words

words have a lot of importance. they're capable of using the power they already have to impact for better or for worse. They carry the meaning & the thoughts of our hearts, & they portray our characters as we see them to be.
Words personally have a lot of meaning for me. I love words. I love their potential. but I hate the damage they generally cause as they come out of my own mouth. I usually have good intentions, I make promises to watch my words, to think through what I say, but those promises tend to be the most damaging words of all. they are a false hope, & an empty promise at that. I never stick true to it, & why is that? because I am human. & I will say human things. I will mess up. I will not keep my promises. <--hardly ever.
But here's the deal. I've been thinking on honesty lately too. How important it is to be honest with each other--in love. It's important to tell people where we're coming from, & where we're at. it's important to be honest about our faults, & to be honest that it's never us when we get something right, it's God's grace{& Lord knows I forget that one wwwaaaaaayyyyy too often!!}
I guess what I'm trying to say here is this; words are important. but the words that are REALLY important are the honest ones. so let's be honest folks.

the things we think we know.

You know, those things like, wash your hands; wear sunscreen; take your license with you when you drive; no shirt no shoes no service; gas prices are always gonna be more than I want to pay; any amount of groceries can be carried into the house in 2 trips if it's all in plastic bags; & Jesus loves me.
those are all things that I count as truths. & yet I only ever forget the importance of the last one. If I don't wash my hands, I'll know. If I don't wear sunscreen, trust me I'll know then too. If I don't take my license with me when I drive, chances are that'll be time I get pulled over. woo. no shirt no shoes no service, I mean come on! just don't wear your pants people! As to the groceries one, I don't forget that one cause I'm way too lazy to make more than two trips! but "Jesus Loves Me" like uhhh....I forget that a lot. I forget that He's pursuing me. That He wants a relationship with me. I look at people that I love, & I think about when they're having a hard time, or going through an extremely difficult situation, & it truly breaks my heart! I want to be able to help them carry the load, & I want to make it all better. However I almost never can. & yet. here's God. He's telling me that He CAN take part of the load & make it better, & I FORGET ABOUT IT. How's that for ungrateful & stupid?!
All this to say. I've been recently very much so reminded of all the wonderful things God has & can & will do for me. Not that things are going to be great & jolly & happy & easy all the time, but that through the hard stuff, He's got my back, & He's got a plan, & in the end, He's waiting & wanting to give me the best He has.

Fires break my heart...

Last night I found out that fires ravage our beautiful Colorado once again. I'm speechless. I don't know what to do...I'm gone, & even if I was home, there wouldn't be much else I COULD do aside from pray, which I've been doing here, but it carries such a disheartening feeling with it. & that's how I know that this is Satan. Man. I. Hate. Him. He oppresses us, & prods us, & he just all around makes us feel down right crumby! He brings us to tears, & he hurts us, he gives us outrageously false ideas about who we are, & what we should do, but what I've learned is that in those awful things, he gives us that push, that little baby shove, to defy him, & fall on God, to say that, "No! we will not take that as the final answer!"

we are called to pray IN FAITH. & so pray in faith we shall do. Satan doesn't have any grip on us, & we can tell him to get behind us, because we have the authority & the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. we have the strength to endure these fires, & anything else Satan decides to throw our way. We may have only a little strength, but we are not weak, we are God's children, & He will not let us be destroyed.

Forever

Forever boggles my mind. What IS forever? How does forever work? Is forever my definition? Or yours? Or no ones, because it simply is? Forever has no time frame, no "best if used by" date. It is merely...forever. Never ending. Always going. I literally cannot wrap my head around it!! I think about forever, & as far as I can get is as far as I'll most likely live. No further. That is my forever, & that's a sad truth. Forever should mean so much more to me than just my life here, it should mean that I have so much more coming for me AFTER I die. There are so many things I don't understand, & that I try to account for with tangible analogies, but none of it will ever compare in the end, when it turns out there is no end, only forever. There is so much potential when we live with forever in mind, & not in the stupid "I've got forever" mindset, but in the right "I've got FOREVER" mindset, where we don't set out to do whatever we want because we have forever to make the "right" decisions, but where we set out to make good decisions, because we will live with those choices for forever. Oh, I know I won't succeed very often, in taking my own "advice" but I never will if I don't try, right? We all have so many opportunities, everyday, & how much more will we think of those opportunities when they have passed? I'd be keen on saying we'd think of them for forever. 

