Corinne's Corner

The Lord’s Will in My Life

August 18, 2019August 18, 2019by corinnedennis1 Comment

It has been quite some time since I have sat down and written a post but I am excited to fill you in on what the Lord has been teaching me over the course of the past month!

The Lord has been teaching me to truly seek His will in my life.

Seeking God’s will in my life is something that has been hard for me to do. I often think that I know what is best and that my decisions are well thought out and overall pretty great. I have to continually work on surrendering my idea of what is best for me and align my life with what the Lord has designed for me instead.

I think a lot of society might argue that what I’m attempting is silly. They think that I am giving up my freedom to make decisions for myself. They assume that I am a strong, independent woman capable of making her own decisions, why would I want to hand that over to a rule-ridden authority?

To the critics I would say that I am a strong and independent woman, a woman who is courageous enough to recognize that I cannot win this battle against the sin in my life without help and guidance from my Lord. I am a woman who is learning that the decisions I make for myself tend to only benefit me and my selfish desires, often leading me to sit in my sin instead of turning away from it. If I want to truly live out the gospel message that I proclaim to be truth in my life, I need to turn away from the sin that had once enslaved me and run toward my Savior who is ultimately working for my good.

I have been asking myself over the course of this past month, why are we as a generation so opposed to seeking God’s will in our life? One conclusion I came to is we want happiness and we want it now.

We are seeking after happiness in ways that will not last, and when it doesn’t, we are left feeling completely empty and broken. You may find happiness all you want outside of God’s will, but you will not experience true JOY outside of the will of God. Happiness is fleeting but true joy from the Lord is abounding and has no end.

In order to find this abounding joy, we need to seek after God’s will. One way to seek after God’s will is to live within the boundaries and guidelines that He has set before us in the Bible. Reading the Bible daily and aligning ourselves with God’s word is the best way that we can grow in our relationship with the Lord and understand His promises, plans, and desires for our life. It is so important to remind yourself that the “rules” or “guidelines” in the Bible are not meant to take away your freedom but to give you freedom that is abounding.

Take for example a mother and her child. I have had the honor of observing my oldest sister take on the role of mother to my sweet nephew and it is so evident that she loves and adores him with everything that she is. Now with that being said, she has rules set in place for his safety and ultimately for his good. When my sister sees my nephew crawling toward an electrical outlet she grabs him fiercely and tells him no. From his perspective he is just trying to explore this new world around him and he has absolutely no idea what an electrical outlet does or what it could do to him. But because she has more knowledge than him and understands the world from a completely different viewpoint, she knows that electrical outlets are bad and could seriously harm him. She will then cover the outlets for his protection as a boundary, preventing him from accessing them again.

These boundaries that God has set in place are what will set you free. Remember that the Lord loves you and His plans are meant to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you both hope and a future (Jeremiah 29: 11). God’s will is good, pleasing, and perfect (Roman’s 12:2).

Another way to seek God’s will in your life is to pray that God’s will be done in your life. The Lord’s prayer is given to us as a template and guide on how we should be praying so let’s use it! We should actually ask that the Lord’s will be done (Mathew 6:9-13) every time we come to Him in prayer because again, we truly don’t know what is best for our lives and ultimately we want His control over our situations because He IS working for our good (Romans 8:28).

My favorite way of seeking God’s will is to ask for prayer and guidance from mentors and friends who are also seeking God’s will. Their perspective and wisdom from their own experience is truly invaluable.

When I look at our world today, I see people who are striving after temporary pleasure that is fleeting and short-lived. I wonder if this may be in part a cause of the rising occurrences in mental illness that we are seeing today. When people are giving their lives work to reach achievements and receive recognition yet are unable to attain it, they feel as though all of their work was in vain. Even when people do reach the goal for which they have longed for and given everything to achieve, often times it isn’t enough for them and they are left feeling empty. The answer could be that they don’t have the one thing that we all were created to innately crave, which is a relationship with our Creator who has prepared the perfect plan for each of our lives.

If you want to experience freedom from the crippling realities of this world, grip closely to the guardrails and boundaries set forth by the one and only God who loves you more than you could dare to imagine or comprehend. His rules have an impact. His laws aren’t meant to crush you. His boundaries are what will set you free. The safest place that we can put ourselves is at the center of God’s will.

Simplicty

June 6, 2019June 6, 2019by corinnedennisLeave a Comment

I crave simplicity.

I want early mornings that are filled with reading and journaling, and herbal tea with fruit and scrambled eggs…let’s add a bagel to that order. Extended time sitting next to a window with sunlight that floods forth, filling my tank with Vitamin D by the second.

I desire to sit in nature, preferably among pine trees, breathing in crisp air. The type of air that bites at your lungs at first but eases with each breath. The type of air that feels like it cannot be tainted or polluted in any way but that it has somehow stood the test of time and remained as God intended it to be; pure.

I wish for an empty closet full of only the bare essentials, encapsulating exactly what is needed and nothing more. A bedroom with clean lines and neutral colors. A clean and kept room that does not allow for clutter because everything in it has its place. A life of minimalism in a world that bleeds consumerism.

I long for my relationship with Jesus to be straightforward, persistent, maybe some room for twists and turns, but only because they yield growth. To be able to grasp the gospel for the simple and straightforward message that it holds:

I am sinful despite my striving to be perfect or moral. My sin separates me from God even if I put forth my best work and efforts; I cannot obtain a relationship with God through work or on my own.
God loves me so much that He saw me in my striving and made a way for me to be in relationship with Him by sending His own son Jesus Christ to live a perfect life and die the necessary death as a sacrifice for my sins and the sins of the world.
The grace shown through Jesus’ act of love and mercy is extended to all, even the ones who feel impossibly far from God. I have the ability to accept the grace and Jesus Christ into my life and in doing so my sins are forgiven and I am made right with God. Slavery to sin erased, freedom abounding.
My eternity secure through the faith I have placed in Christ through the grace He has extended. So simple, so sweet.

