Happy Heart.

It's so hard to see the light in the midst of a storm. All the pain and sadness takes over and you feel so alone. And sometimes you think to yourself, "but God I'm a good person! why me??" God doesn't want you to be sad, and He definitely didn't intend for that either. Stop saying"why me?" and answer God with "Let Your will be done." Even good people have to go through trials. I know you saw the "have to" and I say that because no one has the perfect life. Jesus went through obstacles in life, He overcame those. You can too. Life isn't always going to rainbows and butterflies. Life is a very precious and beautiful thing God has given us. You can turn a bad day into a good day, that is if you choose to. The Bible tells us that our life is very short. "Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow." Psalm 144:4  My Momma always told me that every second I spend sad, that's a second of happiness I'll never get back. She's so right. In the short amount of time I've been on earth I had realized I've spent so much time being upset about things I can't change. I can't change how people treat me, no matter how hard I try to be kind to them. I can't change what happens when things don't always go my way. I'll tell you what I can change. I can change my heart towards the people who wrong me, and love harder! Just because people aren't always kind doesn't mean I'm going to stop being kind. That shows what's really going on in your heart. I can change my attitude and realize that things may not be going my way for a reason. God's ways are not always our ways and sometimes I need that reality check. There's so many more things that I can not change,but there is always always a solution, and it's not that the other person needs to change. Stop trying to point your fingers at someone else, your problem isn't someone else. It's something inside of you, that you have to let God fix. Ask God for a change of heart. God wants us to be happy. You can have that,let him into your heart. I'm not saying that don't ever be sad, because everyone gets sad. It's okay to be sad, and to cry. There's a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3). Also, don't be afraid to cry, it doesn't make you weak. The strongest man I know cried, and that man's name is JESUS. It doesn't make you any less of a man. What I'm trying to get across is that the best way to find love and happiness is to find God. He will meet you in the middle of your mess and storm. Are you happy?

What are you advertising?

Don't throw your pearls to pigs. Don't complain about guys being completely inappropriate when that's the kind of guys you're luring in. It's a guy's responsibility to respect you, but also give him something to respect. Modest is hottest. What you're wearing is your bill board. What are you advertising?

We're all family.

This post is kind of a rant but also something that needs to be said. In my sociology class we of course are studying  about society. We were watching a movie about social classes. I just about wanted to jump out of my seat. I was getting so angry. Why? Well people were literally not associating with people because of their social class!! And because they didn't dress the same way, or even because they didn't live in the same neighborhood. The sad thing about this, is that it's true to a certain extent, and these were real people from a high school. And it angered me so greatly. To think that someone wouldn't talk or hang out with me because of how I dressed or because my parents didn't make as much as their parents did?? I wanted to jump out of my seat and scream,"THERE IS MORE TO A PERSON THAN WHAT THEY HAVE!!!!" Why am I posting this? Because people need to take the time to actually get to know people. Judging someone by their appearance is something we do unconsciously. I will admit I'm guilty of this. We need to take that extra mile and actually get to know someone before we make a judgement of them because our assumption can be so so wrong. If life was like the show "The Voice" life would be so different. One of the many great things about God is that He looks at our hearts, not our appearance. "But the LORD said to Samuel,'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appreance,but the LORD looks on the heart.'" 1 Samuel 16:7 ESC. God doesn't judge us by what we wear or how we look. And God already thinks that were beautiful and amazing, inside and out. We were all made in God's image, and He doesn't make anything ugly and He definitely doesn't make mistakes. One of my favorite quotes is,"If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how very different our ideals of beauty would be." And it's so true!! All of these materiatic things that we feel like we HAVE to have, they will fade! You can't keep them forever! And besides why would you want to hang out with someone just because you think they're pretty? If you take the time to really get to know someone and step out of your comfort zone, you'll really see how beautiful people are. You may not find their appreance all that attractive at first, but by the time you get done talking to them and seeing them for them, you could fall in love with who they are. So my challenge is for you to step out of your comfort zone and get to know a stranger, someone you wouldn't really talk to. You might just find out that the person you probably would never have talked to could become someone very close to you. Ultimately at the end of the day, we're all fighting the same battle and living day by day. Regardless of what social class we're in. No one is better than the other, and you're not "too good" to talk to someone. We are ALL God's children. 

