be bumps in the road and you might go for a little roll but He's in complete control.

But we have to give up the wheel.

The tough times are when the best lessons are learned...

Finally have time and I’m unable to sleep.

The first day of Christmas break has past; only thirteen more to go. It’s been so long since I’ve journaled or blogged or done any real reflecting, I’m not completely sure why. It might just be that I got behind in Mexico and when I get behind in something I procrastinate even more because I know that it will take a long time to catch up. In the end I have to catch up even more because I put it off. In 24/7 if you put off journaling for more than two days it’s like your weeks behind.

I think that maybe part of the reason is that I’m scared to process and reflect on what has been going on in my life the last few weeks. The last week of Mexico was hard, I’m not gonna lie. It pushed me and challenged me and showed me some things in me that I didn’t really want to see. God has been doing things and revealing things in me and in my life that I don’t really want to think about. I think this is why I haven’t journaled in forever. I don’t want to sit and think through what is going on for too long because I don’t want to deal with it.

It’s so easy for me to just get by. I go into survival mode and I can just keep going, doing whatever needs to be done, and just get it done; coast. It’s easy, I don’t have to think about anything I just do and don’t have to think. In a lot of ways it’s easier than having lots of time to sit and think and process what’s going on in my life. I’m not sure why I’m so scared to process my life though...

That is the goal of this first week of break. To take the time to think through everything that I’ve been going through, everything God is doing in my life, everything that I’ve been pushing to the back of my mind. Going to face my thoughts and work through them. I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I know it’s going to be good though. Now I just have to get caught up on the journaling...wish me luck.

Feeling Inspired

Do you ever have those moments when you feel inspired in an artistic kind of way but you're not really sure what to do? It only seems to happen late at night.

So here I am, at two o'clock in the morning blogging for the first time since the summer.

Thanksgiving....

It's so crazy it's already here. I'm already back home for vacation. It seems like yesterday I was getting ready to move back to Conway and getting ready for another year of craziness. I was so unsure and scared of what was to come.

And here I am. Almost half way through.

So much has happened in the last year and a half it makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

And when I think about all that is in store in the future I get so excited and my mind goes crazy, I wish I was able to explain it...

What I can say is that the future for me is more than I or anyone could have ever thought or dreamed up. All I have to do is trust God and keep chasing my dreams.

Well I better get to bed. A big day is in store for the dynamic Mon and Zu duo. Maybe I'll post more later.

An epiphany inspired by Laurie Hinson

Thanks to the amazing Laurie Hinson I have discovered something about myself...I am a compulsive multi-tasker.

I hate doing one thing at a time, I feel like I'm wasting time and being too slow.

Which made me realize why I do a lot of the things that I do and why I hate doing certain things.

For example:

I txt while I drive, listen to music and usually talk while I work, watch tv txt and listen to music while I work out at the gym, have my lap top with me when watching movies, etc.

Then there are things I don't like to do because of this compulsive need.

Such as reading. I've never liked reading all that much. My mother used to pay me during the summer when I was younger, a penny a page for ever book I read so that I would actually do it. But I discovered that the reason I don't like reading is because I can't multi-task while I do it. Reading takes up all of my attention, if I try to think about anything else while I'm reading I will get to the end of the page and have no idea what I read. So my compulsive need to multi-task cannot be fulfilled while I'm reading and therefore I get frustrated and don't like to do it. I feel as though I've wasted the day when I sit in my room and read because I didn't accomplish anything but reading. Plus I'm such a slow reader it makes it even more frustrating.

There are exceptions to this in a few fiction books that I found very interesting and couldn't put down. (But those are very few cases.)

Well, now that I've put it off by writing this, I must go finish reading Driven by Eternity. It's a great book though so far, I highly recommend it whether you like reading or not.

The cons to babysitting at night...

I'm babysitting...
The kids are in bed, I'm on the couch with my lap top messing around with stuff...
The house is completely silent other than the fish tank to my left...

Then out of nowhere...


*Squeeeeeeaaaaal......POP!*

First thought in my head is that someone just broke in and is coming in the front door, but not wanting to freak myself out I sit and wait for minute....

*Fish tank noise*

*Crickets chirping*

*Air conditioner blowing*

I wait....

*POP! CRASH!!*

I freeze...my eyes start darting around the room, out the window, at the fish tank...

