Awesome Song

"I may never be the one that gets a second glance
I may never be the one they call the prettiest
But thats alright with me

And maybe I don't follow every crazy passion
Spend all my time trying to get a good reaction
But thats ok with me

This world is like a trampoline
High and low no in between
Jumping at the chance to please
Everyone but thats not me
(Chorus)
Cause all that matters is
All that matters is
I know your love has set me free
And thats all that matters to me

Some people tell me to step out and do my own thing
And others say I got to blend in just to be the same
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
And stop being me

But this shallow world is no longer what I'm made of
I've been changed by grace
I've been saved by love
What more do I need
(Chorus)

My life comes from the One
Who made the stars and brought the sun
He loves me more than these
So I don't need another identity

(Chorus)

What is a Friend?

We all have friends; people we know, and around from day to day. But what is a TRUE friend?

Well, some would say a true friend does things for you, others would say that a friend sticks around no matter what, and yet others say that a friend is someone you can tell anything to. Some would say that a true friend is all three. But I think we could all agree that a friend loves.

But today 'love' is a loose term, one that is tossed around lightly and really has no significance.
So rather than first ask what a friend is, I want to ask what 'love' is.
Dictionary time!!!
"Love" is defined as a verb, or a noun.

Love[luhv]-noun
1.A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2.A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.

But the "love" I think that people would use to describe friends is the verb 'love'.

–verb (used with object)
15.to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16.to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17.to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
And this is my favorite description of love:
18.to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.

The Bible describes love like this:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV)

Okay, so if a friend is loving then...
A friend is patient,kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, a friend isn't proud (or rude). A friend isn't self-seeking, easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. A friend doesn't delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. A friend always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Pretty cool, huh?
Better yet, Jesus says in John 15 that we are his friends!! Check it out:

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

(John 15:12-15)
Awesome! So even if you feel like you HAVE no friends, you do (if you have a relationship with Jesus).
Keep being a friend, Keep sinking up!!

New Haircut!!

I know I haven't blogged in a while, so for today, I decided to give you a peek at my life.

Monday I got my hair cut!!!

I was really nervous at first, it had been FOREVER since I had last done it.



My hair was 2 feet long!!!


(Hope this works!!!)

I LOVE IT:


(The girl in the photos with me is my a-m-a-z-i-n-g sister who also has a blog )




Hope you liked it!! That's all for now!!
Keep Sinking Up!

They Don't Understand Me!!!

Sometimes it gets frustrating to live the Christian life. At times it feels as if because Jesus was the perfect man, that he didn't experience, or go through what we ourselves have.
It seems as though we can never achieve that perfection; that 'Holiness' God demands we have ( NIV 1 Peter 1:15-16: "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”").

But the truth is, our Lord Jesus felt everything that we have. Not only was he fully God, but also fully human. Take a look at Isaiah 53. Beginning in verses 2&3:

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not."
And in verses 7-9:
"He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth."

He has felt rejection, oppression and judgement. He was despised, and described as a 'man of sorrows'.
He has experienced what we have. I cannot put it any better than Josh Mcdowell put it in his book "Beyond Belief to Convictions." Here is a part of his book:

"One of the phrases often used by young people is, "They don't understand me." We all long for someone to understand and identify with us, especially when life seems hard or confusing or unfair.

Christ wants us to know that he understands everything we have ever endured - and more. The Incarnate One, Jesus Christ, experienced the ups and downs of life as a human baby, child, teenager, and man. He suffered embarrassment, humiliation, and rejection. As God, Christ understood his creation perfectly but by becoming a human being, Jesus let us know how intimately and completely he understands us-- and all we have experienced.
Yes, God loved us and sent his Son in the form of a human being to die for us so we can have a relationship with him. We all know that. But many of us focus so exclusively on that central truth that we miss the full significance of how deep he wants that relationship to be.
Because Christ took on human form, we can know that he truly understands our weaknesses and temptations. He wants you - and your kids- to know that he identifies with your feelings of rejection when your child is not chosen for the basketball team or when you're overlooked for a job promotion. He understands how it feels to be teased cruelly by classmates or shunned by associates or 'friends'. He can identify with what it feels like to be betrayed by a girlfriend or boyfriend, a coworker, or a spouse.
Think of it: He is the all-sufficient Lord, yet he became as dependent as you were when you were a baby. He was the one who fashioned the human body, yet like you he had to learn to walk. He was the preexistent Word, yet he had to learn to speak, just as you did. He created clouds and rivers and lakes, yet he got thirsty. He endured the taunts of those who knew only part of his family's story. He must have felt the almost unbearable weight of grief when his earthly father, Joseph, died. He suffered not only the physical torture of the cross as he died for you but also the anguish of being rejected, humiliated, denied, abandoned, and even betrayed by his closest friends. Why did he willingly go through all that?

Because he wanted you to know that he understands...."

Identity

Continuing the thought from the last blog post, I found this song by Lecrae. It's called "Identity". Here's a video with the lyrics:

True Beauty

Too often girls are enticed by the pictures in magazines, and the pretty ladies in Hollywood. Girls try to make themselves look like these woman (who have been airbrushed and edited) and get depressed and hurt when they find that this type of perfection can not be reached this side of heaven.

The guys see these girls in the magazines and think, "Boy, I want one like that!" and look for a girl with the same quality as the movie stars.

The boys find that no girl is perfect, that they all have flaws.
And the girls find that the guys seem to be looking for something they cannot provide.

The Lord makes it very clear that this is a messed up system.
In 1 Samuel 16:7 He says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (NIV)
And in Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." (NIV)

Guys, we cannot measure up to the worlds standards.
Girls, let's aim for higher things. And look to please God first, rather than men.

And girls? Don't get discouraged, if you don't have a boyfriend or if you feel despised by guys. For you are beautiful in the Lord's eyes, and that's all that matters.

