How it's going

This media fast I can definitely say has been very difficult so far. We are two thirds of the way through and although it is a little easier than the beginning it is rather difficult. I have made a few mistakes, like forgetting I was on the fast and then checking scores on sports center. The really hard thing about it is that i don't really feel much closer to God, I have been doing what I think is right and I guess that it's not time quite yet, but there are still 10 days left so we'll see! Push through on these final five days guys, and I'm praying for you!

Yeah, I Know This Is Late

Yeah, so I know that the fast is more than half way over and this is my first post, but better late than never, right? Blogging just isn't my thing, but I'm going to give it a shot. These past few weeks I have been so busy. Even without the distractions of media, I found myself struggling to find time to focus on God. I was so worried about AP tests, midterms, homework, and colleges. Then recently I realized two things: first, this is only my junior year, and the second thing was that ultimately God is control. I was trying to find my own way instead of listening to God's plans for my life. With this new mindset, I've been able chill (for lack of a better term) a little more. Two verses that have helped me with that are Jeremiah 29:1 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope," and 1 Peter 5:6-7 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 
Have an amazing week. I love and am praying for you all.

-T

refocused

Today I was thinking about Arizona and it helped remind me what the Media Fast is all about. The Media Fast, to me at least, is a way that I can strengthen my personal relationship with Christ before going out and being Christ to all the people in AZ.
I never believed anyone when they said the missions trip was more fun than Hume, but after experiencing AZ, i would choose that trip over Hume in a heartbeat. It is so cool to be able to be a light to a group of kids, and to gradually see them start to open up and tell you about themselves. Seeing them have a great time, while learning about Christ is such an eye-opener, because even though running VBS isn't 100% fun all the time, we are doing it for the kids who don't see Christ regularly like we do, and we are doing our best to give them good experiences, because a lot of them don't have a lot of those.
Another key part of the Media Fast is the financial and prayer support. If we didn't do the fast, a lot more people wouldn't be able to afford it, myself included. So, as much as it sucks, the media fast is blessing!! It is so cool to know that there are people that are praying for me right now and for the kids in AZ. Each and every sponsor is so appreciated and crucial.
Thinking about the kids really helped me to refocus, and it gave me a new determination to finish up the fast strongly, and to try and connect with Christ instead of with media for the rest of this surprisingly loonnnnnnggg month.

On my heart

Hey guys,
You are all on my heart in prayer, and I want to encourage you all to keep going strong in the media fast! I pray that you all feel Christ close to you and all around you, and that you surrender fully to Him. That is something I've been learning lately. Usually, I'm the kind of person that takes a problem head on, and keeps it to myself or only confides in one person, so as not to upset anyone else. Sometimes keeping things to yourself is not healthy for your mental or physical state, and it can help in the healing or coping process to share what you are going through with someone. You might say, "I cant tell anyone because they will judge me, or tell everyone else" and you might be right, I would probably say that too, but there is One person who will never judge you, never spread rumors about you, and never gossip or tell anyone else. This person is the person who knew no sin. Jesus Christ. He is waiting to fellowship with you, to cry with you to laugh with you, He will always be there for you, no matter what you may need at that time. Just think about that for a minute, the creator of the whole world, He who knew no sin, the beginning and the end, the one HUGE, infinite being; He is there right beside you, holding your hand and giving you a shoulder to cry on. He calls us His friends, His family, and He loves us more than we could ever imagine. The God of the whole universe wants to have a personal relationship with you, with me, with all those who He has called to be His children, and through everything, He will be right there beside us. He gives us His peace that passes all understanding in the midst of trials and he comforts our hearts and minds in the middle of affliction. In no way does this mean our lives will be easy, but it will be so worth it when we can live forever with Christ in heaven. Sometimes God gives us challenges that are very difficult, to either test our faith, or grow our faith, or make us surrender to Him. That is what is on my heart.
Also on my heart are my good friends Stephen and Noelle, whose niece Ella was born prematurely and died within the same minute of birth. I would like to ask for prayers on my friends and their family, especially Ella's mother. Thank you, and good luck with the media fast. I love you all.
Michaela

