See you in nine days!

Hey all you fellow bloggers out there!
Yuppers, tomorrow morning Jen and I will be
leaving the house a little before 4am, getting
on a plane at 7am and will be in IL at 11am.
I am so excited to go :)
Just a reminder to stop by the next nine days
as I have scheduled nine blog posts for you all
with memories and lessons learned from the year
2009.
Speaking of memories:
This past week I was able to see one of my dear
friends for the first time in a year! I was also
able to meet her boyfriend David for the first
time and completely approved ;)
Danny, Jen, her Mom, little sister Tabitha, Elisha,
David and I all went tubing at the park.
IT WAS BITTERLY COLD!
I felt really bad for David because all the rest
of us are used to our winter weather but he
is from California and has lived in Florida so...
to say that he was completely frozen
is quite the understatement!
Despite the cold, we had an amazing time making snow angels,
tubing (although one of two of our tubes popped after one time
down the hill), having a snow fight (well multiple
snow fights) during which Elisha and I came out the
victor against David (HE STARTED IT by throwing snow IN MY
FACE so what is a girl to do? I threw it right back in his face!),
going on a snow hike, watching David and Danny walk across a
frozen pond, and then rolling down the huge
sledding hill. It was such a fun day :)
Here are some pictures Elisha's Mom took and I
blatantly stole from facebook (LOL):

L-R: Tabitha, David,Elisha,Me. This was David's first look at the "Grand Canyon of the East"IT WAS SO COLD OUT but still beautiful :)


I
would
NEVER
talk
to my
wonderful
boyfriend
on the
phone
during
his
lunch
break
while
my
dear
friend
and
her
boyfriend
struggled
to blow up
the tubes
with their
mouths and
my
siblings
stood and
laughed
at
their
attempts.
NOPE,NOT ME! :)


Poor David
was SO COLD!
So Tabitha
had the brilliant
idea to take her
socks off and
warm them by
the fire.
So he just pulled
a table
up to the fire
and warmed his feet
up that way!

This is
the first
picture
Beesh
and I
had had
together in
an entire
YEAR!
Notice the coffee.
Well, hot chocolate
for them
and pumpkin
spice cappuccino
for me.































































































It was such a fun day with so many wonderful memories :)
I am so excited to be making some more wonderful memories in the upcoming days!
God is so good! :)
See you in nine days :)

STAY TUNED!

Hey all!
So in THREE DAYS (January 1st)
Jen and I are heading
to go to IL to meet my boyfriend
Kelly's family
and extended family
and some more extended family
and some friends.
Needless to say
I AM SO EXCITED!!!
But then I got to thinking
that I will be gone for
NINE WHOLE DAYS
and would not be able
to update this wonderful blog
for all my wonderful readers
SO
I have put together a little
surprise for you all:
EVERY DAY I AM GONE
there will be a post that I
have written beforehand and
scheduled to publish on that
day. I got this idea from my
amazing friend and
fellow blogger Kristen
over at
Bringing Up Benjamin
and thought it would be so
much fun to do with you.
SO STAY TUNED!

So it is Christmas...

Today is Friday, December 25, 2009.

Today is Christmas.

Notice the first part of that word:
Christmas.

I was reading in my "Daily Light" and was reminded
once again how blessed I am to have my Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ in my life!

I thought I would share these verses with you.
(For those of you who don't know-the "Daily Light"
is a devotional that is only a morning selection
and evening selection of verses from the Word of
God.)

"The kindness and the love of God our Savior toward
man appeared.
I have loved you with and everlasting love.
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh.
As the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy Him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gifts!
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
He...did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.
Therefore still having one Son, His Beloved, He also sent Him.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."

(Titus 3:4, Jeremiah 31:3, 1 John 4:9-10, Galatians 4:4-5, John 1:14, 1 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 2:14, 2 Corinthians 9:15, Psalm 100: 1-2, Isaiah 9:6, Romans 8:32, Psalm 107:21, Psalm 103:1, Luke 1:46-47)

Ponder that for awhile...WOW. Talk about Love that blows your mind!!

