Tuesday Poosday

So happy Tuesday. It's not been a terrible day but, I have to say that Tuesdays are not fun at all! I just want it to be Friday. I have had the hardest time just focusing(as you will notice this post will be scattered). It's truly awful and I hate this feeling but, on the plus side I'm having a pretty good week. Today I had to take a few minutes and just refocus. Have you ever gone through those times where you just needed like ten minutes to just be alone with your brain? Yeah well I did that today but, instead of being alone with my brain I turned it into time just being alone with my Savior. My pastor(good ole Dan Dan the preacher man) challenged me to do just this and I took the challenge and guys let me just say...it was incredible. I just gave up all these stresses and time consumers and distractions and God just revealed himself to me. I didn't have a huge spiritual breakthrough or anything guys but, I just refocused my week and gave up everything. So I challenge all of you who are reading this to spend sometime alone with Abba(That means no cell phone, facebook,music, ect.) and just focus on Him and being with Him. He loves you and He craves this kind of attention from you. Focus on him and I promise you will learn more about Him and yourself:)

Lazy Saturday

As I type this right now I am laying lazily on my bed listening to music and reflecting on my week. I have no idea where my week went to be honest. I had it planned out and I just followed my plan and then boom the week was over. It's so strange to me that I just go through each day so unaware and only focused on what I have to get done. What's weird is I don't consider myself a selfish person generally but, now that I am thinking about it I am faced with the fact that I am incredibly selfish. My awseome youth pastor got my attention with these fun facts this week-1.There are over 4.5 billion people right now who don't know Jesus Christ. 2.There are ovr 2.7 billion people who have never had even the opportunity to know him. These facts hit me hard. If this is the case in our world then we as christians are not doing our job. We are called to take the word of the Lord to the nations. Now I know not everyone is called to go to foreign countries and do missions like I am but, there are a lot of things we can do from the comfort of our own communities. Aside from offering prayer and financial support to those who are doing international mission work, we need to consider what we can do in our towns. What about that elderly neighbor who is hurting or that kid at lunch who sits all alone? Believe it or not this is a huge mission field. How hard is it to go visit your elderly neighbor and just spend sometime with them or ask someone if they would like to sit with you? These kinds of small things make us different. This is how we let our lights shine and spread Christ's love. I challenge you to pray that God would use you to make a difference for him and his glory. Ask him to use you and then take the opportunites he gives you.

Suprise Weekend Post!

Nice huh? I don't usually post on the weekends and even as I write this I have no idea where it will go I just found myself in my room with some free time(Shocking I know!) and decided to spend a few minutes with this here blog.
So it has beed a busy,stressful,weird week but, I have finally, by the grace of God, made it out of the awful funk that consumed me this week. I have never in my life been in that kind of funk for en entire school week! It was terrible but, I am moving on now.
So, last night was Friday night, and in my little small town world that means Friday Night Football (we won our game:) Love my Jackets) and a rousing good time socializing, dancing to the bands music, and pulling my own hair out. Yes, it is a blast thanks for asking! I seriously had the best night and on top of that my best friend came home from college for the weekend and did I mention we dominated last night? Seriously I look around at my life a feel truly blessed! Funk or no funk my God loves me and has blessed me beyond belief...That radical thought gets me all choked up I wont lie.(Maybe that makes me an emotional girl, whatever.) I deserve none of this, what I deserve is to spend an eternity in a terrible place, miserable but, because my Savior loves me I not only get to spend my eternity with him in paradise but, I also have a pretty great life here on earth. That is insane to me. It's like the Parable of the Lost Son in Matthew. This kids dad gave him everything he ever desired and still the kid wanted more so he took his enheritance and left his father's house to find his own way. Well that so obviously did not work for him and he was soon crawling back to his father with nothing. Now if I was that father my son would have to just keep on walking but, this father ran out to meet his son, clothed him in his best robes, served him a feast, and welcomed him back. He even rejoiced that his lost son had returned! Crazy right? Well it's this kind of crazy love that our heavenly father feels for us! Just in case you didn't catch that let me repeat it- Our heavenly father died for us and we forsake him everyday and still he welcomes us back to him with open arms! If that doesnt excite you I have no idea what will. In return all God asks from us is our lives, which to me, seems like a pretty small price to live forever in paradise with the God of the Universe. I'm willing and waiting on him. I have given my life to him and his will, and I wont lie it's kinda scary but, if our God is with us what do we have to fear? Have you given it all to him?

Blah...

