Christmas Time

I love Christmas time so much! In my opinion, the best part of Christmas is spending time with family. I love my family so much, and am so grateful that I got to spend time with my family on both sides this year! I had a blast and made so many memories! Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with such an amazing immediate and extended family!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Before getting into relationships...

Who can agree with me when I say that friendships can be hard? We put ourselves fully out there for the one's we love, fully knowing that we could get rejected, dissapointed, and hurt. C.S. Lewis got it right when he said this, "To love at all is to be vulnerabe. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it careful round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable... The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell." So what do we do? Do we keep our hearts hidden from those we love or do we give them away with the possibility of getting crushed and hurt? How do we give our thoughts, time, and love to a person we know will someday fail us? We must first give ourselves fully to the one who will not fail us. We must find ourselves and our worth in God and God alone before we get in any kind of relationship because if we don't we will look for our self worth in relationships with fallen people and when those people hurt us we will start to think that we aren't worth much if even our friends hurt us and that we aren't worth being treated well. Our self worth and self value will take a plunge. But when we find ourselves in our Creator, knowing that we are made in His image and our loved by Him we are free to love others, knowing full well that we will get hurt, but trusting in the one who we find ourselves in.
"For anyone to enjoy relationship, they must repent of their need to control and their insistence that people fill them. Fallen people demand that others "come through" for them. Redeemed people are being met in the depths of their soul by Christ and are free to offer to others, free to desire, and willing to be dissapointed. Fallen people have been wounded by others and withdraw in order to protect themselves from further harm. Redeemed people know that they have something of value to offer; that they are made for relationship. Therefore, being safe and secure in their relationship with their Lord, they can risk being vulnerable with others and offer their true selves." -Stasi Eldridge (Captivating)

The Christmas Tree

Found this poem that my grandma wrote, thought it was really good! My grandma was a poet and she didn't even know it (:

The Christmas Tree

Once there was a Christmas tree,

the biggest that you've seen

It's trunk so straight

it's branches full and color deepest green

The star on top was so bright,

the darkness seemed like day

and on it's sturdy limbs of green,

the falling snow did lay

Beneath it's boughs,

a manger sat--simple yet divine

For in it lay the son of God

a gift to all mankind

Though he was an infant yet,

you could plainly see

All the wonders of his love

in the Christmas tree

Like its trunk strong and tall,

the infant Christ would grow

And like it's sturdy limbs of pine,

that held the heavy snow

He'd have the strength within his arms,

to hold us all so near

That not one voice in this world,

could not reach his ear

And like the star with all its light,

his love would always be

A guiding force for us to follow,

throughout eternity

The Christmas Tree is full of splendor,

be it trimmed or bare

If in the heart of the beholder,

there is love to share

Teach us Jesus how to be,

as strong and patient as the tree

So all our gifts this year will be,

good deeds that we can give to thee

Clinging

Have you ever found yourself clinging to the things of this world? Have you found yourself desiring so much to be of the world that you loose sight of God? I know I sure have. It's at those times that I need to remind myself that I don't belong here. I am a stranger in this world. I was made to live eternally with my Father and this world is nothing compared to that....but it's really hard to remember that. It's hard to be in the world, but not of the world. At times, I find myself desperately collecting more and more on this Earth; I cling to it like an infant clings to its mother. But at the end of the day, all that this world brings leaves me unfufilled and searching for more. "If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy, I can only conclude that I was not made for here." -C.S. Lewis.
Clinging is a bad habit of mine and a lot of others; we need to stamp out this habit and realize that we were made for so much more than this world. Nothing here will ever fufill us, only Christ can do that.
"Wherever you are and wherever you turn, you will not find happiness until you turn to God."
-Thomas a Kempis

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Last Christmas my sister, Cassie, made me a memory jar. It was a jar filled with a lot of weirddd things we used to do when we were little and I could open one a day for a month. This year when I pulled it out from our Christmas stuff I had to chuckle at some of the weirddd memories (:

here's a few of them:
(keep in mind that these are from cassie to me so when it says me it means cassie and when it says you it means me.)

-Remember when I started crying in the middle of the street because I thought I had a tumor.

-Remember when Brooke had a crush on our cousins.

-Remember when we would wake up every saturday night at midnight to watch Hannah Montana.

-Remember when I would act like I was possessed and was going to cut your veins at bed time and scare you.

-Remember when all of Brooke and her friends thought they were evil squirrels.

-Remember when you decided to pee downstairs because you were too lazy to go upstairs.

-Remember when we made our Barbies act out Sept. 11th. (oh geez we were disturbing little children!)

-Remember when Brooke would always hide behind the couch to eat cookies and then come out with crumbs all over her face and deny eating any.

-Remember when I made my bunk bed a "tanning bed" and colored you guys with brown
marker.

