Thoughts on Things

Guys and Girls

2009-11-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

CAUTION: before you read this, I think it only fair, to let you know, that this post, will probably go...nowhere. However, it might give you some things to think about. Enjoy :D

I decided this post had to be written. It's been running around in my head for a long time and then my friend brought it up last night. I fully understand that I could be dead wrong, any suggestions, objections, comments, questions or feedback would be fully appreciated. :)

After observing lots of people and myself, I think I've come to a conclusion. Girls want affection and guys want respect. Both want to feel important and loved, they just look at it in different ways because they are, in a way different species.

I think that this one conclusion makes a lot of things make sense. The reason a lot of girls are so desperate for boyfriends and all into romance is because they want attention. For some reason, (which I haven't figured out) girls want attention and they tend to think the best attention they will get is from guys. Perhaps part of the reason is because guys are the bigger and (at least physically) the stronger sex. Perhaps they feel that bigger guys will be able to protect them. I think this is also why girls tend to like physical attention. Even I, myself as a girl like being in my Daddy's arms.

Guys want respect. I think this might be why some of them have ego problems. I'm not seeing there aren't any egotistical girls, I'm simply saying that guys tend to have more of that kind of problem. There also seems to be more male leaders than female. Which makes sense, guys want respect, so they take on leadership roles. I think some guys tend to like treating girls kindly because they know girls will respect them for it. On the flip side, maybe that's why some guys tend to be rude to girls, it will breed a "respect" even if it is simply a fearful respect.

And I guess all of this goes back to my original overarching idea, everybody, regardless of gender wants to be loved and feel important. Which leads to something that could almost be called a tangent, but not quite. Because of these wants we tend to look in the wrong place to satisfy these needs, whether it's (for girls) jumping from guy to guy to guy, to endless guy or (for guys) talking themselves up and constantly bragging on themselves. As humans we keep looking to ourselves or to other, fallible humans for satisfaction and we'll never find it. Everybody is born with a God sized hole, and they'll never find true peace if they keep trying to fill it with the world.

