A List

Recent or Re-Emphasized Events/Thoughts/Realizations

• A couple weeks ago I fell while out for a jog. No reported witnesses. Praise God.
• I burned my finger the other day. I have a new scar. :)
• On Sunday night, at church, during a serious moment, I fell. And everyone either saw or heard. (We're talking 100+ people here. I know, right?)
• I got yelled at by my parents on the phone for "not communicating".
• I found out I probably can't go to New York this summer because I have to take my grandparents to Texas to visit their home and family.
• I found out I still don't know how to say no; or at least communicate what's best for me.
• I still don't have a "real" job; but the trip to Texas means I'll be gone during "hiring season". (I know God will provide though.)
• I don't know whether to stay in the girls' intern house (even though I'm not going to be an intern and I don't have a job), move back in with my parents (I think I'd go crazy), or move into an apartment with a friend of mine (I don't have a job and I'm supposed to somehow save up for school anyway).
• I'm not much of a game player and I don't do dishonesty very well. Especially when it comes to the things that matter.
• I would prefer that a person honestly tell me what they think about me, how they feel about me, or their opinion of me/what I say/what I do, so that I can address it/them appropriately-possibly with an apology, possibly with clarification, definitely with complete honesty and unconditional love.
• I miss theatre. Like, I cried myself to sleep one night last week because I missed it so much.
• I'm not in control of my life anymore, but I'm okay with that.
• I need God more than a balloon needs air.
• I love God more than anyone/anything. Period.
• I am truly, deeply, ridiculously content with God and me.
• It's not about me, my job is to be like the moon-a Son reflector-both in word and action. No excuses or exceptions.
• Everything good flows out of God's love. Nothing good comes without it.
  

Oh! And I'm preaching tomorrow night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So excited/humbled! Pray for me?

much love.

Choose Life

Proverbs 18:21 says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those who love it will eat of its fruit."

Recently, God's been teaching me to truly tame my tongue. To live like I actually believe that truth. I actually used that verse as a challenge for myself and the children and youth that are in the class I teach at my dad's church (as well as a couple of the girls I mentor), after breaking down exactly what it means.
See, I've known that verse for a very long time; but I've learned that there are many different levels of understanding when it comes to God and His Word. I've reached a new one as far as that verse is concerned; and now God's helping me live it out. Let's take a closer look at it...maybe you (whoever reads this) can work on it with me as well.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue...

Tongue obviously means the words we speak. But what if a person is mute? Well, in all reality, it's not just about the words we use; it's about any form of communication-from speech to sign language. So, the words we use have enough power to either create life or destroy it. (Really, one could go so far as to say that body language is a form of communication; and that it too has the power to create or destroy. Have you ever been hurt by a person's actions or body language? I have.) Let's move on...

...and those who love it...

Who loves what? Well, "it" refers to language, or speaking; and anyone who uses "it" loves "it". So I'm pretty sure that's all of us. Unless of course you've taken a vow of silence recently, and are not using anything at all to communicate with others; in which case you may be exempt. Haha, but the rest of us definitely fall into the "love it" category.

...will eat of its fruit.

Once again "it" is referring to the things we say. The picture I painted for my class was this:
Imagine you're a farmer, and you're planting seeds. You choose which seeds to sow, and the seeds you sow grow into plants that bear fruit. The fruit your plants will bear depends entirely on what was sown by you. Your words are seeds, and there are only two types of seed available: death and life. If you sow seeds of life, when the time comes for your plants to bear fruit, you will eat life. If you sow seeds of death, when the time comes for your plants to bear fruit, you will eat death. These seeds can be planted in your life, a situation, or the life of someone you know; but regardless of where it's sown, the sower will eat it. Maybe your "plant" will grow quickly (like tomatoes), or maybe it will take some time (like a pumpkin or watermelon); but it will grow. And you will eat it. Here's something else God showed me and my class: we may plant a seed, but God is the One Who decides how quickly it grows and how big it gets. If that's the case, even the smallest seed of life can grow into a very large fruit! And if we add body language to this, even the smallest thing (maybe a simple, but sincere smile) can change a life forever.
Jesus said that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy; but that He came so that we can have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:9-11). God said that He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us-to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). In a different version, it says: He knows the thoughts He thinks toward us, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give us hope and a future. God wants life for us; in fact, as I mentioned before, He wants us to have life more abundantly. According to dictionary.com, the word abundant means:

1.	present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient: an abundant supply of water.

2.	well supplied; abounding: a river abundant in salmon.

3.	richly supplied: an abundant land.

Synonyms include: copious, profuse, overflowing, plentiful, teeming, and rich.
It gets even better, the antonyms are sparse and scarce.
Crazy! Many people have this picture of a judgmental, condemning God; but 1 John 4:8b says it best

God is love.

Plain and simple. In fact, looking at this verse in context really puts it into perspective.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is 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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:7-11

Basically, God really loves you. He sent His Son to die for you. Now, God wants abundant life for you. I challenge you to not only accept His gift of love; but to walk it out in the words you speak.
Choose Life, speak life, and live abundantly.

much love.

