Quick Recap

Well its been a while, hasn't it? Just a quick update on whats been happening in my life the past 2 and a half years.

In October of 2013 I started dating the most amazing man on the planet. From the start we knew that we were going to be together for the rest of our lives and let me tell you, that is an amazing feeling.

In May of 2014 my best friend since birth got married. It was so amazing getting to see my childhood best friend get married to the man of her dreams. Her wedding was all pink and sparkles which is completely her style, but not mine ;)

In July I had the amazing opportunity to serve at Camp Blessing. That place will forever hold a special place in my heart. I left that week completely in awe of God and in awe of the way that He uses such small things to show you how awesome he is. Camp Blessing is a camp for kids who have Special Needs and that week I had the honor of being the buddy of a little girl named Dani. She was such a trooper throughout the entire week and she showed me that no matter your disability, you can still worship God, which is exactly what she did. In fact all of the campers showed me that. It was amazing to look around the room during worship time and see all of the kids and counselors just worshipping God in their own personal way.

  In August I moved to College Station thinking that I would start school to become a Special Ed teacher. I ended up just working the entire first semester that I was living there. I was just a housekeeper for a Jewish couple in their 70's and I babysat part time. I lived with a sweet lady and her granddaughter from that August up until June of 2015 when I moved in with the people that I was working for at that time.

That December on Christmas Eve my boyfriend(Dallas) asked me to marry him and he made me the happiest girl in the world. We went to a place near my family's house where they set up a HUGE display of Christmas lights every year. We stopped to take a picture(because I LOVE pictures) and as I started to walk away when we were done he pulled me back for "another" and when I turned around he was down on one knee and he asked me to marry him. I said "Oh my gosh are you serious?!" And he said yes and showed me the ring, which I couldn't even see because I was crying, and of course I said yes!!

July 25th, 2015 I got married to the love of my life, whom I love more and more every day. It is true when they say that the whole process of wedding planning goes by so fast. It is even more true when they say that your wedding day goes by so fast. The anticipation throughout the day was incredible. I had never been so ready to stand in front of a bunch of people in my life. To be honest though, once I was up there I didn't even notice them. All I could see was the man I was about to marry. In my opinion, it was the most beautiful wedding ever ;). I was told that I was too aggressive on the first kiss. Oops!     Apparently I leapt at him, I disagree. I still haven't lived that down.



We honeymooned in Colorado and it was my first time to see the mountains. THEY ARE GORGEOUS!! We stayed in a secluded cabin just outside of Telluride for the first few days and then we stayed in Manitou Springs for the last few days.






September 19th my brother and sister in law welcomed their first born son into the world. He also happens to be my very first nephew. He's absolutely adorable.

Currently my husband and I rent a two bedroom apartment in College Station while he attends school full time to be a civil engineer. I work full time as a nanny/housekeeper which keeps me super busy, but I love it! My school plan has changed however and I am now planning on going to school in the future to become a pediatric Occupational Therapist. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me in 2016!

Now we're all caught up on the biggest moments in my life these past couple of years! Hopefully it won't be quite so long before I make another post ;)

If you have any questions/comments feel free to email me at 29sarahelisabeth@gmail.com.
Or, ya know, just leave a comment below this post ;)

Sarah Chute

For My Friends and Their Parents

   I'm going to talk about something that God has been laying on my heart a lot lately. It's a bit of a touchy subject for a lot of people that I know and have been close to over the years.

   In case you don't know, I was raised in a Christian home by the greatest parents in the world. Up until I was 15 we attended a church that was fairly legalistic. In my younger years I didn't know that. I thought it was normal because I had been going there my whole life. I thought it was normal for your pastor to tell the congregation what you should and shouldn't wear. I thought it was normal to go to conferences where all they did was tell you what you were doing wrong and why you shouldn't wear jeans(because that causes men to lust after you). I thought it was normal for your parents to be too afraid to let you spend the night at a friends house because they were scared of what "the men in the house might do to you as a young girl."(No it wasn't the men in a  particular family, it was men in general.) I was taught that girls couldn't do certain things. I wasn't allowed to play sports past T-ball. I wasn't supposed to do a number of things because I am a girl. Now, I can't even remember what those things are, but at the time that really upset me. I literally could go on about all of this all day, but I won't because that's not what this post is about.

  Growing up in that church I never resented my parents for what they made me read, what they made me do, or what they made me wear. However I did begin to resent the leadership in the church. As I got older I began to see a lot of it as ridiculous and over the top, but that was what I was used to. I had grown up in that. My parents, as well as all of my friends parents, were very strict with their kids. This caused a bunch of rebellion as my friends older siblings began to get old enough to drive and start going to a different church on their own. It has caused many of the people that I know to become bitter towards their parents, the Church, and even God.