Nothing...

Trying not to freak out and let my imagination get the better of me I get back to my lap top.

*CRASH! BANG!*

I jump to my feet ready to find a weapon when the thought enters my mind that it could be kids next door shooting off fireworks....

Before my brain has a chance to process that thought and my heart has a chance to slow down I see out of the corner of my eye a person walking into the living room and my heart stops....

....It was the oldest kid asking about the fireworks outside


....That's what I get for all those times I watched When a Stranger Calls and other various scary movies...

This is why I will have a big dog in my house to guard against intruders and neighbors with fireworks....

Feel free to laugh at me, I know I have it coming...

Called or Chosen?

For some reason tonight my mind was flooded with questions about God's calling on people's lives. I asked a couple people and then did a lot of praying, researching, reading and thinking. I blogged as I did it so here it is...feel free to comment and add your own imput. There are still questions I have that are unanswered but I think I found the answers to the main questions that will allow me to sleep tonight. I could be very wrong on all of this so if you feel differently please comment and share your thoughts, I am still looking for the answers.


Do you ever wonder if God has called every single person to live some crazy awesome and influential life or if he only chooses certain people? Because if he does have that plan for everyone then there wouldn't be any ordinary people. And if there were no ordinary people how would you know what is extraordinary because that's how everyone lives? So does God have favorites and calls some to extraordinary lives and some to just ordinary? Or does he call everyone but only some except?

What is the difference between being called and being chosen? If only some are chosen does that mean God loves the chosen more? Does God have favorites?
Matthew 22:14 says "For many are called but few are chosen." As soon as I thought I had grasped that sentence I read it in context and now I am lost. I will come back to that later...

Who is Paul talking to/about in Romans 8:29 when it says
"For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brother and sisters. And having chosen them he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave the his glory."
Who exactly are God's people? Is it just the Israelites? Is it anyone who accepts his Son? Is he just talking to the Romans and not really to us now?

How do you tell when reading the Bible if when the writer is saying things like, I have chosen you, I have set you apart, go and do this or that; how do you know if he is talking to you particularly or if he was only talking to the people the book was originally written for?

"God has such an amazing calling on your life and he's going to use you to do things more incredible than you can imagine!"
Ever heard that before? Is that just the latest Christianese saying or do the people that say this actually know for a fact that this is true? Or maybe they are just trying to speak it into existence. I don't know about you but I can imagine some pretty crazy and incredible things. If God's call on my life involves things greater than I can imagine, along with all the other people in the world that have been told that...thats gonna be a lot of incredible callings. If everyone in the world is called to do incredible things then who are they going to impact if everyone is impacting?
If it is true and God has bigger things planned for me than I could ever imagine, why me? I'm sure there are plenty of other people in the world that want to be called to something great, want to live an extraordinary life. Why would I get chosen for that? Why can't more people experience and do the things I have gotten to experience and do and will do and will experience?

God has to call some people to greater things than others. But how is that determined? And does that mean he loves those people more? Why do those people get to have the cool callings?

Romans 9:20-21
"Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created , "Why have you made me like this?" When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?" - ouch

So is it wrong to ask God why he created you the way he did? To ask why he called you to one thing and didn't call someone else?

1 Corinthians 12:12-31 talks about the body of Christ and how it has many parts but is one body. And I think what it's saying is that just because you may be a foot and not an eye (or a soccer mom and not a missionary) doesn't mean you are not important. Because if the body didn't have feet then it wouldn't get anywhere (or if there were no soccer moms then the kids that are supposed to grow up to be missionaries would never be raised the way they need to be) In verse 17 it says that if the whole body were an eye then how would it hear? (If every Christian decided to be a missionary then how would they have support for their ministry?)

So we are all called to something. God has us all called to be a part of the body. But we can't all be the mouth or the eyes or the parts we might think are important. The real question is, can you learn to be happy with and live out to the fullest being a knee cap and not the head?
I could be wrong but I would think that if God called you to be a part of his body he would put the desire for that part in you. Maybe not at first but if you trusted him and worked at that part you would realize it's what you've wanted all along.

Romans 12:6
"In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well."

