Mexico 2012

This isn't a normal post, but I wanted to share about my trip to Mexico. So here goes.

On July 7th I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to go on a Missions trip that I never thought I would be taking again. Now let's back track a little to... 3 years ago. I went to San Luis for the first time when I was 14. It was the greatest trip ever. But while I was there I picked up some sort of stomach bug. Long story short, it made me very VERY scared to ever go again. I'm the kind of person who is flat out miserable when I don't feel good, and not feeling good in a different country was hard for me. Especially at 14. So the next two trips after that I turned them down. Mostly out of fear. So when they announced the 2012 Missions Trips I had no set plan about where I was going to go. Some of my friends knew right away that they were FOR SURE going to Mexico, or FOR SURE going to Haiti. I, on the other hand, had not a clue. I prayed about it and talked to several different people about it. I ended up applying to Mexico, and getting accepted. So I figured, okay... I got accepted. That must mean something, right? I was still confused. Still terrified. Still up to my ears in fear. Everyone told me to trust in God, and that he would make a way, and his will would be done either way. It started getting closer and closer. I don't remember when exactly, but I found out about a very bad and violent shooting that happened in San Luis. Needless to say, I was telling myself I was not going on this trip. I did not want to. In any way, shape, or form want to go. I know it sounds terrible, but trust me... it gets better! So let's fast forward to Youth Camp(which was 2 weeks before we left for Mexico). I went to Youth Camp without a clear answer from God about weather or not I was really supposed to go on this trip. All of Camp I prayed about it, and as camp neared it's end, I was just as, if not more, scared then I had been. Almost everyone I talked to told me "sometimes you just have to do things scared." So I was relying on that. So back to July 7th.... I woke up, and first thing I thought was.. "I don't want to go." I cried as I packed the last of my bag and got ready. Once I arrived at church and saw my team, I felt a little better. A little reassured that I would have fun. After a long day of traveling, we arrived at Bethel Orphanage. Believe it or not... it was not until my foot touched the sand that a remarkable peace came over me, and God told me that this is where he wanted me. Everyone greeted the Children, because they had known them from previous years. None of them knew me, so I just sat down and marveled that I was actually there. As days went on, the fear was taken over by joy. But I knew that I was still holding back. I still wasn't letting God use me in the ways that I knew he could. We did Shut In Ministry 3 days. The first two days they split us into teams, one to go the first day, and one to go the second day. I volunteered to do the second day because I knew full well that I was not in anyway prepared for the things I was going to see at the Shut Ins. (Shut Ins are homes with people with disabilities, or people that can't afford to live anywhere else. They usually live in shacks made out of whatever they could find.) So I spent the day before just preparing myself, and asking God to prepare my heart. The day came, and I was a little nervous. We went and saw 5 people, all with a lot of needs. But the one that stood out to me the most was this older woman. Her name was Carmen. In all honesty I don't really know what was wrong with her. Something with her hip, or back, or both. But I do know that she had been bed ridden because of her injury. When we arrived, they had a very tiny house made out of signs and pieces and wood. And a piece of cloth was their door. They had an old couch on the front "porch" and some chairs. Right when we got there we were told to go in immediately and start praying because she was in a  lot of pain. I will never forget walking through that cloth, and seeing this womans face. She was in pain. She was in A LOT of pain. She wouldn't even open her eyes, she was crying and moaning. We laid hands on her and prayed, then we all shuffled out to the porch while her husband and the woman who came with us cleaned Carmen up, and tried to move her. Carmen was in so much pain, that she could not move. We sat on the porch for an hour and a half and listened to this poor woman scream in pain. We were all silently praying and crying. It was so hard. I've never felt so helpless. The woman came out and told us that they had called an ambulance. And that was that. She was taken to the hospital. The next day(I think...) we got word that she was home and we took the whole group to visit her. This time, the sight I saw walking through the doorway was different. She was smiling. And greeting us. Still in her bed, but looked as happy as ever. And I remember I looked into her eyes, and the pain I saw the first day was no longer there. She was happy. Carmen may not have been healed completely, but God definitely did something inside of her. And it was the most amazing thing to witness. 

Another thing we did was Village Ministry. These are always tear jerkers. Basically all we do is a human video or something, testimonies, and there is a message. And then we hand out beans and rice. At the last Village Ministry we did, a lot of people came up for prayer, which was great. And there was also a lot of kids at this one. After the prayer, everyone started heading back to their homes. And I did what I always do, station myself in a specific spot where I can see everyone walking. I watched the people and children run done the sand roads. That very moment, is when God revealed to me why he had brought me back to Mexico. And that was simply to stretch me. To get me out of my comfort zone. To get me to take a step of faith, and to trust in him with my entire heart. I broke down crying. It was so incredible and amazing, the feeling that came over me in that moment. I can't describe it any other way then purr joy. PURE. JOY.