Friends

2009-04-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my friend the other day and, since I talk to this friend probably at least every other day, I kinda know how he normally acts. That day, he was not acting normal, so I asked him what was wrong and he explained, and then apologized for dumping on me. This really got me thinking about friends, and friendship, it seems in this world there’s a lot of fair weather friends. People who’ll be your friend while things are nice and sunshiny, but the minute you try to get below the surface, the minute you hit a rough time and instead of laughing you want to cry, your “friends” desert you. These friendships don’t hold water, and they’re not really worth your while. If someone is only gonna care about you during the good, they’re not really friends. I think it’s like another friend of mine said, after you go through the storms you’re gonna come out stronger. I think the thing about storms is that they bring out the best and, inevitably, the bad. It’s when these times hit you find out, either who you are, or who someone else is. Anyone can smile and say things are fine, but it takes a courageous person to admit their faults. It takes someone brave to let down their guard and admit I’m not fine. I think one of the questions I’m starting to ask myself, is what do I want in a friend, and what kind of friend am I? Perhaps a better question is am I good friend? I guess I have to figure that out by deciding what a good friend is and seeing if I measure up to that standard. After all, if I want a friend to act in such and such a way, I should probably be able to act that same way. So, finally, in a round about way, I’m addressing the first question, ‘What makes a good friend?” Before we venture there, let me clarify, that I’m talking about good friends, best friends, friends who know the good, the bad and the ugly, and love you anyway. First and foremost a friend should be Godly; they should love God with everything in them, and want to chase after Him, because as a Christian, a good friend should point me to an even better, eternal friend. They should be loyal, trustworthy, kind, have a good sense of humor, be able to laugh, but at the same time be able to cry with you. You should be able to be yourself, be able to speak your mind and know you won’t offend them, but, they should be able to tell you, without worry if you have offended them. They should be able to take it if you confront them about something. They should know everything about you, they should know what pushes your buttons, what makes you happy, what you excel at, what you need to work on. They should love you for who you are. They should be able to look at you, figure out how you’re feeling and respond accordingly. They should know when you want to be silly and when you want to be serious, they should be sensitive to that. Wow, the more I describe the perfect friend, the more two thoughts run through my mind. 1) I think I’m describing God 2) Yikes, I’m *not* a perfect friend. Maybe, that’s a good thing; maybe God is using this to teach me more about Him. Because He fits everything I just described to a “T”, loyalty? You bet he’s loyal, what do you call going to the cross? Trustworthy? There’s no one I’d rather trust than Him. Kind? Definitely. Have a good sense of humor? Yes, God definitely has a sense of humor, I truly believe that God loves to laugh. Cry with me? Yes, there’s times when I have cried with God, the awesome thing is, He knows. Speak my mind? Most definitely, God has heard all sorts of different things from me, everything from, I’m really upset to I’m soo thankful. Maybe I sound like a religious fanatic, maybe that’s what I am, or maybe, God’s just revealed Himself to me in a way that I know He’s there, so I know that He loves me and He cares about me. Throughout life, I’ve had friends come and go, I’ve had friends suddenly lose interest in me, but He’s always there, He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. Praise the Lord. Now comes the crunch the second question, the one I really don’t want to answer, but desperately needs answering. Am I Godly? Yes, I think so, I can definitely improve, but I’m happy with my relationship with God. Am I trustworthy? I certainly try to be, I think I am. Kind? Mm…. not always, no, I can be really mean. Do I have a good sense of humor? For the most part, I think it needs some work, but for the most part yeah. Can people cry with me? I hope so, I definitely want to be there for people, I think I’m learning what exactly this is; learning how to love on people while still directing them to Him who loves them most. Can you speak your mind, and tell me when you’re offended? I’d like to think so, the last thing I want to do is offend or hurt someone, I think I’m pretty okay with this one. Haha, but even as I’m writing that, I’m laughing, as I know from experience, it’s the things you think you have nailed, that you really need to work on. Confrontation? Here’s one I absolutely hate, but I’m learning how to take it, because if I don’t let people tell me when I’ve offended them, or when I could have done something better, I’m being really prideful. The last few traits I listed are things I’m working on, things I’m at different levels with different people, depending on how well I know them. I think I’m learning about friendship at a deeper level, a level that goes beyond the surface, beyond simply, “hi, how are you” “I’m fine, thank you.” A level where you can talk about everything from your day, to theological and emotional questions. Friends are gifts from God, and I think, that it all comes back to, the age old saying, “The only way to have a friend is to be one.”

L-O-V-E

2009-03-20T21:31:00.001-07:00

I was thinking about my other blog postt, and this idea suddenly hit me, it kinda came outta the blue, so I'll see if I can put it down coherently.I was thinking about love, and how I really love my family. How I'm "daddy's little girl" and "mommy's princess" Thinking about some good times we've had, as well as some... not so good times. About times when we've laughed together, times when we've cried together, and times when we've yelled at each other. All this stuff is running through my mind and a question I'm asking myself is, "What is love?" Even though my parents and my siblings and I have had some rocky times, I still love them, and they love me. I looked up the definition of "Love" on Dictionary.com just out of curiosity "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." While these sorta describe love, they don't really touch on what I'm thinking. I mean, when I'm mad at my family, I don't feel "deep, profoundly tender, or passionate affection" towards them, often times I'm ready to bite their heads off. So, what is love? What does it mean? I guess it means, going through the hard times, realizing that bad things are going to happen, that you are going to disagree, but that you'll get through it. Love isn't a feeling, though it can be characterized by feelings. Love's a verb, a purpose, a promise. A verb, because it's an action, because you're looking after that person and working with that person. A purpose and a promise, sticking with that person through thick and thin. Working through issues, putting differences aside. Not keeping record of wrongs. I guess the Bible puts it best in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." It's a verb, it's an action, a purpose a calling. It's more than just a feeling.

I feel like I've rambled without really getting anywhere. Do you have any thoughts, comments questions, suggestions, objections?

What is Worship?

2009-03-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

I was on the rebelutionary forum today and there's an intersting discussion on worship.

Someone posted this

I take it I'm just adding to the voices here, but my friend mentioned something the other day that totally defined worship for me. She's actually a worship leader and tries to get her heart in the right place while leading. I try to truly song along, but sometimes I just don't "feel" that spark in worship that i've felt before, and I get frustrated. This is not true worship.

