well, today was awesome. it was a lovely ending to a hard, long week. i love it when God ends hard weeks with some sweet time with even sweeter people. today, i had the chance to spend time with one of my friends from MI...and boy was it fun!
it was fun because it was spontaneous...now, i am NOT a spontaneous person, i like routine, schedules and planning, but today, she suggested we go for coffee after school and i said, sure! :) so, we drove (in the BLIZZARD, i might add) to an great little coffe place. side note-i love coffee shops. i love the smells, the atmosphere, and i always imagine having great heart-to-hearts with people in coffee shops...today i had an awesome heart-to-heart. :)
it was fun because of the friend i was with. she is an awesome girl...a true leader, a solid christian, and just plain old FUN! she's super funny, but knows when it's time to be serious, and is a very good listener. i am so thankful i have met her and finally had a chance to sit and chat with her!
it was fun because we had great conversation. i got to know her, i let her get to know me...it was like talking to someone i had known for years. no awkwardness, no annoying small talk (i hate small talk!) just real, God-centered conversation...
it was fun because this week had some heart ache. it was a long week, with some ups and downs and frustrations and tears...i had been feeling overwhelmed, and tired, and a bit stressed, and instead of coming home after school and moping or wallowing in self pity, i had the chance to spend time with a truly amazing girl. what a BLESSING!
and added bonus, i got to drink some OUT OF THIS WORLD HOT CHOCOLATE! which i love. :) it's the simple things in life, right?
the rest of the day was also awesome, baked christmas cookies with some relatives...yum!
now, i am just going to enjoy the rest of the night and make christmas gifts, and listen to music and just thank God for the time to get to know a friend...
05 December 2008
29 November 2008
It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS...
Today is probably my favorite day of the entire year...
I love coming off of thanksgiving, waking up and STILL feeling full. My family and I always put up our Christmas decorations and it is FINALLY "legal" to listen to Christmas music! (don't tell anyone, but, i've been listening to Christmas music since LAST friday! *grin*)
Anyways...today was such a fun day! We went to the Christian bookstore where I picked up the BarlowGirl Christmas CD...which I HIGHLY recommend. It is fantastic! The store was PACKED with people and also PACKED with sales...which I love! I got to help my little sister pick out gifts for the family which I really enjoyed doing. It was fun to watch her get so excited about her finds!
After we got back from our quick shopping trip, we pulled out ALL the Christmas decorations...it was awesome! The tree is now up, ornaments are hung, lights lit and it is GLORIOUS! I am in love with this time of year!
ok..so, i'm incredibly tired, but, i wanted to put up a few fun pictures of the decorations and a bit of snow! :)
28 November 2008
a fun day...and a new year's resolution
ahh...today was a fun day!!
i love thanksgiving...i love having an excuse to remind all my friends and family that i am beyond thankful for them. i love seeing 12 faces around the table all full of joy. i just love everything about this holiday. i love that our country chooses to set aside a whole day just for being thankful. the days off of school are not too bad either! :)
i could go on for days writing about all the things i am thankful for...family, friends, faith, freedom, fun...(no, i didn't mean for them all to start with the same letter! haha). the list could go on and on and on and on. i woke up this morning and my heart just felt full!
the past couple of days i have really been missing new york, and at the same time, i have been so thankful for living here. but, the missing new york feelings came over me. my heart ached. i ached for the familiarity, and for people that know me inside and out. i ached for friends to talk to and take walks with. while my heart longed for those things, i also found myself so thankful for the time i did have in new york.
i have also found myself incredibly thankful for where i am now.
And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is where God wants you. Live and obey and love and believe right there.
1 Corinthians 7:17
where i am is where God wants me...and i am THANKFUL for that. since we moved here i have met some INCREDIBLE people. people that in the short time i have known them, have taught me so much and inspired me so much. i have learned to "live and obey and love and believe" right here. i can't put into words how thankful i am to be learning this.
for so long, i didn't allow myself to make friends here. i was so sure that i just didn't need them. after all, i had friends, they just lived miles and miles away. i convinced myself that there was no need to make new friends, or let people get to know me. and let me tell you, i deprived myself of some amazing people last year. THANKFULLY, God has given me the chance this year to get to know people and make some great friends. the truth is...i do need friends here! i love people and i need people and being able to get to know people here has been awesome. this place is overflowing with awesome, solid christ followers that i am HONORED to call friends. for that...i am thankful. so thankful.