One of Mandisa's songs comes to mind regarding this issue. It's called "True Beauty" here is the song with lyrics on the video.

Britain's Got Talent

I found this guy A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
Enjoy!!

Defying Gravity

Trouble. We all have it, we all have been told we are it, we have all seen it.
But when it happens to us, we freak.
Trouble comes suddenly, and unexpected.
Our normally hectic (yet repetitve) lives are disrupted by chaos.

Typically we call this a "storm", "adversity", or a "trial".
Using the term "storm" I want to draw your attention to a "storm" in another person's life, and was written down in the Bible.

(This text is taken from the NLT)

Matthew 14:24-33
Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o'clock in the morning Jesus came to them, walking on water. When the disciples saw him, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost. But Jesus spoke to them at once. "It's all right," he said. "I am here! Don't be afraid."
Then Peter called to him, "Lord, if that's really you, tell me to come to you by walking on water."
"All right, come," Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he looked around at the high waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted.
Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him."You don't have much faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?" And when they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.
Then the disciples worshiped him. "You really are the Son of God!" they exclaimed.

I've heard this story told a bajillion and one times. But something odd struck me this time around.
When Peter walked on water and began to sink, the Lord could have stopped the storm right then, but no. Read again. The Lord didn't stop the storm until they were back in the boat.
Notice also, that He waited until Peter called out to Him. And as soon as Peter did, Jesus instantly reached out his hand and grabbed him. But even THEN our Lord didn't stop the storm. He waited until he got back to the boat.

I think sometimes, God allows storms in our lives to teach us we are fully and completely dependent upon his power. And to get us to "call out". And sometimes, even when we do 'call out', he doesn't stop the storm untill we 'get back to the boat'. The Lord has reasons we do not understand, nor do we have to. We need to learn to 'call out' when our gaze slips from him, to the crashing waves.

But then, also not to get disapointed when our call is only answered by the Savior grasping our hand, rather than stoping the storm.

Be patient during the storm, the Lord uses them for all sorts of differences. Learn to look up towards the Saviour when sinking.
Listen to his voice, and watch for miricales.
(I dare you to Sink Up.)

When Trails Come...

God is good, and I think we need to put our focus back on Him. If He is not our focus, then we will end up spiraling in a downward motion towards a black whole of depression and despair. With God, there is hope. There's more than this world has to offer.

Here's an example;

A couple of days ago, I was feeling the tension and strain of ordinary life, so I decided to take a walk.
I walked out back, past the marking of our property line, knowing that there was an empty field back there. Once there I felt so free, God felt close again he was my focus. Well it was starting to get dark, and I knew I had to get back. So, I walked through that familiar path back into the woods. I rememberd that I needed to be able to see my house, in order to get to it. So focusing on a house, I started to walk. The only problem was, the woods no longer seemed familiar, and the barking of dogs seemed closer than they where supposed to be. I looked back up. The problem was, I had focused on the wrong house. I was now 3 lots down from where I was supposed to be.

My point is, if we focus on the wrong thing, guess what? We'll get to the wrong thing.
So I stood in the woods and refocused on the right house. I got to my house once I focused on the right one.

So, using this logic, if your discouraged about something, depressed about someone having more than you, or feeling in adaquate, remember:

1.) God loves you.
I know that's an old thing to say, especially if your a church kid. 'Duh, God loves me, he's God, he kinda has to.' But not only does God LOVE you, he LIKES you too. You think your a loser? Guess what, you are. Without God you're a loser, that's the truth. But through the blood of Jesus Christ (Who, by the way, Loves you SO much that he DIED for you) God sees not who you are-- but who you can become.

2.) Re-focus on Christ.
It's funny, the apostle Paul is always talking about an inner peace-one that doesn't make sense- and an everlasting joy. I don't know if this is just me, but I'm not always feeling joyful, content, and peaceful. Let's face it; Life is hard. That's the raw truth. God never promised it to be easy. In fact, God told us that if you trusted him, it'd get harder. (John 16:1-3) But through personal experience, I can truthfully tell you, that God does supply peace, and joy. Even in the most rough cirrcomstances. The problem comes when we don't USE the peace and joy He supplies.

It's not easy to focus on God when there are hurting people around you, when there are storms and problems that you feel alone in. But if, in the midst of the wild ride and chaos we call "life"; we quiet our hearts (Meaning you tell yourself:"Hey shut-up thoughts! Listen for a second!") and put our eyes on the One in control of the storm, you'll feel a peace that passes all understanding. (A way too commonly used phrase, but I've just learned what it actually means. The peace won't make sense, it doesn't have to. God's bigger than the storm and he can calm you, and the storm. But sometimes he just calms us and lets the storm rage on)

3.) Everyone is struggling with something, be nicer to others than neccisary.

Divorces, Deppresion, Anxiety, Pain, Suffering... it's all part of this sin-cursed world. That's just the way things are. But even in the midst of your trials, if you can set aside your troubles, and look out for someone else, you'll find that your trial doesn't seem like much of a problem anymore. In that moment, the other person's feelings, and emotions will be more important than what your going through---
Now, I can hear you saying to me, "But, I'm the one who needs the encouragment though!!"
Think about it; If everyone was focusing on what they needed, there'd be no one to encourage someone else.
God'll supply your needs, you gotta trust him for that. It's hard. Again, life isn't the happy sun-kissed world we pretend it to be. But God can make your life a little easier, if you allow him to make it "Son-Kissed".(Meaning that your focus is primarily on Christ, and what he did for you on the cross, and how much you actually mean to him.)

Focus on Christ, the trials won't cease, the pain won't stop. But you've got a God who loves you, and knows what He's doing. Keep watching Him, and run the race till the end.