  The point of this post is not to show how wrong this church was or how wrong our parents were. It is to show that my parents, and the parents of my friends, only did what they thought was best for us. I don't have kids of my own yet but I've gotten to see enough parents with their young children that just want the best for them. They just want them to know that they are loved. They want them to know what is right and wrong. They want them to be safe and most importantly they want them to love God. I've seen that it is incredibly difficult to be a parent in this crazy world, and even more difficult to raise children in the ways of God.

   I truly believe that my parents did what they thought at the time was right. I can't tell you how many times my mom and dad have apologized for everything that they put me and my siblings through growing up. They wish that they could do it over again. I feel that it would be wrong of me to be bitter towards them for just trying to raise me right. Can I just say how happy I am that my little siblings get to grow up in a church free of judgement and free of the constant belief that you can never do anything right in God's eyes? I truly praise God that they get to grow up in Southwinds Baptist Church. I don't resent the fact that my 9 year old sister was allowed to wear jeans her whole life. I don't resent the fact that my younger siblings get to have sleepovers. I love that for them. I love that they have a good relationship with my parents and they have a relationship with God that is their own and wasn't forced upon them.

   I always find it so sad when I hear some of my friends talk about how mad they are that their younger siblings are getting to do something that they never had the chance to do, because of our background. They are so angry towards their parents and I hate that for them. They can't see that their parents only did what they thought was best for them(or maybe they don't want to). It's even more sad though when my friends parents say something about it. I hate hearing how broken they are when they were just trying to do the right thing. I know they would change a lot if they could.

Dear friends, please forgive your parents. You may never know how much they need you to. So please let it go. They only did all of this out of love for you and for God.

Dear parents, if you haven't already, please ask for your children's forgiveness. You never know how much they may need you to ask.


Sarah (formerly Stephens) Chute

GRACE and NOT Perfection

 Growing up I had been taught that Christians are always supposed to have it all together, all the time. If you were going through a hard time, you must have sinned or done something wrong. God wasn't pushing you to draw closer to Him and grow in your faith, He was punishing you. And since God was punishing you for something you did wrong, it was your own fault so you shouldn't let anybody know that you are struggling or that anything is wrong. Everything is fine, all the time. 
 This affected so many lives in ways I never thought would be possible. Keeping your feelings bottled up inside and feeling like you were continually failing God took a huge toll on people. 
"Oh, your marriage is falling apart and your cousin died? Too bad. Nothing THAT bad is happening in your life. You must have done something wrong though. So its your fault. Put a smile on your face and be a light for Christ." You get the gist of the way it was. 
  Constantly striving to reach an un-attainable level of perfection and happiness but not being able to because you were continually masking your pain and struggles with a fake and broken smile.

  In the past couple of years I have come to realize that what I had been taught was completely wrong. 
 Hard times aren't designed to punish. I now know that they are designed to strengthen my relationship with Christ. If I allow God to work through me in times of trial the outcome will always be SO much better than if I had gone at it alone. Another thing I now know is that I don't have to pretend that I have everything together. I am a real person and I have real problems and real feelings. Things can become super hard for me and I may just need someone to talk to and pray with. The body of believers is supposed to lift one another up in prayer, but how can they if they have no idea who is struggling, and what with? The truth is they can't. 
  That's right. I am quite far from perfect. No I don't have it all together and I do NOT know everything. No I won't ever reach perfection, "have it all together", or know everything. But is that going to stop me from pressing on to every day learn as much as I can about Christ and become more like Him? No, I won't let that stop me. Philippians 3:12 says-
     "Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus."

 Every day I strive to be more like Christ. Sure, I will mess up but I hold myself to a standard of GRACE and not perfection. 

   So you, yeah you! Go on. Be a LIGHT! Not a perfectly bright light that doesn't flicker, because in all honesty you aren't a perfect person and neither am I. Be transparent and share with others what you are struggling with. It will open doors.
  And remember to hold yourself to a standard of GRACE and not perfection.

