What's Your Definition of Success?

As I stood upon the little green-blue stage of the multi-purpose room of my school and accepted my awards for this school year, I blushed and halfheartedly accepted them. I glanced around nervously at the sea of students, each individually successful in their own way. Successful. I stumbled over that word.

Even though I received many awards tonight, I don't know if I would consider myself...successful. Grades are great, sure. I just felt though, that the definition of success seemed a bit...wrong.

Good grades are, well good, but are they really all that we should strive for... to be successful? Society deems success as having good grades, having a large house, having a multitude of money, and having a high paying, stressful, over-the-top job that you could consider a 'bragging right'. To me it all seems wrong.

Success should not be measured in achievements, but rather the way you live your life.

I listen to my parents discuss their success. They seem disappointed. They seem to feel that they hadn't achieved much... they hadn't succeeded in their endeavors. I feel the complete opposite though.

My parents are good, kind, hardworking people who care deeply about their family and God. They have raised three good and kind children who have a love for God and care about other people. These children respect those around them and treat others with the utmost kindness in their hearts. They are quiet and courteous, and just a dash bashful!

Is that not successful? Is being a good person not an achievement? Is serving God not respectable or an achievement? Something that should be held in high honor?

I feel that success in God's eyes in measured in love, not awards.

Accepting these awards made me feel embarrassed. I know that I've done well in school... anyone who tries hard enough can do that. But only a few people can actually say that they have succeeded in loving their neighbor and following God's commands.

Succeeding in love often goes unnoticed, but I feel that it deserves the greatest award, with which you will be repaid with... God's eternal home.

"Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers."

Psalms 1: 1-3

Success is not being dazzling and glamorous with a fancy job, it's serving God to the best of your abilities. It's loving your neighbor. It's living a life of purposeful fulfillment, not one in which you strive to be the biggest or the best.

God bless you and may you be successful in love, walking a good path, and delighting in the Lord. Then, you will be truly successful.

Laura Rose is a child of God and a blogger who is on a mission to share that God NEVER Fades. She loves gardening, reading, spending time with her family, and spending time with God. To learn more about Laura and her journey with Christ, visit her at godneverfades.wordpress.com!

I encourage you to hop over to Laura's blog and get to see a bit more of her heart! Click on the button, and don't forget to leave a comment with your thoughts on this post!

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One Year!!

Today is Morning Glory’s One Year Anniversary for the blog!!!

I feel like it was yesterday I was putting the finishing touches up on the design and getting everything read for the launch of this exciting new project. Now it’s been a year! A whole year! And over ninety posts published in that year!

I’m so thankful for the ways God has been working through Morning Glory. God is so faithful. Even though the past several weeks have been rough, cray, and disorganized as I’ve been recovering from a minor concussion, I’ve still received so much feedback on the ways that God has been using Morning Glory to touch people’s lives all around the country.

To celebrate, I want to encourage you to send this link, morningglorypursuingjesus.blogspot.com to three of your friends who you think would enjoy Morning Glory and, if you choose, share the blog buttons on the sidebar on social media!

Thank you so much for being part of this journey with Morning Glory. I’m so thrilled to explore another year of what God has planned and to see Him work in whole new ways this coming year.

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Are You A Hypocrite?

“And He said to them, ‘Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honors Me with their lips,

But their heart is far away from Me.

But in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.

Neglecting the commandments of God, you hold to the traditions of men.’”

Mark 7:6-8

Before this passage, the Pharisees were criticizing Jesus’ disciples because they were eating with unwashed hands. Jesus point to them and called them hypocrites. He told them that they honor Him with their actions, but their hearts were full of sin.

Then I had to ask myself, in what ways am I a hypocrite?

When I pray before I eat, am I doing it to actually thank God, or am I doing it because it’s the “Christian” thing to do?

When I obey my parents, am I fully submitting  myself to their God-given authority, or am I obeying them in deed, but rebelling in my heart?

When I sing songs in church, am I truly worshipping God? Or am I thinking about where we’re going to lunch?

The list could go on.

Sisters, what ways are YOU a hypocrite? I’ve known people who talk about God, Scripture, and such, but who are living in rebellion against God. Their lifestyles negate the words they speak.

Hypocrisy ruins ministry.

How do you avoid being a hypocrite?

1.      Pray

2.      Read your Bible

3.      Apply what you read

4.      Ask someone who knows you well to inform you of any hypocrisy in your life

5.      Humbly receive correction

To some degree, we all are hypocrites. We know most of the “right” answers, and we’re quick to point out the faults of others. But how quickly do we notice and strive to change those same faults in our own lives?

If you see hypocrisy in your life, it’s not too late. God can turn your life around and open your eyes to the sin in your own life that you previously missed.

Do you see hypocrisy in your life? What are some ways that you want to try to fix that? Share in the comments!