***
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thes. 5:16-18
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever!
1 Chron. 16:34
***
instead of regular name cards today, my mom put a verse about being thankful at everyone's place setting at our table. each person got a different verse. it was so neat to look around the table and read 12 verses about thankfulness. when you search "give thanks to the Lord" on bible. com, over 40 verses come up.
i know it's a bit early for new year's resolutions, but, i am making one now.
* to keep an attitude of thankfulness at ALL times, not just at thanksgiving.
i hope you all had a great thanksgiving!! much love-
i love thanksgiving...i love having an excuse to remind all my friends and family that i am beyond thankful for them. i love seeing 12 faces around the table all full of joy. i just love everything about this holiday. i love that our country chooses to set aside a whole day just for being thankful. the days off of school are not too bad either! :)
i could go on for days writing about all the things i am thankful for...family, friends, faith, freedom, fun...(no, i didn't mean for them all to start with the same letter! haha). the list could go on and on and on and on. i woke up this morning and my heart just felt full!
the past couple of days i have really been missing new york, and at the same time, i have been so thankful for living here. but, the missing new york feelings came over me. my heart ached. i ached for the familiarity, and for people that know me inside and out. i ached for friends to talk to and take walks with. while my heart longed for those things, i also found myself so thankful for the time i did have in new york.
i have also found myself incredibly thankful for where i am now.
And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is where God wants you. Live and obey and love and believe right there.
1 Corinthians 7:17
where i am is where God wants me...and i am THANKFUL for that. since we moved here i have met some INCREDIBLE people. people that in the short time i have known them, have taught me so much and inspired me so much. i have learned to "live and obey and love and believe" right here. i can't put into words how thankful i am to be learning this.
for so long, i didn't allow myself to make friends here. i was so sure that i just didn't need them. after all, i had friends, they just lived miles and miles away. i convinced myself that there was no need to make new friends, or let people get to know me. and let me tell you, i deprived myself of some amazing people last year. THANKFULLY, God has given me the chance this year to get to know people and make some great friends. the truth is...i do need friends here! i love people and i need people and being able to get to know people here has been awesome. this place is overflowing with awesome, solid christ followers that i am HONORED to call friends. for that...i am thankful. so thankful.
***
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thes. 5:16-18
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever!
1 Chron. 16:34
***
instead of regular name cards today, my mom put a verse about being thankful at everyone's place setting at our table. each person got a different verse. it was so neat to look around the table and read 12 verses about thankfulness. when you search "give thanks to the Lord" on bible. com, over 40 verses come up.
i know it's a bit early for new year's resolutions, but, i am making one now.
* to keep an attitude of thankfulness at ALL times, not just at thanksgiving.
i hope you all had a great thanksgiving!! much love-
14 November 2008
Okay, Okay, I get it!
I have been learning a lot this week!
i don't quite know where to start...
so, a couple of months ago, i had gotten on track with Bible reading and quiet times. It was great. I would wake up early in the morning, read, pray, spend time with the Lord and i was LOVING it! I would go to school feeling strong, and un-stressed, and so full of life, love and the Lord! And then, I don't know what happened, but, the quiet times stopped. I didn't wake up early anymore. I didn't read my Bible at all. I prayed when I remembered...I felt stressed, and so tired. But, I didn't really think anything of it. I was so sure that I was just too busy to sit still and truly study the Word of God. Lame, right?
Well, this week, God let me know that it was lame. :)
I have been re-reading the book, "Authentic Beauty" and have been learning so much. Authentic Beauty is one of my very favorite books and always gets me thinking...ANYWAYS...the part I was reading was about laziness...the book talks about how most of the time, we are not too busy to read the Bible, we are just to lazy to read the Bible. I started to feel like maybe that was my life. But, I thought to myself, "It's ok, you really are busy..." and I flipped the page and kept going. Well...
in case the book wasn't enough, God used a couple of songs to help me realize what I need to work on...I will share them with you:
"Hurricane" Jimmy Needham
"I need you like a hurricane
Thunder crashing, wind, and rain
To tear these walls down
I'M ONLY YOURS NOW
I need you like a burning flame
A wildfire untamed
To burn my walls down
I'M ONLY YOURS NOW"
***
I got to thinking that maybe I needed God to break down any walls or barriers that were keeping me from Him. I wanted to be only His, but, I didn't really feel that...He didn't either. The next song that came on my iPod was...
