Quote book.

So, I haven't blogged in forever. But, it's almost 11, and I so don't feel like thinking, so I'm just going to blog some of my favorite quotes from my quote book. :)

"The honest way we share the truth from deep inside, the way I feel so free when my soul meets yours. I love you as you are, you take me as I am, and that is why I call you friend." -Lynn Moss

"Yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision; but, today, well-lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope." -Unknown

"We can not direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." -Bertha Calloway

"The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who gives himself up wholly to him." -Henry Varley

"The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea." -Isak Dinesen

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands during moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -MLK

"Happy girls are always the prettiest". -Audrey Hepburn

"Even if your hands are shaking, even if your faith is fading, say what you need to say." -John Mayer

"Monsters are real. Ghosts are real, too. They live inside of us, and sometimes they win." -Stephen King

"People cry not because they're weak, but because they've been strong for too long." -Unknown

"Silence and smiling are two powerful tools. Silence is the way to avoid many problems, smiling is the way to solve them." -Unknown

"This is your world. Shape it or someone else will." -Gary Lew

"God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way." -C. S. Lewis

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." -Eleanor Roosevelt


And, my absolute favorite but basically pointless quote of all time...

"A southern girl is a girl who knows full well that she can open a door for herself, but prefers for the gentleman to do it because it demonstrates a sense of respect. We know how to make sweet tea and grits while telling you everything there is to know about any basketball team in the ACC. We pick our battles and fight with the heart of a pitt bull while still maintaining grace and elegance. Our mystique is that of a soft-spoken, well-mannered southern belle who could direct an army, loves her momma, and will always be her daddy's little girl."

Hidden your word in my heart.

During my quiet time today, I read through John 14:25-27. It says "But the Helper, the Hold Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." The Lord has been showing me a lot about dwelling in his word lately and keeping his word as a treasure, so that in any situation, Scripture just comes to mind. I was thinking today about how I think of a Taylor Swift song for EVERY single situation. How incredible would it be if scripture came to our minds as easily as song lyrics? Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden my word in your heart that I might not sin against you." In order for Scripture to pop into our minds, we have to spend time daily studying his word and listening to his voice. The Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to remind us of Scripture, but he have to know it in order for him to bring it to mind. We hear the most clearly from him by listening straight through his word. Just the way that I listen to Taylor Swift constantly, I want to read the Lord's word constantly so that verses come naturally to me in any situation. His word brings peace and the Holy Spirit will teach us when we spend time with him and allow him in our lives. The most amazing feeling in the world is to be overwhelmed with the peace of God. The peace that surpasses all understanding. And the only way to do that is to be so in love with Him that we study his word constantly so that it WILL come naturally to us in and the Scripture will lead us through any situation we are placed in.

Precious is the flow.

Tonight's worship was one of the most incredible things I've ever experienced. It was simple, but so so perfect. We're going through a book called Radical by David Platt and we've been meeting in a little room in the back of our youth building instead of our usual big meeting room. Troy took out the couches, pillows and lights. There is literally one light bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling. And, instead of our usual band, we've had one person playing the guitar. No band. No projectors. Just us and God. It was incredible. We sang several older worship songs, which I loved. One of them was "Nothing but the blood of Jesus"... "Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, NOTHING but the blood of Jesus." John 4:24 says "Those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." and Troy challenged us that worship should be about our love for Christ regardless of the band or special effects. All that said, I'm obsessed with the light bulb at my church. YAY MBCC. :)

Therfore GO.

So, tonight at church, Troy talked about The Great Commission in Matthew 28. I've heard this story a MILLION times before, sung songs about it, and prayed it over my life. But, tonight, it literally changed my entire perspective on evangelism. "I hear your voice, and this is my awakening." I feel like I always read over what seems to be "insignificant" parts of a verse. But, I LOVE how Troy always focuses on things that I would completely read over. Matthew 28:16 starts with "Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee...", which is something that I wouldn't even begin to think twice about. If you look back up to verse 10, it says "Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'" So, the reason they went to Galilee was because Jesus told them to. OBEDIENCE. How often to WE make ourselves available to Christ on HIS timing? In the next verse, it says "And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted." If every one believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead, it wouldn't make sense. It wouldn't be REALISTIC. Mentioning that some doubted Jesus only confirms his appearance more. In verse 18, Jesus tells the disciples that "ALL authority on earth and in heaven" has been given to him. When we're given authority over siblings or whatever, we often use it to our advantage. Jesus used it for his Father's GLORY to benefit his kingdom. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Verses 19-20). Being told to "Go" is a huge responsibility. It requires ACTION, not just thoughts and ideas. Jesus didn't direct us to a certain location, he just commanded us to go "to the ends of the earth". When we hear "to the ends of the earth", we often think Jesus meant that we should all be missionaries to unreached regions of the world. And, some people are absolutely called to ministry in foreign countries, but our schools and neighborhoods are included in "the ends of the earth". We're ALL called to GO somewhere. For some, it may be Africa, but for others, our calling may be to simply be a witness on a day to day basis in our own schools. Troy challenged us to PRAY about where the Lord was calling us and to take action according to His plan.

