The Power of Prayer

Snow is wonderful! Especially when it allows you to sleep for twelve hours and finally feel rested. While doing devotions this morning and reading through Romans 9 I came across a few wonderful verses...
Romans 9:20-21, "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for ocmmon use?
It was like a slap across my face. Truely. Just the day before, my best friend and I had spoken about how I have to focus on changing myself and I cannot change other people. (check out my previous post for my frustration) More importantly, we spoke about the need for a change in my self-confidence (which I have none of). Being a teenage girl it is not unheard of to be very unconfident, but my case is pretty bad. It flows into my relationships with other people and it is quite unhealthy. She recently told me, "GOD MADE U BEAUTIFUL AND TO DENY IT IS LIKE SAYING GOD'S CREATION IS DISGUSTING. NO YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE GOING TO BELIEVE IT!" Quite profound right? I just have not been able to wrap my mind around it. Then this morning, at just the right time, I just so happened to stumble across those verses. What a God moment. He always provides.

The Rantings of A Frustrated High School Student

Mind you: all of this was written after a frustrating day at school.


I have a calling
It might sound crazy, but I do, and I know exactly what it is
I am being called to make a difference
To shine a glimmer of sunlight to this dark and deranged world
To add a spark to the everyday dreariness of life
The ridiculous and rigorous and repeated schedule that every one of us lives everyday
I hate it
I hate knowing exactly what each day is going to be like
I love surprises and unexpectedness, even though I myself love to plan things out
One would expect for me to want a laid back, happy, quiet life
Including a wonderful husband, beautiful children, and a brick house with a picket fence
To be well provided for and loving life…..that is what you would think
I want adventure
I want to see the world
I want to meet new people
I want to impact people
I want to have meaningful relationships
I hate shallow ones where you say hi and there is that awkward silence of nothingness
I love challenging myself
I want to sing and write and speak
I want people to know the power of my Savior!
I want to serve others
Bring smiles to people’s faces
I want people’s respect for what I have to say
I want my life to count!
I want people to know me for who I am-a sold out Jesus Freak
Yes, that is what I am
I constantly feel restrained from my full potential by the constant unnecessary drama of high school
I hate it
I am sick of people
I am sick of the clichés and the judgments and the gossip
I do not want to be tied down to this world by people’s opinions-but I am
I do not want to be held back by anything-but I am
I hate feeling trapped inside this cage of uncaring people
I want someone to see how I am and promise to be there for forever and not leave
For once
Just once
I guess these dark valleys always tend to point back to my First and Only Love
My Jesus
The man who endured the hardships of life and was able to overcome it all
Who loves me unconditionally and will never let me go
That accepts me just the way I am
The one who will never leave me out
Because honestly, I hate fitting in
Sure, sometimes I would like for people to understand me and for me to break down all my walls
But I am not like that
I don’t trust people enough
I get hurt easily
I want my life to be a living testimony of God’s love
I want people to see His grace when I forgive them
See his gentleness and humility
I have passion
I have a spark
It is a fire that has been growing in me consistently
It is because of my Savior
I am tired of feeling alone-but if You can use it Lord, I will endure
I will press on
I will wait for my real home
In heaven
Where only You matter
Where I will not become sidetracked by all the stupid things of this world
All the temptations and tricks
The sneers and sobs
The crime and crap
Because You reign
I know You will use me
I want to make a huge impact one life at a time

2011 Already

The past year has passed by way too quickly.
It was like I blinked and BAM I was counting down to the new year. I looked back at all the memories, the good and bad. I looked at all the friendships that had fallen apart and all the walls that I had built up. I looked at the mistakes. I also looked at the incredible things God has done in my life and the people and experiences He has blessed me with. Yes, there has beena lot of change in my life....I feel like a different person than I was a year ago. Sure, I still have some of the same problems, but some of them have seemed to fall away. New ones have come, but I have a confidence in the Lord of my life that He can handle them.
It is about time that I give Him absolute control.
There is too much stress in life. Too many regrets. Too much drama. Too many tears. Too much selfishness. The list goes on and on.
This year I want to challenge myself.
My motives, my mind, my spirit, my body, my values, my friendships. I know that if I challenge them that they will grow stronger. I am ready for a a year of growth. I am tired of the day to day stuff. I want to change things. One life at a time. One action at a time. One moment at a time. All because Christ has changed mine. Mind you, I definitley cannot do all of this without His strength and wisdom. I need Him, but that is already a given.

So here we go 2011, are you ready? Because I am.

A Christ-filled Christmas

Revelation 3:20, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

As I sat reading this scripture at my church's Christmas Eve Eve service last night, I really thought about the "if's" of this passage. "If anyone hears my voice" and "If you open the door". Can you hear His voice? With the busyness of the Christmas time and all the things going on with school, at home, on the sports field, etc, can you hear Him? I came across a nice quote the other day,"Make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud." I do not think it is ironic that Jesus came to earth not as a conquering king, but as a meek and quiet baby. Do you take time to escape from the world and just listen to His voice and read His word and bask in His glory? Also, will you open the door for Him? I once heard a story about the different rooms in our heart. It told about this person who was showing Jesus around the rooms of their heart and Jesus said to the person that he wanted to have their whole heart. Will you open the door of your heart to Him? It is up to you because he does not force His way in, instead he waits patiently for you. Can You hear Him calling out to you as he tries to get your attention and pull you away from the distractions of this world? This Christmas will it be different than the other ones? Will you appreciate the time spent with family more than the presents that will just waste away in closets as dust piles up on them in the years to come? Will you focus on the gift of baby Jesus and the love He shows us everyday by wanting a relationship with each and every one of us?