Life-changing

So today you get to see things through my eyes.
See, I don't see things the way that many
people see things.
I can't.
At least without my glasses.
(You know the things that I have worn
on my face for as long as I can remember?)
Well just in case you don't know
these are my glasses



















Well technically it is what I look like
with my glasses.
But then you already knew that...
Right? ;)
Ok so just stay with me.
So I am sure you are wondering
how I see differently.
Well, here is an example.
This is what I (with my glasses on)
and any other person that has normal vision
would see looking across the room:












(Photo is from our family Thanksgiving 2009.
L-R: Grandma Case, Grandpa Vincent and Jen)
Now that is really not anything out of the ordinary.
And I am able to see them just as clearly across
the room as long as I have my glasses on
(are you catching the theme in this post?).
Just to give you a glimpse of what I see
without my glasses on
I played around with that same photo.
Here is a glimpse of the world
through my eyes:













That is what I see
(But just blur it a bit more and change
the lighting quite a bit more).
When I wake up in the morning.
When I go swimming.
When I drop my glasses.
When I lose my glasses.
It is so bad that I can not
recognize people I have known all
my life three feet away.
With out my glasses I am almost
legally blind.
I have to be led around by the hand
when I am in surroundings that are not
familiar.
I remember before I got my glasses going
to a Bible Club. They were watching a movie
and I could not see a thing.
I just sat there and
tried to pick up the little
bits and pieces I could from listening.
Needless to say.
I am VERY THANKFUL
for my glasses.
They have changed my life.

But they will not be for much longer.
BECAUSE on January 19th
I will be going on a
drive with my Dad.
We will be going across
the border to Canada.
Once in Canada we will be
there for most of the day.
What will we be doing?
I am glad you asked :)
I am getting the Lasik Surgery
for my eyes by one of the most respected
doctors in the field!
This has been a life long dream
for my Mom and we can not believe
that in the space of about three
weeks that dream will come true and
for the first time in my life
I will be able to
SEE WITHOUT MY GLASSES!
I am so in awe of the Lord!
I am so thankful to Him!
The ironic part is the the post-operation
stuff will take about three hours but
the operation itself will take 30ish seconds.
Another neat thing is that
IT IS COMPLETELY PAIN FREE!
I know many many people who have had this
procedure done and one of them told my Mom
that the most uncomfortable part of the entire
operation is when they tape your eyes open
so you are not blinking.
There will be about a six month period after
the surgery where my eyes will be really
dry and I will have to have medicated
eye drops BUT that is a SMALL price
to pay for being able to
SEE WITHOUT MY GLASSES!
*insert girly squeal of joy here*
So at the beginning of the long
and rambling post I shared a
picture of what I look like
now but in 28 days this is what I
will start looking like:



















That is what I will look like.
FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!
I think it will take a little
bit getting used to
my new face (in a manner of speaking),
even looking at that picture is like
looking at a stranger
but I am sure I will adjust quick!
I think that for the first few months
when I wake up I will reach for my glasses
only to realize that
I DO NOT HAVE THEM ANYMORE
but I am sure I will adjust quick to that too! :)
I am so in awe of my God!
I am so thankful that He made this possible!
He is so good! :)
Please pray as there is a slight risk involved
just that all would go well and that
in it all Christ would be glorified.
He is so worthy!
He is so good...

What to seek and why

Hey all you fellow bloggers out there :)
So I was sitting in my room last night surrounded by candles and Christmas lights. It definitely put me in a writing mood so I figured I would update on here!

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.
For (because) you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
-Colossians 3:1-3

I was spending some time in the Word and was really struck but those verses. I guess because it hit me the reason WHY we are to "set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth".

If indeed you are a child of God then you were bought with a price. A very high price...in fact, I would say it was the HIGHEST price. What was that price? 1 Peter 1:18-19 tells us:

"knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

YOU (if indeed you are a child of God)
have been
REDEEMED (typed it into google and found this definition: "bringing about salvation or redemption from sin; "saving faith; "redemptive (or redeeming) love")
PRECIOUS BLOOD of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God, CHOSE to willingly spill His PRECIOUS
(I love how that is put in there...it makes me think about the significance of the price He paid so much more) blood for YOU and for Me!

Think of that price that He paid!

Now think about this:
If Jesus Christ was willing to lay down His life for us, spill His precious blood for us and leave Heaven to come to earth as a baby (CHRISTmas) for us
how much more should we be willing to live each and every single day with the sole purpose of bringing honor and glory to Him?

He is worthy.

So how does that look in real life? How do we set our minds on things which are above?

I know in my life it looked somewhat like this:

-MAJORLY cutting back on certain kinds of fiction books. I love to read but it is so easy for me to allow it to consume my time and I have found that when it does my focus gets way off of Christ and onto me.

-Weeding through the movies I watch. I know that this can be a hard one! I am a die-hard chick flick lover. There is nothing better (well I mean there ARE but just for the sake of this paragraph lol) then sitting down with popcorn, chocolate, a fuzzy blanket and girlfriends to watch and cry and laugh and cry (notice the pattern here?) over a good chick flick. HOWEVER, I realized about a year ago how easy it is to compromise all in the name of a "good movie" even if it "just has a few scenes" or "ONLY take the name of my God in vain once or twice". I realized that even though I didn't want to admit it to myself, compromising in that area was having a real and serious effect on my spiritual life. So. I stopped.

-There are so many other little things that get in our lives. Compromises with modesty, emotional purity, thoughts, actions that result from thoughts, the list can go on and on.

I guess the reason I am sharing this stuff with you all is to just let you know from personal experience is:

JESUS IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALL THIS STUFF!

The enemy has a way of taking mere things of this world and making them look so much better than things of the Lord and the sad thing is that we fall for it.

Oh the JOY that comes from seeking HIM and HIS KINGDOM first!

So I guess my question for all of us would be this:

What are we seeking? Are we living a life of gratitude because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us
OR
are we living a life full of compromise and mediocracy?

We only have ONE LIFE TO LIVE
and
none of us come with a
75 YEAR GUARANTEE.

How do you want to live your life?

Just some things I have been thinking about :)

Ok, so onto some other things! :)

I would covet each and everyone of your prayers! My parents and I are looking into the AWESOME possibility of Lasik Eye Surgery. It would be in Canada and would cost quite a bit of money BUT if I was able to get it I would NEVER HAVE TO WEAR GLASSES AGAIN (which for someone who cannot see a thing and would almost have to be led around by the hand with out glasses is a HUGE thing!)!!!!
Please pray for wisdom in this as it would most definitely be a life changing surgery. We will know for sure what we are doing within the next few days so I will be sure to update you all :)

I also thought that I would post a picture of Kelly and I for all of you wonderful people to see. This was taken on the sly by my sister Jen while he and his brother Mike were up and we were planning for the American Gospel Tour and in actuality is one of two of the only pictures we have together and the quality is horrible! Lol :) But here it is for all of you to see:



Yes the lighting is horrid and nope I didn't edit it at all BUT...it is a picture of us together and though I know for a fact that there will probably be many MANY more pictures of us together the first one is always fun to remember :)

OK, I am heading off to spend some time with my Mom and Tim Hortons! :) I am so thankful for the many blessings that the Lord has pour out upon me...He is SO WORTHY and if I were to die today those would be the last words I would want to come out of my mouth:

JESUS IS WORTH IT.

Randomness

Hey all :)

Just wanted to let all my marvelous followers know that my brother Danny has started a blog entitled "Danny's Notes" and I am sure he would love visitors!

So I am on facebook (not a lot of people aren't! lol) and would love to connect with any of you that are on facebook as well. To your right you may have noticed the new profile badge I made (yuppers I am really moving up in the world lol). Just make sure to tell me how you found me if/when any of you want to friend request me.

Ok, today I learned something very important or actually, was reminded of something really important. That was-the power of the tongue. How words that I say have a lot of power. Power to build up or power to tear down. To my shame this morning I chose to tear down. And as soon as those words came out of my mouth I just wanted to grab them back but...I couldn't. It was a reminder to WATCH MY MOUTH and THINK BEFORE I SPEAK. It is a good lesson to re-learn although somewhat painful. I am thankful for a forgiving and merciful God :)

So pretty exciting things have been happening in regards to the Gospel Tour. Have you checked out our website yet? You can do so by clicking here: The American Gospel Tour.

Thought I would just throw in a picture for randomness sake (because as the title suggests I am feeling very random tonight):


In our family we don't believe in hugging trees. Nope, not us! We just go straight for the bears!
This picture was taken a few months ago when my sisters and I went to visit some very good friends in PA. I thought it was adorable and thought I would share it with you :)

I am off to finish my finals (because it is that time of year).
Blessings to you all!

Some Recent Lessons

Hey all!
Wow, it has been five whole days since I last updated *GASP*.
I just wanted to share some things that the Lord has been teaching me lately.
Since being in a relationship with Kelly (3 weeks today *insert smile here*) we have started going through the book of 1 Peter.
Last night we were studying 1 Peter 1:10-21:

"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,
searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear;
knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you
who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."

So I started thinking about the fact that I have been redeemed by the PRECIOUS blood of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Then I started thinking that if He was willing to lay down His life for me what should I be willing to lay down for Him?

And THEN I started thinking about what it means to be a LIVING SACRIFICE for HIM.

And then...
I got convicted.

Who am I to ever think that anything He would ever ask me to surrender to Him would be too much?

I have realized that He is truly worth our all! It is so easy to say that but to live it...therein lies the challenge.

So I have started purposing in my heart to begin offering my life as a living sacrifice to Him. To start dying to myself daily. To start living each day as though it were my last.

So what has the Lord been teaching you lately?
Blessings to you all :)

Awards :)

I've been awarded :)
Thanks you Rebecca :)
This is the first time I have ever done this kind of thing so here we go!

Rules:
Thank the person who gave you the award
Copy the award
Post it on your blog
Tell 10 things your readers don't know on your blog
Link at least 3 new bloggers as recipients...you can do more!
Notify the winners of their award with a comment on their blog

Here are the ten things:

1. I love eating chocolate Hershey kisses with peanut butter. Definitely one of those guilty pleasures I enjoy way too much :)

2. I love love LOVE to journal. I am currently on my 13th full journal in the past five years. The thing that started me journaling was a dear lady's legacy. She died from cancer and afterward her husband brought some of her journals to church and shared from them. The neatest part about them was that they were letters to the Lord so I started writing letters to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and almost five years later I would have to say it is one of the best things I could have ever started doing. It is so neat to be able to go back and read what the Lord has done in your life. Does anyone else journal? How do you do it? I would love to hear from fellow writers :)

3. I tend to be a quieter person when in big groups. It doesn't last for long let me tell you :) I love people and tend to have heart-to-hearts with random people in the most interesting places (a roller coaster at Darien Lake for example amused my family quite a bit!).

4. I love masterminding escapades :) I am really good at thinking a scheme up and then having other people carry it out while I sit back and laugh and normally not many people suspect me (I guess I just look innocent or mature or something)! lol :)
DISCLAIMER: Don't worry all the escapades I have masterminded are always innocent fun I don't want to start scaring people away ;)

5. I love doing peoples hair and make-up (the more natural the better I think)but ESPECIALLY hair. I love inventing new hairstyles especially ones from movies like "Little Women" and "Pride and Prejudice".

6. I met my boyfriend through my first blog. We commented back and forth and that turned into IM conversations and then phone conversations and then he flew up to visit with his brother and then...well...we started a courtship relationship :) (More on that story is coming I promise).

7. I am the oldest of four children. We are all exactly a year and a half apart. I am 19, Abby is 17, Jen is 16 and Dan is 15. Did you notice that? 19, 17,16 and 15. People used to think my parents were crazy for having us so close together but I am so glad they did :) It has always been nice being so close together. Playing together. It is so neat to know that no matter what three people always have my back :) I love my family (just in case I haven't let you know that lately) we are far from perfect but God has so blessed us with each other :)

8. I love simple pleasures like long walks. Especially at night when the stars are so bright they look like diamonds. Nothing like laying on your back looking up at the stars and just being in AWE of the God of the universe! Ever danced in the rain? I have! It is so much fun! You twirl and you spin and you laugh...gotta love those simple pleasures :)

9. I love the fact that I serve a LIVING, RISEN SAVIOR! What a comfort that is to me :)

10. (WHEW I am having a hard time coming up with things you DON'T know about me!) I am passionate about a lot of things. One of the things I am absolutely MOST passionate about is my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My heart's desire is that when people look at me they will only see Him shining through me.

Ok so that was my 10 randomish things :)

I am going to award (drumroll please):

Julia@ Julia's Journal <3
Loca Chica@ Loca Chica <3
Katie@ God Will Bless Those Who Wait <3

FAMILY NIGHT :)

Hey all!
So tonight we had an amazing night as a family :) We ate pizza and set up our Christmas tree and just had a wonderful wonderful time together :)
We also got some family pictures together (gotta love self-timer) for the 1st time in forever. Some of the expressions on peoples faces are pretty funny to see :) Here is a sneak peak:











If you want to see the rest of the pictures-
CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY FACEBOOK ALBUM.

I know that I promised to let you know some things that the Lord has been teaching me lately BUT I am still pondering/writing/thinking about what I want to say so the pictures will have to suffice for right now :)

Just wanted to remind any of you that are new to my blog to be sure to check out the links on the top of my blog. I also LOVE to get emails and will try to email you back ASAP (just click on Contact me on the top of the page).

Blessings to you all!

Nope, NOT US!

The other night Jen and I most certainly DID NOT take pictures of ourselves using a self-timer. Nope, NOT US! We definately DID NOT make goofy faces at the camera. Nope, NOT US! We also most certainly DID NOT devour girl scout cookies late at night. Nope, NOT US! We also were most CERTAINLY NOT supposed to be working on stuff for the American Gospel Tour (working on the website, cover letters, and mapping out churches we want to stop at). Nope, NOT US!
Have I mentioned how much I love my sister?

I have so much to share with you all but since I have to go off to a four hour BIO class it will have to wait for later (you may get two posts from me today).

Blessings :)

A dig through the archives: 4-22-2009

I have been blogging for almost three years now but have only just recently began to have a greater number of followers. Because some of you my dear readers are "new" to my blog I thought it would be neat if every once in awhile I went back through the archives to share things with you that you might otherwise may not ever get to read.

This is a post that I wrote when God was in the midst of teaching me to examine myself to see if I was reflecting Christ in my life the way I needed to. I was re-reading it today and thought was challenged once again and thought I would share it with you.

"Do they see Jesus in Me?"
By Joy Williams

"Is the face that I see in the mirror
the one I want others to see
Do I show in the way that I walk in my life
The love that You've given to me
My heart's desire is to be like You
In all that I do, all I am

Do they see Jesus In Me
Do they recognize Your face
Do I communicate Your love, and Your grace
Do I reflect who You are
In the way I choose to be
Do they see Jesus In Me


It's amazing that you'd ever use me
But use me the way You will
Help me to hold out a heart of
compassionate grace
A heart that You're spirit fills
May I show forgiveness and mercy
The same way You've shown it to me

Now I want to show all the world who You are
The reason I live and breathe
So You'll be the One that they see
When they see me"


Lately the Lord has been placing it on my heart to examine myself and my example to others THROUGH my DAILY life...think about these words:


"Do they see Jesus In Me
Do they recognize Your face
Do I communicate Your love, and Your grace
Do I reflect who You are
In the way I choose to be
Do they see Jesus In Me
"

Now let me ask some questions that I have been asking myself:

Do they see Jesus in YOU?

When people look at us/talk to us to they recognize HIM in us?

Do we communicate HIS love and HIS grace to everyone around us NO MATTER where we are, what we are doing, or who we are with?

Do we CHOOSE to reflect Jesus Christ to those around us or are we just content to live a "convenient" christian life that is "comfortable" but lacks passion because we refuse to surrender our ALL TO HIM DAILY EVEN WHEN IT IS UNCOMFORTABLE FOR US?

Just some things that I have been thinking about...what are your thoughts?


To read my other "Dig Through the Archive" post click below:
A Dig through the archives: 9-24-08

Thanksgiving 2009

Hey all! :)
Ok, soooo how about some pictures from today just because I haven't really posted any lately and I just want to prove I am alive. This Thanksgiving was very small (we only had my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle over) but I think it was one of the best ones that I have ever had. Later on I went over to my cousin Charley's house to spend some time with him. It was such a blessing and the first time he had spent any holiday with family in four years so that was really neat! :) Then I came home and just spent some time with the family. Ok I tried uploading the pics but...I am too impatient (yeah working on that virtue...I REALLY AM) so I am going to just cheat and post the link to the album I made on my facebook. Even if you don't have facebook you can still look at them :)

TO CHECK THEM OUT CLICK HERE

Here are two of my favorite ones from today though:

Mom just got glasses and wanted to get pictures together with me. I have had glasses for almost as long as I remember but she just got hers (as I mentioned before) so it is kind of a novelty...except...she doesn't wear them at all because she really doesn't need them but it was fun to model them together...anywho :) Have I mentioned lately how much I love my Mom? I truly do not know were I would be today were it not for her loving guidance and courage to say no to me over the years. I love you Mom :)



Also I love this pic of Jen and I. I think it pretty much sums up what our relationship is (gotta love that brow arch on her part lol). Seriously though I love this girl! She is such a wonderful friend and yeah...I LOVE MY SISTERS :) And my brother of course :)



And yeah...they are candid pics :) And *GASP* un-edited! I am getting brave! That was your real life glimpse into my life :)

Have I mentioned it has been a wonderful day :)

So what has the Lord been teaching me lately? Well, I am glad you asked! ;)
Lately He has been teaching me about surrender. I have been having to count the cost and the result I have been coming up with is:

No matter WHAT-
JESUS
IS
WORTH
IT.


I have some other things that I have been learning but I think I need to get those thoughts together for another post in the near future...

That is all I have for you all for tonight :)

Remember to thank Jesus for all He has done in your life! He is so worthy of our praise even on days that are not Thanksgiving ;)

Blessings!

Ponder this

"Why do you try so hard to fit in when you are called to stand out?"
~My friend Joy

Unedited

Hey all :)
So we have some friends visiting and we have been crazy busy the past few days but I thought I would show you some pictures of the park (once again just different location) that we took them to.  SO I am still alive just won't be updating quite as much.
Blessings to you all!

Can Singleness Really Be Sacred?-Chapter 2

>

I am so delighted to finally be able to share my findings from the second chapter in Leslie Ludy's book "Sacred Singleness".
Just to clarify-
FOR THIS SERIES: ALL QUOTED MATERIAL WILL BE ITALICIZED.
I just think that will make it easier to differentiate my words versus the people I am quoting (and there will be quite a few quotes let me tell you!)

This second chapter is entitled "The Pattern of True Christianity" and let me tell you this chapter really really impacted me in so many different ways! I am so excited to share my thoughts on this chapter with you all and I am praying that it will make as much of an impact on some of you as it has made on me.

"There are some who would have Christ cheap. They would have Him without the cross. But the price will not come down."
-Samuel Rutherford
Jesus never promised that a life lived for Him would be easy, BUT He promises to be with us every single step of the way. We cannot expect to be able to get away with half-heartedly living for our Lord. He wants our all. Think of this: Jesus Christ paid the ULTIMATE price for us on that cross by willingly laying down His life for ours. The LEAST we can do for Him as His child is CHOOSE to live a 110% Surrendered life for Him each and everyday.
1 Corinthians 6: 20 says:
"For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit."
So often it can be so easy to do a lot of outward service for our Savior, but what about the inside? What does our spirit look like from day to day? I know personally it can be really easy to talk my talk but when it comes to walking the walk...that can be a little more difficult. But as a child of the King...the price was His life! Lets glorify Him both inwardly and outwardly. Whatever the circumstances.

"The idea that everything-including the good dreams and hopes GOd has given us-must be surrendered back to Jesus Christ is often deemed extremem and unnecesary...The concept of trusting God to script our love story in HIS perfect time, without manipulation on our part, is typically treated as ridiculous and naive."
-Leslie Ludy
This is hard. The past few weeks I have really been struggling with just trusting the Lord to write my love story and in the meantime NOT MANIPULATE to try to get things to turn out the way I want them too. The problem is that when I try to take matters in my own hands instead of just trusting God things tend to blow up in my face. The sad part is that so often because I feel I have to have that control I tend to take steps to go forward (or try to go forwards) when I know full well that all the Lord wants me to do is be still before Him and just trust in His timing. Like Leslie Ludy said "...this concept is treated as ridiculous and naive" which in esssence is like telling the God of the universe, Who not only knows our life story but wrote it, that He made some mistakes when it came to ________________________ and He should really just allow us to pencil in what we think needs to happen in our lives in our story. The only problem is that when a book has already been published penciled in changes aren't really going to make much sense. Sound familiar to anyone?

"Once upon a time, Christian men and women understood what it meant to lay down everything for the sake of Christ-including their desires for marriage and family. Like Abraham surrendering Issac, they willingly laid their most sacred and priceless blessings upon the alter before God. They realized that if He desired them to be married, He would make it clear in His own perfect time and way. But He must always come first, and He must always be implicitly trusted."
-Leslie Ludy
When the above quote was talking about how when it comes to surrendering out love stories Christ must be IMPLICITLY trusted..that really made me stop and think. So many times I have laid down my singleness at His feet trusting Him to do His perfect will in whatever He has planned for both my life story and my love story. But so often when things get rough, or I see my friends pairing off and life seems to get incredibly lonely I tend to pick my single state up once more and start trying to control it. Then I begin to worry and agonize over whether or not my turn will finally come when all the while the God of the entire universe (I think He can handle it!) is waiting for me to lay it back down at His feet in complete surrender and just start living in complete and total trust that He knows what He is doing. What if we all started living like that? I think we would be amazed at the things that would happen once we surrendered our all to Him.

"No matter how our selfish, fleshly side feels about it, laying everything on the alter before our King, and allowing His to do with our lives whatever He sees fit, is where true Christianity begins.
Our desire for marriage must be no exception. Let us not fall for ear-tickling, lackadaisical messages that require less than absolute abandonment to the One who gave His very life for us. He took up His cross and He asks us to do the same. Never forget...on the other side of surrender, we will find the greatest joy!"
-Leslie Ludy
This is what it all boils down to. Whether or not we will CHOOSE (because it is our choice and no one elses) to live a 110% surrendered life for Jesus Christ OR to continue to ride the fence with one foot in the world and one foot in the church (which let me tell you from personal experience does not work). So I desire to be married and have babies. It that wrong? NO! However if I put that dream before my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it gets in the way of having a deeper, more intimate and surrendered relationship with Him I do believe it is wrong.
He wants us to surrender every single thing in our lives to Him. Will this mean that life will all the sudden get easier? No, but it does mean in these hard times we will have Him to lean on (Philippians 4:8) Does this mean that I will always be happy? No, but it does mean that no matter what comes my way I can have joy in knowing that through Christ there is victory (1 Corinthians 15:57-58). Does that mean that sometimes as I surrender circumstances (like loneliness and worry) to the Lord I will not experience loneliness and worry at times? No, BUT it does mean that in those times I can call on my God knowing that He will give me strength and a peace that can only come from Him (Isaiah 26:3) and that in those times of worry and stress I need only to fix my eyes on Him knowing that He will give me peace (Philippians 4:6-7). That is what surrender brings...a dependence on Him.