Trusting Jesus in a Broken World

Life can take you in a million different directions. Sometimes life gets so chaotic  it makes you want to pull your hair out and scream "I QUIT!" -how I felt this week. Life gets so frustrating, and I will admit I hit rock bottom. I was in the WORST mood and my attitude was so sour. I started to become so bitter. Whoa. Ok hold up. That is definitely not how I, a daughter of Christ should be. I have SO much to be thankful for. YALL Jesus died for me, and YOU! Regardless of what's wrecking my world, I ALWAYS have a reason to smile. No matter my situation, or yours Jesus had it ten times worse and more. Life may seem hard, but don't let it make you lose sight of what's most important. And sometimes we have to hit rock bottom for God to lift our heads and redirect to us back to Him. Sometimes it takes that awful obstacle in life. Don't ever think you go through rough patches in life for no reason. I'm thankful for hard times and struggles. Why? Because I am who I am today. God molded me into who I am, and He still is! Of course I don't enjoy going through rough times, but thank God that He's there helping me through them! You have to trust that God knows what He's doing. God can calm any storm you're facing. I understand that's easy for me to say because I have no idea what you're going through and maybe I wouldn't say that if I was in your shoes. Well, I don't have to hear your story to tell you that God can help you through it."I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16.33

 Jesus loves you so much and He wants to be there for you. He wants to help you through this broken world. He can help you. He's knocking on our hearts for us to let Him in.  My question to you is will you open the door and let Him into your heart or shut Him out? 

Faith.

Many times in life we come across the big question... "What is my purpose?" or maybe this one..."Why am I here?" You hit rock bottom, or maybe you just get lost in thought and you really are just wondering. If you're like me, I analyze just about anything in life that God throws my way. If a boy smiles at me my immediate thought was "wow ok did I have something on my face or in my teeth??? wait even worse..Dear God please don't tell me I had a party going on in my nose." That's just how I am! I'm human. I think that way. And it's okay to wonder. Some people get to the point of wondering why they're here that they hit rock bottom and don't see a way out, they get thoughts that they don't have a reason or purpose..and they take their own life. Life is so so precious and fragile. If God brings you here  ( which He brought us all ) YOU HAVE A PURPOSE. Did you hear me? YOU HAVE A PURPOSE. And honestly, the only way you will find your purpose is if you give your life to Him, because when you do that He will show you, IF you allow Him to. That's the beauty of it. You have to drop everything you're doing and take that leap of faith for a life you couldn't possibly ravel up even if you tried. One of the most famous verses my Sunday school teacher always said was in Luke. "Then He said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me.'"Luke 9:23.  I capitalize 'daily' because every day is battle. I say battle because we battle with sin everyday, there is something that we struggle with. You know yours and I know mine. That's something we have to wake up every morning and say "I won't let you have control over me." Every morning is a fresh start. Every choice you make determines the road ahead. If you get lost in all the temporary things in life : drugs, alcohol, sex, money, whatever it may be, it will not last. You will eventually get bored of it and constantly look for more and more, and it won't be there. You are looking for something that will make you happy and fill that void in all the wrong places. The best way to find love, happiness is God. He can fulfill the desires of your heart,and when you reach Him, His desires for you life become what HE wants for you. So when I say He will give you the desires of your heart, I'm not saying you pray for gold and you receive it  (which He could do that). The desires of your heart, become what God desires for you.
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8 And all of that brings me to this..Now as Christians do you ever notice how life gets rather.. difficult than non-believers? Not saying that people who don't believe always have it easier because that is not true by any stretch. Let me say this and I want to put this out there now and when you face trials keep this in mind..: THE devil DOES NOT CARE TO MESS WITH PEOPLE WHO ALREADY DO NOT BELIVE IN GOD BECAUSE WHY WOULD THEY IF LIFE IS GREAT THAT MEANS THEY WOULDN'T NEED FAITH. YOU NEED FAITH IN TOUGH SITUATIONS. That's what everything boils down to; faith. That also brings me to this..sometimes we go through things so we can help comfort others. A while back I went through something and I felt like NO ONE on this earth could possibly understand..welp.. My Momma did. She went through a VERY similar situation so she could help me! God puts us through things to 1. help mold us to who we need to be 2. help comfort others 3. help add disciples to His kingdom. Notice everytime we hit rock bottom God lifts our head and redirects us? Sometimes we need to be refocused on what's truly important. This is where faith comes in again.. when life takes a turn for the worst.. you start praying to a God you put on hold while you were living this great life and you finally realize... "wow I can't do this on my own." HELLO He's been there this whole time. That's something we all do, we leave God hanging, but when the going gets tough that's when we suddenly remember Him. God loves you so much. Don't put Him on a shelf when life is going great and decide to pick Him up when your world falls apart. He will always be there to pick up the pieces, but imagine if someone treated you that way. How would you feel?

Where's my Prince Charming?

Your first thought when reading this is probably that I'm about to write about how God has a perfect person and I feel like I can't find mine...well that's not what this is about at all. I understand that I'm very young to be talking about "love." But  God has definitely given me knowledge about some very important information in the topic of love. So saying that...

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." 1Timothy 4:12.