After a lot of ministry, hard work, sweat and tears, it came time for the final fiesta....... Which is almost the complete opposite of a fiesta haha. It's out last little party with the kids at Bethel, and when we say our goodbyes. Aka..... the hardest thing in life. 

After pizza, singing and dancing, pinatas, and the L from hell....... the kids had kind of dispersed and I went and sat down on the ground with two of my friends, Bethy and Rachael. We were all bawling our eyes out, but I stopped for a moment and just looked around. I saw genuinely happy people. Happy people that have nothing. I mean, these kids are well taken care of, but they aren't with their families. They don't have as much stuff as kids here do. The people of San Luis are some of THE happiest people I will ever meet. Seeing that... makes you so grateful.

So, that's a very brief ( believe it or not :P ) summary of my trip. If you'd like to know more feel free to ask! :) 

John 3:30

"He must become greater, I must become less." John 3:30


Super simple. Yet it might possibly one of the hardest verses in scripture to put into action. Why is that, do you think? 


We're selfish.
We're needy.
We long for attention.
We want to be noticed.
We want to be liked.
We want to be accepted.
We want to be popular.
We want to be told "well done, good job."


Those are just 8 things. Maybe you thought of more. There are probably more. The list goes on, really.
But let's pick those 8 thing apart. 
1.) We're selfish.
This is one of those things that is like the sad truth that no one really wants to accept. Now some of you may do what I just did, and look up the meaning of the word selfish. And reading it, some of you may say "oh my! I'm not like that at all." But come on now.... 
Selfish: devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others. 
I'll be honest with you. The one that stood out to me the most was "concerned primarily with one's own interests." Some people don't consider reading Gods word one of their "interests". But I often feel like some of our interests get in the way of how much we actually DO read his word, and how much time we devote to it. We're so focused on our own interests. I feel we're all selfish in that aspect. Think about that one. 
2.) We're needy.
3.) We long for attention.
These two go together, and are somewhat strange. When you saw them up there you may not have known what they meant or how they applied to the verse. What I meant is that we're needy for the attention of those around us. This one is hard to deny.Especially in this generation. Someone is always doing something that will get the attention of others. Whether it's something good or (sadly) something bad. Because it gives people something to talk about. You become the "hot topic" of conversation.(okay maybe not but you get what I mean..) We want people to be interested in us, and to want to know more about us. 
4.) We want to be noticed.
This one ties in to the two above. We do things to get us noticed. So that people look at us. To get peoples attention. To make people curious about us. 
5.) We want to be liked.
6.) We want to be accepted.
Again, these two go together. We long to be liked and accepted by those around us. And our society today sadly gives us a bad example of how to go about that. When you think of being liked or accepted by someone what do you think of? Probably a lot of different things. I think of doing things that those people like so that they will be accepted. Showing them that you're "good enough" to hang out with them. Showing them how awesome you can be.
7.) We want to be popular.
Pretty simple. We want people to know us. To like us. To look up to us. We want people to know our name.
8.) "We want to be told "well done, good job."
We want to do things that will make people say "Oh my goodness! You are amazing. You're so good at (fill in the blank)." We like feeling accomplished. And we like to know that something we did made someone else notice us. And the things we're good at. And the things we've done.


So now that we went through all of those and broke them down. Let's look at them in a new light.....


We're so focused on His interests, we forget ours.
We want people to be interested in God.
We want people to know more about Him.
We want to make people curious about God.
We want to show people how awesome God can be.
We want people to know His name.
We want people to notice the things He does through us. And the good things He's done in us.


Now compare those and look at the verse again.
"He must become greater, I must become less." John 3:30

Do It.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so decieve yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22


I came upon this verse today highlighted and underlined in my bible, but yet I never remember reading it ever before today. And it was one of those, smack in the face, kind of things.


I was at Youth Convention this past weekend, and the speakers last message was titled, "Don't just stand there...... DO SOMETHING." (I'll come back to this in a minute...)


And I had that statement, and entire message in my head in a second when I read this verse. It basically says to not just LISTEN to the word of God, or just READ it. But to DO it. To LIVE it. 
"Do what it says." Read that through a few times. It doesn't say, Try to do what it says. Or, When you want to, do what it says. That is a command. "Do what is says." You know, when your parents tell you to do something instead of asking. Like, they don't always say... "Can you please go clean your room?" It usually sounds more like, "Go clean your room, please." We usually go and do it when there is a period there instead of a question mark. Kinda like this verse. What if it said.... "Could you do what it said, please?" I personally don't think it would've have that slap in the face affect like the real verse does. 