-Remember when Brooke had a crush on practically every boy in the world.

-Remember when we hated Brooke because she was the "perfect child."

-Remeber when we would trade making our beds the "library."

-Remember when we gave our Barbies family portraits.

-Remember when we played "Oprah" at night when we couldn't fall asleep.

-Remember when I formed a spy club with the neighbors and asked for spy gear for my birthday.

A Strange Story

Have you ever thought that the birth of Christ was a strange story? Have you ever found it strange that God used Joseph, an simple carpenter, and Mary, a young ordinary girl to bring the Messiah into the world? Have you ever found it strange that the Savior of the world was born in a tiny town called Bethlehem? Do you find it strange that there was no room for the ruler of the world in any inns in town, or that he was placed in a manger filled with straw to sleep? Have you ever found it strange that the angels chose three lowly shepherds to first share this good news with? I know I have, but our ways our not God's ways and this strange story happens to be the beginning of the world's redemption story.

Our Greatest Fear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
You're playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our prescence automatically liberates others."

-Marianne Williamson

Renewal

This past weekend I had the absolutely amazing privilege of being a leader at Renewal-GSM's middle school retreat. I had such an incredible time and the most amazing girls in my group. They were so fun and full of Jesus, it was great to get to see them grow spiritually over the weekend. While the weekend drained me so much physically, I really feel so renewed and restored spiritually. During the weekend we had 3 sessions/ chapel/ church times or whatever you want to call it. Each session truly spoke to me and moved me.
In the first session DC talked about how as a Christian we don't have to live by a huge set of rules; God's love is always permanent and can't be altered. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us less and there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more. Looking back on the session I can see how the devil was trying to grab hold of me because all I could think was, "Ok, so if there's nothing I can do to make God love me less and my place in heaven is locked, why do I continue to try to do the right thing? Why don't I quit? Wouldn't that be so much easier?" But then as we stood up to worship I glanced up and saw a wooden cross placed on the wall and I pictured my Savior, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords laying up there for me and I was struck anew with the wonder of the gift he gave me when he hung up there. My thoughts immediately changed to,"Wow, that's why I try. He is the reason I try," and as I sang "All Because of Jesus" I had my eyes fixed upon that cross hanging on the wall and thanked him over and over again for the ultimate sacrifice he made for me and I prayed that my actions would reflect this love that I have received through it.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." -Ephesians 2:8-10
In the second session DC talked about checking ourselves in the mirror. During the session we had time to prayerfully evaluate ourselves and ask God what parts of our life were on track and on purpose for him, and what parts were not. This time was really an eye-opener for me; it made me realize that although I was on track in some areas, I needed a lot of work in others. While writing the list was a little hard for me because I have a major pride problem, I am very grateful that I did. I have been pulling it out every night since to review the day and see how I tried to work on those not-so-great areas and pray that God will give me the strength to keep improving them.
"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out." -Romans 12:2
The third session was called A Whole New you. During the session DC made an illustration of Jesus washing us white as snow by taking a t-shirt full of different types of sin that people had written on it and said that before we had Christ, this is how we looked. Then he placed the t-shirt in Clorox and after a few minutes pulled it out-white as snow. This illustration was really encouraging for me to see because a lot of times I find myself focusing on how sinful and 'dirty' I am and I think that when I do this it's the devil's way of taking away from Jesus' sacrifice. The illustration again reminded me of the magnitude of Christ's gift. Because of him I can now start fresh, wearing a shirt as white as the one dumped in Clorox.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." -2 Corinthians 5:17
Basically, the weekend was sheer awesomeness! I think what I got out of it most was that I need to focus more on Christ, his sacrifice, and how he alone can heal me instead of me, my sin, and how I need to try harder.
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." -Hebrews 12:2

Gotta love JibJab!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

haha yes, this is what I do in my spare time (:

Abraham-Genesis 22

I just finished doing a character study of Abraham for school and boy did I learn a lot about faith. Abraham had great faith in God. he trusted him when it didn't make sense; he really let God have control of his life and God blessed him tremendously for it. My favorite story about Abraham is found in Genesis 22. In this chapter Abraham had finally received the son that God had promised him. It was his first and only son and I imagine Abraham love him very much. In this passage God tells Abraham to take his son to the region of Moriah and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering. Now, my thoughts when first reading through this story were along the lines of, "Why would God promise Abraham this son and then order him to essentially kill him? That makes no sense God!" But after reading further through this story I realized why God was asking Abraham to do this. God was testing Abraham's love for him. He was asking Abraham to put the very thing that he loved and adored on the altar and give it up for him. You see, God doesn't want to be put second in our lives. He demands, and is so worthy of, being number one in our lives. God asked Abraham to place his son on the altar to show him that God is worth so much more to him than anything else, even his son, and Abraham had such a great love and faith in God that he willingly was ready to do this for God. What has taken over the number one place God should have in your life? Are you ready to place it on the altar for him?