                                                        {Sarah Elisabeth}

                                                                Romans 8:28

For Everything There is a Season

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.  
                               Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

   So wow... It's been almost a full year since I've made a post on here. So very much has happened in this past year. It has seemed like there were more downs than ups, to be completely honest. But who has been there with me the whole time, every single second? Every sleepless night? Not my friends here on earth but the One who is my Best Friend. My Savior. Jesus Christ. 
    One of the biggest struggles(as well as most common) I've had this past year is in the area of friendships. God allowed things to happen with 3 of my closest friends and we are no longer close anymore. It's sad to say that the first time that happened I pushed away from God and I just blamed myself for what happened. I was at what I believe to be the lowest point in my relationship with Christ for about 3 months and then I went to youth camp. Camp Mitchell. Five days with a group of amazing teens, an incredible youth pastor, fantastic counselors, and God. No cell phones, no Internet, no connections with anybody who was not on that mountain in Arkansas. That week God taught me how to forgive myself. He taught me that even though I am not perfect He still loves me. When I mess up He continually forgives. It seemed like every single lesson that Sonny taught was directed straight at me. It applied perfectly to what I was going through right then. It's incredible how God works like that. Philippians 3:12 says "Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus." 
 Something else that was huge to me that week was that God has reconciled me to Himself. Nobody can say or do anything that will stick on me when judgement day comes. Jesus' blood has washed ALL of my sins away. Past, Present, and Future. Christ has set me apart as His. I am His child. I belong to Him. God has started a work in me and He will continue that work if I allow Him to. I must not move away from the gospel. I must stay rooted and firm in my belief in Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:21-23 says "And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present your body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him: if so be that ye continue in the faith,  grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister."

Camp Mitchell

   After Camp Mitchell, with God's help, I stayed on track with my Quiet Time and my relationship with Christ got better and I was closer to Him than I had been in a long time. I learned to depend on Him and I realized that He was all I really needed. I realized that He was the only friend that I truly needed to have. LIFT camp with my church rolled around and that week God continued to teach me about forgiveness and He continued to speak to me about how much I really needed Him. That week(through the LIFT staff testimonial videos) He also showed me that I didn't have to have some huge story of my life being completely turned around by Him for my testimony to have an impact. He also showed me that He speaks the most to us when we are quiet and still, just listening to Him. "And, behold, Jehovah passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before Jehovah; but Jehovah was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but Jehovah was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but Jehovah was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice." -1 Kings 19:11-12
  

Lift Camp

The rest of the summer went pretty well. I continued to grow closer to Christ and my relationship with Him became deeper and deeper. Then one Friday morning my world was shaken up. August 31st, 2012 God called a wonderful young man home to be with Him in Heaven. Chanse Seiter. He had gotten in a car accident on his way home from work. When I got the news it was like every single memory I had ever had with him came flooding back all at once. Me and Chanse weren't very close friends and I knew I would see him again one day but that didn't make it hurt any less. His smile is what I will always remember most about him. He could really light up a room with just one smile. It really hits close to home when a friend dies. He was just a few years older than me and just in between the ages of my two older brothers.There were so many people at his funeral. It really showed how many peoples lives he had made an impact on. He had touched each persons life in some way. Seeing that made me think of the impact I have on people. There are people that are watching what I do. I come in contact with so many people. What I say and do is going to affect someone in some way. Whether it is good or bad, it will have an affect on someones life. I know this is cliche but it really made me realize how short life actually is. It also made me realize how little time I really have to make a difference on this earth as a Christian. My life really is so short in the grand scope of things.  The death of someone you love is always hard and sometimes it's hard to understand why God allows such wonderful people to die. But we have to realize that God has a plan. We also must remember that there is a time and a season for everything. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die;" -Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a

Chanse Seiter

   In July of 2012 we found out that my MaMaw Cain had cancer. The doctors said it wasn't curable and they didn't know how long she would have to live. Pray. Pray. Pray. Over the next few months her cancer continued to affect her more and it kept growing. She was doing chemotherapy in an attempt to kill the cancer. Thanksgiving day came and the whole family was there with the exception of my oldest brother and his fiance as well as 2 cousins. We had a lot to be thankful that day because we got the news that her cancer was gone. The chemotherapy had worked! God really does work miracles :) She was still very, very weak though. Having everybody there wore her out but she wanted to see everybody together at least one last time. We took family pictures and we will cherish them always. My MaMaw got really sick towards the end of the year and because of all the chemo her body was shutting down. On January 8th she went home to be with the Lord. She was no longer suffering which we were so thankful for. 
  Once again family came together. This time not one person was missing. Tight, long hugs. Tears. More hugs came with more tears. So many flowers. Memories and even more tears. Laughter. Some people are afraid to laugh and remember those who have passed away but I think its part of the healing process. We can't be upset forever. I feel like God wants us to remember those we love and the happy times we shared together. He doesn't want us to live our lives missing those who have gone on to be with Him. He wants us to learn from their lives and to live for Him with what time we have left. 