Finding that perfect person, who isn't perfect but perfect for you is awesome.  And I'm sure that God does put two people together and they're awesome for eachother and grow in their spiritual walk together. I hope and pray that God blesses with me a man of God that really does love God, and Loves God MORE than me. We all crave that person. I know I sure do. Now here is when I'm about to "get real" with you. Not everyone is suppose to be with someone. Shocker? I know. And no I'm not trying to be negative. One of my favorite quotes from the amazing movie "Finding Normal" says, "I think I could spend the rest of my life by myself and be completely happy, but I'd rather I didn't." And that's something that has been glued in my mind. You can't constantly focus on searching for this someone to spend the rest of your life with. If you constantly search for love you're missing the whole true definition of love, God. God is love. 

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8

The best way to find love is to find God.  And I completely understand the thought of getting lonely but if God is uour main source of love, He will keep you company. We're suppose to be madly in love with God. I was at a Women's Confress and one of the speakers literally says God is her husband. She was THAT devoted. And she is still single. She's single in flesh but not in spirit. I'm not saying this to discourage you because God could bless you with someone to spend the rest of your life with. I'm saying don't focus only on that. Because everything God does, He does it right in in time. Don't go out searching for Mr. Prince Charming, because He could bless you with someone even better, a man of God and if you're a guy reading this, a woman of God. Either way your life turns out keep in mind that God is more than enough for us. 

Apologizing

Apologizing for most people is one of the hardest things to do. I mean seriously, who likes to admit they're wrong? And on some occasions just apologize to smooth things over just so the disagreement will cease. Something one of my best friends told me, is how she was raised, is when you apologize you apologize for what YOU did. You don't bring up what the other person did, because you've done your part. It's up to the other person to apologize. Something that's always been hard for me is when I apologize, I want an apology back. And sometimes I didn't get one and never did. I've learned.. I have to be OKAY with that. A forced apology means nothing because they didn't mean it! When you were younger and your parents made you apolgize, did you honestly mean it? I know I didn't. What you have to understand is that it doesn't make you less of a man or woman to admit you're in the wrong. It makes you more of a man or woman . 

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

You can't control what other people do, but you can control what you do. 

If Tomorrow Never Comes

I'm not sure if you're familiar with the song "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by the amazing Garth Brooks, it's not a Christian song but It's awesome. Anyways, the song has nothing to do with what I'm about to post except the lyrics in the song "if tomorrow never comes will she know how much I love her." You never know when someone's last day is, and in the Bible it talks about how short life is. If you think about how fast time flies anyways, you blink and yesterday ends up being last year or even a couple of years ago. It's kinda scary actually. People argue over such silly things and get angry so fast, and end conversations on such bad notes. And most of the time no matter how angry you are, you still love hem. Two things. 

1." ...Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. And do not give the devil a foothold." Ephesians 4:26-27 

2. "Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered- how fleeting my life is." Psalm 39:4 

Two huge things we need to keep in mind. God even tells us that our life is short on earth. A while back my mom ran across an old couple who had been together a little over 50 years. My mom asked her what her secret was and her response was," Never go to bed angry." Our time on earth is so so short and don't ever think "I'll just fix things tomorrow" because tomorrow is never promised for you or anyone else.  

Who do you wanna be?

One of the last things I want to hear when I'm upset is....take a guess... Godly advice. What? I know, crazy huh? I get so frustrated when one of the people closest to me starts telling me about God while I'm upset. But you know what? That's when I need it the most no matter how much I don't think so. When I'm angry for example, I'm letting the devil have control of me. All that time I spend angry, I'm missing opportunities in my life I'll never get back when I could be happy. God brings joy, peace, laughter, happiness, and so much more. If I would look to Him in my discomfort and my sadness as much as I do everything else in life I'd be a lot happier and handle things differently. So when I say I need it the most when I don't want to hear it, I need my focus re-directed to what matters more than anything in this world, God. I have to remember that God can bring me peace while I'm in these crazy storms of life. "I have told you these things that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world!" John 16:33. He already says that's we're going to have trouble and obstacles we are going to have to face! We will. And we have to look at them in a positive attitude. I, for one, definitely struggle with this, but I know that I'm going through it for a reason. I know that God wouldn't make make me go through heart ache for no reason. Everything you go through in life is to help you prepare for what you'll face in the future and shape you into who God intends for you to be. It's up to you whether you become who God intends you to be or whether you become bitter. That may sound harsh but who you become in this life is entirely up to you.

Why do we face trials?

Many people wonder why people have to suffer and endure things that hurt us and others. And that if you have such a loving God why does He allow bad things to happen? Well this is the answer I've found. "Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death.But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises dead." 2 Corinthians 1:9
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of ALL comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
If we didn't face troubles, what would be the point of God? God allows things to happen to show us we can't go through this life alone.