"It is easy to think,'If I surrender this desire to Christ, He will eventually give it back to me. If I stay pure, then surely He will write a beautiful earthly love story for me and all my dreams will come true.'
But that's not real surrender. When I laid down my dreams and desires at the feet of Jesus, I knew I could not hold onto any expectations. I didn't have the assurance that one day He would write a beautiful love story for me. I couldn't assume that an earthly prince was waiting in the wings for me.
Rather I was to expect to be single-and to become fully content with singleness-unless at some point God made it clear that He had a different plan for me."
-Leslie Ludy
I have to admit this is one of the hardest things I have struggled with. Over the past few years I have had people assure me (meaning well of course) that one I surrender my singleness to the Lord that will be when God sends my knight in shining armor. Basically the mind set that once I surrender then I will finally get what I desire. The thing is that there are no guarantees! I have had to come to terms with whether I will be content if I surrendered my singleness and the Lord NEVER brought someone into my life here on earth and I was single for the rest of my life or not.
Each and everyone of us need to come to that decision. To be so surrendered to Christ we expect to be single? Wow...talk about surrender being difficult sometimes! That brings us back to whether or not Jesus is worth it. Is He worth it to you?

"Christ loved us without expecting us to love Him in return. As He was dying on the cross, those He had come to save were mocking Him and spitting in His face. Can we love Him the way He loved us? Can we surrender everything to Him without expecting anything in return?"
-Leslie Ludy
Can I surrender it ALL (husband, babies of my own? Which has always been my life dream). What are your dreams? Can we love Him enough to serve Him unconditionally even if we don't get anything in return? Is He worth it to us?

"This is the secret-whether we are single or married-to finding contentment no matter what our situation. To turn down the volume of our selfish, screaming emotions and attune our ears to our King's gentle whisper. To yield to His strength rather than the power of our own desires. To CHOOSE to love, give, serve, and pour out our lives for Him, asking nothing in return. It's what He did for us. And its what He asks us to do for Him."
-Leslie Ludy
Doesn't that pretty much sum it up very nicely? To be content no matter what our circumstances are...to rely on Him for strength. To not surrender things with strings attached...Alot to digest but...don't digest it too long.

IT IS TIME TO STEP OUT AND START LIVING FOR OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

Miss the 1st part of the series? Read them here:
Can Singleness Really Be Single?-Introduction
Can Singleness Really Be Sacred?-Chapter 1

Overwhelmed

It
has
been
one
of
those
days.
I am
stressed,
overwhelmed,
stressed
some more
but
SO
BLESSED.
So today
wasn't the
most
amazing day.
So I have a
huge test
tomorrow for
school.
So I am not
sure I will
be able to get
into the nursing
program in
the fall.
MY GOD IS STILL SOVEREIGN
AND SEATED ON THE THRONE.
MY
GOD
IS
STILL
IN
CONTROL.
Basking in that realization...We serve an awesome God!

Day at the park

Today

was

GORGEOUS!


So,



Abby,

Jen,


Brenda,

Brooke


and I

all went


to

the

park.

It was

a lot

of fun!

Sunshine,


laughter,


crunchy
leaves,

waterfalls,


trees,



goofiness,



sisters,

neat reflecions,





silhouettes,




waiting for pizza,





randomly meeting cousin
(had no idea liked the
same pizza place),





380 pics taken=




FUNNESS!!!

It was a really good day :) God is so good to us! WOW! So in awe of my mighty Creator God! There was your infuse of photos out of a day of my life to last you all for...FOREVER! ;)

Blessings to you all!