My Family 

  Once again I am reminded of how short life really is and how every decision I make will have an affect on me for the rest of my life. So little time on this earth and how do I spend that time here? Not doing all that I could be for Christ that's for sure. I could definitely do more for Him and for His kingdom. That's something I struggle with though. I struggle with making time for Him and with witnessing one on one to others. 
  In February of this year Heaven gained yet another Angel who was close to my heart. Grandpa Bill Schroeder. Not related by blood, or by marriage but related by choice. In June of 2002 my family moved into a new house and down the street lived the sweetest man and woman. They soon became our adopted grandparents. With a pond and a creek right behind their house we were always down there. We often took evening walks to their house and talked with them for long periods of time. All 3 of my brothers got to develop a personal relationship with Grandpa Bill that only comes with working together outside all year round. Last year they moved to Round Rock, Texas to be closer to Grandma Karen's daughter when Grandma Karen got really sick. Grandpa Bill got really sick at the beginning of February and went downhill fast. Me, my brother Jake, and sister Rachel were able to be with him the last two days he was here on this earth. On February 17th he passed away. I was holding his hand and had my head on his chest when God finally called him home. I can honestly say that it was the hardest thing I have been through so far but God is good and He got me through it. He has been my Comforter, my Rock, my Shelter, and He has been my Friend.
   A lot of times it is so hard for me to try and understand why so many hard things seem to keep coming my way one right after the other. But I realize that God only gives me as much as I can handle. That's one of the great things about Him. He knows me so well that He knows just how much I can handle. But He knows I can't handle all of it on my own. I continually have to be reminded to go to Him for help. I have to remember that He should be my source of joy, comfort, shelter, and peace. He continually reminds me of this verse "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God; to them that are the called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28. I've found that to be my life verse. To me it means that if I'm serving God and loving Him like I should then everything will turn out alright. God's got me in the palm of His hand and no matter what trial I face He will always be there for me. He never leaves my side and He will NEVER abandon me. 

  March 29th, 2013 my oldest brother(Isaac) got married! Woohoo! It was such an exciting day for everybody! A beautiful wedding. And I am SO happy for them! 

Me and Isaac

Gettin Hitched

The Wedding Party

   Now let me tell you about someone who has been one of the hugest blessings in my life  this past year. Her name is Jensyn. We met in June of 2012 and honestly I didn't like her a whole lot at first(don't worry, she knows that). It wasn't til around August(I think) that we became actual friends. We started texting all the time. This past year she has been with me through thick and thin. She really has never left my side. She has been a huge encouragement to me and always reminds me to seek God's will in every single situation. She really proves that it is possible to be beautiful from the inside out. "Who can find a virtuous woman?For her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 
 She's helped me get through some of the hardest trials I've ever had in my life. We have spent countless hours talking and I don't doubt that we will spend many more hours doing the same. We've laughed our heads off together for many reasons. Our late nights together at each other's houses watching scary movies and talking has brought us closer together in more than one. ;) I've never met anyone who is like this girl and that's what I like about her. She's not afraid to admit when she is wrong and she doesn't rub it in when she's right. She stands up for what she believes in. She listens to my problems, she gives great advice, and she is respectful of others. She's not perfect but she sure is pretty dang close to it! A verse that reminds me of her is Isaiah 62:3- "You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God." Jensyn is a crown of beauty and a royal diadem in God's eyes. She's a wonderful person, friend, daughter, and sister. You'll never find a more loyal friend than this girl. She's my best friend. She's my Pinks.

Jensyn

Jensyn and Me

   Currently God is teaching me that I need to trust Him more and that I need to let Him have control of every area of my life. He is also teaching me to respect my authorities even more and trust those that He has placed in authority over me. It's hard and I know I can't do it on my own so I have to daily give every aspect of my life over to Him. Also patience. He's teaching me how to wait. "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalms 27:14

 Right now I'm attending a Bible Study with a group of friends and we are going over the book "This Changes Everything" by Ben Stuart. It is helping me so much and I encourage you to read it. If you do, make sure you think about everything you read and I mean everything. There are really good questions in there that make you evaluate yourself. It's worth the read, I promise. Tonight I'm going to start reading a book called "Not a Fan" by Kyle Idleman. I've heard that its a real good book so I'm really looking forward to it. :) I'll probably be making posts about it as well. If I can remember. :P 

                                                          {Sarah Elisabeth}

                                                                Romans 8:28

First Post

So Hey! 

First post on the blog! I was having difficulties with my other one... So hey here's a new one! Hopefully this site won't be givin me any problems :) 

ALL of my previous posts will remain on my other blog so you can check them out there :) here's the link! http://alife4christ-sarah.blogspot.com/

And of course I always appreciate feedback! So feel free to comment or email me at alife4christ.sarah@gmail.com or sarahbeans.shorstuff@gmail.com :) Keep it real ya'll! 

                                                                           {Sarah Elisabeth}

                                                                Romans 8:28