Getting in the Water

Mom: "Taylor, it would be SO much easier if you got in the pool"
Taylor: "So?! I don't want to get wet!"

I'm sitting on the deck eating my lunch, watching as all the kids (9 total) slowly get out of the pool, dry off, and put their clothes on. The last one to get out is Taylor, he is also the last one to dry off, so naturally...it is HIS job to get all the toys out of the pool. He keeps fighting it, until finally he sees there is no other way around it, so he takes the long, pool, fly swatter/strainer type thing (i can't think of what it's called....) and decides that he can get everything off the BOTTOM of the pool that way. As far as I know, he's still outside trying to get everything out.
There are two things that INSTANTLY popped into my head when I saw this, a potential post on stubbornness, or serving... I'm going to take the stubbornness side of things this time.

I talk to God all the time, and He talks back to me! Through His Word, through worship, prayer, church, and even through thoughts that pop into my head...definitely not of my own doing. I try to listen as hard as I can, and I always strive to follow His instructions, but sometimes, my way just seems a whole lot easier. Then I look at something like what just happened in the pool, and I think how RIDICULOUS that is! It obviously would be easier for Taylor to get in the pool and pick up all the toys...he would get a whole lot MORE done in a lot LESS time, but all he can see, is that he will have to get wet again, and then dry off again..what a hassle!

I have a very small group of 4 or 5 friends that know everything about me, they are my closest friends, and when I have a situation like, God is telling me something that I really DONT want to do, I go to them and they help me to see the bigger picture. I can only see one side of things, MY side, so if I don't really understand what God is trying to say to me, I go to them for their view on things. I could go on and on and ON about these girls...but my post isn't about them, it's about being stubborn...so I wont:)

This is just something to think about, when God tries to tell you something, don't instantly ignore it and say that your way is better...because I can guarantee that your way in fact is NOT better! Try to step back and view the situation from someone else's point of view, or better yet, get that small group of friends together and ask THEM what they think. The most important thing with my friends is our trust and honesty with each other, I always know that I can go to them and find out the truth, even though a lot of the times I definitely do not want to hear what they say:/. But we've built this wall of trust and honesty around us that makes our friendship stronger than most and very unique.

Zechariah 7:11- "But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears."

Monday Lunch :)

Friday Night High Dive CA09

From My Journal - Day 5

Friday - Morning Worship

-Its not about us, its about who is IN us, that will produce a divine change!

Luke 1:39

-Everybody is pregnant with the POSSIBILITY of being a CARRIER of Christ

-When the environment I am in is different from me, I CAN CHANGE IT!

From My Journal - Day 4

Thursday - Communion

Revelation 12:11

-Jesus died so that I CAN LIVE!

-There is no contest between Satan and Jesus, Jesus IS the victor!

-Just going to church doesnt make you a Christ Follower

-When you give your life to Christ, you are NO LONGER a sinner, you are a Christ Follower, who occasionally sins!

-If you are on mission, you need to find someone (a guy) who is on mission too!

-If Jesus is in your heart, HE WILL STICK OUT!

--Paige came up to me during worship today, and said "I'm trying to explain to Braeton about Jesus coming into her heart, and she doesnt understand it." So I told her that after we took communion, I would talk to her. After communion, I took Braeton into the back room, where it was quiet and she could hear me, and I asked her what she didnt understand. Everything, she answered. So I started from how God sent His only son to die for our sins! So that we could spend eternity with Him, if we ask Him to be in our lives. She still didn't understand.

"Do you know that God created the world?" "No"

*sigh*..this is going to take a while. oh well.

So I started from the VERY beginning, I told her how God created the world, he created all the animals and the trees and plants and water, and EVERYTHING! and how then He created man and woman, and let them live in the Garden of Eden, with only ONE rule. You can not eat of the tree of good and evil. But how the snake tricked Eve and she ate of the tree, as did her husband. I told her how God sent them out of the garden, and put an angel at the gate of Eden, so they couldn't come back in. I then explained about how the world got soo bad and full of sin, and God decided to start over, so He sent Noah to build an ark, with 2 of every animal, and how he put a rainbow in the sky to promise that He would NEVER destroy the world again. Then I skipped ahead to Mary and Joseph, and how mary was a virgin, but the angel Gabriel came to her and told her she was going to have a baby, and He would be the Son of God. 33 years later He performed his first miracle, turning water into wine at a wedding i think, and He had 12 disciples, but one turned Him in for money. I told her that Jesus was nailed onto the cross, and He DIED, He died for US! but He rose 3 days later!!

I explained EVERYTHING..and at the end: 

"Do you understand now?"

"...no"

"you dont understand anything?"

"not really.."

