Why not take us now??

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

This semester has been long and crazy but yet I feel that God has shown me a lot, once again.

 I just got home today for Christmas break and when I look back on this Fall semester at ECU, leadership, bible study, school, and life, all I can say is that God was in control because I was like a chicken with my head cut off > haha


What I've been learning:
*Sanctification
--a life long walk with Christ and not just a moment or 'spiritual highs'--Why lifelong? Why does God just not take us up with him as soon as we accept his grace and love? Why leave us here in this terrible world where we have to be afraid of gunmen coming in our schools and killing children? Why won't he take us with him now??!

I have learned though this year and a half from walking with him that we walk through life with Christ to fall more in love with him and to see how much we truly do not deserve his love..

Through struggles, we are humbled to our lowly position and become more thankful for Grace. We learn to rely more on God and less on ourselves and that ultimately is worship to our father.

Through growth, with other believers we fall more in love with God's actual character and not just what is to come and we get a small look of what one body of Christ looks like in unity.

Through sharing the Gospel--this is huge---we are privileged to share the best news in the world with others--bringing thanks to God--and we are reminded of the gospel over and over when sharing it --this keeps us passionate for Jesus and reminds us of the darkness where we came from.

It brings tears to my eyes how much God has touched my heart this semester back at ECU for those who do not know him. I constantly struggle with sharing the gospel because I am human; but God is constantly at work as he has placed girls in my life to remind me of how a non-believer truly relies on earthly things for love---sex, money, school, attention--and its exhausting!! With this being said, he has given me a heart for girls who do not know him--I pray God only opens the hearts of girls in my life so he can show them his grace and love and I can simply be a part of his work.


Please continue to pray for me as I have applied for Clearwater, Florida Summer Project 2013 as a Student-Staff member! Thank you so much for all your prayers! 

Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and God is worshiped in your homes as I pray the same for mine! Remember the reason for the season !

Love, Danielle

HI FRIENDS!!

It's already a month into school- My fourth year in college! It's really crazy to think about, could be a good thing I have another year even after this one. Time has flew since I've been off Project..
I miss it more than words can describe! I miss Chicago, my friends there, girls I met on UIC campus, my bible study, the spiritual atmosphere and many other things. But God has been working here back in NC for sure!

I am taking 6 classes that have 3 different practicums (where I go into the Elementary school) along with Leadership on CRU. I enjoy most of my classes and mostly enjoy ministry! I see my family about once a month and were still patiently waiting on my new baby niece to be born in Nov.! Deborah is 33 weeks now! =)

Although, I have already been placed back into the college life of struggles. I daily have to rely on God for his wisdom to deal with things I struggle with.
The number one struggle since I've been back is making my relationship with God Not rely on "CRU." It's really easy to say that I'm close with God because of weekly meetings, Church, or through bible study. But that stuff is only resources for growing in my faith. I know that my true relationship with God is through daily time with him, prayer, and being in the Word. Please pray that I can keep this up even in my busy schedule.

I was asked a couple weeks ago if I would help lead one of our girl's bible studies! I of course said I would love to! So me and my leader Sarah have been taking our girls through Ephesians for the past 3 weeks and its been awesome to be a part of!

PRAISES** Through meeting with freshman girls I have gotten close to a couple of them, which I won't name. Beginning with the first week of classes I have had the opportunity to meet with them and share the gospel but mainly get to know them.
This past weekend was our Fall Retreat and I am excited to say that one of the girls decided to trust Christ with her life. PTL!  I am so excited for her and I ask you keep her in your prayers as she continues to grow in her faith, God continues to mold her heart, and we walk together through this!

On Fall Retreat I also learned a lot from our speaker, Will Plitt-- I tend to forget how much Pride I have and how much credit I give my own decision to follow Christ. This weekend really helped me humble myself and realize how God is the one who is the source of everything--my heart change, making me alive with him, all my motivation, my wisdom (if I have any), and most of all my salvation. Were quick to say "I accepted Christ" but we need to really be saying, "God awakened my heart to be able to see my sin, repent, and want to follow him."

"Don't get to the end of your life, look back and say..'wow God, I missed it..'" -Will Plitt


I hope you all are doing well and you are in my prayers as well!
Please remember me in yours and I hope to see you soon!

Love Always,  Danielle

**Thanks for reading!!

It does not End Here

Well I'm not sure where to start..
 I've been home for a couple days now and I still can't believe Summer Project is already over. Starting on Thursday morning it really sank in for me that we would be leaving soon. I told myself I would not cry or be a big baby about it because I missed my family and wanted to go home. That mindset didn't last long when I cried my eyes out after our last meeting Thursday morning. I think what I will miss the most is the spiritual atmosphere that we were surrounded by that does not feel able to exist back here in NC.
By this I guess I mean that it was easy for me to go up to a girl on project and have a conversation about something I'm struggling with spiritually, ask a guy a deep question about his feelings (being serious) and get a serious answer, or walk up to a staff member and ask them what does life look like fully devoted to God. These things you will not find at home, and that was what I was not ready for.


Who do you say I Am?
--The last week was focused on what we had learned all summer and putting it into perspective of what we will actually do with it?
One of our student project directors, Ethan, gave us a good analogy of this: Right now its like we are sitting on the doorstep of Summer Project looking out into the world we will go back to at home and wondering what it will look like. We have two options:
1) we can tell ourselves that we can't grow outside of project and this whole summer of growth will never happen again.
2) or we can take everything we have learned, talked about, seen God do and experienced back with us to our homes, schools, and communities.

We have to think of our past choices we have made. Did we stand up for God and for the one who has changed our life or did we say "screw it" and throw in the towel of our faith? I'm not saying we won't mess us. Jesus' disciples who walked through life with him still doubted him and who he was,  but we are called to still follow him with our life choices.

When we think about trusting Him with every choice we make it seems scary, but WHY?!
 Why is it hard to trust the one who created you, shaped your body, placed the hairs on your head, knows your thoughts and motives for everything, created your life plan, cares for the desires of your heart and most of all loves you??
We trust things in this world that are so unworthy: college degrees, boyfriends, people, strangers, workplaces, retirement funds, saving accounts to support us but we won't even give God (GOD) the spot he deserves in our life....why?
**Matthew 6:33**

So, I ask myself as I leave project--
 Will I throw in the towel and live the life that the world is screaming at me to live? 
or will I trust that he will provide for me? 

"Were not doubting that God will do what is best for us, were wondering how painful the best will turn out to be."    -C.S Lewis


So, I was already lacking sleep when I decided to stay up all night for my 6am flight Friday morning, I did not realized what Friday would hold. With a lot of struggles to get home on Friday my temper, patience, and trust for God was already being tested. I missed my flight, was on a seat wait list for 3 flights that I did not get on, had my gates changed at the last min., and ended up having to leave my flying partner (Amanda) and fly the rest of the way home alone after spending 7 hours in the Atlanta, GA airport. >> This was God completely telling me, "here is your life to come outside of project: choices to make, confusion, stress, people to deal with, and the option to trust me or to act upon it yourself." 

I can honestly say that it was not Summer Project in Chicago that has changed the way I view my future, but it is God and the Gospel. I will continue blogging as much as I can while I begin my 4th year at ECU.
 I want you to know that I'm trusting God that this summer was not just a spiritual high that you get on Sundays, or at a Christian camp, but it is something I will carry back with me to school, into life, and everyday to trust God to use for his kingdom.

Thank you for reading and supporting me always!
Love, Danielle Cassidy

WEEK #10 !?!?

This is my last week in Chicago with my Summer Project family. These 10 weeks have flown by and I am not quite ready to say goodbye. I have gotten so close to all the students here. We are together everyday, share meals together, study, worship and pray together daily. I will miss this amazing community but God has called me to return home and take what I have learned back to ECU's campus. There is a time for everything-- Ecclesiastes 3 <3

 All of us here from ECU have been meeting once a week to specifically pray for our campus for when we return home.--Please pray with us that God will make a way for us to get prepared for the upcoming year, planning how to help freshman move into dorms, getting to know them, serving, reaching out, and providing a welcoming week for students. We pray God will allow us to see him working on our campus this year even more than last year with cookouts, outreach, Thursday meetings, freshman bible studies, and more.  Thanks for your prayers!!

"I Am Love"
This week we looked at how God is Love. I know what your thinking, God is loving, caring, giving and gracious. Yes, he is loving but what I have learned this week is that He is love. 
Love is not something God does but it is who He is. All things good and loving on Earth are from him and created by him. He is the creator and our source of love. We would not know how to love if he did not first love us.     1 John 4:16-17

Our leadership speaker on this topic (Anne) told us how when she was younger she was a very active gymnast. She practiced with a personal coach 8-10 hours a day, everyday for years. She was a performer for her coach and she worked hard to please her and get her approval for everything she did. One day she walks into practice and her coach was not there. She went ahead and practiced without her being there and returned the next day, again she did not show up. Days and a week passed and she never showed until another coach had to tell Anne that her coach had moved. Anne was left feeling like she did something wrong and as if she was not good enough for her coach. She was alone, abandoned, and with no hope to ever continue training.

This is how we treat God sometimes. We perform in front of him with our good works, going to church, praying, reading our bible, being nice to people, and hiding our true broken, worn down feelings from life. We possibly feel that if we do not do these things routinely then God will be mad or love us less. This is not true. God is different! He is not our coach or trainer, he is our father! 
As Anne will now tell you, "God does not walk away when our performance is not up to his standards--he is with us even when we can't perform at all."

So if this is love, why can't we grasp it? Its because in today's world the word Love is overused, broken, beat-up, twisted, and based on feelings and emotions. But Love from God is different. It is:
-Sacrificial - 1 John 4:9 and John 3:16 ..He didn't just die in the place of your and my sins but he died in the place of you and me! Your actual self!
-Unconditional- 1 John 4:10 and Romans 5:8

"God doesn't want something or anything from us, he just wants us." -C.S Lewis

-Unbreakable- 1 John 4:13 and Ephesians 1: 13-14  .. We are marked with his seal..we have the holy spirit to guide us until he comes back!
-Commanded- Ephesians 4:2  God commands us to then, "be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."