As equally as I yearn for simplicity my instinct is to overcomplicate everything.

My desired slow mornings are spent with me dragging myself from drawn sheets that seem to weigh a thousand pounds, sleepy-eyed and lacking motivation for everyday tasks. Dressing, eating, and all things productive seem to require all that I have to give, leading me to spend my free moments scrolling instead of fruitful time in the Word.

Sitting in nature breathing fresh air seems impossible at times seeing as I live in the great northern tundra, Minnesota. The subzero temperature holds me indoors most of the year. But truly the cold is just a poor excuse to not bask in the nature and beauty that is winter. Even when the sun shines I find a reason to complain about being outside, typically blaming the pesky mosquitos buzzing about.

My bedroom is a pit. I cannot for the life of me keep it clean for any extended period of time. Dirty clothes on the floor, receipts and bills sprawled across my desk, and unkept bedding. There is a closet full of sentimental clothing articles of which will never grace this body of mine again. The clutter consumes me.

My emotions run wildly. One moment I feel pure joy and the next I am overly contemplative, leading me to quickly spiral down a tunnel of thoughts, pulling me further and further from the joy I once felt. My faith is strong until it isn’t. I quickly forget the truth of the Gospel that was once obvious to me listed in the bullet points above and then I am hit with shame and guilt because how can a born-again Christian have questions and periods of doubt about the one thing that is literally the source of their life.

Maybe you have experienced some of the same conflicting thoughts or desires for simplicity amidst the complexity that is your thoughts. Or maybe you have felt ashamed of your emotions and confusion and feel beyond fixing or repair.

I am here to tell you that you are covered with an encompassing blanket of grace by the God of the universe and He loves YOU. Even when you think that you are too far gone and your mistakes cannot be undone, His grace extends beyond your failure and He will forgive you. And when you go even further, His love and mercy meets you there with open arms. Quit striving and allow yourself to sit at the foot of your Savior. He will bring you the simplicity that you are seeking.

THIS IS ME

May 12, 2019May 13, 2019by corinnedennis1 Comment

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Hello and welcome to Corinne’s Corner!

Please allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Corinne (my friends call me Rinne) and I am a 23-year-old midwestern girl from a small town in southern Minnesota composed primarily of farmland. I graduated from college this time last year (like what!) and boy it has been an adventure attempting to decipher and figure out what life looks like in this new stage. I do not like the fake verb our generation has created, referred to as “adulting”, but without having to say it again, that is essentially what I am trying to do.

I work as a nurse on the overnight shift in downtown Saint Paul. This small town girl is getting her taste of the big city. I enjoy my job and I am learning a lot, but what I have yet to master in this season is what to do with the crazy amount of new-found free time I have in my schedule since completing nursing school.

One thing you should know about me from the get-go is that I am a dweller, meaning I sit and mull and overthink everything and anything. My friends tell me they can visibly see when I am overthinking because I make silly and sometimes unique facial expressions as each new thought comes to mind. At times my thoughts can consume me and they can even be a little out there, but I like to think that some are fairly profound and I hope that some people might find them to be worth sharing.

With that being said, I am going to embark on this journey that so many other millennials have paved before me by starting this blog. I want to welcome you into Corinne’s Corner; the corner of my mind where thoughts dwell and are eagerly waiting to be shared! I am giving myself free reign as to what I want to talk about. I want it to follow the many directions that my mind can lead me, covering anything from all things Jesus, to book reviews, to episode recaps of the Bachelor/Bachelorette. Please join me and come along for the ride!

Fun tidbits about me:

I am a Christian! Jesus Christ is my Savior. He has made a way for me and you to live a life of freedom and fulfillment by surrendering His life on the cross for our sins and then rising from the dead three days later, just as He said He would. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the standard to which I hold my life. I have a heart for missions and ministry. I hope that in Corinne’s Corner I can share some of the many lessons I have learned and struggles I have faced and overcome through my walk with Christ. I will tell you now, there is no greater joy than being in relationship with Christ and I cannot wait to share more!

I am from a family of all girls, the 3rd of 4, and if you are wondering, yes I do have middle-child syndrome. I love to be the center of attention, always acting silly to draw some laughs. My family members have high standards of humor and do not laugh at just your average joke, so I have made it my life’s work to get them to crack. I like to think that their tough standards of humor has only made me a funnier person and has shaped me to be more creative. This has forced me to work from all angles to get them to smile. Laughing is my favorite!

I love my time on the lake, as I am from Minnesota after all. Give me any of the 10,000+ lakes and I will be content taking in the view. I also enjoy time behind the boat, whether it’s wakeboarding, kneeboarding, tubing, or other water sports. These activities give me something to look forward to during the never-ending winters (can I get an amen from all the Midwesterners!).

I am not your average dorky dancer. At any function with a dance you can find me on the far outskirts of the group. This is because my moves require a great deal of space for the creativity and expression I exude. My unique dance style and moves would only be squashed if I were contained inside a group of people.

I have a prank-call voice and character that I have been using with friends since junior high. She goes by Jo-Ann from Jo-Ann’s fabrics. Maybe if you are lucky, a voice recording of Jo-Ann will grace this blog. If you ever encounter her, be sure to ask her about upcoming sales and job opportunities. She just might talk your ear off!

I hope that you found these tidbits interesting and maybe even relatable (I mean who doesn’t have a fun prank call voice?). I cannot fully express how excited I am to be starting this journey in this stage of life I am in, seeking to embrace all things new! Please stay tuned for more to come!