"ok, well we really should get back and keep worshiping, but maybe me and Jander will talk to you about it later"

"ok"

So i just have to keep praying that God will open her heart and help her understand! Because I want her to believe SOO BAD, but it has to be of her own will..not mine. 

From My Journal - Day 3

Wednesday - Morning Worship

Exodus 3:10

Exodus 4:1 - What if...?

Exodus 4:10 - Im not good enough!

Exodus 4:13 - Find someone else!

^^^^^^^^^^^^ excuses Moses gave to God, about not wanting to be the leader

The Lord said: "I WILL BE WITH YOU!"

"We take these realities and turn them into excuses, but that does NOT change God's vision for our life!"

-Where you are at determines where you are going!

Commitment Night:

Words can not even begin to explain how i am feeling right now. At the beginning of the service, and all through DC's talk, I was fine. I prayed throughout the entire service that God would help me focus and keep me from being distracted..and when the kids were dismissed to pray on their own, I stayed back for about 5 minutes to pray, then I went up to pray with my girls. When Paige told me she had asked Christ into her heart, I just BROKE. I was SO HAPPY and so...i dont even know! And then Gabby told me she asked Jesus into her heart too! I cant explain what happened, but God was DEFINITELY in the house tonight! My heart went out for Braeton though, she kept asking why everyone was crying, and when we were leaving. I want her to understand so badly! :(

From My Journal - Day 2

Tuesday- Morning worship

Matthew 7:24-27

-Two types of people, those who LISTEN to God's word and put it into practice, and those who DONT.

Those who LISTEN: wise man who built his house on the rocks

Those who DONT: foolish man who built his house on the sand

**Bad things will happen to BOTH, but if you put your trust in the ROCK, He will protect you**

From My Journal - Day 1

Camp Adventure..Monday

Oh. My. Gosh. Camp this year is going to be freaking AMAZING! I can already tell! Jonathan Anderstrom is my co counselor and he is incredible! I am seriously so blessed that hes my co co! And my girls are SOO awesome! Alyssa and Bailey, i had last year, so i was VERY grateful for them! And Gabby and Paige are great too! 

After Emmy last year, I was honestly really relieved not to have any bad/homesick campers this year, i was like, there is NO WAY on earth that i will have someone like emmy again this year! So I get Alyssa, Bailey, Gabby, and Paige, and the only one left is Braeton. "Heather you have a camper!!" I run to DC and when i get there, Braeton is with her mom in the car, and DC says to me: "Braeton is VERY homesick, she doesnt want to be here at all, and her mom is making her, but i know you can handle it"

Oh how lovely. This is just awesome.

But the more I thought about it, the more i was soo glad she was in my group, I couldnt stop smiling on the way to home in the woods, because I kept thinking how much of a total GOD THING it was! I know that He is going to use this week to stretch me and I CANT WAIT!

Day 1- Morning Worship

Luke 15:7

"There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent"

-God goes after His lost sheep!

-your life MATTERS!

-The Good Shephard goes after those who matter, and YOU MATTER!

-No matter how low you are, Jesus will reach down, pick you up on his shoulders and bring you back home! 

Sound of Music at Central Station Antwerp

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=96453973242&h=Pv7i5&u=VVRH8&ref=mf

Guard Rails and Rumble Strips

For the first time in a LONG time today, we had no practice, so I road the bus home from school. So we were driving down the road, and I was listening to my ipod, and looking out the window, when I looked down and saw several cars driving past us. This puzzled me, because we were on the right side of the road.......but the cars were driving...to the..right? of us? Then I saw the rumble strips UNDERNEATH the cars driving past us. Whhaattt?? I thought those rumble strips were to keep people from going too close to the side of the road..but the tires of the cars that were going over them weren't even touching the rumble strips, they were just straddling them..so it seemed like just another part of the road. When I saw this, I immediately thought of Pastor Mark, always talking about gaurd rails and rumble strips, and how they are put on the road to keep us safe, to keep us FAR away from the edge, where we could run off the road and not be able to get back. Gaurd rails and rumble strips in our life do the same thing, the guidelines, morals, and values, that you set for yourself serve as gaurd rails, to keep you from 'falling off the road'..in other words, doing something you'll regret. These guard rails and rumble strips are meant to keep us SAFE! Why then, has it become 'cool' and 'normal' to get as close to these warnings as we possibly can? People don't think anything of it when someone else 'drives' onto the rumble strips, or even past them. We've gotten to the point where we can straddle them, and no one gives it a second thought. Why? Because everyone else is doing it! 

Okay seriously...why is it so normal to hear things that people do..specifically in relationships..I hear stuff every day, and although a lot of people aren't phased by it anymore...I am still kind of sickened by it. I remember when I used to get grossed out by kissing (when i was like, 6 duhh!!) HAHA! not so much anymore! The world has moved onto bigger and...better? things. 