Wonderment.

All the time, I get lost, I lose sight of what it is that God has for me. I forget what it feels like to allow Him to rule in my life. I forget the twinge of sadness I used to get whenever I was doing something wrong. I forget that sense of wonderment at the works God is doing. I get to a place where I'm so completely out of it, I've begun to think my {fake}smile is real. I believe my lies, & pretend that all is well, & I don't need anything else. I'm getting by . & that's just it! I'm only getting by! I'm not living! I'm not doing things for God! I'm merely, simply, sadly only getting by. 

God hasn't called us to merely get by! He is the God of the living, why then do I not live?! 

Over the last few days, weeks, & overall, months, I've been seeing how I'm NOT living. I'm just going through the motions, saying what I believe everyone wants to hear. How did I get to this place? How did I forget so fully? & mostly, how do I fix it?

I don't know how to fully "fix" it, how to reach a point where everything is okay again, but I do know that there are some things I can do. 

God has been showing me the things He could be doing, if I would stop looking towards the future, & look at the work He has right now. Right now. Think about it. It's such a blessing, & how often do I squander it all away for thoughts of what the future COULD hold? Much too often. There is so much that God could accomplish through us, if we would only give Him the time of day! 

I think{<--that's a key word there}that much too often Satan is able to cause us to believe that we can't do much of anything! He wants us to believe that we aren't worth anything, that we are the cause for all these horrible things happening to us, but that's not true. We are worth so much more WHEN we trust God! He gives us our worth, or meaning. The reason to live, & to live life fully, is God. He gives us so much more than we can ever imagine. A joy, & peace, that surpasses all other things that the world has to offer! We can't fully comprehend it! It's truly a gift! 

But there's even more that we can do, we can tell God of the things that have been accomplished, yes, He knows already all that will come to pass, but He LOVES to hear from us! He loves to see that reaction to the wonderful things He has accomplished!! 

But truly, the biggest promise God has given me to dwell on lately has been John 6:6, "But He said this to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do." 

God knows what He's going to do. Every. Time. Amen & Amen, I say! 

amazing things

Jesus. He is doing so many amazing things. EVERY DAY.
He makes the sun rise, the clouds come, the light breezes, the car work, the money, the clothes, the house, the blessings, the meals, the electricity, the friends, the family, the phones, the food, the music, the movies, the tv shows. See how quickly it changes?
while those are all things I'm thankful for, I sometimes wish I didn't have them. I really do. Because they are blessings, but they can easily be distractions, I can't even begin to tell you how often I don't read my Bible, because I have too much school, or a tv series due back at the library, or how often I don't pray because I'm just too tired, from staying up late the night before with my friends. or how often I become selfish in the sense that I DESERVE Jack In The Box tacos. Very quickly, & much too often{more often than not sadly...} I, in & of myself, turn my blessings, into distractions. I allow them to become more than they are meant to be, & I quickly get caught up in their "splendor". I shove Jesus to the back burner of the stove, & I don't remember about Him until I find my relationship with Him, dry, overcooked, & burning. It saddens my heart, to the very core, that I claim to love Him so much, & yet I often don't even feel He is worthy of the attention that is not even a 1/10000000000000000000000 of what He deserves. I forget that He has feelings as well, & that He desires to get to know me, to talk with me, to love me, & have me love Him in return. I forget that He did one of the most amazing things ever, by saving me!
I'm a romantic. I love the whole "saving a damsel in distress" deal, & boy oh boy, Jesus did that with me. He saved me, & took me out of my worst moments, & situations, & He said "Here you go. I've picked you up, I've shown you how to do it right, you won't ever get it, but here's your clean start again. Give it a go."


so....here I go.

Be Prepared.