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Summer Goals!

Photo Creds

For many of us, school is over. Behind us—gone. We’re facing an exciting summer. Some of us have crazy amazing plans; some of us are looking forward to some down time.

Either way, most of us will have more time now that we are not studying constantly. It is so easy to let that time slip away from you. The last thing you want is, at the end of the summer, looking back and realizing you accomplished nothing.

Don’t let your summer become a waste, drowned in frivolous things like social media.

What is something to keep us motivated throughout the summer?

How about a list of goals?

I’m making my list of summer goals.

Here are some example goals for you:

1.      Read my Bible every day

2.      Read (insert number here) of books this summer

3.      Take a couple of my friends out for coffee periodically

4.      Spend more time with my siblings

5.      Get (insert project here) done

6.      Clean my room and keep it clean

7.      Etc.

They don’t have to be complicated goals. You can work on establishing good habits, getting something done, or investing more time in people—or all of the above.

Don’t let the summer slip through your grasp. Take hold of it—seize it—and get all its worth out of it. Each year in your life will go by faster and will get busier. You don’t want to miss what you can accomplish this summer!

What are your summer goals? Any exciting vacations happening? Share in the comments!

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10 Tips for Waking Up Early

        
            One of the best habits I have ever developed was establishing a pattern about a year ago of getting up at 5:00 am every weekday morning.

I know most of you probably want to stop reading at this point. But hang with me for a bit. I’m not saying everyone should get up at 5:00 am every day at all. I’m saying that it has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life. Getting up at 5:00 am doesn’t happen every single weekday for me. Especially during the school year when unexpected assignments can keep me up late, I have to get sleep when I can. However, it is a great pattern to establish.

Getting up at 5:00 is hard. Definitely. But here are some tips I use that I hope can help you with that very first battle we all face each day.

1.     Establish WHY you're getting up early

Why in the world WOULD you get up at 5:00 am in the morning? For me, it was because my mornings were busy, and often my afternoons, and I needed time to get school done. As I rolled into summer, I wanted a time dedicated to writing blog posts for Morning Glory as well as other various writing projects. Also, it is so refreshing to start the day off with my Bible in the peace of a quiet house of sleeping family members.

It feels amazing to have three fresh, productive hours before 8:00 am. For me, it makes me feel like a busy day is less daunting if I have several hours of quiet time with God and my school or writing.

2.     Make a firm decision the night before to get up no matter how you feel

When 5:00 rolls around, TRUST ME—you will not want to wake up. You will be lying there, “Do I have get up at 5:00?? I don’t have anything that needs to get done right now. I can get up early tomorrow.”

NO.

Don’t let those thoughts persuade you to go back to bed. You must make a firm decision the night before that you will get up. No matter if you feel like you’ve been mowed over by a truck.

3.     Put your alarm clock on the other side of the room

I’m a hard sleeper and I’m sorry, but having my alarm clock on the bedside table does not wake me up. Countless times I’ve flopped over and hit it and gone back to sleep. I keep it on my dresser on the other side of my room so I physically have to get up and turn it off. Days that I’m really, really exhausted, I still might crawl back into bed without thinking and fall asleep. But in general, physically getting out of bed helps me a lot.

4.     Turn on your light immediately

Sitting in the dark being like, “Wake up! Wake up!” isn’t going to help at all. Turning on the light helps a lot.

5.     Leave your room to make breakfast and coffee

Again, more movement to wake me up. You could take a shower or something like that. Making breakfast helps me.

6.     Do NOT read your Bible (or pray) in bed

Just don’t do it.

I have a specific memory of getting up to read my Bible and deciding I would “pray” in bed. I snuggled up in my warm comforter after reading the first couple chapters of Acts and started foggily praying, “God, thank You for…for…for giving the disciples Your Holy Spirit… And… thank You… Like… I love You…” And the clonk I was asleep.

Don’t do it.

7.     Have someone keep you accountable

My dad usually wakes up between 4:00 am and 5:00 am. He gives me a hard time if I sleep in later than 5:00. It is really helpful.

8.     After breakfast and quite time, get to work

No crawling back in bed. No lying on the couch or even floor. Sit down at your desk and get work done. It became such a joy to sit down at my desk at 5:30 and write for two hours before the house woke up.

9.     Make it routine

It’s crazy hard to get up at 5:00 am one or two days a week. You have to get up every day or every week day consistently so that your body gets used to it. After a few days, it gets a lot easier.

10. Discipline yourself to go to bed early, at a pre-planned time

I still needed to get sleep every night. It’s extremely hard for me to go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5:00 and it’s not healthy. Going to bed earlier makes it easier to wake up earlier.

Is this something you would like to work on in your life? If you do already wake up early, what are some helpful things that you’ve done? Share in the comments!

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