What I have learned so far

For the first week it was completely tempting to go on my social media but I fought off that temptation by completely deleting any social apps off my phone. Now that the month is more than half way done I have definitely learned something. And that is that social media was my everyday thing to go on, it was like some sort of necessity for me just having to go on it and checking what was up. But it really isn't important, my life hasn't changed whatsoever without it. It just takes up my time when I could be using it to build my relationship closer with God. There is this verse I read when I was reading Proverbs that goes "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6. So as this month is coming closer to an end I hope that I don't return back to how I was before, to how I went to watching Netflix when I had nothing better to do or just scroll down my feed on Instagram just to pass the time.  But instead stop myself and do something good for myself such as listening to the Arcade podcast or learn a couple of Christian songs on my guitar and instead of checking my phone before I go to bed I would read the bible, right now I am trying to make it my daily routine. Hope you guys could pray for me to accomplish my goals and that I will successfully complete this media fast.

Sophya Vecherkovskiy

Closer to God

I made it half way through, and I'm feeling closer to God and my family through this experience. I have had some rough spots though, so I found a few verses to help me past them. One of the first verses that I always think of to help me resist temptation is 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." This verse has helped me during this fast, as well as many times in the past. It always reminds me that God knows what we're going through and will always make a way out for us. I feel like, through the temptations to listen to music and watch TV, ect. that God is bringing me closer, and teaching me more about Him. I feel like I'm learning to trust God to help me through the hard times, both during this fast, and throughout life. Although I know I am far from perfect, I think God is shaping me and teaching me through the media fast.

I would also like to thank all my sponsors for encouraging me and praying for me, I really love and appreciate it! I can't reiterate enough how much you help me to keep going, and how encouraging it is to know that I have so many people who are supporting me!

I will be praying for all of you doing the media fast alongside me.

-Myles

14 days left!!

I am usually not one to blog frequently, but I felt inclined to share this (I don't know why). I was reading my Bible this week, and I came across a few verses and passages that really spoke to me.

The first verse was Hebrews 10:26, which says "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." 

So often I find myself in the middle of a sin, and I will recognize it, but I won't do anything to stop it, or prevent it. I found this verse eye-opening and paralleled it to the Media Fast in the sense that I will find myself absent-mindedly opening Twitter, and I will recognize it, and it is truly a struggle to close the app. After reading this verse, I took it upon myself to log out and delete every social media app I have. This has already helped me to get off my phone (since now i have nothing to look at on it) 

The last verse is Hebrews 12:15, which says "See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God." 

This verse helped me to see that through the Media Fast, I can point people towards Christ by my actions. With me not going on social media, it makes my friends ask about it, and it gives me a doorway into a conversation that wouldn't normally come up. I try not to push my faith onto my friends, but I should be living in a way that reflects Christ's presence in my life. 

I hope everyone is doing well, there's only 14 days left!!

Just keep thinking about Arizona!!!!!!

Half Way There

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12

First of all, I want to thank you high school students doing the media fast. You inspired me this month to give up Facebook & Instagram! ...Ok I know Facebook isn't really that cool anymore, but for those of us in our mid-20's it's a huge deal. Why? Well our friends are traveling the world, getting married, starting families, and moving up in their jobs.  It is really easy to get sucked into the "grass is greener" game.  While I am very blessed with my life, I have been pretty sick the past few months and its easy to get discouraged and jealous of other...NO GOOD! So while I am forced to fast from many foods for health purposes, I thought it best to fast from my go-to facebook and instead go-to God! You know what...it has been so healing in so many ways!

I wanted to share with you a verse we read at my International Student Bible Study last Friday. Matthew 6: 9-13, also known as the Lords Prayer! Pay close attention to the last 2 lines...
  
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread,

 and forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.