I understand a little more what Paul meant when he wrote, "How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! For who can know the Lord's thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice" - Romans 11:33-34


That was thought vomit spilled out in a ridiculously long blog. I feel better getting it out though so whether you actually read all that or not at least I feel a little better lol
Now I need to sleep. Tomorrow is a new day. Another chance to try and understand this wonderfully, genuisly *yet sometimes frustratingly confusing* book that is God's Word.

zzzzzzz....

North Carolina says hello

Only about 3 weeks of 24/7 left...I feel like I've kinda spiritually checked out recently. I haven't had the same desire to read the Bible lately, I haven't thought about praying all the time, it's like I've almost forgotten God in my everyday life and I hate that. What happened to walking in the spirit and praying without ceasing and a burning desire to read the Word everyday?

I feel like now that the year is almost over I should be some super Christian leader person and have it all together but I'm not and I don't.

The way I pictured my life at 19 when I was a kid is very different than what it is now. Wow 19? That sounds so old and so young at the same time. How is that possible?
I've been thinking about this summer a lot since turning in my cadre application. I don't want to go home and get back into the everyday routine of living complacently and just getting through each day. When I go home I want all the people that knew me before I went through 24/7 to see a complete and total change. I want to be an example to all the teenagers in my church, not just the highschoolers but the college students too. I want to live differently than I did last summer.

In order to do that I need to finish these last 3 weeks strong. No checking out, no taking anything for granted, no just getting by. Make the most of every flipping opportunity!!

Wow Moments

There are moments in life that I like to call "wow" moments that happen sometimes when you just get so overwhelmed that your brain goes on total overload and you can't even put into words or thoughts what is going through your mind and you have to sit back and just say "wow" and thats all you can say.

That is what is currently going on inside my head. God has shown me so much in the last month my brain is having a hard time processing it all. It's the weirdest feeling in the world. I wish all the drug and alcohol adicts in the world could feel it because it's better than any high they could ever get from their addictions. It's a Jesus high. There are no words to describe it. It's happened to me several times since we left for Africa. I wish I could explain it but there really are no words. God is so much bigger and holier and wonderful and awesomer, even though thats not a word, than I could ever imagine or put into words. And the coolest thing is that I get to be a part of what He is doing in the world. How cool is that?!

I'm like so excited about life right now it's kind of ridiculous and I really wish I could go sit at toad suck and play guitar but I guess I'll have to settle for my living room.

Life is good

So a lot has happened since I've posted last...
Completed the dreaded IronMan. It was definitely the longest most hellish day of my life but its over. I did it. I still am unable to believe that I did it. And I look around me at all the other people that did it and I am so incredibly proud of all of us. Never in our lives would we have thought we would be able to do something like that. I would not have been able to do it without my family though. Not just my blood family but my 24/7 and new life family. My homesponsor ran probably 9 or 10 miles with me and walked 3 or so with me. Jen, Laurie's homesponsor ran/walked 3 miles with me, so did Skoog. Then at the end Monica and I finished the last 3 miles and then Melissa came back finished the last little bit with us. I am so blessed.

Then this last weekend we had survival training which was pretty cool. I learned a lot.

For some reason I'm being very ADD at the moment and trying to do like 6 things at once and getting distracted and am not accomplishing any of them. I did however just unclog my toilet which was very exciting. I wish I could say I did it by myself but I was coached by my dad on the phone the whole time. (what would I would do without that man I don't know)

I'm so glad to be here but sometimes I really wish I wasn't missing out on stuff back home. My older brother is moving out on his own, (yes he is 23 and just now moving out on his own for the first time) one of my younger brothers is in highschool now and will be learning to drive this summer. My best friend from back home is so musically and creatively gifted its not even funny and she will be moving on and doing something crazy awesome after she finishes school of worship. My church is growing and building a new building. My youth group is growing. All my friends from home are off in the real world. I know I'm supposed to be here, I just wish I could be there to see all the changes that are happening at home too. Change is a strange thing.
It comes when you least expect it and can completely turn your world upside down and you won't know what happened. If you don't pay attention you might miss it.
It definitely makes you want to savor every minute you have with the people you love and live every moment to the fullest.
There are 10 weeks left until graduation...That blows my mind to think about. It feels like I just got here but at the same time it feels like I've been here for years. I've grown and learned so much in the last 7 months its unbelievable.

Lord help me to make the most of these last 10 weeks and live every single second to the absolute fullest not taking anything for granted.