If you look throughout history, you see a Jewish nation, rising, & being taken captive by turn. Being defeated, & then rising up victoriously. They've been around since Isaac was born to Abraham. & they are God's chosen people.
Often times you'll find that that is a big reason for their persecution, their being chosen by God{the almighty, creator, savior of the universe.} Anyone, or really anything, chosen by God is hated by the enemy{lucifer, beautiful, fallen, angel.} because he too, was once chosen by God, & rebuked, shunned, & removed from God's presence.
All of this to say, the Jewish nation has been persecuted since the beginning. Though they have survived the horrific conditions, & come through thick & thin, this nation, these people, are still persecuted. Merely because they were chosen, & therefore hated. We{Christians, & believers in Christ} are God's chosen people as well. We are chosen to spread the gospel, to share God's love, to seek God, & to rely on Him to lead & guide us in everything we do, & we, also, are hated by the enemy. As Hitler wanted the Jews exterminated, so Satan wants to exterminate & revile God's creation & chosen people. He has prepared his camps for us, & he has begun to herd us to them. He will show us things that will make us question not only God's goodness, but God Himself. He will make it so that very few of us can remember God's faithfulness, nor the warmth of His love. Few of us will come out from this, still trusting God, & when we do, just as the Jewish nation fought for a homeland, we will be called to fight; for freedom to worship God, & we will fight to defeat this enemy of God. Though we will be considered few, we are promised that we will defeat this enemy, & his army. He will be pushed back & brought to his knees before God, he will be cast down, & out, into a pit. & then. Oh boy. Then, we will fully understand God's love. We will be in His presence. We won't remember the times of persecution, nor will we remember the things we have seen, for God's love will outshine them all. It will be peace. & love. & hope. & God.

Heart Happy

Happiness. Of the heart. Wow. That has come to mean SO MUCH to me over the last few days. & it's so incredible. & so God. & upon thinking about it, how much it means to me, & how much I'M LOVING IT, I wonder, why don't I make more of an effort to share it with people who have been so wrongfully deceived by Satan, that he holds the "true" happiness, why don't I want to tell them about this complete & utter happiness{peace, love, hope, etc. etc.} I have? Why? Because I'm scared of what they will think. Then. I think about that...if I care so much about what they think, why don't I care to tell them about this?! It definitely has to do with what they think, merely by the fact that this happiness changes your perspective SO COMPLETELY of, not only, yourself, but of others as well{ie. possibly what they think of me{my original problem}} & it changes it for the {absolute!!} better!!!
Sometimes I don't understand people, & their actions, but I pretend, & right now, I'm going to pretend that I understand humanity as a whole, & say something.
WE ALL CARE ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE THINK. The end.
So. Lets care ENOUGH to want to reach out & share this happy heart party God has going on, okay?

Even Flowers Wilt.

I'm halfway,
To seeing eye to eye,
& throwing this all away.
I'm halfway,
To wanting what you want,
& taking what I say is best.
I'm halfway,
To being halfway there,
& turning around to go the other way.
I'm halfway,
To wishing you the best,
But secretly calling you trash.
I'm halfway,
To feeling done with all these issues,
& pushing them back into their corners.
I'm halfway,
To just accepting it all as "fate",
& saying "this is just Satan's bait!!"
I'm halfway,
To being no where near halfway close?
& no where near where I began.
I'm halfway,
To realizing that this is all just Satan's cruel joke,
& that it's not my own desire.
I'm halfway,
To the point where I want to understand
& halfway to feeling like I almost do.
I'm halfway,
To being rejected, spat on, & trampled,
& I'm halfway to the point of not caring if I am.
I'm halfway,
To accepting myself,
& others as well.
I'm halfway,
To not caring what others say about my life,
& halfway to caring about what I say about others.
I'm halfway,
To being considerate,
& halfway to the point of no longer hating anyone.
I'm halfway...
To part of the way.

Little Things{but they're actually big.}

Oh wow. Today. It's been a day of many different shades & colors, feelings & emotions, & there have been so many varied types of occurrences. I'm still processing it all. The only way I can think of to tell you how I feel at the moment is to tell you how the day panned out, what went down, so here goes I suppose...

I started today by waking up rather late{10:19 to be exact} it was such a strange sensation, to wake up a good 1 1/2 hours later than the latest I would sleep normally, it was nice too though.
So I get out of bed, & I'm feeling pretty good. I go downstairs, eat some breakfast{at least I think I did...that's how crazy{good!!} the day was.}, & then I put in Pride & Prejudice{it's my go to movie these days:))} in order to have some motivation when it came to knitting & crocheting some items for a few different friends. It worked out nicely, I got quite a bit done on more than one project, & I was happy regardless, if only for my watching Pride & Prejudice{I will say though...I've never known that many 800-service numbers to call in 2 hours & 3 minutes before in my {short} life!!}.