God wants us to pray that we do not fall into temptation!  As good as I thought I was doing with avoiding my Facebook...I still almost click the app every time I am bored and open my phone! I create statuses in my head to post daily and almost click the "share on facebook" link when I read an article I like. As humans we form habits, which isn't a bad thing, but can make temptation all to easy. Isn't it cool that God wants to be part of our struggle? He wants us to make this part of our prayer to not be tempted.  

I hope you all stay strong these next 14 days! What an awesome journey it's been so far. I'm excited to see how God continues to use this fast in our lives.

Michelle Ross

The Road so Far...

 The media fast is halfway done, and I feel closer to my family and friends all around me, already. I am glad to have taken to this commitment and I have struggled with the tests that have been put before me, but each time that I seem to fail I notice that I am picked right back up by the grace of God and brought forth again. For example, if you did not already know I am mostly a stay at home guy, looking for things to do to pass the time and almost any chance that comes my way to leave the house I take. Recently a group friends had invited me to a party, and not necessarily the good kind. Instead of going, something had tugged on me to instead invite them over and keep both, them and myself out of dark and enjoy ourselves with something less careless. God is great, and I am proud to be a follower and help those who are not to see his light shine.

 Thank you, to all my sponsors, friends and family who may be reading this. I wouldn't be able to do this without your support. Also thanks Matt, for being there putting things that are unclear into a different perspective to where I can understand, don't where I'd be without that.

Oh, We're Halfway There...

It it officially the halfway point of March. We're halfway through the marathon, half a donut left, the glass is half full (or half empty; depends on your perspective). I have honestly really enjoyed this month so far . I never realized how much time I was giving to my media. Sometimes I found myself at a loss for something to do, and I realized that at this point I would most likely solve this problem by "hopping on to Pinterest". I can't do that this month, so I found homework to do or a book to read instead. I have been trying to be as interactive face-to-face with my friends as possible because I am trying to limit my texting conversations. I feel like that builds my friendship, and it helps me prevent gossip or destructive things that I might say to someone if I were texting them. I thank God that He is showing me that media is not the only thing out there. I am trying to focus more on thinking about the sermons on Sundays and the things we discuss on Thursdays. I hope you all have had a meaningful first half of the media fast. Thank you to all of my sponsors, and thank you to all those participating. You're in my prayers!

halfway

Wow, half way already. This fast has been very good for me, and from what I can see, good for many of you too, whether you are a sponsor, a student, or someone else who happens to be reading Our Thirty blogs. 2 weeks down, 2 weeks to go. I am very excited for the rest of his media fast, as I have been growing a lot in my relationship with Christ in various ways. The removal of media from my life, is a great thing to give up as a teenager who, as many other teens, LOVES music and movies and my TV shows, as well as a lot of media in the world today. While media in and of itself is not always bad, it can be a temptation and become a sin, whether in the intention behind the media, or how much we use the media. I don't think we realize how much the church has been in the world and how much we love the things of the world until we have to give them up. I know for me its hard to give up my music and many other things. Also, we often don't realize just how fortunate we are to have these things right at our fingertips, our phones, TVs, computers, iPads etc, the list goes on and on. As teenagers being raised in a technologically advanced society, we are so spoiled, in a way, that we just expect to have secular media readily available to us, and we don't even think about until something like the media fast happens, and we find ourselves turning on the radio by habit, or sitting down to watch our favorite TV shows or posting something on instagram that we did with our friends. Even something as simple as snapchatting our friends, we don't realize how fortunate we are to be able to do that. So, thank you Media Fast, thank you Matt, and Student Life ministry team, for giving us this opportunity to be thankful for what we have, to grow in our relationships with God and the people around us, and to stop and think about how great our God is, and notice things in His creation, we might not have seen if we were stuck on our phones. I want to encourage you all to stand firm in this commitment and see it through to the end, it is very much worth it, and rewarding to you and others in the end. Hope you all have the best of luck through the rest of March, and I'm praying for you all! May God be with you and grant you peace. -Michaela Biggs