Christmas!

Oh how I love the Christmas season! I think I get a little bit too much into the whole Christmas spirit though.... (: hahaha

CAMP ADVENTURE!

Every summer for the past 4 summer's I have had the privilege to go to (in my opinion) the greatest place on the face of planet earth. Seriously, it's that great. Every year I meet terrific people, I make amazing friends, I grow so much closer to God, and I have an incredibly great time! If it weren't for Camp Adventure I don't know where I would be in my walk with Christ right now, I have grown so much spiritually there. This summer me and my two best friends went to Camp together. We were in a group that we nicknamed the Welts (: It's a long story how this nickname came to be, but basically it was the result of absolute camp hyperness (which there tends to be a lot of at camp)! This group was the funnest, craziest, loudest group I have ever been in (: I love every single person in it, and while some of the people in this group live far away most of us have still maintained the bond that we established at camp. This bond is something only Camp Adventure can do to a group. To all you Welts reading this, I love you guys like crazy!

My Review Of Disney's "A Christmas Carol"

So last night me and a couple of friends went to see Disney's A Christmas Carol. Let me just say that it was totally nottt what I expected it to be. I expected it to be a cheerful, happy, get me in the mood for Christmas kind of movie and it was but it was also a terrifying, grip your seat, nerve-wracking movie (: Weird mixture, huh? It was a greattt movie with a really good moral lesson but if you have high blood pressure or are prone to heart attacks, I advise you nott to go see this movie (:

Trick or Treat!

This Halloween me, Olivia, Brittany, and Emily went trick-or-treating as hobos. Yes, some people may think we're a little too old to go trick-or-treating butttt we have great fun and hey, it's free candy! Who would pass that opportunity up?! Anywaysss, we went trick-or-treating, we were hobos, and we had fun (:

My neighboor, Craig

This is Craig. He is my next door neighboor and I have never met a kinder man. He has gone through a lot of pain this past year after the death of his wife, but he is still so kind and always has a smile for me. Just recently Craig went to stay with his daughter in Japan for several months. While he was there he came down with an illness and was put in the hospital for 3 weeks. The doctor's gave him 72 hours to live, but after a lottt of prayer from his friends and family he is gradually getting better and coming back home! I am convinced that his healing is due to the power of prayer and I am so grateful that we have a God who listens to our prayers! And I can't wait to see Craig return home!

That's My King!

LOVE this video!

Youth Ministarz!

This is a video me, Brittany Jacquay, Olivia Usenick, and Cecelia Forberg made for our youth ministers (: Haha yes, we have a lot of time on our hands.

By Your Side

Ok let me start off by saying that I love this song! It is such a perfect represenation of who God really is. He is always by our side. The first words in this song are "Why are you looking for love? Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?" As I was listening to this song the other day these words hit me in a way they never had before. The world we live in is always searching for some sort of love, they want to feel affirmed and needed. They look for this in people, material things, and other ways that will never match up to the real love we can find in Christ. Nothing compares to his love. Like my church says repeatedly "He loves us because he loves us because he loves us." We don't have to earn his love, it's always been there and always will be. I can't imagine how much it hurts his heart to see us seeking after things that will never fufill us. I must admit that I am guilty of this too. I find myself looking for love in ways that won't ever measure up to the love I find in Christ. He alone makes me complete. This week I challenge you to stop looking for love in earthly things and instead look to the one who sacrificed his life for you, the one who created you and loves you more than you can ever imagine. He will always be by your side.

A Change In Season

As much as I hate to see summer leave I must say that I love fall. I know that may seem creepy to all you summer fanatics, but I love fall and all that it brings with it. I love the crisp, cool air. I love the layer of frost that covers the ground in the morning. I love Friday night football games. I love going to the pumpkin patch with my family. I love trick-or-treating with friends. I love the anticipation of Christmas. I love watching God's beauty in nature as the trees turn colors. I love, love, love fall and am so grateful that I get to see it again this year.

Friends (:

As I was reading my Bible I came across the story of David and Jonathan. They had a friendship so powerful the Bible says that "Jonathan loved David as himself." Jonathan's love for David was so powerful that he was willing to go against his Father and possibly get himself killed for the sake of David's safety.

After reading this story I immediately asked myself if I had a "Jonathan" in my life. My mind instantly turned to the two girls that I love as myself and that I know have the same love for me. Those girls are Olivia Michelle Usenick and Brittany Michelle Jacquay.

These girls mean so much to me and they are the greatest friends I could ever ask for. I am so thankful that God put them in my life. In the past two years I have gone through a lot of change and these girls have been a solid rock through it all. They are there for me through thick and thin, they can always find a way to make me laugh, and they help me so much on my walk with Christ. I can always come to them for advice because I know they will tell me the truth even if it isn't exactly what I want to hear at the time. I love them both so much and am so glad they are in my life, I don't know what I would do without them.