"Holy" Nichole Nordeman
"Only me, on my knees
Singing 'Holy, Holy'
And somehow all that matters now is,
You are Holy, Holy"
***
I began to realize, that truly, the only thing God wanted from me, was me. I need to be in constant worship of Him. HE IS WORTHY. And instead, I was spending my time in front of the TV, on Facebook, and not with Jesus. And that's not right.
It started to become painfully clear that there were things in my life that needed to change. I felt like yelling, "OK! I GET IT!!!" God made himself so clear to me this week. The only way it would've been more clear, was if he actually spoke from heaven. I decided that something had to change.
so, the past day or two I have been praying about what that is. well, once again, God answered. I realized that instead of spending hours on the computer/watching TV, i could be using that time getting to know my heavenly father. isn't that a much better use of time? My first thought was, no TV, no facebook. But, then I realized, that maybe it's not about completely cutting out distractions. Maybe that's not what my struggle truly is. Life will ALWAYS have distractions. And not all of them can just be cut out. I decided, I am going to work on self-discipline.
Instead of giving up TV and Facebook all together, I am working on limiting my time. I am attempting to find the balance. And if I can't find the balance, then I will cut things out, totally. But for right now, I am excited about this personal challenge. Will it be easy? NO! Am i doing it alone? NO!
I have come to understand that spending time with Jesus is so much better than spending time watching iCarly, or the Disney channel. :) What will I gain by sitting at the computer? What will I gain from spending time every morning with the Lord? A deeper udnerstanding of who God is and a stronger relationship with my creator.
I am very excited to embark on this journey. Now, I should probably stop writing, and start putting into action all that I have just written! :) Hope you all are doing well. much love-
i don't quite know where to start...
so, a couple of months ago, i had gotten on track with Bible reading and quiet times. It was great. I would wake up early in the morning, read, pray, spend time with the Lord and i was LOVING it! I would go to school feeling strong, and un-stressed, and so full of life, love and the Lord! And then, I don't know what happened, but, the quiet times stopped. I didn't wake up early anymore. I didn't read my Bible at all. I prayed when I remembered...I felt stressed, and so tired. But, I didn't really think anything of it. I was so sure that I was just too busy to sit still and truly study the Word of God. Lame, right?
Well, this week, God let me know that it was lame. :)
I have been re-reading the book, "Authentic Beauty" and have been learning so much. Authentic Beauty is one of my very favorite books and always gets me thinking...ANYWAYS...the part I was reading was about laziness...the book talks about how most of the time, we are not too busy to read the Bible, we are just to lazy to read the Bible. I started to feel like maybe that was my life. But, I thought to myself, "It's ok, you really are busy..." and I flipped the page and kept going. Well...
in case the book wasn't enough, God used a couple of songs to help me realize what I need to work on...I will share them with you:
"Hurricane" Jimmy Needham
"I need you like a hurricane
Thunder crashing, wind, and rain
To tear these walls down
I'M ONLY YOURS NOW
I need you like a burning flame
A wildfire untamed
To burn my walls down
I'M ONLY YOURS NOW"
***
I got to thinking that maybe I needed God to break down any walls or barriers that were keeping me from Him. I wanted to be only His, but, I didn't really feel that...He didn't either. The next song that came on my iPod was...
"Holy" Nichole Nordeman
"Only me, on my knees
Singing 'Holy, Holy'
And somehow all that matters now is,
You are Holy, Holy"
***
I began to realize, that truly, the only thing God wanted from me, was me. I need to be in constant worship of Him. HE IS WORTHY. And instead, I was spending my time in front of the TV, on Facebook, and not with Jesus. And that's not right.
It started to become painfully clear that there were things in my life that needed to change. I felt like yelling, "OK! I GET IT!!!" God made himself so clear to me this week. The only way it would've been more clear, was if he actually spoke from heaven. I decided that something had to change.
so, the past day or two I have been praying about what that is. well, once again, God answered. I realized that instead of spending hours on the computer/watching TV, i could be using that time getting to know my heavenly father. isn't that a much better use of time? My first thought was, no TV, no facebook. But, then I realized, that maybe it's not about completely cutting out distractions. Maybe that's not what my struggle truly is. Life will ALWAYS have distractions. And not all of them can just be cut out. I decided, I am going to work on self-discipline.