After the movie was over I rushed to get ready for work, gather my things, etc. etc.
I arrived at work & got to see the lovely Emily, whom I haven't seen in a good 2 or 3 weeks I think, which was LOVELY.
Work was slow, but good. I was able to work on some school work, & I even had a strange encounter with an almost{not really...} customer. It was a man probably in his mid 40's, he came in & got three samples of the same flavor{I never did catch which one it was...} anyhow. I saw on the camera that there was a customer & I walked out to find him, standing there just licking away at one of the three samples he was holding, "hi! How are you doing tonight?" I asked him as I walked out from the back, "I'm good! Just eating samples" he replied.
"Which flavor did you try?" I asked him, "I don't know..." He replied. At this point I'm beginning to realize this could be a little weird...so I just kinda smiled & nodded my head, hoping against hope that I would be able to catch at least a few words of the mumbles he seemed to be directing at me, "I'm getting ready for the world Olympics!" I finally caught{I know nothing, about the Olympics or anything like that, so I just went along at this point} "oh no way!" I said "what do you do?" I asked him. "I'm with {such & such} elementary school." He replies.
Okay. What does elementary school have to do with the Olympics I'm wondering, but like I said I know nothing...so I just say "that's cool!" & initiate the smile & nod technique again. "You gotta be from the class of '89." He says. "Why's that?" I ask him.
"Cause that's how they made it, I guess." He replies "I'm the only downhill skier in the US"
"That's awesome!" I say
At this point he's just finished his last sample & he's still taking about the class of '89 & being the only downhill skier, while he walks towards the front again, where, I assume, he's going to get a few more sample cups. Nope. He walked right out of the store, mid-sentence too. I was more than a little baffled, but it made me laugh, & so it was worthwhile I think.
After that work continued as normal, & when closing time came I was able to finish everything quickly.
When I got home I had planned on watching The Help with Jen & Jessi, & we were ready to play it when I got a notification for an incoming Skype call!!!{which in itself was exciting, but this one was from Kendall Grafton! My newfound friend! :))} I ran upstairs{so as to avoid being a nuisance to Jen & Jess as they started the movie} & answered the call. Lo & behold though, it wasn't Kendall's face that greeted me, nor her voice, but Dallas Lobdell's instead! At this point I was petty confused...why was Dallas skyping me on Kendall's Skype??? They explained though, that he was merely hanging out & so they were both skyping me, I was just unable to see Kendall at first. :))
We talked for about a half hour, about our days, & Jen{she came in fairly early on & met Kendall}. It was a lovely time, & we were even able to screen shot the memory!{my thumb even decided to be a part of the fun & managed to take up half of Jen & I's itty screen. :))}
After the call we went downstairs & finished The Help, & I got even MORE work done on one of my crocheting projects.

After the movie I went back upstairs ready for bed, & sleep. Lo & behold though....have you ever experienced what it is like to find a leaking FULL gallon of milk in ones bed, come bedtime? I never had either, at least until tonight. My days blessings came crashing down. I was so angry. I was ready to chuck that now half full gallon of milk at the nearest person. How does that even happen?! I don't even drink milk!! I was at a complete loss. I was pretty upset. As I was pulling the sheets off to throw into the wash, so as to avoid as much sour milk smell as possible, I realize that it soaked through, not only, the sheet, but the under sheet thingy too, & got the mattress. My night was quickly going beyond downhill. Why?! It was such a good day! Why?! I kept asking myself.

After getting the wash in & the remaining milk put away where it belonged, I gathered my things & am now in a little "bed"{it's the couch}, going over my day in my head. & whoowee. What a day it was. I'm still frazzled because of that darn milk, but by writing it all down, & rehashing all the good things from today, I realize that a sour milk mattress isn't bad at all. We'll figure it out, there's no need to worry about it. I've realized that those "little things" are actually really big deals! Like one measly bad thing happens, & the day is horrible! But it should be the other way around, it shouldn't take so many good things to make a day good, I shouldn't have to sit down and recount the whole day to remember to thank God for all the blessings found therein. I should immediately think to thank God that only a portion of my mattress has milk on it, rather than screaming why in his face over it.

Moral of this all is to say, or more remind myself, to not make a big deal about such silly things, & be thankful for the LARGE blessings He showers on me.

So with that, my Dear Friends, I bid you all a goodnight. :))

We Are All One...