So much for sleeping in...

My first chance to sleep in, in over a week and I wake up at 5 30 and kinda drift in and out of sleep till 7 30 when I was unable to sleep at all. Gotta love it when that happens...So I got some laundry done, finally got to look through most of the pictures from mexico, and did some other stuff on the computer. But now it is 10 and I need to run 12 miles today, blah.

I wish there was some way I could make myself enjoy running. Or at least not loath it. There really are not many things I would not rather do than run. I would rather hike pinnacle in the freezing rain without a jacket 12 times than run 12 miles. Oh the Ironman is going to be lots of fun...12 days...holy crap. But that also means 13 days until I can drink coffee! I'll just focus on that for all 140 miles. After this I can drink coffee! After this I can drink coffee! I know I'm pathetic its ok I've accepted it. I'm just tired of being tired all the time. I look dead, I feel dead, it's no bueno.

Well I've been putting it off long enough, I need to suck it up and go run 12 miles.

Beautiful Day

For some reason this fast is harder than any other fast. Harder than the "c" word fast, harder than fasting all food even. I never realized how much caffeine I put in me every day until now. Plus working blends doesn't help. It's ok though, I'll get through this, Jesus can be my coffee!


It's so nice outside. It's days like today that make me want to climb a mountain then sit at the top overlooking everything and play guitar. I will do that someday...

But for now I will have to settle for running Salem trail with my ipod.

Not able to sleep

There is so much I want to say I don't even know where to start...There's not even enough room or time to write everything so I will try to narrow it down to the most important...

God has shown me so much in the last few months its insane. These last three weeks in Mexico especially. There are so many things in life that you know in your head but you don't really know them in your heart. For instance: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can be a slut *in a drama people, don't get any ideas*, eat more food than should be humanly possible to consume in one day, pray for people that don't even speak my language, tell my testimony in front of lots and lots of people, be confident in who God made me to be, and completely trust God with absolutely everything. You know what else? Just try to wrap your mind around this. The God that created the universe, the God that spoke mountains into existence, the God that is so big he is everywhere at the same time loves me, and chose me to be in this program and to go to Mexico and tell people about Him. Out of all the people in the world, I got to do that. Dude.
Have you just sat there and tried to wrap your mind around how much God loves you lately? I think that too often we forget exactly what that love entails. Too often we just know it in our head.
We wrote down goals today and one of mine is to never forget and just know in my head that God loves me, but to always know it in my heart. To never get used to the fact that the God that created this entire world and everyone in it loves me. Me, ZuZu Ford. Every time I think about that, like really think about it, I have this major wow moment and I want to go tell everyone so that they can realize the same thing.

So these are just a few things and when you read most of them you're like, ya duh I've known that my whole life but there is a big difference between knowing something and knowing something. That is something I'm learning, to never let yourself get used to the things of God to where they don't amaze you anymore and they just seem normal.

There is so much more I want to say but now I need to sleep. I will write more later.

Hopefully soon I'll have pictures I can put up too.
Later
Zu

Off to Mexico I go!

Hey guys just wanted to post really quick before I leave. I have to be at the church in like half an hour and I think I am done packing....I took my last shower this morning and straightened my hair. I should take before and after pictures lol

Anyway I better go I've got some things to clean before I leave but feel free to leave me lots of messages on my phone to come home to!

God is going to do some freakin awesome things and I get to be a part of it. How cool is that? Dude I'm excited!

Later yo! I'll be back on the 31st!

2009

Wow I haven't posted anything on here in a really long time.
Well it is now the year 2009. I cannot even begin to describe how I excited I am for this next year. God is going to do some crazy awesome things and I get to be apart of some of them.

So this is the last day of Christmas break before we go home tomorrow. It's been a good relaxing break, maybe a little too relaxing. There were a couple of days where I got so bored I about went crazy. It was good getting to spend time with my family. We are actually getting along now so that is awesome. I am however ready to go back. I miss my 24/7 family. I miss having things to do every day. I miss Blends coffee. I even miss working out with everyone cuz working out on your own sucks.

Ok well I have things to get done today before I leave so I will leave you with this quote from a book I've been reading this week.

"A leader fails his disciples when he fails to help them progress from disciples to leaders." -Rick Zachary