Instead of giving up TV and Facebook all together, I am working on limiting my time. I am attempting to find the balance. And if I can't find the balance, then I will cut things out, totally. But for right now, I am excited about this personal challenge. Will it be easy? NO! Am i doing it alone? NO!
I have come to understand that spending time with Jesus is so much better than spending time watching iCarly, or the Disney channel. :) What will I gain by sitting at the computer? What will I gain from spending time every morning with the Lord? A deeper udnerstanding of who God is and a stronger relationship with my creator.
I am very excited to embark on this journey. Now, I should probably stop writing, and start putting into action all that I have just written! :) Hope you all are doing well. much love-
08 November 2008
life has been exciting!
hello there!
so, life has indeed been exciting!
first off, my cousin got married today! which was VERY exciting! She was a BEAUTIFUL bride and just looked so happy as she walked down the isle! I love weddings...they are just full of joy! i love everything about weddings...i always have! big smiles, and lots of love, and those fun slide shows they show at receptions, the throwing of the bouquet, and blowing bubbles as the happy newly weds leave the church...weddings just make me feel happy!
and, i have gotten some mail lately! now, ever since we moved, i LIVE for mail. I adore getting letters, i adore sending letters. i love letters more than emails, or facebook messages. i even love letters more than phone calls. but, i didn't get letters in the mail. which, was dissappointing, but, instead of letters i got my rainboots! (it's about time they arrived, i ordered them a month ago!) and i also got my senior pictures! it was so exciting to get some mail! i just loved it!
the next exciting event is that i got a part in our school musical! we are doing Grease this year and I got the part of the crabby English teacher. Her name is Miss Lynch...it is very exciting to be a part of the play! we have a great cast and I can't wait to get started!
oh, i know it's barely november, but, i have been so excited because of the holidays coming up! i can't wait for thanksgiving and christmas...i wore my candy cane shoes on friday, i even bought candy canes already. just can't wait!
and the last, and probably most exciting bit of news is that my week has been totally stress free! i have had a lot going on, but have managed to remain calm and un-stressed...which is a HUGE accomplishment for me! a friend of mine at school constantly reminds me that the things i stress about (school, friends, family etc.) are totally out of my control. she tells me that i need to just take a deep breath and trust that everything will just work out. such a simple truth, but one that i so quickly forget!
well, i am supposed to be working on a paper right now...i better get back to work! :)
so, life has indeed been exciting!
first off, my cousin got married today! which was VERY exciting! She was a BEAUTIFUL bride and just looked so happy as she walked down the isle! I love weddings...they are just full of joy! i love everything about weddings...i always have! big smiles, and lots of love, and those fun slide shows they show at receptions, the throwing of the bouquet, and blowing bubbles as the happy newly weds leave the church...weddings just make me feel happy!
and, i have gotten some mail lately! now, ever since we moved, i LIVE for mail. I adore getting letters, i adore sending letters. i love letters more than emails, or facebook messages. i even love letters more than phone calls. but, i didn't get letters in the mail. which, was dissappointing, but, instead of letters i got my rainboots! (it's about time they arrived, i ordered them a month ago!) and i also got my senior pictures! it was so exciting to get some mail! i just loved it!
the next exciting event is that i got a part in our school musical! we are doing Grease this year and I got the part of the crabby English teacher. Her name is Miss Lynch...it is very exciting to be a part of the play! we have a great cast and I can't wait to get started!
oh, i know it's barely november, but, i have been so excited because of the holidays coming up! i can't wait for thanksgiving and christmas...i wore my candy cane shoes on friday, i even bought candy canes already. just can't wait!
and the last, and probably most exciting bit of news is that my week has been totally stress free! i have had a lot going on, but have managed to remain calm and un-stressed...which is a HUGE accomplishment for me! a friend of mine at school constantly reminds me that the things i stress about (school, friends, family etc.) are totally out of my control. she tells me that i need to just take a deep breath and trust that everything will just work out. such a simple truth, but one that i so quickly forget!
well, i am supposed to be working on a paper right now...i better get back to work! :)
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