So I'm sitting in worship last night{I love to watch other people during worship! Seeing them praise God, it's a wonderful thing. :))} & I'm looking around at everyone, just watching & observing them all, when I realized something. Not a single person who came in would sit in a row that had 6 seats or less available{because that meant someone was already in that row}. Now. You may be asking, "What's wrong with that?" but Wednesday night services at my church aren't that big, & yet chances are you may have someone in almost every single row except the very very very back ones on a Wednesday night, Why's that? Because we're scared to meet new people! We honestly don't want to sit next to someone we have never met before! How sad is that! Over the last few weeks I've had the privilege of meeting & making a new friend, & let me just tell you, IT'S SO WONDERFUL. It's amazing how awesome it is! You get to learn all about this person, what they love & hate, like & dislike, eat & won't eat{or can't!}, what their lives look like, what God looks like from their point of view! & to top it off with a nice large cherry, YOU GET TO TELL THEM ABOUT YOURSELF, & who doesn't love talking about themselves?{okay, okay. I love to talk. Especially about myself sometimes, but you aren't weird if you don't enjoy talking about yourself. There are actually probably PLENTY of people who don't like to talk about themselves...}
Annyyyyhoooooowwwww. ha.
So. I'm thinking about it. About how wonderful it is to meet & make new friends, & I wonder, why don't we sit next to strangers in church? Why don't we branch out of our groups & meet new people? Why do we stay in the comfort of what is normal, & hope & pray that we have exciting lives? What's exciting about normal?
& I mean. Honestly. What have you got to lose in making new friends, or even just meeting someone new? Nothing really. Unless of course you'd count that row of seats you had all to yourself a loss.

Gifts

Okay. Let's talk about gifts for a minute or two. Especially with Christmas coming around soon, {& me & my sisters have started a tradition of giving gifts on thanksgiving as well} I've come to think on the subject of gifts a lot lately. & I've actually learned something new about them as well. But about spiritual gifts, not physical ones{more on that(Spiritual gifts) later}. Anyhow. Hm. Where was I? Oh yes! Learning something new about spiritual gifts! It isn't anything spectacular, but I was reading through I Corinthians 12 the other morning where it is talking about the diversity in spiritual gifts, & in verses 9 & 10, I found something most interesting{& a bit of a new concept for me} "...To another gifts of healings by the same spirit, to another the working of miracles,..." Now I know you are probably thinking "What does that have to do with anything?!" but the thing I learned from that is this; That the gift of healing, & the gift of miracles are two completely different sets of gifts! Woah! Talk about a twist on the story!{at least for me, folks...} I had always just assumed healings to be miracles, {& they are!}, but those two verses tell me that a healing in & of itself, is a whole different concept, & gift, than just any other miracle. Now. I was talking to a friend of mine the other day, about healings, & how we often are ashamed to proclaim Christ in the sense that we don't often reach out to pray healing over someone, unless asked to directly. Which, in my opinion is not a sin, nor is it the right thing to do, necessarily, but think about it for a minute{please} If healing someone is so amazing that Paul put it into it's own gifting category, don't you think that those who possess such a gift should employ it? Now granted, I don't believe that means they can heal whoever, whenever, even Jesus told people of the requirement{That they have faith!!}, & though they aren't recorded in the Bible{That I know of}I'm sure at least once or twice people were not healed, because they did not have faith, in Jesus' ministry. Does that make Jesus any less so a good person? Or any less God's son? No. So we should also be careful not to judge those who we don't believe to be using their gift of healing, when we think they should, it is between them & God, but we should also ask ourselves if we possess that gift? It's a tricky thing, knowing what your gift(s) is(are), I myself have not the slightest idea so far{God will reveal it in the right timing, I suppose:))}, but if it has not been revealed to you that you possess the gift of healing, or miracles, please, don't just go out into the streets & test if you do. I think it would be a most unpleasant situation for everyone involved if it was proven that you, in fact, do NOT possess either of those giftings.
Anyhow. Now that I've ranted my dear little heart out on the subject of giftings{& it is all probably ill-conceived & said too...}, & have spoken my mind on how they are to be dealt with, I bid you all Adieu, & Goodnight. :))

Selections

By Jove!! The elections are over, & I can only say that I am highly confused. I mean I wasn't that into it all anyways, but from what I had heard, I didn't think it would end up going this direction. Anyhow. The point of this post isn't to bash Obama, or praise Romney, or vice versa, but rather to say this(a thought of mine that came up whilst eating my dinner tonight).

Before the election, I heard of many people having prayer meetings & just personally praying for, & over the election, & then I see the same people upset over how it went. What's wrong with that? You may well ask, well, in my opinion, nothing. But, & I understand that this is a very disappointing thing for you all, shouldn't we instead be looking at this in a different way? Shouldn't we be saying & looking for the reasons why God said Obama was the right choice for America in this time? Shouldn't we look for ways that we ourselves can bring about the change we have cried & struggled for so violently the last few months, through the political ads & phone calls? Shouldn't we, instead of calling it quits with the end of the election, continue our prayers, for our nation, government, & over all, our President? I'm sure that years from now, the current President at that time will then be considered the worst President ever, as they all seem to have been while they were the ones holding the power, but perhaps we should adapt to not pointing out all the flaws & wrongs done by the President, & hope that, God willing, this term will prove different, & God willing, America will prove different, because after all, this is OUR country, not just our President's.

Mind Wanderings.

Entitlement. It's a word that I've been wondering a lot about these past few days. What makes a person entitled to something? What makes feeling entitled okay? WHEN is it okay? After coming home from Haiti, the fact that I saw so much selflessness, & so much love for OTHERS, I wonder is it EVER okay for me to feel entitled? I have so much. Literally everything I could ever hope to materially possess is right at my fingertips, waiting for me to buy it, revel in it, love it, enjoy it, & in two weeks, dispose of it. The people in Haiti have next to nothing, & yet they trust it ALL to God. Every. Last. Thing.
I've come to question so much of what I have been taught is socially acceptable, & "Christian". There are so many things that, after truly sitting down & thinking about them, I have realized aren't Biblical, & are actually quite the contrary. We have all been taught "Stranger Danger!" Which when used properly is a VERY good idea, but we have also been taught to take that to the extreme. When was the last time you said "Hi!" to a stranger while you WERE NOT working? Seriously. Tell me. Because before Haiti, I couldn't have told you. Proverbs 14:10 says "The Heart knows its own bitterness. & a stranger does not share its joy." We have become a nation, & generation, where we are all strangers. None of us share the joy of others, unless it is convenient for us to do so. We have become selfish in our way of thinking, & we only appear to not be so because of our deep desire to be accepted by everyone else & have them share in our own joys. We have all become so lost in the way of the world, so convinced that we are forever forgotten, we spend so much time thinking on our own "Insignificance" to others, we fail to see that everyone is feeling that way, that everyone thinks themselves insignificant to us, because we fail to pay attention to them, being busy feeling sorry for ourselves.
There are so many things that I now wish to change about myself, & the way I view not only the world, but its people therein, & how they live their lives. I've realized that I will generally look for the best way to make myself comfortable when doing things for others, so I can then say I'm being a "good" person, without too much inconvenience to myself, but like I said before, that is wrong, & (again) in Haiti, I learned & saw what the difference is. Here you are practically a saint if you hold the door open for someone, in Haiti a little 6 year old girl scraped the wet cement off of my hands, & wouldn't allow me to touch hers for fear of mine getting dirty again. She had cement on her hands, arms, face, on her pretty dress, & she was more concerned for my hands & work clothes than herself. Most of America was just shown up by a little girl who, to our standards, had nothing & every right to hate me.
The Haitian people have been used immensely by God in teaching me so many valuable lessons. & even though I am home, they are still being used daily, not only in my own life, but in the lives of everyone they meet.

well. all in all, I'd say this post has been all over the place, & so I will put an end to my ramblings for now. I do have one more thing to add though, just a quick little plea, Please don't ever forget that God has an amazing plan! Whether it be what you want, or whether it be the complete opposite, trust it, & Him, to know what's going on.

Thoughts.

Thoughts are a big part of my life. I think about everything. Whether I actually think things through though....who knows. The point is this; I am CONSTANTLY thinking about something, and how often is that something honoring to God, or even just not revolting to Him? Again who knows, but still. Its a thought that has really been tripping me out lately. There isn't much that I can do once I've thought of something, I can't just unthink it. I have to deal with that thought, and the consequences therein. That's why it is so important that we think only of good things. Chances of that actually happening. None. Chances of us trying? Pretty good if we are willing. So here goes 9). Unthink those thoughts that I haven't yet thought.