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their work; if one falls down his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
-Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Real love

As I was reading I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris I came upon a paragraph that really hit me. It said this:

"The world takes us to a silver screen on which flickering images of passion and romance play, and as we watch they say, " This is love." God takes us to the foot of a tree on which a naked and bloodied man hangs and says, "This is love."

Isn't this so true? The world's version of love is sooo different than the love God wants for us and is continously showing us. The world says love is some mysterious force and that it is measured by our emotions and feelings. Christ taught that "love is not for the fulfillment of self, but for the glory of God and the good of others." I think that the perfect example of love was shown in Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross. He willingly placed himself on that cross while all of his "feelings and emotions" told him not to. He obviously didn't "feel" like dying a brutal and gruesome death, but his love for us was stronger than any feeling or emotion he had at the time. Like Joshua Harris says, "we need to throw out the misconception that love is some strange force that tosses us around against our will like leaves in the wind. We cannot justify doing what we know is wrong by saying that love grabbed hold of us and made us behave irresponsibly. That's not love. Instead, it's what the Bible calls in Thessalonians 4:5 passionate lust. We express true love in obedience to God and service to others- not reckless or selfish behavior."

I want to learn to love not how the world teaches us to love, but how Christ taught us to love.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres. Love never fails."

-1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Baptism

This weekend at church I got to witness the baptism of so many believers. It was so cool to see countless people publicly declare their love for the Lord. I am so thankful that I get the privilege to go to a church where I can see the work of the Lord in so many lives.

"...Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." ~ Acts 2:38

Random Thought

Just a random thought for today that I thought I would share with you all. The past three weeks at GSM my youth minister (DC Curry) has talked about poop. Yes, poop. He has found some way to include poop in all of his messages, both middle school and high school for the past three weeks. Hmm......gotta love DC!

My Family

Yes, it is a fact that my family is a littttle large. And yes, it is a fact that my family can get pretty crazy at times (: But it is also a fact that I love my family with all my heart and wouldn't trade them for anything. Even though my family is a little large we have a sense of unity that is unexplainable. We are all closely knit together by the love and grace of God. I know that I can talk to them about anything without being judged and that no matter how bratty I get ( and trust me, I can be a real jerk sometimes) their love for me is always rock solid. I have two wonderful parents that are constantly encouraging and uplifting me. They give me a perfect example of what marriage is and portray to me how to truly love and honor my spouse someday. I have an older sister that I consider to be my role model. She shows me how to live a life on track and on purpose for God. She is amazing and I hope to have faith as strong as hers someday. I also have 3 younger sisters who I cherish and think the world of. They are constantly humoring me with their hilarious comments (: I can't wait to see what God has in store for their lives! Then I have two little brothers. They are way different than all of my sisters, but in a good way... I think (: They are crazy, loud, fun, loud, and a little wacko at times. My family means everything to me and while I may sometimes take them for granted or treat them lousy I love them all so much and thank God that he put each and every one of them in my life!

And The Bride Wore White

I just finished reading a book called And The Bride Wore White. It was an amazing book that opened my eyes to what purity really means and how to live a life of purity. I want to seek after God's will for me and this book taught me that what God wants for me is to have a pure heart. It says in the Bible that our bodies are the temple of Christ...."Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. I was bought with a price, the blood of the lamb. I am not my own anymore, I belong to him who shed his blood for me and I want to glorify him with my every thought and every action. God doesn't want us compromising what he has bought with such a severe price for anything. This book taught me that living a lifestyle of purity is worth it, no matter how much the world screams for me to do otherwise. To any ladies reading this, I highly recommend reading this book!

Be Faithful In The small Things....

Today I found myself asking why I even bother doing tasks that seem unimportant and useless to the kingdom of God. I asked myself why I am stuck doing laundry for my mom and baby-sitting my brothers and sisters when there are hungry orphans all over the world and homeless men and women on our very streets. My tasks seem so insignificant and small compared to what I could be doing. But then this verse came to mind..."Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." (Luke 6:10) It hit me that God cares about the tasks that seem petty and small to me. God wants me to work at everything with all my heart as if I were doing it for him. I can do even these small tasks for his kingdom if I am doing it for the glory of God and working at it with all my heart. Mother Teresa puts it this way, "It's not what you do, but how much love you put into it that matters." God sees and rewards us for even these small, boring taks. If we are faithful to serve him with the small things, he knows that he can then trust us with the big things.

My First Post!

Hello everyone! So I've officially started a blog! This blog will be a place for me to express thoughts and stories from my life. A place for me to reflect on what Christ is doing in my life and share it with others. If you're interested enough, read on!
(: