Youth Rally Time

Last year about this time I wrote this post about the "Night in Bethlehem" youth service that we had at our church. Well, it's been 365 days (plus a few, now) since that night, and I am about to write another post about another youth service. 

Last year I knew that what we were doing was going to be the start of something great, I just didn't know how great it was going to be. I knew God was going to do something, I just didn't know exactly what he was going to do. In the past, there has been failed attempt after failed attempt to do something for Apostolic young people and never does it seem to stick. I guess that is because every year a new generation rises up and they have new needs, new ways to worship, and new people to reach. So, after a year of doing these youth services at different churches, I'm proud to say the kids have stuck with it. Every service is better than the previous one. This past Saturday night there was so much anticipation, I thought the church was going to blow up. I mean, it was like everyone had been waiting their whole life just to be at that service. 

So, in my usual style, I will give you the run-down of events. 

6:00- Dinner

7:00- Joseph Hale, Jara Hale, Jordan Canfield, and Kathy Hale of Christ Family Church teach us all how to "Wobble" Family Force Five style. It was awesome and I think everyone loved it. Everyone was wobbling. 

7:06 (or something like that) Christina gets the young people all fired up for Jesus, I mean they were going nuts! To quote her, "How many people have ever been healed? How many people have ever been delivered? Why don't you give God some praise?!?!?!" Just imagine saying that to 120 people + who had been healed and who had been delivered.

7:07 Praise and worship kicks off with "You are Good to Me" and "Freedom" I thought the pews were going to come unscrewed. Seriously. The church was bouncing up and down. 

7:15 Church of Joy from Leitchfield, KY did a praise dance to "Oh Glorious Day." They got it.

7:20 Cody Tipton, a 16-year-old from the Bible Church of Jesus shared a word with the young people, encouraging them to be a witness in "such a time as this." It was great, I love hearing young people minister. They might get nervous, they might go nuts, but its awesome either way because its such a growing experience.

7:25 FAC Bowling Green youth group did a dance to "Word of God Speak." I was very proud of them, it was their first time doing something like that as a group and they did very well. 

7:30 Second Praise and Worship set. Whoa. How he loves us. So much that he clothed himself and flesh and lived among us and suffered and died for us. Its unfathomable.

7:40 Bro. Brian Massie brought an incredible word to the young people about bearing their scars as a witness of what God has brought them through it was very powerful.

After that, there's no time-keep. The altar service was very powerful and God really moved on the lives of everyone there. I mean, I have so many stories, there are so many things that transpired that night, that I don't even know where to begin. I am just so thankful for what God is doing and that He somehow saw fit for me to be involved in what he wants to do. I can't wait until next time!

Surprises

I hate surprises.

I have a problem around Christmas because I want to tell everyone what I got them, and I want them to tell me. I just hate the suspense. I like to know what's going on at all times. I like to be the person who sees what is coming. I like to be in control and I like to be in the know.

I guess one reason I am like this is because I don't know how to react to surprises. When I was younger, and still today, I had a problem with birthdays because I don't know how to react when I open a present. Even if I love it and it's exactly what I want, I don't jump up and down and scream and cry. I say "Thank you, I love it!" and then move on.

Sometimes, there are bad surprises. They are not gifts or wedding announcements, or long-lost friends. So, since I cannot say, "Thank you, I love it!" I have decided that the best thing to do is to keep my mouth shut or talk to my sisters. That's the only solution. Oh, and pray.

And life... good grief, it's always throwing surprises at me.

School, Friends, Church, Family, Christmas

I have a million and one things going on in my mind right now. So here it is: my stress-free Tuesday post.

~The to-do list/countdown I posted last week: check! I've gotten most of it done. Besides finals (3) I only have a few more easy assignments to do. 

~Last night was my last night of Art. I am sad to see it go, because I love art, but I have never been so ready for a class to be over. I turned in all of my projects last night, including the mosaic that I spent at least 15 hours or more working on. Every time I close my eyes I see Jimmy Stewart holding his sweetheart in the air and a million little pieces of magazine clippings glued to the poster. I will have to put up a picture, it is pretty impressive. 

~I read a quote yesterday that said, "Being a Christian is not about being perfect, its about realizing how much we need Christ, who is perfect." I've been trying to work on the little things here lately, like holding my tongue, or rising above the situation, or being patient. What I have found is that these things are not something you achieve or become over night and stay that way for the rest of your life. Every situation that we face is an opportunity to let God work through us and make us more like him. Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail. 

~We have a new Hispanic minister coming to our church. I hope really good things come from this. There are a lot of Hispanic people in our area that need Jesus, so it will be really cool if he gets in there and starts reaching out. The only problem is he doesn't know very much English, but Sunday he testified and I understood what he was saying. I guess three years of Spanish paid off.

~Lesson learned: you can't look at some things the way God looks at them and then other things the way the world looks at them. We have to look at everything through God's eyes. Even the girl code. 

~I spent a lot of time with Joseph's family this weekend. I met his dad's family at a Christmas thing, and then we went to his cousin Brenan's birthday party (he turned four) it was super sweet. However, I didn't get to see my family much this weekend, really just Rebekah and Christina. So that stinks. I am looking forward to having all of next week off with them. 

~The closer it gets to Christmas, the more I want to tell everyone what I got them. I hate suspense. It hasn't been as bad this year, I guess because it doesn't feel like Christmas yet, but I know its coming. 

~My Waffle House bad experiences were redeemed this weekend with a good one. I think I have never eaten there without getting sick, but I went this weekend with Tina, Beka, J, and Joseph and we had lots of fun and got to invite our waitress to church. And I didn't throw up. 

~Do not be weary in well doing, for in time you will reap a great reward. That's my motto this week.

JAM

Last night we baptized our first JAM kid. It was so awesome.

This past summer, my friend Kaitlyn was living with us and had the vision to start a ministry for pre-teen kids, and she named it JAM (Jesus and Me) Ministry. Well, Kaitlyn moved, but JAM stuck. My younger sister Christina has taken over, and done a tremendous job with it. On Wednesday nights she takes the kids to the back, they do some crazy praise and worship and then she teaches them a lesson. When JAM started, it was just my little sister Jessica, and my two cousins, Rachel and Lauren. Since then, Rachel has been bringing her friends and in September (I think), her friend Hannah was filled with the Holy Ghost at a youth rally here in Bowling Green. Wednesday night Rachel's friend Gracie was baptized in Jesus' name! 

I am reminded of the scripture, "If one can put a thousand to flight, then two can put ten thousand to flight." And that makes me super pumped because we have three kids in the sixth grade alone. So what's that mean? a hundred thousand? I think so. With God, the possibilities are endless.

The Countdown

The countdown is on blog-reading people of the world! There are only 24 days until Christmas!!! Of Course, that means 10 school days, and tons of work to do. My to-do list for the next week and a half looks a little like this:
Math:
-Tesselation Homework
-Take-home Test
-Extra Credit
-Study for Final
KY History:
-Finish Reading Journals (a ridiculous amount of reading)
-Study for Final
English:
-Noun Clause Homeowrk
-Punctuation Extra Credit
-Finish Notebook (again, ridiculous)
-Take-home Final
-Diagrammed Sentences Homework
Art:
-Mosaic (I'll have to post a picture to let you see how ridiculous this is)
-Study for Final
Literacy:
-Literature Focus Unit Lesson Plan
-Chapter 8 Quiz
-Study for Final

That's just for school! But I will make it!

Post-Thanksgiving Post

Last week, on Tuesday I started to get that blogging itch that I get every Tuesday as I work on homework. But last Tuesday I was at home, snuggled up in the recliner under the heated blanket, watching reruns of "The Biggest Loser" and I though I started a post, I just couldn't finish it. I think the timing was wrong, but now my friends, the timing is right.

Maybe I'm alone on this point, but hopefully there are others out there like me, the holidays make me just the teensiest bit nervous. I love the holidays, but I stress about them not because of money, or getting the right gift, or having to see people or anything like that, but I get nervous because I want everyone to be happy, and maybe its selfish, but I want to be happy too! You know, I have to constantly remind myself that if God cares for the sparrow, then how much more does he care for us? And he wants us to be happy too... so should it come as any surprise that our great God works every single little thing out for our good... Ha, no, it shouldn't.

So, instead of the fretting, "change is coming, but I'm thankful anyways" post that I was going to write before Thanksgiving, here is my post-thanksgiving post:

The schedule of events:
Wednesday: Flu shot (yuck), grocery shopping (because my mom sent us, while she cleaned for company), cleaning (because she couldn't do it on her own of course!), cleaning (oh did I already say that?), and Church (where little Gracie decided she wants to be baptized... its happening tomorrow, Hallelujah!)
Thursday: Wake up, shower, get dressed, cook, cook, cook, cook, cook. Here's how things go at our house: Mom: Turkey, Dressing, and telling everyone else how to cook everything else, except me: Pecan Pie and Hashbrown Casserole (except, I took too long getting dressed so then we had an "everyone needs the oven" problem. Here's how I think we should solve it... get two ovens. done.) Christina: deviled eggs, Jessica: Cranberry Sauce (haha). Rebekah: Um, I don't remember what she made. And then everyone else brings the other goods like mashed potatoes, gravy, and the ridiculously amazing caramel pie that may have been dropped from heaven. THEN, movie time (we watched pirates of the carribbean) then Joseph came over and we went to my mammaw's for dinner. We played charades.

But wait! Thursday isn't over yet.

Get home about 8:00 pm. Joseph and I bundle up and leave around 8:30 to arrive at Target around 9:30 and wait in line until midnight for my first ever Black Friday shopping extravaganza. The whole world watched. Not. But we did stand in line for a total of four hours and I got the Nikon Coolpix L105 for $99, which I think was totally worth it. And of course, spending four hours with Joseph and having a good ol' time... I wouldn't trade it for a good nights sleep!

But I might should have, because I didn't sleep but two hours that night.

Friday: 6 am. More black friday shopping with Grandmama, mama, and the girls. I cannot even begin to account for all the great deals that were made haha. We returned home only to not take a nap, but to put up our Christmas decorations. But by that time I was cranky and it was time for bed.

There was more to this weekend, but this post is too long already, so just so you know, I am very thankful. It was the best thanksgiving of my life. :)

A Wish on a Wednesday

I wish my 12-page research paper about the second great awakening and it's affect on Kentucky would write itself.... 

No really, (though that would be awesome) I have lots of wishes. So I think I will make this a tradition, and hopefully I will stick to it. I mean the holiday season has begun and its definitely a time for wishes. Here it is:

I wish I had more motivation to do the not-so-fun things that I need to do, like write my paper, or go to class. I mean, I go to class, but I hate every moment of being there. I wish I had more motivation to exercise, to eat healthier. I wish I had more motivation to be self-motivated. How do I do that?

A Good Weekend to Fall in Love

Well, its about that time again. Time to update all of you, my readers, on the escapades of the past weekend and all the awesome things God is doing in my life! Funny how it always seems to come at this time... you know, Tuesdays, at work, when there is nothing to do but homework... hmm.

Anyways, last Friday Rebekah and I made a mad dash home, skipping out on class and work (I was excused) to pack up and hit the road with the family for Calvert City, Kentucky, where we spent the weekend with the people of Faith Apostolic Church. My grandparents have been going there on the second weekend of November every year for four years now, and we have joined them for the past two. Every year, on Friday night, they have a special service for the ladies and my grandmama speaks. Then on Saturday night and Sunday morning, my Granddad speaks. On Saturday morning, we get up and go shopping, and they always have good food. 

So that's basically the run-down of events.

However, this year was a little different. This year, they asked ME to speak along with my grandmama. She recently had a pretty serious surgery and was afraid she wouldn't be able to do the whole thing on her own, so she asked me to help out. I was honored, and nervous. I never, ever get nervous about speaking in front of people, but it has happened twice that I have been asked to speak at a "ladies conference" and it terrifies me. I mean, preparing for it, I just think to myself, "I'm only twenty years old. I'm not married, I've never had kids... what do I have to offer these women?" I should know by now that God has his ways of making us trust him more. Moreover, the topic they had chosen was the Proverbs 31 woman. WHAT? That whole proverb is about a married woman, one who takes care of her husband and her children and provides for them and all that stuff. I know nothing about it. But again, there is God, teaching me to trust him more. 

I studied and studied and studied. I think I know the woman in Proverbs 31 as well as my best friend. She and I are tight now. The more I read about her, the more I realized that its not that hard to be like her. All she does is work hard, right? I mean, she goes out of her way to provide food for her family, she wakes up before the crack of dawn to make sure that they are prepared for the day ahead. She makes sure her husband looks good, she dresses her family in warm clothing, etc. She isn't lazy. However, the more I read about this woman, the more I realized that there is much more to her than a to-do list. Yeah, she's a hard worker, but there is motivation behind all of her work. 

The thing about my friend in Proverbs 31 is that she realizes she is more than just a woman. She is a wife. She is a bride. There is so much more to a relationship than a checklist of things to do. There has to be love, there has to be intimacy. And that is the part that hit home for me. Jeremiah 2:32 says "Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number." Because if we are the bride of Christ, then our relationship to Jesus should look like the relationship of the Proverbs 31 woman to her husband. It has become easy for us to do work for the Lord, but we have forgotten for whom we do the work: Jesus. 

Revelation chapter 3 tells us of the church at Ephesus, who had forgotten their first love. In his letter to the church, God tells them to go back to their first love. To repent and do what they did in the beginning. Some of us have spent so long working for God, that we have forgotten when we fell in love with him. This happens in marriages too. That's why so many marriages fail, because people forget when and how they fell in love. There is a movie out and one of the characters says that part of making a marriage work is falling in love again every day. That goes for our relationship with God. We have to fall in love with him everyday. I mean, I'm guilty, I'm the worst. I was raised in church. I cut my teeth on the pews, I was taught to love God. I work hard for him. I have taught Sunday School, led youth groups, led praise and worship, played the piano, directed children's church, and everything else, but that means nothing if I'm not in love with Jesus. And sometimes I forget what that feels like. 

I encouraged the ladies in Calvert City this weekend to remember what it felt like to fall in love. Now I encourage you to remember as well.

Inspire me a little.

Because we all know we're addicted to those little quotes that make us feel inspired and alive and everything... Courtesy of thingsweforget.blogspot.com

"A diamond is just a piece of coal that stuck to its job"

"Bite off more than you can chew, and then chew it."

"Have big dreams, you will grow into them."

"Well done is better than well said."

"You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to." PREACH!

"Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death."

"There's a reason you have two hands, one to help yourself and one to help others." AMEN!

My Talented Sister

She drew this on a ceiling tile for her history classroom. She's a freshman in high school. Are you eat up with jealousy yet? I am.

So many thoughts. So little time.

I hope something here makes you smile, makes you think, lifts you up, or gives you peace:

• "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "this is the way; walk in it."" Isaiah 30:21
• Homeless ministry: that's what's up! My sister Rebekah had the vision to make a 'bum mat' for a homeless man in our hometown and asked all the girls on our floor in our dorm to give their extra plastic bags to the cause. The vision caught on! Now, not only is our room full of boxes of plastic bags, but Rebekah got to speak to the Hall Council about getting other people involved. She also found a group in our hometown that helps homeless people to get involved with. Win! Praise the Lord!
• Matthew Barnett: The Cause Within You. I'm hooked on that book! (and that rhymed) here's a quote... or two:
• "The fulfillment of your cause will leave things better than you found them- and that includes you."
• "You don't give God enough credit- not enough to believe that He would never set you up for failure, that He wants you to optimize your earthly journey, and that He loves you so much that He is eagerly awaiting the chance to partner with you to have an amazing impact in the lives you are able to touch."
• "While I suspect God appreciates our effort to do something great for Him, only He knows what is best for us and best for His kingdom."