How many times DO we just read our Bibles, and sometimes get a lot of encouraging things out of it, or maybe even something that we needed to hear. But we don't act on it. We just tuck it away inside of us for when we need it again. Don't let the bible be a go-to book for help. I mean, it's great for that, and definitely something you can go to in times of trouble and hard ships, but what would happen if we made it more of a life guide. If we actually starting living out what we learned that day, or that week. What if we all started doing the things God asks of us in the Bible. Things would be different. We would be different. And those around us would be different. Different in the best way possible.


So I'm going to simply leave you with this question.
Are you going to just stand there, or are you going to do something?

Light.

I'm not going to ramble on about how longs it's been since I've posted. But I'm back! Yay!


I'm excited to jump right into this. Would you all turn with me to John 1:1-14.


^"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.
 ⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
 ⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
 ¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

These verses can be a little confusing. But if you are confused just keep reading it a couple times, then come back to this :)


Has anyone ever told you, that in being a Christian, you have the light inside of you? I heard this all the time from different people, and I heard it a lot when I was little. We all probably automatically think "okay... light. Light = God. Light inside of me = God inside of me. Got it." That is true. But have you ever read this verse.... then thought about it? It says.. "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind." Life. It's not just Gods LIGHT inside of us. It's his LIFE. 


-The verse goes on to say.. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." The definition of overcome says... to gain the victory; win; conquer. Darkness HAS NOT overcome it. I heard this somewhere once, not sure who said it but it stuck with me for forever. They said that when light fills a room, darkness is no longer existent. You know, when you turn on a light in a dark room, there isn't a trace of darkness left in that room, because the light overpowers the darkness. 


That's exactly how it is with God. Just think, if his light is inside of us, darkness flees when we walk into a room. Now, I know you guys are thinking, darkness as in bad things. Like sin and things like that. And then you think of how maybe when you're at school, all the "darkness" that is around you there, it doesn't necessarily "flee". No. But it shakes. It gets scared. Because the devil KNOWS that when Gods power is inside of us, once we are walking in it everyday and using it, it's SO SO SO powerful. And he (the devil) KNOWS that he doesn't stand a chance against us. 



Now the question to ask yourself is this: Do you have that light in you? Yes, maybe you have God in your heart and in your life, but are you living in that light, or are you hiding it? Do people look at you and say that you seem different? Are people seeing this light inside your life, or are you hiding it away from the world. Shine your light. Be proud of it. Don't be afraid. Because when you shine that light, and people notice it, that will bring you so many opportunities to share your faith, and Gods love, with others.

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."

Love you all.

Relationship Status | 1.

Yay! New post! Guys, I am so excited for this, and I hope you all are too! So here we go! Let's dive right in.


So, Relationship status is the title of all this. You know how on Facebook you can change your "relationship status" ? The options are usually, Single, In A Relationship, It's Complicated, Engaged, and Married. Pretty obvious right? Not too hard to decide which one you would pick. They're self explanatory. But, what if there was a "Your Relationship With God." tab. What do you think the options would be for you to choose from, and how easy do you think it would be for you to pick one. You'd wonder and worry what other people might think about it. You might make it private so no one else can see. We all have relationships with other people in one way or another. Our relationships with our friends, and our family. Boyfriends or girlfriends. And someone we met maybe one or two times, but still talk to. If you really think deep and hard, you realize how many relationships you have in your life. Now, when it comes to relationships with our friends, we really favor them. We value those relationships so so much. Also with boyfriends and girlfriends. I can't really speak from experience, but those are relationships we tend to value a lot. And usually put so much of our time in effort into. We devote specific time to that person. We take time out of our day, and devote it to them. Whether we're talking to them, or hanging out with them. It's pretty easy (usually :P) to explain your relationship with a friend, or boyfriend/gf to someone else if they ask. But what if someone asked you about your relationship with God? What if I walked up to you and said "So how's our relationship with Jesus Christ going?" You'd be somewhat shocked, right? That's not a normal question that we all go around asking people. But really, what would you reply. What would you tell them, HONESTLY? Sometimes we forget about our relationship with God. It gets pushed behind all the other stuff we're faced with everyday. We need to value our relationship with God MORE than we value our other relationships. There is a difference between calling yourself a Christian, and having a real relationship with God. 
- In our generation, it's so so so easy for us to get distracted. Everywhere we turn, there is something to distract us. Tv, Facebook, Twitter, other people, our phones, games, activities that we enjoy doing. Everything distracts us, and takes our mind off of God. I think people in this generation spend more time on Facebook then they do reading their Bibles. 
- When we're in relationships with guys(or girls, if you're a guy.) We really want them to last. We go to extremes sometimes to keep that relationship together. Are you willing to go to extremes to keep your relationship with God together? Are you willing to go majorly out of your comforts zone, to glorify and please him, and help the relationship grow? Are we willing to give up ourselves, for God. And to have less of us, and more of him in our lives? That's a great big question that I really challenge you guys to chew on, and think about for a while. Sometimes, benefitting our relationship with God, means ending some relationships with other people. Crazy sounding, i know. You think, well God, you put this person in my life... why do you want me to get rid of them all of a sudden. I can say, that in my own life, I've had a relationship or two that, sometimes you just too caught up in them, and then God steps in and says "Hey! You're focusing too much on that other person, so I'm gonna take them away from you, until you learn to rely and lean and depend on me, not them." It's a.. somewhat hurtful thing, but God knows what he is doing. When we trust in him with those types of things, he doesn't let us down. 
I'm gonna wrap this up here in a minute. But let me just end with this. Don't make this a private relationship. It's nothing to be ashamed of. God has chosen us to be his dwelling place. God is in us. Let other people see that. Let your relationship with him show in your actions, and your attitude towards other people. Let him be shown through you, don't hide him inside. Let him out :) And show the whole world. 
- Roman 8:39 - 


Welp, this wraps up part one of my little mini series :) I hope you guys enjoy this. And maybe I'll do a mini series again sometimes soon. Stay tuned for part 2! :)

Preview!

HELLO! It's been so long :) But guess what!!
I'm going to start a mini series. And when I say mini, I mean mini. 
It's a new thing for me so we're going to test it out and see how it goes!
Here's a little preview for ya'll.

Don't Forget.

Woah! I apologize for not blogging for a while.
Well Happy June everyone! Summer is quickly approaching and I am ecstatic about it.


So last night at Incline(My Youth Group) Pastor Anthony was talking about this summer
is going to be a good one. Not just a really fun one, but a life changing one. He said he
feels like God is going to do a lot in a lot of people this summer, and I feel the same. So I
just kind of wanted to share what I feel on my heart, if that’s alright?


Ohhhhh Summertime. It’s just so fun. All the sleepovers, and pool days, and kennywood,
and hanging out all day and night with your friends, and just basking in the hot hot
sunshine. Super fun, right? Sure it is! But let’s not forget something. God. I know that we
get all caught up in all the hoopla and fun times. But don’t forget about God. I feel like
summertime can be a major tempting time. You know what I mean. Some of your friends
might have these crazy parties, and they want you to go and just hang out all night. And
probably do things that you will later regret. Pastor Anthony said something last night (
somewhere along the lines of ) about how, if we can’t look our friends (or whoever ) in
the eye and tell them that, no we don’t want to do that because it’s not pleasing to God,
that we need to check our hearts. That really got me thinkin’. How many times have we
maybe been in the car with a friend with the radio on, and a song comes on that has some
sketchy lyrics in it. What have you said? “Can you change the song, I don’t like this
song.” Okay, that’s not a lie. It’s an excuse, sometimes. I’m not really accusing anyone
here because I know that I have done this and I’ve made up excuses. But what we should
be saying is, “I don’t think God likes this song. It’s not glorifying to him. We should turn
it off.” It’s not like, you can be close with God during the school year, and then “take
off” for the summertime. Still devote so much time to him. All your time to him actually.
Still get in to his word. Don’t just forget about him over the summer. He doesn’t leave
you either. Something that I’m constantly thinking about is that ooooooold saying that I
know we’ve all probably heard atleast once, if not 20 times. That “Would you do that if
God was sitting right next to you.” IF? He IS. It makes you think. What in your life do
you need to change? I agree with Pastor Anthony that this summer is going to be a very
challenging summer for a lot of us. But I’m excited. I know God is going to do great
things. I encourage you guys to keep your hearts wide open to him, and open to what he
has and wants for you. Be open to some changes. It may be scary and hard but just
remember that he is in control. Go after God.


I hope everyone enjoys this gorgeous day today!

Different | Difference

It’s been a while! Wow! Almost a whole month. I apologize! I got caught up with Fine Arts and stuff and just had a lack of inspiration. BUT, I’m back now and I have a lot to say (: So bear with me here.

So Hi (: Last week at this time I was on my way to District Fine Arts! Woop woop. I was so excited. I knew Convention was only a day away. Now Convention… I really didn’t have any expectations. Not that I didn’t think anything was going to happen, I just didn’t know what to expect. Robert Madu was the speaker, and I knew that he was completely amazing so I was even more pumped. Going into extreme detail would take forever so I’m going to give you the short version. Basically at the first service I could just feel God and I knew he was going to do something totally insane that weekend and not only in me but in a lot of people in the group. Worship was great, which was a super great way to start off the night. Then Robert Madu started speaking and it was like… Insane. Hahaha. Everything he was saying was exactly exactly exactly what I needed to hear, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels that way. On the last night a lot of chains were broken in me personally. But here’s what bugged me. It was at that point when everything was broken away that I had just started to cry. I looked up and noticed that I was getting a lot of weird looks. People were looking at me as if they had never heard someone cry before. I looked around some more and noticed that people were talking and laughing and I just got so mad. People were having life changing moments and other people were just laughing at them. The sermon that night was about going out and catching fish (people) and bringing them to God. It hurt me that these people didn’t care. But at the same time I prayed for these people because I know that they just need God. Point of all this is. Since Convention, (and a little before that) I have just been feeling like.. guys. We really really need to be standing up for God. And what we believe in. I’ve been thinking, how am I being a Godly example to other people. How am I showing others Gods love? Am I doing any of these at all? It’s a little scary when you start to think those things because you might be surprised at what your answers are. Coming back from trips everyone is always like “Oh everything is just going to go back to normal, no ones going to stay the same.” After trips everyone comes home and gets back into the swing of things. Because at retreats you are surrounded by your church friends and there are services every night and morning. And then you come home and you go back to school, with all your non Christian friends. You have services on Sundays and Wednesdays, and you go back to whatever your life is like at home. It’s like a smack in the face. You get yourself so bummed out that you practically forget what God did in you over that trip. I don’t want that to happen to myself. Or anyone. Christina over at (insert link to blog) shared this with me, http://www.i-heart.org/action.php?intid=2447 . It’s really long but it’s worth reading. I like how in the one part of it they say “God lights a fire inside of us when we go on missions and when we get back home people always try to figure out ways to keep this high. And when God lights this fire it is up to each individual’s choice to give it fuel.” That’s a spectacular way to put it. Last night I was talking to a friend and we were talking about the devil has just been attacking everyone so much since we got back. It’s scary yet exciting because you know that he’s really ticked off that we are getting so close to God. And that we are abandoning old ways. I know it’s tough to try to hang on. But I want to encourage you guys with this:

If God has set something inside your heart in some way, he has planted it there, you need to pray and continually seek and just pray that he will continue to make that thing, whatever it may be, grow inside of you. That that fire that is inside of you will just grow and grow and grow. It doesn’t have to end at retreats or Convention. You can have an insane time of worship in your bedroom. You don’t need crazy cool lights and smoke and a famous band or loud music to feel God and to be filled with him and to talk to him. Are you showing others the love that God has put inside of you? Are people going to look at you and say that you are different? Like I said I know it’s a struggle but I want to encourage you to keep trusting him. Keep praying. Keep worshipping. Keep seeking after him with all you’ve got.

^“17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19.

And finally I want to say. That you are not alone. Don’t think that you are the only one struggling to stick close to God because your not. There are other people out there who are having trouble too. It’s not a bad thing to be struggling, I mean, it’s hard when the world is throwing so much stuff your way. Your friends are there to help you and encourage you and give you a push. So stand up. Be different. Don’t be afraid of what other people might think because honestly it really doesn’t matter. When all those people were looking at me like I was from another planet I just closed my eyes and continue to go after God and to give him my all. If they want to talk about me then fine. They can.

I’ve kind of set myself up with a challenge to myself. I want to be an example to people. Not just a role model in how I dress or do my hair or my make up. Nah, I don’t really care if you like my hair or my outfit. I want people to see what’s on the inside. I want the inside to be what comes across on the outside. I wanna work the bad things outta my life. Check out this verse.

^13-17"Quit your worship charades.
   I can't stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
   meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
   You've worn me out!
I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion,
   while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
   I'll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
   I'll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you've been tearing
   people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
   Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
   so I don't have to look at them any longer.Say no to wrong.
   Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
   Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
   Go to bat for the defenseless.” Isaiah 1:16-17

If you’re wondering what version that is from it’s from The Message. I really really like how straight forward it is.

This is kind of open ended. I know that for me, personally I’m going to actually make an effort to change my ways. The choice is yours, though. I can’t make you do something but I hope this encouraged you a little. And if you’re scared or feel alone, I’m here for you. And if you want to talk feel free to Facebook message me. Go get God.

Have a great day in this gorgeous weather! (: Love you guys.   

James 4:2-3

"You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight.You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." James 4:2-3

This, is a good verse.

This happens alot, doesnt it? We want something so so bad, but we don't get it. Let's talk about this.

We want things alot, right? Right! We want several different things. We want to be able to go somewhere. We want to be able to do something or have something. Or even have someONE. We want things so much sometimes. "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives." Often times we want things because we long to have them. We want the satisfaction of knowing that we have that thing or person. It's hard to explain the feeling of desiring something. But I'm sure you all know somewhat of what I'm talking about. Guys, next time you want something so badly, you want to go somewhere so badly, you want to be with someone so badly. Stop. And think. How is that thing/person going to benefit you. Is it something you need right now? Is it something God wants in your life? Is it glorifying to him? Or is it just something to make YOU happy. Making decisions is hard too. About anything. But hey, pray about it. Ask God what HE wants you to do. He might not answer right away but you've got to be patient with him. If you truly want to follow God and live your life to please him, you need to want what he wants for you. Not only want part of it. You have to be willing to let stuff go, if he wants to take it. Don't hold on to it. Obviously it's causing you to slip away. Or it's causing you to get off focus. Or it's causing you some kind of pain. And all those things aren't really great and dandy. There is so much better stuff that could be in your lives. Everyone always says, when one door closes another door opens. That's true! Sometimes God closes doors and we're kind of like.. umm? Why did you just do that? I liked that. But then he opens another door and we're like.. Oh my goodness! That is so much greater! Why did I waste so much time over there in that other stuff? Everything we go through, all the happy times and all the relly bad times, is for a reason. Cliche, I know. But really. once you look back on certain situations you will se how much you've grown and you will not regret it at all.

I hope everyone is having a great day today! Love you guys.

The World Is Watching You.

It's Your Life - Francesca Battistelli.

I haven't heard this song in forever until it got stuck in my head the other day. If you never heard the song before part of the chorus goes, "It's your life whatcha' gonna' do, the world is watching you, everyday the choices we make." It goes on more, but that's the part that was stuck in my head. Haha. So I've been thinking about that line. And those words and what it's saying. I'm real big on keeping promises and actually meaning what I say. "Your actions must speak louder than your words" Is like my motto. Haha. but really, if you think about it it's a huge thing. I might've said this in another post but being a Christian is more then just saying you are one. That goes for a lot of things. If you tell someone you will be there for them always, you've actually gotta' do so. If you tell someone you'll do anything for them, you actually have to be willing to. Here's a good one. If you say that you're going to give everything to God, you actually have to give him everything. All of whatever situation it might be. All of anything. All of everything. I'm pretty sure I've said this before. But for me, personally. I always try not to make promises that I know I cannot keep. Because the last thing I want to do is hurt someone. The world is watching you. Kind of creepy, but true. People can only see how we act. People can't see our hearts or our feelings. However we come off to that person is how they really know who we are. Sometimes we act a certain way and we don't even know it. Our feelings take a tole on our actions sometimes. If we're hurting sometimes we are mean to people or we shut people out. Or sometimes if we're extremely happy we can be annoying(Or I can anyway :P) I hope you haven't stopped reading this because I'm just rambling. Please keep reading :) So anyways. As Christians, we need to be acting in a way that shows God love through us. If we're mean to people and like.. complete jerks, they'll be like.. if having God in my life means I will be like them then I don't want it. We don't want that now do we!? No! We need to be doing acts of love. Showing people what Christ is all about. We need to Be imitators of God. Smiling at a cute little old lady at the grocery store. Seems simple and kind of pointless right. you'd think nothing of that. But that smile could make that ladys day. Helping random people is showing Gods love too. Maybe someone drops something. You could pick it up, it really won't hurt you. Just being generally nice to someone is a way of showing Gods love. I hope this makes sense to you who are reading this. It's just been on my heart lately so I thought I would share. So go be nice. Do something for God. Do something for someone. Don't be a jerk :)

Have a splendid Tuesday, everyone! Love you guys.

Psalm 37:24

"Though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." Psalm 37:24.

I really like this verse! So, let's talk about it.

"Though he may stumble," We all stumble. We all run into things in life that aren't really considered to be enjoyable times. We all go through tough times, the world throws alot of stuff our way. "He will not fall," Okay wait a minute, what? He will NOT fall. Sounds kind of crazy right? When it seems like the weight of the world is resting on our shoulders and when it seems like things just don't get better, ever. He will not fall. How? Why? Why won't he fall? "For the Lord upholds him with his hand."

:O

That's pretty amazing. Okay think about this. The Lord, who create the earth that we live on. The planets in the sky. The stars. The universe. And everything in between. He made everything. He even made you. And he hold YOU in his hand. He won't let you fall. Now, that doesn't mean that you'll never feel as though you have fallen. Because often times things just build up in our lives and it can feel like we have just been pushed down by the world. But look at who is holding onto you, even when you do stumble. The Lord! He's holding on to you, so cling tighter to him when you stumble rather than loosen your grip. Yesterday in church my Pastor said something along the lines of, "Just because you go through troubles doesn't mean God has abandoned you." That, is super true :) Just because you're struggling with something does NOT mean that God isn't there. He's always there. And he will always be holding on to you, your world will always be in his hands. So, next time your stuggling with something, just think and remember that The Lord is holding you and all your problems and struggles in his hands. That sounds like a pretty great place to be if you ask me :)

I know this was short today but I still hope you enjoyed it :) I hope everyone had a splendid day today :) Love you guys.

Soaking.

Hello out there :) Like I mentioned before, I know I haven't been posting verses too much lately. But I have just wanted to talk about so much stuff. Haha. I hope you all enjoy my ranting though ;)

Okay! So. This week has been a crazy one which is why I haven't posted in a while. So let's get this blog goin'.

I have mentioned this before but here I am again, about to talk about it. I told you all about that book my friend got me for Christmas, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Welp, I finished it! Just today actually. This book from the begining has been amazing. (If anyone wants to borrow it, let me know!) Through out the few last chapters he's talking about completely living your life out for God. He tells stories about people who, some of them had crazy lives before they found God and then did crazy things FOR God. During the last chapter he quotes this lady, whose name I forget.. but she said "How we live our day, is how we live our lives." Okay, that statement can be confusing unless you read it a good amount of time. Having a relationship with God is more then just saying, "I have a relationship with God." The way I think of it (meaning, I'm not saying this is the right way to do things, it's just how I look at it) having a relationship with God means seeking him everyday, spending time in the word often, if not everyday, praying alot. Alright, get ready for my usual.. jumping subjects and confusion. Haha. So like I mentioned in my other post, at my small group we've been talking about media. That has been on my mind alot. In fact, I don't watch Tv much anymore. The only thing I watch is Arthur (Yes, the little kid show. It's always been my all time favorite. Don't judge me haha.) But honestly, the tv is just a distraction. That's how I feel anyway. You see, I'm cyber schooled so I have a ton of time on my hands during the day. Before I came to a huge realization in my life. I was spending all my down time doing useless things. Like, really useless things. And, honestly I would rather spend my time glorifying God. Even if it's just in simple little ways. Like writing these blogs. Spending all our time online or on our phones, is like us sitting there soaking up the world. I don't want to soak up the world. I want to soak up God. I'd rather be sitting, reading my bible or doing something for God, and soaking him in. I want to be consumed by him, not the world. I don't if what I say has an affect on anyone. But, what if I asked you to give up TV for a day. Maybe even facebook. What if I asked you to leave your phone in your room for a day. ( that's what I've been doing. Sorry if I haven't texted you back :P) Would you say, "Heck yes! That's easy. I can do it." Is it easy? Is it easy to give up these things that, probably a good bit of us spend a ton of our time on? Is it easy to give anything up? No. But I didn't finish the question. Would you give up TV for a day, and spend that time reading your bible or praying, or just being with God? Would you leave your phone in your room for a whole day, to talk to God instead of your friends?  A huge thing for me, I often run to people before I run to God. Yeah, we all have friends that are always there when we need something. But something I have learned is that I need to go to God before I go to my friends. Now I'm not say never talk to your friends, haha. I'm just saying for me, personally, I struggle with that. Like I said, I don't want to sit and soak up the world. So seriously. I'm not going to tell you what to do. But think about those questions I asked. And if you think it's something you need. Go for it. Do it for a week, not just a day if that's what you feel like you need. If you do do this, let me know how it goes! Let me know if it was hard or easy for you, and how it may have changed you.

I hope everyone has an amazing Friday, and an amazing weekend :) Love you guys.

Consumed.

I know I'm kind of getting away from the regular thing here, but I like to change things up :) Plus, I really want to talk about something today.
PS. Hello!

So, I've been thinking alot lately(shocker!). First and foremost, listen to this song. Don't read on until you've listened to the whole thing, please (: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suIeoR2Wils
I love love love this song. I've been listening to it on repeat for days hahaha.
Anyway! I've been thinking alot lately about how wrapped up we get in things of the world. I mean come on, we're human beings. Obviously it's going to happen. But what i really really really want to say is.
If we get wrapped up in things, it's going to eat us up. It's going to consume our life and our mind and our whole way of doing everything. If we let it. If we keep pushing ourselves in deeper and deeper, the more it's going to eat us up, the more it's going to start to consume us. It's hard to run away from situations. It's hard to not get consumed. It's hard to accept things that don't go the way we've planned. But ya know what? It's going to be worth it. Sure it's going to hurt a little, maybe a lot. But God doesn't make stuff happen just for it to happen. Sometimes we go through certain situations more than once. Not just to torture us. Maybe we missed something God was trying to show us before. Personally, alot alot alot of stuff I have dealt with has brought me so so much closer to God. And sure, I've gone through things more than once. Yeah, it hurts. But you know what. You're not walking into those situations the same way you did the first time. And you should try not to walk out the same either. Like I said, it will consume you. You will find yourself spending so much time worrying and being upset about this. But guys, Something I have realized and I know alot of us know, but sometime forget is. That we need to give all our situations and feelings and crazy emotions to God. Not some of them. All of them. Give it to him. Trust in him. Full heartedly trust in him. And most importantly run to him. Spend time with you. Even if the worst of things is happening in your life, worshipping and going after God is always a refreshing feeling. He is there when you feel no one else is. Don't let troubles and struggles wrap around your mind and your heart and your life. Grab hold of God and start letting him consume you. He'll pull you out of that situation and I can quarentee you will learn something along the way.
This has been on my heart alot lately, and I just really wanted to share.