--Pray that I enjoy this week to the fullest and build even deeper relationships with the students here this last week. I will be flying home Friday Aug.10th at 6am.
Prayers for safety and for getting a smooth transition from here, to Whiteville, and back to Greenville are really appreciated. See you all soon hopefully !!

In God's LOVE,    Danielle

This is my Action Group (Bible Study) 

A few of us at the Taste' 

Some of the BWR work crew! 

These are my lovely Roommates 

My Story..

I have been telling ya'll that I would eventually share my story with you. I feel God telling me I need to hurry up and do it.. so here it goes..

Beginning when I was 5-6 years old I was in church with my family whenever the doors were open. I grew up in Sunday school, GA's, and Acteens. I heard the gospel many times just like it was any other story. When I was about 10 years old or so I told my parents I wanted to be baptized. To my knowledge, I did not know what that meant. I remember the preacher asking me if I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I said yes and that was it. Growing up after that point was not much different than before. I went to church, I was nice to people, and prayed for what I wanted or felt I needed at the time. Once I got into high school I called myself Christian because I did believe in God and Jesus and I tried my best to live up to Christian standards. I did not drink (a lot), I tried to care about people, and I made myself look good from the outside. I starting dating a guy in 10th grade and things began to change. The idol of that relationship became my world and who I looked up to. It wasn't until we had been dating almost 4 years that I began to feel worn down.  I felt God pulling on my heart and telling me, "You are not happy.." I ignored it and continued to try to find happiness in drinking, new friends, and him. I soon again felt God telling me that I could not live like this anymore. I pushed my feelings to the side once again.
We broke up, and I felt my world around me slowly fall to pieces. I did not tell my family or friends for weeks after because of the embarrassment and pain. Soon after I called out to the only person that knew what I was going through. I asked God to comfort me and help me grow stronger. I told him I was tired of planning my life and failing at it. I want him to plan it and walk with me from now on. I literally felt God holding me in his arms. The next day I told my family what happened and fought through the pain of it all. Through the summer I had a lot to rely on God for when it came tough times. I grew closer to God though every tough moment and learned that He makes me perfectly strong in my weakness. When I went back to school I quickly got involved in CRU, a student ministry, and learned about the new heart that God gives me when I accept him. I had never heard of this before in the past and I loved learning about it. I can see now where my heart has been continuously changing this past year. God has showed me so many things that I was blind to such as my pride, being judgmental, selfishness, and guilt. I now have a true love that supply's me with all I need. Its a personal relationship with God that I needed and tried to find in other things that never lasted. I now know that my heart's true desires are to be God's desires. He's slowly making me into the person he wants me to be, and that's fine with me. 

Week #8-- I am Father

Ahh, Well its the end of Week #8 here in Chi-Town.
 Its 1am on Saturday night and I just got home from work. I don't usually do a "on the spot" description of what I'm doing or my day, but I want to give God praise for my night at work.
 I have gotten into somewhat spiritual conversations at work this summer. One was getting to know a 47 year old guy I wait with. Another was hearing about the dishwashers bad experience in a Catholic home and sharing what I believe the differences are. And tonight I got to share my story with Leanna. She is 23 and probably the sweetest girl you will ever meet. We were talking about guys and whatnot and I mentioned my "wild" past. She immediately said, "Wild Past?! You?" .."Yeahh, I am human," I said. She started asking questions about why I changed and how It happened. Long story short I shared my testimony and she wanted to know if I was happier now than I was before. I of course said that I now have complete joy that I don't have to search for. I saw her begin to think about her own life and things starting clicking for her.
--That was end of that conversation but I hope she will have more questions. Please keep Leanna in your prayers as I only have another week with her to talk. I probably will only work 1 one day with her. Its not anything I can do but to ask God to work in her heart as I want her to have the complete joy that I think she is searching for.


This week on Summer Project our theme was I Am, Father. 
We looked at 1 John 2-3 and how God is said to be a father with four main characteristics: Holy, Truth, Hope, and Glory.
When you say "father" to someone they probably have a different view of what a father is than everyone else. Some of ya'll had a wonderful dad growing up, some didn't have one at all. Some might of had an abusive father, or one that was just absent all the time. No matter what your father image looks like, there is one truth that can be said: you have a heavenly father that chooses and adopts you, blesses, redeems, unifies, and seals you with his love.  In John 1:12-13 says we are born of God and not of humans. In Galatians 4:4-7 it says that we are adopted by God and we call him Father. If we accept God and what he has done for us then he says that he has redeemed us and he buys us back with Jesus. He also unifies us (John 17:20-23) --Jesus wants us to have the same unity with God that He has! That is crazy!
He also seals us forever! 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says that he "sets his seal of ownership on us" and that he puts the Holy Spirit in our hearts only as a down payment for what is to come.

**I have learned that God really really loves me.. He created me, watched me fail over and over searching for significance in this world, picked me up again and again, then I finally gave in. I told him I would follow him with my life and that's when he told me that he chose me! He adopts me into his kingdom as a child of the king. He redeemed me and sealed me with his love. And "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angles nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39