Maybe that's why the cars today were driving on top of the rumble strips, not even noticing they were there. Originally the makers of the road intended for the rumble strips to keep people from getting too close to the edge of the road, but eventually, people started falling into the routine of ignoring them, and doing their own thing. Now those rumble strips have absolutely no reason. They're pointless--> just like some of those guidelines we made for ourselves back in middle school. 

"Oh I will NEVER do that! That's trashy!" 

Really?

Gossip

Do you know what I really hate?!

GOSSIP

It drives me crazy, because, half the time...the stuff isn't even true! So there's crap going around about some person, that isn't even true, but has a completely negative effect on them.

What is the point? I mean really? Okay I know, it's soo much fun to be in on "the know" to know everything that's going on...been there, done that...I'm guilty of that. It's fun being the person that people go to to talk to, to find out information, because then you feel..needed, I guess, and wanted? But gossip is soooo harmful, it hurts so many people!

I hope you don't think I'm convicting everyone of gossip or whatever, because that isn't my goal! I have definitely gossiped before, because yeah, its fun to know things! But gossip doesn't just hurt the person it's about, it can hurt the people who hear it too. I hear things about people that I really do not want to hear! Things they've done, said, whatever, it ruins my impression of them, gives me a whole new perspective...I don't want to know what that girl did last night, or where that guy was last week...I really don't care! Gossip gives people reasons to dis like other people, for STUPID REASONS! There's a girl at my school who nobody likes, because of things they've heard that she's done. First of all, I don't even know if it's true, and second of all, if it IS true, should people really be spreading it all around the school? I also have a friend who several of my other friends don't like, because she is 'fake'. She's one way around her church friends, a whole other way around other people. So they spread things around about her that shouldn't be said, and some things that no body really needs to know. 

I know..what about the whole "keepin it real" thing? But there are just some things about people, that we DONT NEED TO KNOW! so please DONT TELL US! It's no fun to hear something disturbing about someone, and then every time you see them...they just..aren't the same anymore. Simply because of what that person told you.......

Don't gossip, it hurts. Its as simple as that. 

Artist's (From the blog of Mark Beeson)

Pastor Mark wrote this blog:

"My sister has two grandsons: Noah and Lincoln. Apparently both are young artists, quite willing to ply their trade any place at any time.  I caught them in action tonight.  We were waiting for dinner and they jumped at the opportunity to demonstrate their prowess with yellow crayons. As I watched them I realized I've forgotten what it's like to color things colors quite different from their common appearance. It must be quite liberating to color a blue bird yellow.

As I watched them concentrating on their work, I thought, "Maybe we should all take up coloring with a single crayon."

I'm guessing those of us trapped by formal training assume our entire palette must be laid out with a rainbow of colors before we can produce something worthwhile.  But, stop and think. How often do you have every color and hue you might want at your disposal?  How often do you have every option available to you?  Not very often, I think. 

Rather, I often find myself with one crayon, one chance, one color, one tone, one option and one choice. Either I do what I can with what's in my hand, or I do nothing.  Shame on me if I don't become as a child, grasp my yellow crayon, and color for all I'm worth.  If all I have is yellow, then I'll color yellow.  If yellow is what I have, yellow is what I'll give.

And when I'm done I'll do what Noah and Lincoln do. I'll hold my picture up for my Father to see.  And just like them I'll be eagerly waiting to hear my Father to say, "Well done."

Maybe if I'm faithful with what my Father has already given, I'll be entrusted with the opportunity to do even more.

Luke 16:10  -  If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. "

"Every Day is Exactly the Same"

Have you ever wondered to yourself, what is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What am I supposed to be doing?? Sometimes it feels like every day is exactly the same, I wake up, get ready, go to school, half heartedly go through all my classes, go to track practice, do my homework, get on facebook, go to sleep...rewind and start over. and over. and over. and over. Lately I've been feeling like I'm just living. breathing. walking. eating. Almost like I've just lost my passion for everything! Like I just do things, to do them, just to stay busy. But I don't want to just live..i want to LIVE---> I want to do God's will, I want to live for Him ALONE, and I want to spend all my days praising Him..but sometimes that is just SO HARD! I get into this rhythm, of doing the same things every single day, which makes is so difficult to get out of the rhythm and do what God wants me to do. This weekend at church really spoke to me, J Aquilla sang the song: "Every Day is Exactly the Same" by Nine Inch Nails, which honestly...it kind of depressed me! I mean, the man in the music video behind the singing had no meaning for life except the rhythm he went through every. single. day. over. and. over. What a boring life! and depressing! But then I think...what did I just write up at the beginning of this post? Exactly what I just said was so boring and depressing.

God please help me to get out of this rhythm that I've grown so accostumed to. Help me to live my life the way you want me to live..let YOUR will be done in my life!!