Ask Becca!

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I am adding a new feature - the "Ask Becca" feature! Leave a comment, or personally email me at annarebecca.johnson@gmail.com, and I will try to get back to you ASAP.

Thanks for your support!

-BeccaJ

Elisabeth's Fruit Smoothie

My sister concocted a fabulous fruit smoothie, which she is currently raving about. It is perfect when you are craving something sweet, but is still very healthy. You can alter the proportions to your liking, for example, you may want to add a little extra juice to make it less thick. It is very tasty and a great recovery drink after a workout…or even a great breakfast drink! Hope you enjoy!


Elisabeth's Fruit Smoothie

1/2 c. berries (frozen)
1/2 banana (frozen)
1 T. agave nectar or organic honey
4 T.  chopped dates (I use pre-packaged.)
1 T. flax seeds
1 T. vanilla
2 T. unsweetened organic coconut flakes
1/2 c. fresh juice (of your choosing.)

A Brief Thought on Patience...

Hey Soul Surfers,


Today we are going to have a brief post from my sister, Elisabeth. It's short and sweet, but still totally relevant. :)

Hi! It's Elisabeth again---this time with a very short post. I was studying some scriptures and came across this verse:

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. -Ephesians 4:2

It really stood out to me because in general, I am not known as the most patient person. While I accept that I struggle with patience more than most people, I feel like everyone struggles with this to some degree…which is where this scripture comes into play. When we are patient with each other, we love each other, but we also display gentleness and self-control. It often takes a considerable amount of time and energy to be patient with each other, but when we are patient we are giving each other a great gift out of love. 

This scripture had a lasting impression on me and I wanted to share it with you guys in hopes that it would be just as inspirational for you. Sometimes I need to be reminded not to stress, but to bring it back to the important things in life---and relationships with others are one of the most meaningful aspects of life.

This thought is simple, but relevant regardless of our differences. 

XOXO,

Elisabeth

More to the Story

Raise your hand if you have ever felt like you are undeserving of God's love.

Don't feel alone; I am sure all of us have felt this at some point in our lives. That's normal.

The problem occurs when we dwell on that feeling. All too often, we focus on the negative - the "we are not worthy." We place the emphasis on the wrong syllable. The fact is, we aren't worthy. We are all sinners, BUT God has chosen to love us. He has chosen to love us with a love so big, we can't fully comprehend it. He has chosen to love each of us with a personalized, eternal love - a love big enough that He gave up His son for us. HE has chosen. 

I find myself, all the time, thinking about all of the wrongs I've done, instead of thinking about what He has done right. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, and when He did that, the story continued. 

The greatest story of all is still being written. It did not stop with a broken, sinful people. It did not even stop with the crucifixion of Jesus. No, the story is eternal. So instead of focusing on the sadness of our sins - next time we feel unworthy - let us remember to rejoice. Because there is happiness--- there is more to the story. 



Since this is a short thought, I decided to include a link to a great podcast I watched the other day! My best friend goes to a church in Dallas, and she sent me this link to a lesson she heard last week. It's a great one, and I love how it's tied into pop culture. That's my jam. Hope you enjoy! :) 

http://www.watermark.org/media/series/365/

Losing the Weight (of the World)

I have been dealing lately with the issue of feeling very "weighed down" by the world. I hate growing up for many reasons, but most recently, because it means no more naivety. Suddenly, I have the responsibility of knowing exactly what's going on around me - good and bad. I am naturally an empathetic person - not sympathetic, empathetic. I take people's emotions on as my own. I feel what they feel. So naturally, I have felt overwhelmed by just….life. I see a broken world, and it has been very hard, recently, to deal with the sadness I have felt because of that. 

As Christians, I think we all deal with that empathy to some extent. It's hard to live in a world that is not our own. So, how do we deal with sin? I am not talking about temptation, but about the sin that has infiltrated our worlds…that we have to see…that we have to live with. 

*Let me just pause for a moment and say that, in no way, do I want to make myself seem sinless or better than anyone else. We all deal with sin, and I am not really talking about individual sin anyway, as much as I am about how to deal with living in a broken and sad world. *

I have been dealing with this issue for some time, and have only recently realized that it really has to do with spiritual perseverance. Galatians 6:9 says: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." I have been praying and praying, stewing on this subject, and I "happened" upon that verse. I have been missing the big picture! (That happens more than I would like to admit, by the way.) The point is, we cannot let the weight of this world discourage us. We have to persevere and keep doing the work of the Lord, regardless. It is hard. We knew it was going to be hard when we chose to follow the Lord. My problem was: I didn't know all of the different types of "hard." Temptation is just one of the types. 