I hope you all have had a wonderful Friday :) Love you guys.

My Thoughts

Hello there lovely readers of my blog (:

I thought about this blog post for quite sometime. I was going to post it on like... Monday. That’s how long I’ve been thinking about it. So I’m finally posting it and I hope you all like it just a little bit (: Warning: This post might go in a thousand different directions but just try to bare with me. I’ve got lots and lots to share (:

So, it seems like a lot has been going on lately. Not just in my life but in everybody’s. It seems like everyone is just down lately and upset. I’ll be honest with you guys. I had a meltdown a few nights ago. So much stuff was getting to me and eating away at me. And I was just thinking of so many things all at once. And I was feeling upset for my friends who were upset too. And it was just so overwhelming until I sat myself down and I sorted through my thoughts. Only to realize that every little that I was upset about, I was upset about it because it didn’t go the way I wanted. I felt I had lost things I didn’t want to lose. Like I was being ripped away from things and people that were really important to me in my life. At my small group at church, we’ve been talking about media. And how it affects us in good and bad ways. I found it funny that that was the topic for the month. Because that’s actually been something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I’m sure when we were all little we heard people say “God’s with you all the time. How would you feel if God was sitting right next to you while you were watching your favorite, or the most popular television show?”  And we were like... yeah yeah I don’t watch anything bad. This is something I have been thinking about so much lately. If you know me really well you know that I think probably way too much. But really, this has been on my mind a lot. Every time I sit down to watch TV, as I’m flicking through the guide… I think about what’s really in these shows. What’s the message they are trying to portray to me through this show and the characters within it. Honestly there are a lot of crappy things on TV these days. I really don’t even watch it all that much anymore unless it’s like Disney Channel or something like that. But hey, if you’re reading this and you are someone who struggles with this. Like maybe you are hooked on a TV show that you know isn’t exactly a good show for you to be watching but you can’t stop watching it. First off, pray. Really, it sounds kind of like a weird thing to do especially about a TV show but really guys, there IS power in prayer. Secondly, start doing something else when that show is on. I’m sure there are a million things you can think of. Read, write, draw, craft, do a jig. Anything that will get your mind off of watching that show. This ones my favorite (: Go read your bible. Crank up the worships tunes. That’s what I’ve been doing instead of watching TV. And it really does get you un-hooked from that certain TV program. And it’s much more fun then sitting in front of the TV. Now, please don’t think I’m saying you’re a bad person if you watch a show that’s consider “bad.” I’m not (: Because we’ve all been there probably at least once. But try these things. Just invest that time into God and doing things that glorify him. It’s worth it.

Okay, what was I saying before that? “Like I was being ripped away from things and people that were really important to me in my life.” Oh okay! Lately I have been realizing more and seeing more of how the devil gives us distractions. That’s a big word. Distractions. Distractions are things that divide our attention. We’re kind of paying attention to this thing…. But we are way more interested in thinking about that thing. That’s what distractions are. Like if you were waiting to cross the street, and you were looking for on coming cars, and a person in a hotdog suit ran by screaming, that’d be a distraction. It gets your attention, but it distracts you from where your attention needs to be. A LOT of the time things and people will distract us from God. I’ve been noticing that a lot in my life. I know it’s so hard sometimes to keep our full attention on him without getting distracted. It’s almost impossible. But it’s one of those things that won’t just happen over night. You’ve got to start blocking out some common distractions. Your cell phone. Your facebook. Those are probably the most distracting things ever in this generation. You’ll go to read your bible then your like… oh wait, I got a text. I better read it. It can probably wait. Go get God. Your friends can wait. Facebook can definitely wait. Those are the things that I know I get distracted by. But really guys, if this is something you are seriously serious about, go for it. Give it try. The simplest things are the hardest sometimes. But again, It’ll be worth it all in the end (:

Well everyone, this was a long post! I hope you all enjoyed it, and that you all have a lovely Friday (: Love you guys.