Flawless Faith.

So, I remembered I had a blog... Thanks, Lex. Her New Year's resolution was to keep up her blog, and she made me want to post again! I'm definitely not going to "keep it up", but maybe I'll post once a month instead of once a year. :)

Okay, so... Wow. It's been like forever. I'm gonna try not to take too long... But, I think if I could pick one thing that the Lord's been teaching me lately, it would be faith. Trusting in Him and in His plan, even when my plan doesn't quite match up. It's such a struggle. Every day. Some days I'm pretty decent at it, others, I'm definitely not. But, the times when I do a better job of trusting the Lord, my day is SO much better. I wish I'd be smart and trust him more every day. I try, but it's definitely difficult. At the Christmas Eve service at my church, our pastor talked about how we always feel the need to be comfortable, and it often draws us away from God. We're scared that if we put our FULL faith in Jesus, He'll ask us to step out of our comfort zone. So, we just kinda assume that if we try to live without him, we won't have to do anything hard. That is DEFINITELY not true. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we live by faith, not by sight." Sometimes people ask how Christians can trust God "because of all the bad things that happen". I've always known that the Lord teaches us through hard situations, but I've never really had an answer to that question. Not an answer for myself at least. I mean, I'd heard logical answers from youth leaders, but never figured it out for me. Recently, it's become SO clear to me that the answer to that question is simply because there is NO way I could live through hard situations without him. One of my friends from church, Sydney McLemore, was in a car accident the Monday of Thanksgiving week. Instead of asking God WHY he causes things like that to happen, we should let him use it to work in our lives and build our trust in him. Syd came home on Thursday (?) and is making so so much progress! Please keep her family in your prayers and your faith in Christ!

Peace.

I'm determined to get back in the habit of blogging. Determined. Sorry its been so long... anyways... here we go... :)

Recently, I've had a lot going on, whether it be homework, skating, church, or whatever. I've been struggling with making decisions and trusting the Lord completely. At Elevation, Kristian sang a new song called "He's holding my world in His hands"...

So I will not worry or fret,
My God is the God who will never forget,
All of His goodness,
All of His promises,
He's holding my world in his hands.

How perfect. Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain you". And Psalm 37:5, 7 says, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act... Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him". Luke 12:22 says, "Then Jesus said to his disciples: 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear'". These verses and the song by Kristian Stanfill have comforted me so much these past few weeks. If I trust the Lord, He WILL work things out. Another new song that Kristian sang goes like this...

Day after day,
Our God is reigning,
He's never shaken,
My hope is in the Lord.

Time after time,
Our God is faithful,
Trustworthy Savior,
My hope is in the Lord.

My hope is in the Lord. I trust him, and I literally could not live without him. I would be a mess if I didn't have Jesus Christ as my Father that I could constantly turn to and trust with anything. Just wanted to share that. Love yall. :)

Prayer of my heart.

Okay, yes, yes, yes, I knowww. I haven't posted in like a zillion years. SORRY!!! I've had a crazy crazy last few months! Mission trip- 1 week; camp- 4 weeks; Sawyer's house- 1 week; home- 2 weeks; mountains- 1 week; Home- 1 weeks... then school started! Anyways, I'm finally getting around to posting again, and hopefully, it will turn back into a semi-regular routine for me :)

On Sunday morning, Pastor Kallam challenged us to let this verse be the prayer of our hearts:

"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." ~Psalm 119:18

This should describe our prayer life. Psalm 119:41 says "Let your love, God, shape my life." If we're letting the Lord's love shape our life, then we will have a crazy desire burning inside us to see wonderful things in his law. Psalm 119:47-48 says "I cherish your commandments- Oh, how I love them!" Hmmm. Not exactly our first response to rules, is it? Not for me, thats for sure!! But, if we pray that God's love will shape our life, then we will desire to see wonderful things in the Word. If we begin to look for the splendor in the Bible, we will find it everywhere.... not just in praises and promises, but in rules as well. The Lord's rules will bring us freedom and we will begin to see goodness in his law, the more and more we love him and are drawn closer to him (vs 33-34). Tim challenged us to pray for three things this week as we strive to seek the Lord:

1. Incline my heart to LOVE your word. (vs 36)
2. Give me understanding to LEARN your word. (vs 33-34)
3. Give me strength to LIVE your word. (vs 33-34)

After Pastor Kallam gave us those three things to pray over ourselves this week, Mrs. Melick leaned over and wrote down "Love. Learn. Live." I'm sure that was Tim's point as he challenged us to those three prayers, but smart me never would have figured it out :) Those three things completely sum up what our lives should be: an offering to the Lord. We should LOVE his word, want to LEARN it, and strive to LIVE it. This week, let the prayer of your heart be Psalm 119:18... "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." As you pray that the Lord would open your eyes, pray specifically that you would LOVE his word, LEARN his word, and LIVE his word.