This one's preachy...preachy keen. :)

I'm going to attempt to do this blog in 1 minute.
It's following a writing prompt from The One Minute Writer. (http://oneminutewriter.blogspot.com/2009/01/todays-writing-prompt-teach.html)
Starting...NOW!!!

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."
-Philippians 4:8

2 Cor 10:5 talks about taking every thought captive to the authority of Jesus Christ. I think that if we were all able to learn that principle-and not just learn it, but really capture it-this world would be a far better place. And we have the authority to do it too. In Jesus' mighty and holy name. I think it boils down to will power, choices, and truly grasping how much God loves us.

Bah! My time ran out. Anyway, if I could teach others one thing, that'd be it. (About God's love, the importance of taking every thought captive...and maybe even how to do it.) I challenged the kids in my children's church class to pray every morning this week that God would help them to take every thought captive and help them live the way He wants them to. lol, I used a rock to represent the thought (it's the only thing I had) and explained to them how, kinda like the cartoons, the enemy sometimes whispers things to us. And how we need to take our thoughts captive, because if we don't, pretty soon our thoughts take us captive. And in reality, just like there are two paths to choose in life (God's or Satan's), there are two categories of thought: God's or Satan's. So much time and energy is spent in/by the world to convince us that things aren't black and white. That some areas are gray. That things don't always have to be either/or...they can be both/and. Oh man...I might get a lot of flack for this...but here's an example: The Bible is clear on God's view of homosexuality. It's unholy, unrighteous, and sinful. People who live in that lifestyle will find themselves in Hell unless they repent and change; because, according to the Bible, you can't be both homosexual and Christian. You're either homosexual or Christian.* According to Revelation, we must be either hot or cold; because if we're both hot and cold, we're lukewarm...and God will vomit those who are lukewarm out of His mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) While I'm on the subject of both/and vs either/or: One concept floating around out there that really gets me is: "Both God (Yah-weh) and (insert name of false god/prophet here. i.e. Buddha, Allah, Satan, etc.) are right. There is more than one way to obtain eternal bliss. Everyone can have their own truth. Both your truth is right and my truth is right. The truth is what you make it." While that may be true for some politicians and various others in this world, the Truth for eternity was, is, and always will be the same.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
-Romans 3:23
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
-Romans 6:23
"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
-John 14:16
"But God commendeth [demonstrated] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
-Romans 5:8
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
-John 3:16
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock", He's knocking on your heart-loving you with all of His...are you going to answer that?

If you want more information, reading all of Romans 3 is a good idea. Actually, read all of Romans. And while you're reading that letter of Paul's...read all of Paul's writings. His relationship with Jesus was like ours should be, and quite different from the relationship the disciples-who knew Him in the physical world-had. Jesus was able to reveal himself to Paul in a way that the disciples never knew...because when Paul met Him on the road to Damascus, Jesus had been returned to His full glory. Read and you'll understand.

much love.

P.S. I also highly recommend you read Frank Peretti's novel Nightmare Academy (The Veritas Project). The reading is rather easy, but the concept and message is very potent at any age.

*Note: I don't hate people who practice homosexuality. I don't treat them differently IRL or on the internet. But most, if not all, of the people I know who are homosexual know what I believe about that issue. I believe what the Bible says. And that's all I'm trying to say in that section of this blog. Both/and can't exist. It's impossible. There are certainties. Things are real. The Truth is real. Right and wrong exist; just as much as any tangible-or at least commonly accepted-opposite (i.e. hot and cold, up and down, left and right, in and out, over and under, night and day, light and dark, etc.).

I Find the Weather Outside Delightful

I really, honestly do! xD And I'm obsessed with taking pictures of the sky. I was the same way last year too. In fact, if you ever see a girl with a really old Kodak EasyShare on the side of the road taking pictures of the sky...it could very well be me. Recently, the sky has been amazing. Truly magnificent. God is incredible. And the fact that He-who is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, the Alpha and Omega, the creator of the heavens and the earth, Yahweh, the I Am-I mean, the fact that He’s God...and that He loves me boggles my mind. I love that I can know that no matter what He is in charge. I love that what He does in the sky-however big and brilliant I think it is-is such a small part, such a tiny piece of His beauty. I wrote this about eight or nine months ago, but here:

I needed some Inspiration
Divine Inspiration
To guide this examination
Of my enamoured soul

Holy Spirit light a fire
Let it pierce me deep within
And burn away all the sin
From my enamoured soul

The other day I saw the face
Of my redeeming grace
And it captured completely
My enamoured soul

Just a glimpse of Your splendor
Just a taste of Your goodness
A sip of Your mercy captivates
My enamoured soul

I absolutely love God. I mean, seriously. That's pretty much it right now. I just wanted to share my sky with you. Hope you're doing fantastic! (I love how I'm writing as though someone's reading...as I don't even have any "followers" yet, lol.)

much love.