P.S. Sorry if you have already gone to service and this sounds exactly like it. I could not help, but write a post about it because I thought service was superb!

A Little Margin (more like a big one)

The latest series at good ol' Mountain Christian Church has been "I'm Dreaming of a White Space Christmas." We have been digesting the idea that every single one of us needs some down time in life. Our society encourages us to keep going and give it our all while having a jam-packed schedule. But in reality this intangible. Every one of us gets burnt out and tired and cranky when life gets a little too busy or exhausting. The idea that I need down time, is one I have thought about. I enjoy time alone in fact, even though I am a people person down to my very core. It gives me time to take a breath, think about things, and meditate on Him. I do this every morning which is a necessary part of my daily schedule, but I am starting to think that I should do it throughout the day if possible. When I get stressed I usually cry. I enjoy crying because it helps me get things out and usually I will journal about it or call up a friend. This happens more than I like it too. With the jam-packed schedule of an active teenager, things can get crazy. I am starting to realize that my moods really do affect other people. If I come home and I am upset about something, it affects my family. Who wants to come home to a cranky, emotional teenager? It needs to stop. I am done being so stressed that I break down and take it out on other people. I am done trying to carry the world on my shoulders. You can have it all Lord because I cannot handle it. Only You can.

Ephesians 5:15, "Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."

I refuse to conform.

Freedom?!

The other day during devotions I stumbled across this passage: Romans 3:22-24, "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Christ Jesus to all who believe, There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Yes, the passage is a message for the Jews and Gentiles that righteousness and uprightness does not come from following the law, but from faith in Christ Jesus because of the sacrifice He made on the cross. This got me thinking.....am I free? I am free! Christ saved me from enslavement to sin and guilt and fear, but does that change how I live my life? I am constantly living in fear and entanglement. Yes, God gave us guidelines to live by and one might think, "That makes you enslaved to the rules of the Bible." Actually, no. It makes me even more free, because God shows us the things we should avoid in life so that we are further away from trials and pain. God shows us a way of life that has benefits and purpose and challenge and excitement, even though the world does not understand it. So, I am free. Are you? Have you recognized the gift of the Savior for YOU. Do not pass up this moment without thanking Him for all He has done.

The Necklace that Saved Our Lives

Have you ever had a moment in life that takes you completely off guard? I had a moment like that last night. Life has been completely wonderful lately, God has been blessing me and I have this wonderful joy. The past couple of days have been a bit rough with some of the relationships in my life, but I knew I could get through them and that the Lord was giving me strength. Anyways, last night my dad and I were driving to our church for some meetings, talking about going on a missions trip together and talking about life in general. My dad is my best friend. I have an extremely close relationship with my parents that I praise God for! Yes, it might sound ridiculous that a teenage girl would be close to her parents, but it is an immense blessing! We were coming up on a road right next to our church's cemetery, when traffic started to slow because a man had hit a deer in the lane on the other side of the road. A man had stepped out of his car, near the deer which was in the middle of the road, so that he could take it out of it's misery. As my dad and I slowly stopped, we sat in our car waiting for traffic to move. We were a minute away from our church, maybe less. My dad rolled down his window to speak to the man near the deer when all of a sudden BOOM! My dad described it as an explosion going off. I didn't understand, I knew we had been hit by another car, but we had been at a complete stop, I was so confused! I broke out into hysterics, just crying my eyes out. Dad kept asking me, "Are you alright? Does anything hurt?" I was luckily fine, only a bruise on my upper thigh from the seat belt, but my dad unfortunately was not so lucky. He complained of his neck and knee hurting. It was so awful to see my dad in pain, he was my sturdy foundation and now he was hurt, I had to be the strong one. I started to collect all of our belongings and I couldn't find my cellphone. It had been in my lap at the time of the accident and I had no idea where it had gone. It could have flown out of the window for all I knew. After probably fifteen minutes of searching I found my phone on the dashboard! Not only had it popped up, but it had also slid onto the exact opposite side of where I was sitting. I slowly started to take notice of all the damage. All of our windows had broken, my dad's chair had broken, our trunk was halfway hit in, it looked awful! I have always called my Dad's car Ruby and had been looking forward to driving her one day! Unfortunately, as my Mom said, Ruby is going to be cremated. The rest of the night passed in craziness between the ambulance coming and my mom and brother coming and going to the hospital and everything. I called close friends to say a prayer for my dad and somehow the word spread far and wide! My brother had posted it on Facebook, but so many people heard the news! Thank you so much to all who prayed for us! I believe in the power of prayer. With all of my heart. My dad had to have a ct scan and an x-ray done at the hospital, but only God could make it so that he was fine! He came home earlier than expected and is fine this morning. We are both a bit stiff, but that is such a relief knowing that either of us could have died last night! Right before we had left to go to the hospital, a witness saw my Dad's cross necklace wrapped around his rear view mirror and said to me, "You might need this." I will never take that necklace off. My dad wants to put it in the next car we get, but I refuse. Yes, the necklace did not save us, it was God. My Savior, Lord, Protector. Only He is the one that saved us. Anything much worse could have happened last night and I am praising Him for my life and also my Dad's. I know there was a reason why our lives were spared. It might just be the perfect timing to happen right before Thanksgiving, because I have never been this thankful for life.
Psalm 103:13-16 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass,they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone,and its place remembers it no more.