• When people have children, it is common for others to tell them "Cherish this time, it flies by." We have all heard it. We should cherish the time we have with our families, our grandparents, in high school, etc. How about this: make the most of the time you have to be a witness. Do everything you can. Make the most of every moment at school, on the job, and in other everyday-life activities. Like Nike used to say (maybe they still do, I wouldn't know) Just do it!
• When I came home last weekend, my sister Christina was so excited to see me that she jumped on me, with both legs around me and broke my new purse. I couldn't be mad... 
• Being radical for Jesus is where it's at. Period.
• I am frustrated by people who are stupid. Some things are stupid. Stop being stupid. It's that easy.
• "Let every man sweep in front of his own door, then the entire world would be clean." The truth is, you can't clean up anyone's act but your own. We are responsible for catching fish, but God takes pride in cleaning them. Make sure you are clean. Make sure you are living a life that brings glory to God. If every person took care of themselves... 
• Rebekah and I started Bible Study with Chaley last week. It was SO AWESOME. We just talked about prayer, but God really revealed a lot to us and I felt so encouraged afterward. 
• If you tell someone you are going to pray for them: do it. Because if you don't pray then 1. you lied and 2. you're being a bad example.
• Fasting without praying is just starving. -Joseph
• It's not even noon and I've already had two awkward encounters with my boss's boss. Which makes him my boss too I guess... but I'm just... weird about it. I hope he doesn't think I'm insane. He probably does. Oh well, maybe I am.
• I got to go to the New Testament class today. I've been tutoring this whole time, but have been unable to attend the class because I've been tutoring... but I LOVE the New Testament class. It makes me so happy. The whole way back to work I had to convince myself that I'm too far into the Elementary Ed program to turn back now and that God needs me to teach nine-year-olds more than nineteen-year-olds.

The Cause Within You

I haven't read a book for pleasure in a long time. Not since Winter Break, probably. Last night though, Joseph brought me this book called The cause within you: Finding the one great thing God created you to do in this world. The book is by Matthew Barnett, who is the author of The church that never sleeps. Which is the last book I tried to read. Matthew Barnett is the pastor of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, and his story is really awesome. He was at the Soul Winners Boot Camp that Joseph attended this past weekend. 

Anyways, this is what I am reading right now, and its really inspiring. I have found that when I get interested in something, it's all I can think about. It isn't always a good thing. Sometimes I worry, and that becomes all I can think about. Sometimes I'm studying for a history test and I find myself talking about Hammurabi's Code or the Civil War in the middle of everyday conversations. Lately, okay for the past three days, all I can think about is outreach. Changing the world. I find myself just watching people and thinking about how I could start a conversation about Jesus with them. 

And sometimes that is all I do: Think. Today I was walking to work and the two girls who are my neighbors were walking in front of me. I have never talked to them, but I sure have thought about it. Even today, I thought, "how could I start a conversation with them?" and I came up with a couple of scenarios in my head, but did I talk to them? No. It would have probably been awkward. Not a good excuse. I thought, "What would Jesus do?" and felt like a ten-year-old again, but what a solid thought. What would Jesus do? I can tell you what he wouldn't do... He would not be silent. So often though, we are silent. Why?

This quote from the book really stuck out to me:

"Fear cannot own you when a great cause rules your heart."

So what's my cause? The name of Jesus? That seems like a pretty great cause, so fear should not own me. 

Think about it: what is the cause ruling in your heart, and what is stopping you from changing the world?

#GoWinSouls

I have been inspired.

This past weekend Joseph and a group from his church attended Soul Winner's Boot Camp, in West Monroe, Louisiana. I was so distraught that I couldn't go because I knew what a life-changing/awesome event it would be. And I was right. However, despite the fact that I could not go, I feel like I learned SO much just from Joseph's experience and everything that he has shared with me. His trip just set the ball rolling for what I want to do in my church and my community.

Part of what Joseph learned is something I really already knew, but hearing the results (and seeing them on video) really impressed me and encouraged me. As far as I am concerned, there are two key factors to winning souls. 1. Be Radical and 2. Ask questions.

I really need to work on the "Be Radical" thing. My sister Christina though, she's about to get it. I have to share this story about her. Yesterday she played the guitar and sang for the state Beta convention here at WKU. On Sunday night, after praise and worship, she looked at me and said "I know what I'm going to do, it just slapped me in the face while we were singing. I'm going to preach tomorrow at Beta." So I told her if she didn't preach I would be disappointed in her, but I did not doubt her. She's crazy. So yesterday, she got up to sing, and before she started the song, she grabbed the microphone and made a call for worship. In the middle of a talent show. She talked to the students about how great God is and how we are made to worship him, and then she asked that they, if they felt like it, would stand to worship while she sang. So she started singing, and people started standing. After it was over, one of the judges came up to her and told her it was the most courageous thing she had ever seen a student do. The thing is, people didn't come crying up to the front, giving their lives to the Lord, but Christina made an impression on those students, and the adults there. They aren't going to forget her boldness, and I think she has yet to see the results it will have on her school.

The second part, asking questions, is something I definitely don't have trouble with. I mean, I have some work to do, but I like to talk, and I know that people like to talk about themselves. Something I have learned in my job as a tutor is that the best way to help a student is to allow them to find the answer themselves, don't just give it to them. This is the same with lost souls. If you can get a person to actually think about their soul, their eternity, they will start seeking truth. I know there is a desire within each and every one of us to find truth and our job is to get people started on that journey and ultimately to help them find it. I had an awesome experience shopping the other day when I met a couple in line who used to pastor a pentecostal church, but are no longer in church. How did I find that out? I asked. Christina has a friend at school who told her that the only reason she had not come to church yet was because Christina had not asked her.

That's the key. Be bold, inspire people to find truth. Ask questions. Go win souls.

Playing Catch Up

Here are some pics from EVERYTHING that has been going on lately!

At Miss Patty's on our little vacation :)

Silly Mirror

Us Girls at Lake Barkley Resort!

The Family (minus me) eating

Tini

Bek

Jessi

At the Casting Crowns Concert (Notice the hand print shirt...)

Silly Pumpkin Faces at Honey Suckle Hill Farms

Again

About to start the Corn Maze!

Signs

There are four doors that let you into Cherry Hall from the South side; one of them is always broken. Always. So whenever you are walking into Cherry, you must look at the doors, see which one has a sign that says "DOOR BROKEN, USE OTHER DOORS" and then decide which one to walk through. It is kind of ridiculous, but also hilarious. I find myself asking, which door will be broken this week? and what in the world is going on that these stinkin' doors never work? 

However, what is more hilarious is that person who clearly is blind because he or she always tries to use the door that is broken, even when there is a sign on it, right there at eye level! So he tries to open the door, but it won't open. Or he opens the door and it won't close. I'm waiting for the day when he opens the door and it falls off. 

Make sure to read the signs. Especially the obvious ones. Save yourself a lot of trouble.

Conviction

"Convictions are precious few.  Like rare diamonds in the sand, convictions set great people apart from everyone else like a full moon or a bright starry night in the mountains." -Joe White 

This quote comes from a Bible study that I received in an e-mail earlier this morning. Its interesting because lately it seems like I've had several opportunities to talk to people about "convictions." Its such a big scary religious word. But here's the thing, convictions are important. Conviction means that the Holy Ghost is at work inside of us. It means God is changing you to become holy as he is holy (1 Peter 1:15-19). So if you have convictions, keep them. Don't be ashamed of them, they are your greatest witness. 

Here's something important to know: your convictions make up your character. Your character, as Joe White puts it, is who you are when only God is looking. And your character, in turn, provides a reputation for you. If you waver, people aren't going to take you seriously. So the next time you tell your friends you have decided not to drink alcohol because you think it will bring you closer to the Lord... watch out before you pick up that drink at the party. Why would someone want to imitate your relationship with the Lord when even you don't take it seriously?

Convictions also keep us in line. If I used to have a conviction about something, and now I don't, then something has changed in my heart. So I need to examine my heart, is the change a good one or a bad one? If you're giving up something worth keeping, the change might not be so good. If you were really close to the Lord at church camp and decided you were going to stay pure until marriage, then in the heat of the moment decide to give it all up... what can you say about where you are in your relationship with the Lord? 

Self-discipline is the greatest contributor to keeping up with your convictions. If you have no self-control it will be hard to keep it up. Maybe you need to get convicted about having more self control...

That's really all I have to say. 

Just a Glimmer of Hope

Rarely ever does God lay out his plans for us that we might clearly understand them and foresee everything ahead. In my experience, when God's plans have been revealed to me, it was at the very moment they were unfolding. However, sometimes I wonder if we don't know what is going on, or what is going to happen, simply because we do not ask, and in turn, we do not listen. I think sometimes we are afraid of what God might have in store for us. His plans might take us somewhere we have never been before. They might take us out of a place of comfort, and place us in unfamiliar territory. So "whatever those plans are that you have for me God, just let 'em fall right on me, no warning, I couldn't handle that." That's our attitude. 

And maybe that's the point. Surely God knows that if he were to reveal his plans for us to us, we might mess them up or reject them and run the other way. He's a clever God for catching us off guard. But, if you are anything like me, sometimes I just have to know something. I don't need the whole plan mapped out or played on a big screen; I just need something to give me peace, a little glimmer of hope that God really is up to something and that everything is going to be alright. 

Our greatest sense of hope will always come from the Word. Monday night I prayed for peace, and did not tell anyone. Tuesday morning I received these verses in an e-mail:

 Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your cares upon him; for he careth for you. 

If we trust in the Lord, he will give us peace! What hope there is in that thought!

However, sometimes, words on a page are not enough for us. As humans, we need tangible proof that everything is going to be okay. We need to talk to someone, we need to see a sign. Fortunately, God is a God who gives us hope in those ways as well. 

Saturday night I was in a youth service in West Nashville at Friendship Pentecostal Church, where Bro. Dean Chapman is the pastor. The service was loud and the Holy Ghost was electric. We had the windows open and speakers in some of the windows so that the community could hear what was going on. At the end of the service, Bro. Chapman opened the doors and asked us to give a shout to God that the whole neighborhood could hear. It was almost deafening in that building, but I thought about what a sign of hope that was for the community and that church. The people around may not have understood what was going on, but I know that God stirred up something in their spirit when they heard such a joyful noise. That something was hope.

Sometimes we find hope in the presence of a close friend. I believe that God specifically places us in others lives. You don't meet someone by accident. So on one end, make every encounter you have worth something. Be an encouragement to others. On the other end, make every encounter about something that God can do. We gain hope from one another. Be honest with people, show them you care. Last Friday, before I went to lunch, I prayed that God would give me an opportunity to be a witness to someone. A few minutes after I had set down to eat, I saw a guy sit in my direct line of vision and I knew he was the one that God had called me to witness to. Why? Because I knew this guy, and he was the last person I wanted to talk to. However, God stirred up something in my spirit (after he got done laughing at me) and when I was finished eating, I went over and said hi and asked how everything was going. And I didn't talk to him about church or anything like that, rather, I tried to encourage him. I tried to give him a glimmer of hope. 

However, we all have days when hope seems very distant. But trust me, and trust the Word, hope can always be found. 

What's your focus?

"Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored." Romans 8:7-8

Whoa. What are you focused on? I must admit, this verse was kind of a slap in the face for me. If I am completely absorbed in myself and my life and what is going on with me, then I have ignored God. And he is not pleased by that. I definitely don't think I'm guilty of this all the time. Usually if I'm thinking about my own life, my very next thought is to take it to God in prayer... but not all the time. Sometimes I try to work things out on my own, sometimes I get so consumed in what is going on that I forget about God's power. The beautiful thing about this verse is that it tells us that God doesn't want us to worry about things, he wants us to give it to him, so that he might supply our every need. Whoo wee... I need to work on that. 

"But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can harly be thinking more of yourself than of him." Romans 8:9

If you think about yourself more than you think about Jesus, you might want to consider if you have been filled with his spirit, and maybe you have, but have you also allowed the flesh to bury the Spirit? It happens to the best of us sometimes, but I definitely don't want that to be the case in my life! So I'm going to work on it!

Discretion

"Like a gold ring in a pig's snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion."
Proverb 11:22

Or I like how the Message says it:
"Like a gold ring in a pig's snout
is a beautiful face on an empty head."

Pretty harsh, but that's biblical. Watch the words that come out of your mouth, that you write in pen, or type on the computer. Speak kindness. Speak love.

"Discretion will watch over you
understanding will guard you."
Proverb 2:11

Need I say more?

It gets sweeter...

It's Monday morning, 9:50 a.m. and I am in the Cherry Hall computer lab doing... nothing. I've been on facebook, twitter, checked my e-mail twice, and nothing. I have no pressing homework, no papers to write, no tests to study for, and just a couple of small assignments that I don't have to do right now. It feels like the week after midterms... oh wait, it is. I hardly know what to do with myself. This past weekend I was almost sure that the semester is almost over, but I was wrong. Seven more weeks (including finals week). I almost got depressed, but I will not. They will fly by, and then the semester will be over. Hallelujah. So this week of nothing to do (fingers crossed), I will relax and not stress. 

This past weekend was amazing (do I only blog on Mondays to write about the weekend? I'm afraid so). Friday night I went to a Casting Crowns concert with Joseph and his family. It was fabulous.  Joseph wore a white polo with little hand prints all over it... I love him anyways. Saturday morning I woke up and my family went to clean the church in preparation for our service on Sunday. Joseph came over later and we played UNO for two hours as a family. I won twice, Christina won three times, and my mom (the pretty much undefeated champion until Saturday) won once. Rebekah one once and Joseph did not win at all. Fail. 

Saturday night Joseph and I went to Honeysuckle Hill Farms. If you live in the middle Tennessee area, you really ought to go sometime, its so worth the ten dollars you pay to get in! It was so fun! We ate good food (caramel apples...yum) and looked at farm animals (little pigs and bunnies!!!) and went through a Tennessee Twister (ahhh!!!) and, finally, we did a corn maze! It was at night, so it was dark and we used flashlights... some of the time. Two couples from Joseph's church joined us and they were kind of skittish in the dark. So Joseph and I spent most of our time scaring them. Good times. 

And Sunday, my favorite day of the week, was great! I know I blogged about this last week, asking you all to pray and such, and I really think the Lord did a great thing Sunday. The people I wanted to be there were there and I know that God was working in their lives. Every single word that was said was perfect, right on time, and every song was anointed, the worship was moving, and the spirit was sweet.


Our youth pastor's wife, Sarah, sang an old song called "It gets sweeter as the days go by" and she testified before singing about how we go through life and no matter what stage we are in, someone always tells us "these are the best years of your life." So naturally, we might assume that the next stage is going to be worse than the one we're in, but then we get there and Oh! These are the best days! Because when we know Jesus, everyday is sweeter than the day before.

More Friends

All of my friends are getting blogs!

Check her out:
Kait Massie: Lessons and Lullabies

Its super sweet :)

It's Friday and Prayer Works!

All week I've had this mysterious feeling that has caused me to not worry about school work, watch a few episodes of my favorite television show, and not study for the two midterms that I have today. Ehhhh I think it's called burn-out, but I would also describe it as peace. You see, despite this "I-don't-care-about-school-and-I'd-rather-do-something-else" feeling, I have finished my work and I have been very productive and I even feel pretty confident about the two midterms... Someone must have been praying for me this week.

I will be the first to admit that I totally and completely underestimate the power of prayer. However, time after time, sticky situation after sticky situation, God comes through for me. This week has been a big boost of faith. I have a huge prayer that I need answered for this Sunday coming up and I'm expecting a miracle. I can do this because of two reasons:

1. God has answered all of my little prayers this week. So, if he cares about the little things, don't ya think he cares about the big things? Doesn't the Bible say his eye is on the sparrow, and how much more does he care about us than the sparrow? A lot. So yeah! Here are a few (little) prayers he answered for me this week:

~For my history class, I have to turn all of my papers in to this website called "Turnitin" to prove to my professor that I did not plagiarize. Well, I turned in my hard copy last week, but did not turn it in online. When I went to turn it in online, my flash drive had crashed. Poop. So I e-mailed my teacher and explained the situation. Did she e-mail me back? No. So I worried for three days (this was a big grade) and she never e-mailed me back. So I went to her office, kind of scared, because she is scary. Oh, and I prayed. Duh. And you know what? She let me off the hook, told me I didn't have to turn it in online, because I made an A on the paper and she just believed me that I didn't plagiarize (I didn't). So thank you Jesus!

~Also, and I won't go into a lot of detail on this one, but I was worried about a relationship in my life (not Joseph, don't worry hehe) and God opened a door for me to make efforts to fix it. Yay! Thank you Jesus!

~On Wednesday, I was having a horrible day. I was sick, I had to work, I had class, I was going, going, going, from 8:00 that morning til 9:30 that night. But church Wednesday night was SO good. Perfect. And then I had a great opportunity for work to help get my utilization up. Praise God!

~Joseph's mom got an extra ticket for the concert they were going to and asked me if I wanted to go. I didn't really pray for that, but praise the Lord anyways :)

2. I also have faith that God is going to answer my big prayer because I haven't decided in my mind what I think he should do to answer it. Often times we pray for God to work a certain way, and then when things don't go exactly as we think they should, it upsets us. But I know that God's plans aren't always the same as mine. So I'm just counting on him to do something and I know he will.