You see, Satan is smart. He is smart enough to know our weaknesses. Temptation of sin is one way, but living in a world ladened with sin and sadness and anything, really, that doesn't glorify God is another. He, knowing we have a heart for God's will, can take us down by merely showing us a broken world. He knows that will dishearten us. 


This is where our trust in God becomes real. Proverbs 3: 5-6 says this: "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track." I like this version, because it say "don't try to figure everything out on your own." (I think that translation was created just for me!) We don't have to know the answer to every question, we just have to trust God. We have to trust fully in His plan, and trust fully that everything will work out, according to His plan. That is what we are called to do. 

In order to fight this discouragement, we must be able to trust God, and we must also be able to see the good He is doing. We have to be able to see past this life and trust in God, knowing that this world is not our own. That is how we persevere. We know that this world is temporary - not useless, but temporary. Our eternity comes after this. Similarly, we have to actively see His good works, thanking Him constantly, because in every situation (good or bad,) He can be seen. Even in the hardest of situations, He reveals Himself to us; there is always something to be thankful for.

Obviously, this is an issue I am still working through. It is hard, because I am such a sensitive person…but is necessary to mature, spiritually. These are just the thoughts I have come up with that have helped me, so far. I hope if any of you are in a similar place, that these thoughts will help you stay positive and persevere, too. 

be happy, 

becca 

How Not to Pray

Friends!

I feel like it's been such a long time since I've written (probably because it has been such a long time since I've written,) but I am back! If you follow me, you know that I have been lucky enough to be at my cabin in New Mexico. It is my favorite place. I love it. Even more than Disneyland. Even more that Disneyworld! I know, guys. That's a lot of love. 

Anyway, it is very close to the church camp I went to- oh- all of my youth, and I get to go to so many camp events. The other day, I was at a campfire, and - oh, man - it was just the most beautiful night for a campfire. It had rained earlier that day, so everything smelled fresh, and it was cool. The fire was crackling. Everything was perfectly still. The only imperfection were the bats… I can't. I…I just can't. So anyway, I'm sitting out at this campfire with my sister and one of the best guys I know, and I look up at the sky. The stars appear so low, I'm almost convinced I could reach out and scoop up a handful. <--- I didn't mean for that to come out as oddly poetic as it did, but really, they were almost tangible. SO PRETTY. I thought to myself: "I'm so lucky." That's the thing, though. I'm not lucky at all. I'm blessed. I know that word is overused, but there isn't another word that satisfies. I am blessed by a perfect and HUGE God. 

So I began thinking… 

(by the way, this just shows how distracted I become with my own thoughts; I hardly heard a word the speaker said….I shouldn't brag about that, should I?)

 So I began thinking about how truly great our God is, that He could create such a perfect moment, but also how gentle He is and how He truly loves me - how He even knows how many hairs are on my head. He knows more about me than I know about myself! Now…pause to think about what that really means….wow. Wow, is all I can say. 

I began to think about that, which led me to think about the way I pray. (Finally, I'm getting to the heart of this post. Sorry for the rambling that's happening today..?) 

So here's the thing: I am guilty of two major praying crimes. Maybe more, but I'll just say two for today. The first thing that I do wrong when I pray is that - when I'm guilty about something, I often feel ashamed to bring it up in prayer. I know that's ridiculous. You know that's ridiculous, but I still do it. Please, please tell me I'm not the only one. It's coming from a place of reverence. I do not want to disappoint the God that has provided so many blessing for me by telling Him I have failed Him (again.) Right? 

But that's not the way it works. I can't simply - by avoiding bringing it up - hide information from the God that knows me better than I know myself. (Like...no duh, Becca.)  He already knows. He knows me to my very core, and here's the great part: He will still love me. Even though I'm a total bonehead, He will love me. And that's all that matters. 

So even when my little pea brain thinks it's the best idea to try to hide things from Him, because I can't bear to disappoint Him…He probably laughs first, but He always knows my heart and always loves me as His daughter. 