All the proof I need.

 

When people say, "How can you trust a book written from so long ago?" Ok. God told the many writers of the Bible what to say. He literally spoke through them. Newsflash the things in the Bible are still going on today. Real world events that are going on today and the ones that will happen in the future, God has ALREADY warned us about, so yeah I will believe and live by a book that was written from so long ago.

Redefining Beautiful.

 

The world has such a stupid standard view of what beauty is, which makes the female population feel discouraged, insecure, and leads girls to constantly compare themselves to other girls. The worldview on anything is straight up messed up. But everyone in all honestly listens to it at some point in their life. STOP. God's view is so much better. Who cares what people think? God's opinion is what's going to matter on judgement day. So why care what people say? God doesn't look... at appearance, He looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7. He describes what real beauty is in Proverbs 31 & 1 Peter 3:3-4. We get so caught up in comparing ourselves and seeing all these beautiful people and forget to look in the mirror and see, we in fact are beautiful too. Stop looking at the imperfections. They make you, you. You're flawless. Song of Songs 4:7. Fall in love with you.

Overused? Never.

I know some people think there are many words overused, which has totally lost its meaning "love" being the main one people think of first. I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this, but I don't think it's used enough with meaning behind it. If you know me, you will know I tell people I love them and embrace them with a huge bear hug eveytime I see them. "HUG ME BROTHA"- Drake and Josh reference. I love love LOVE people and God has taught me to do that. I am so passionate about people and I love to love. I truly believe that is a gift from God. Everyone has their gift from God some may have the awesome gift of singing, which is absolutely not mine, but that is a gift. My mom always told me growing up, "A smile could change someone's day." And she's right. (Women are always right aren't they? ) But that is an action of love. Love is more than words, it's an action. I don't think anyone could ever get tired of knowing they're loved. And when I continually say "love" I am not referring to the romantic way, I am talking about the brother and sister love through Christ. Jesus has truly taught me to love strangers, so please don't be startled if I ever tell you I love you, believe me when I say that I know no stranger. Now I wouldn't willingly go up to a random person and scream I loved them, but if God told me to go tell that person that they're loved, by all means I'd do it. You never know what a person is going through, and by letting them know you love and appreciate their existence and what they do for you, just might be what they needed to hear to get through the day. One of my favorite songs says, " When we love someone, we're the evidence in you." God is love and He shows us how to do that. "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8 I have the mindset that tomorrow is never promised, and no matter how angry I am at someone, I want them to know that I love them,and I never want to end things on a bad note. My ultimate goal before I die is to let people know I love them and that Jesus does too.

March 2, 2014

What you're about to encounter is an 18 year-old expressing her thoughts and beleifs. Be prepared to come across an extremely huge amount of grammatical errors.So today, I watched the movie Son of God. Let me just say, I have never balled my eyes out so much. Good grief I cried. Watching that 1.made me realize how UNWORTHY I am 2. He went through ...ALL of that for me?? WHAT 3. I need to get my butt in gear and express God's love and tell people about how LOVING and ALMIGHTY MY God is!And yes, we all hear about Jesus went through this and that, but until you actually see a glimpse of what really happened and see the pain in the actor's eyes. Well duh he wasn't Jesus but he played very well. It made it life-like and made you really think. Dude, what if you really were there watching Jesus getting beat? What if you in Peter's shoes and walked with Jesus? He denied Jesus 3 times. Would you would have had faith strong enough to admit you were with Jesus and are His follower? Something to think about. Then it got me thinking about in our daily lives everyday. Would your fellow piers know you walk with Jesus? We're called to be Jesus' disciples.Sanctified-To be set apart. We can't be like the world and Jesus. It's one or the other.We live for Jesus, because He died for us.Now I am aware of the fact I, 18, senior in highschool, is babbling off. But I know there is so much I, we,can do with our lives. I know I want to do so much. I desire so much to live,with what little time I have on this earth to live for Jesus.Now I know some will be like,"what?! why would she say with what little time?" Hear me out. When I say that, think about it. You're a little kid sitting down watching Barney,you blink. You're now 20. Blink once more, you're 40, sitting in a recliner reading this. Life flies by. Which is whyI'm desperately shouting, I want to shake up this world,and tell everyone, HEY,YOU,JESUS LOVES YOU! You are so loved. By golly, I'm going to change the world. I want Jesus to wreck my world. Take what needs to go from me. Rid me of everything that's not bringing out the good in me.Make me more like HIM. Totally tear me apart and change me. Change my heart. We are so incredibly blessed you guys. Okay I'm done writting.You're all beautiful. Jesus and I love you. Goodnight. :) Thanks for reading this