So I haven't blogged much this week, partly because I have been pretty darn busy and partly because I have been in this funky mood. Now I'm a pretty moody person I'm not going to lie but, I have been stuck in a terrible mood for three days and it has been awful. I have tried to beat it and I have only found two remedies:1. Hanging out with my hilarious friends and 2. Spending time with Abba.
I love my friends but, I feel like I have made that perfectly clear to you guys(see other posts) but, I'm telling you if you're in a funk nothing is better that spending time with those who always love you and like to laugh with you. Now I can't lie to you, this remedy is pretty temporary and only really lasts as long as your friends are around and maybe five minutes after but, by the time you get in your car and drive anywhere significant you're off of that friend high and back in your funk. So now enters the second remedy, spending time with Abba. He knows our hearts like no other so while I was in this awful mood for no reason that I could really think of I just decided to spend sometime in my Bible and in prayer and guys I'm telling you it totally helped! I'm not going to lie and say everything was fixed and I'm now all happy again but, I will tell you God showed me where this funk was coming from and reminded me that through everything he is with me. Now yes I'm still in my funky mood a little but, when I think about the fact that my Savior is holding my hand through it and healing my heart I feel significantly better:)

Busy Busy Busy

So yeah I'm totally busy these days. I didn't even get a break on the weekend..I was busy all the way through. So when I woke up this morning I felt even more tired than when I laid down last night. Ugh! It's just oh so frustrating and I hate starting my week like that. So I just had to do a reality check and get over it. I can't slow anything down but, something else I can't do is let my relationship with Christ suffer because I'm so busy. I need to find time daily to spend with him, he deserves it. Actually he deserves so much more but hey I'm human so my life is all I have to give. This is super difficult for me though. I just get caught up in my little life and wrapped up in being a highschool senior that I just don't give all I have to my Savior. Well after a pretty bleek weekend filled with very little time spent with my Savior, a friend of mine reminded me that I am only here to serve God and let his light shine. We are called to be the salt and light of this world and there is a lot of meat out there in the darkness waiting to be salted.(As funny as this sounds, think about it) Lets not forget why we are here. I challenge you who are reading this to not let your relationship with Christ fall away and make a difference in the world,your schools,your family, anywhere, for God.

Almost Friday!

As a senior on highschool I find myself anticipating Friday even if it's only Monday. Tomorrow starts football season at my school and we're playing our cross town rival. Now if you know me you know I go to football games to socialize mostly but, as a football coaches daughter I find myself concerned for the outcome of every game. If we win it means Dad is in a good mood, if we lose it means a not so fun week in my household. And its not just in my house that winning matters. At my school winning Friday night football games is a big deal. We like to win so that we can say we are the best. I mean really who likes to lose? Winning is fun, it makes us feel important but, do we make to big of a deal out of winning? I find that my best learning experiences happen when I lose. Lets look at Peter, He was a really awesome dude who took up his cross and followed Jesus. He loved Jesus and Jesus loved him but, when Peter was faced with having to choose sticking with Jesus or denying him, he denied him! Now I know you're probably thinking what a loser! I know that's what I thought when I read that the first time but, Peter took it as a learning experience and it strengthed his witness. He devoted the rest of his life to following Christ and telling others about him. That's pretty cool and what I would call a lessoned learned. Lets see what Jesus can teach us today and not think of every losing situation as a loss but, instead as a chance to learn a lesson for Christ.

Friends!

Okay so when I think about writing about myself there are a lot of things I could tell you about. I could tell you about my school but, seriously it's highschool, it's awful enough said. I could tell you about my family but, my mother might kill me for telling everyone about how crazy we are(not saying that will stop me from sharing it with you guys later:)) There are tons of other subjects that could be fun to explore but, I thought I would tell you about the people God has surrounded me with..my friends:)
So, I have had lots of friends in my 18 years of life but, none like I have now. Seriously these guys are awesome. When they met me I was someone completely different. I was surrounded by darkness and sin and these awesome people reached into my darkness and pulled me out. They seriously get me, which makes our friendship a true gift from God because I can be a rather complicated person.
How often have you considered the fact that who you surround yourself with influences you? The fact that my friends love Jesus and shine for him daily really got my attention and changed my perspective. They helped me realize that I needed the unending love of my Savior. John 15:12 says "My command for you is this: Love each other as I have loved you." That's a tall order my friend! Jesus died for us and that's exactly how we are called to love! WOW...can you say scary? But it's really not when you think about it. I love my friends and I praise God for giving them to me, so yes I would lay down my life for them. I encourage you to check out John chapter 15 and consider your own friendships and how you're being influenced.