The second major crime I commit - and again, please tell me I'm not the only one who does this - is that I (unconsciously) manipulate prayers to my "benefit." <--- I put that in quotes, because I don't actually know what's best for me; only He can know that. How many times have you prayed for something you really, really wanted and said something like "Lord, I promise I'll (fill in the blank) if you just let me have (fill in the blank)." I know I'll catch myself doing this from time to time. Seriously, sometimes I'm baffled at my immaturity. Prayers are not a sales pitch. God knows the deepest desires of my heart; I do not need to convince Him of reasons why He should give me something. Seriously, I'm embarrassed even admitting this, but I am admitting it, because I have a feeling I may not be the only person who does it. Psalm 37 says "Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." We do not need to convince Him of anything; He gives us all that we want and need! He is not our parents, and we are not asking for a later curfew--- He is the God of our hearts! And He has a perfect plan in store for each of us! (Which He planned….all by Himself…He needs no suggestions from me.) 

Ah… how cool is that?! He can take my immature, lame-brain problems and still make something beautiful out of them. I LOVE IT.

So when we pray, let's be full-disclosure, hiding nothing. No matter how embarrassed or guilty we feel. And let's be completely satisfied in God's plan for us, because it really is the perfect plan. Pride is asking God for something I want, instead of embracing God's perfect plan. Remember: God is our chauffeur. We don't need to know where we're going, because we trust that He will get us to where we need to be. 


He loves us. 
All the time.
Really.





-becca

Love Sees the Good

Hi Friends!

Today is a very special day, because the post has a guest writer - my seester! She has a special message she has been thinking upon for a while, and I have to say, it's a pretty refreshing message to hear. I know I have benefitted from hearing it. :)

Without further ado….

Elisabeth Johnson, everybody...

Hey Soul Surfers,

I’m sure we are all familiar with the 1 Corinthians 13 “love passage.” I have read it many times, but I was recently reading this passage in “The Message” and one particular fragment of the passage really caught my attention.

“Love always looks for the best.” 

This is my new favorite sentence. I’ve thought about it every day since I rediscovered it. I’ve tweeted about it (I only tweet my best material…hahaha.) I’ve really made a conscious effort to make a change in my life based on it.

Love looks for the best in situations and in people, but this post will be mostly focused on looking for the best in people. 

Back in the spring, I planned a day full of fun things after I got off work on a Friday. This was a really long day (in retrospect, I probably planned way too much for a single day,) but the largest part of the day was to be spent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I had never been before, and I noticed on the website that they were having an exhibit called “Journey of a Dress," which showcased the work of designer Diane von Furstenberg. I knew I was going to love this exhibit, but I didn’t realize how much I would love it until I was right in the center of it.

It’s not a secret that I love clothes, but not just ordinary clothes. I love clothes rich in design...clothes with something special about them...something that sets them apart from the over-manufactured, cheap quality pieces we see all over the world today. I love a nice blazer, the perfect purse, anything chic & black, anything inspired by military, menswear, or equestrian...I even love the perfect Nike running shoe or workout outfit. 

The DVF exhibit was by far the highlight of my day. Inside were many mannequins placed on mirrored platforms all modeling a DVF original dress from past to present. There were probably at least a hundred mannequins modeling dresses of every length, color, and print, but they were all true to the DVF ‘wrap dress’ style. In fact, these dresses are extremely well-known for their iconic style---all with a waistline that is universally flattering. 

As I sat on a bench inside the room where all the dresses were, I was in awe. I was partially this way because as I said, I love clothes. There was something else that was mesmerizing me that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, though. I probably stayed in this one spot for over an hour before I decided that it was time to move on and see some of the other awesome things LACMA had to offer. I looked at European art for a while and then decided to get some coffee. I was midway to the coffee shop when I turned around and went straight for the DVF exhibit again (anything that distracts me from coffee must be pretty powerful, just saying). It was at the other end of the property, but I continued to walk until I got there...my feet were killing me by this point, but I didn’t care! I sat on the bench inside the exhibit again and was still mesmerized. There were a million distractions in the room, but I had tunnel vision for the dresses. I would wear any of these dresses. I didn’t care if it was a funky print, if it was short or long, or even if it was a pantsuit. You are probably wondering why I was so attracted to them. I finally realized that they all had one feature in common...their design. Their design was SO PERFECT that it had mesmerized me. I didn’t care if the dresses were purple leopard print (exaggeration) or some other print that is too funky to ever be considered by me. They each shared ONE FEATURE that was so beautiful.

When I think back to the verse in 1 Corinthians 13 that says, “Love always looks for the best.," I am reminded of my experience that day. What if I could look at people the way I looked at those dresses? What if I could find the one most beautiful part about them and focus on it so much that the things that I disliked became irrelevant? 