A Sad World

When I woke up this morning it was to my Mama asking if there was any way Jessi and my Grandma might've changed their minds and ended up going to the Aurora theater to see The Dark Knight Rises. I didn't know why she was asking, I just wanted to go back to sleep, but when she told me about the shooting my heart hurt. The one sentence that truly broke it though, was when it said the gunman "calmly" dropped his spent gun to grab his other one. Calmly. He wasn't worried, or at least he didn't show that he was. It said he "stalked" the aisles shooting at random. And the thing that truly hurt the most was thinking about WHY he did it, and I realize it's because he's a sinner, JUST. LIKE. ME. I think about how I look at this and I think "What a tragedy!"  "How sad!" and then I realize I'm in the same boat, I have sinned just as much as he has, and we both deserve Hell.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....

Today I had a very thought provoking conversation about choice, and how God gave me my choice, and how I want to use that gift of choice to make the RIGHT choice. (Wow. That's a lot of "choice".) It got me thinking about what making a choice means to me, and I can honestly say that making my own choice means a lot, especially because I've been given the opportunity to do just that by an All-Powerful God. It's a simple choice really, but a choice that doesn't end when we make our decision, we have to continually make the decision each and every day to talk to God, to do what He has called us to do, and to see what He has to say to us. We are blessed beyond reason with just that one gift, and I don't see how when we decide to reject that gift it's helping our circumstances.
I don't know about you, but I would rather not get to Heaven and be talking to Paul, or Peter, or John, or any of the other Martyrs, and Die-Hard followers of Christ and say "Oh yeah! I did a car wash once!" No. I want to be able to say "I made the choice to 'Go unto ALL the world' and share the Gospel and the LOVE of Christ. All too often we say we are given one choice, and ultimately we have one truly remarkable choice to make, but there are so many decisions to be made every day! We don't realize how much each one should mean to us, because all too often, we don't realize we have them.
8). Think about the choices I have.


I know I already have a post about choices, but this one is a little bit different. Not the wrong ones I've made, but the ones still waiting.

We Praise Him

I've been thinking-Imagine that!-about worship, and what it does, and what it SHOULD mean to me. And of course that got me to thinking about HOW I worship, WHEN I worship, and of course the all important, WHO I worship.
For the most part ask me what worship is and I will immediately say "It's when we sing our praises to God!" but in reality, we can worship more than just God, and much too often, we are all found doing just that. It saddens me to think about the fact that all includes me. I much too often, sometimes without realizing, find myself worshiping someone or something other than God. No, I don't sit there and sing them my praises and adoration, but there are many ways we worship, especially when it comes to God. We can worship simply by smiling at someone, sharing the gospel, being kind instead of rude to the incompetent driver in front of you on the freeway, but in the end it's all about heart, and where ours is at with God, or rather NOT with God.
Our heart is a big part of worship. If you are mad at someone and they apologize, but they don't mean it with their heart, I'm pretty sure it doesn't make you happy, it makes you mad. How much moreso do you think it angers God when we use worshiping Him to "show" how sorry we are? I for one need to work on actually worshiping God with my heart, not my show. So, 7). Worship God with my whole being.

Just Five.

"Just $5?" "Two for $5" In today's society when we see something for "Just $5!" we feel as though we just found a steal! We are so caught up in the "$5!" we don't even realize how hypocritical we are acting. Think about it. Five. Just Five. Wow! What a deal, that is until it comes to spending time, not money. 5 extra minutes in traffic, 5 minutes to wait for food in the drive-thru, 5 minutes to just load the dishwasher, and get this, 5 minutes to sit down and read The Bible? The Holy, All-Powerful God's book of "Cheat-codes" for life? Heck No! That's MY five minutes! I have to(I'd rather!) load the dishwasher. I have to go sit in traffic in order to get to the store, They're having a sale, Just $5!
When you really sit down and think about it, didn't God Make, Create, DESIGN Time? He knows how much time you actually have to spend. He has the power to take that time from us, and yet, He allows us to choose how WE want to spend it. And get this, you don't have to give Him ALL of your time, but the more give Him, the more we realize what a good deal "Just 5 Minutes" really is, the more we will desire to spend "Just 5 more minutes!" With Him. 6). Give "Just 5 Minutes" Everyday.

Uniquely Like Him.

The Bible calls us to be like Christ, but the world dares us to be unique. So, How do you choose? How do you decide? How do you  get the best of both worlds? Well. That's just it. You don't get the best of both worlds. You don't conform to the world's wishes, because in the end, what they call unique, is just like everybody else. You will be "Uniquely like everybody else." So let's make an effort to be unique, to make the choice, our own choice, to be different. To choose God. And to, honestly, be more unique than everybody else, because, well, who else do you know who can be as unique as Christ? 5) Be uniquely like Christ.