To me, that is what love is. As Christians, we are called to love each other. God loves us in a way that he “always looks for the best," yet as humans, we might forget to do this and sometimes treat others as if they are unlovable. Matthew 5:43-47 says, “If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.” True love is seeking out the best in a person, not simply loving a person because they are easy to love, because you have something in common with that person, etc. When individuals “look for the best” in others out of love, it is a sign of spiritual maturity. 

I have challenged myself to have “tunnel vision” like I had that day at the LACMA. I want to “look for the best” in others so much so that I focus on it as if there were no other factors to be considered. We know that we are to display brotherly love, but as with my experience with the dresses, we rarely realize the intensity to which we can do this until we are intently focused on “the best." 

This verse has really inspired me lately and I hope that it inspires you! Now cue Bob Marley’s “One Love” in the background...just kidding!

XOXO,

Elisabeth

P.S.-- I’ve attached some photos of the dresses, so you can feel like you were there, too! :)

Where Does my Worth Come From?

Well.... I broke my perfect streak of writing once a week. Boooo. I had friends come visit me, and I got distracted. Hey, at least I'm honest, right?

Within the past week, I've had about 50 half-baked ideas in my head. So many good starts, but hardly any of them fully fleshed out, yet. BUT just before writing this, something came to me:

I have been on social media ENTIRELY too much the past two or three days, and in between my fits of stalking old friends and forgetting to write on people's walls for their birthday, I noticed a pattern. Story after story on my newsfeed involved people screaming out for acceptance, admiration, even love. Many (most, actually) of these instances came from girls, my age, not unlike myself. In fact, I would be straight-up lying if I said I don't periodically circle through this phase of wanting (fill in the blank/ anyone other than God's) acceptance. EVERYONE STRUGGLES WITH THIS. That is just the truth. I'm sorry.

One of the biggest and most frequent lies our society presents to us is that we need to work on ourselves in order to gain the acceptance of each other. Think about this, women: you get up, pick out your best outfit, put on some killer shoes, perfect your cat-eye eyeliner, double up on coats of mascara, and DEFINITELY cover up those nasty blemishes...for who? Not for God! Not even, really, for boys. (Newsflash: red lipstick actually kind of freaks them out, as it's not very natural-looking.) We fix up for each other! We want the acceptance and the positive attention of each other so, so much that we feel we need to be one step ahead of each other at all times. The need to be the best, the prettiest, the most popular, or the smartest stems from us investing our self-esteem in each other.

Which leads me to my next point:
I am...mmmm...just...really tired of hearing people rant on and on about how the beauty industry does nothing but give girls low self-esteem. Like anything else, that can be true to some extent, but PUH-LEASE, let's stop deflecting the heat off of ourselves! As women, we are each other's worst enemies when it comes to low self-esteem. Like men, we are geared toward competition, but unlike them, we don't go for the prize and then stop. Instead, we compete to stay on top, because we feel we need that security of being "the most" to feel worthy. Like I said before, I go through ups and downs - sometimes I can get really catty. When I look back at my worst moments, though, they are always at a time when I had low self-esteem - a time when I forgot where my true worth comes from.

The only One whose acceptance we need is The One, and guess what? We've already gotten it! Holla. He loves us, and I mean REALLY loves us. This is real. Think of all of the things you hold dearest in your life - family, friends, even your husband or future husband - now completely and quickly erase them from your mind for a moment. (Yes, EVEN your husband!) Why? Because even they cannot dictate your sense of self. God is the ONE THING that is eternal. He is the one thing that is purely good. He will not judge you. He will always love you. He created you from His very own image! That should make us immeasurably happy and confident.

Let me make another analogy: I used to (ahem....still do, sometimes...) judge myself very critically on (this is so embarrassing) the fact that I never had a boyfriend. (Wait, it gets even more embarrassing.) Even more so, I always felt I needed the token, most perfect, most popular boyfriend - nice, funny, great Christian, athletic- no pressure, right? In essence, I was finding my self worth in whether "the perfect guy" liked me or not. Now, game-changer: He does. He loves ME. The greatest not just man, but KING chose ME (and YOU) to love. To love completely. And eternally. THAT is where our self-esteem should come from. We no longer have anyone else to blame but ourselves when our self-esteem is low. We have no excuse. The King of Kings loves us, and He will never stop loving us. It doesn't matter if we are Valedictorian or dead last in our class, if we have a million adoring fans or one best friend, He will love us. He will NEVER forsake us.

Isn't that just the best feeling? Doesn't it kind of change everything? We are worthy and beautiful daughters of Him, and that should make us truly and eternally happy. :))



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