The thing is, I was connecting worship to some sort of emotional event. That's not the case- we worship God because He is worthy of it, and He deserves our praise! That's the mindest I try to go in now, and I've realized that the "emotional" sense comes from the initial "God, I don't feel like it, but You are still SO worthy of praise!"

I think that for the most part I agree, not totally but to some extent. Nothing against her, I think she is definitely right in a sense and I should thank her for getting the wheels in my head turning, but here's what I think

I think you could really give two definitions to this. On a day to day basis, worship is a lifestyle a conscious effort to serve and glorify Him in everything you say and do. The other definition I would use is using music to glorify Him. I'm thinking in a church setting just before service, or at home with the CD player going.

In the first definition I think that, worship doesn't really have to be an emotional experience.

In the second definition, I don't think it has to necessarily start as emotional, and I guess it doesn't really haveto be emotional. But, I think that as you move into worship, it will become emotional, just because you're connecting with the creator of the universe; God, in a very real and intimate way. I think when you have an encounter with God it's going to be emotional.

Boys and Knights in Shining Armor

2009-01-21T19:49:00.000-08:00

Okay, a while ago I posted (in all honesty) a post that kind of complained about guys. Today, I'm going to post something slightly, or rather, majorly different. :)

I've been noticing that a lot of my guy friends are gentlemen. They really respect girls, not becuaes their daddys tell them to, but because, it's a part of their Character. In a world where chivalry, and respect of girls is outdated, it's so nice to see guys helping girls. I have a particulalar friend who even helped his mom carry something heavy without being asked.

So, I guess this post is to tell all you polite guys, "Thank you so much" I may not always tell you, but when you do something kind or polite for me, or any other girl, I notice, and I appreciate you. Haha, my opinion of you is also raised. :D

Thanks Again!

Frienship Evangelism

2008-11-24T21:10:00.000-08:00

I've decided to explain what I like to call love evangelism. This is a really big subject, but I feel like God has been laying this on my heart more and more. I have been evangelizing to my friends for a while now, but it's only recently that I've started thinking about using this style of evangelism.I think you have to start with understanding that every person you meet is just that, a person. And what's more, if they're hurting they don't want you to throw a bible at them. They want you to understand them. And if you think about it, that's what Jesus did. He didn't go around telling people to repent and turn to Him, he loved them and made friends.
I believe that if you live for you life for Christ, and spend more time loving people than you do preaching at them, they will noticed a difference, and want to know why you are different. I'm not saying that you should never bring up the gospel, I'm simply saying that it might be better to start a relationship first.
This brings me to another point, when you do get into a "religious" discussion, you have to be careful not to bash the person or their beliefs. Nobody wants to be yelled at, and nobody really wants to be told they're wrong. I had the best results when I took this approach. Instead of attacking my friend and his religion, I listened to what he believed and then showed him what I believe. This particular person believes in the Bible so, I showed him what he said, and what the Bible said. While I didn't actually bring him to Christ, I believe God helped me to plant seeds.
I hope this has caused you to think about your approach to evangelism.

Reality

2008-10-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

I was reading a book yesterday, and it was basically allegorical, but one quote in there really hit me. Basically it talked about Satan being banished forever to hell, and all of his followers going with him, into eternal damnation. The thought hit me hard, people who are not saved, who are not Christian are going to hell. Into eternal suffering. So, this made me think, what are we waiting for? Why are we sitting around doing nothing as people are sent to their doom? We must convince people of the truth. We must take every opportunity. But, we shouldn't grow prideful in doing so. We should remember that God is the one who touches our hearts.

The Little Things

2008-09-09T16:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, I really need to start listening to my mom, she's smart you know? Anyway, she was telling me that people think they need to do big things for God and they have to go out and change the world and just be incredible, but that doesn't change things. I've been thinking about this for a while, and she's right. As usual. Really all God asks for is the heart, that's all He wants. I'm sitting here thinking about my trip, wishing I was just about in Jamaica. But, I'm "stuck" here ,doing "little things" for God. Like inviting my unsaved friends to youthgroup and witnessing to them, praying for them, and freinds. God wants me here, so I'm going to follow Him and do what He wants.

War

2008-09-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a lot about the first world war and really thinking about it. I'm reading a book titled All Quiet on the Western Front. It makes me think if there really is a "right side" in a war, if you think about it the troops on both sides are fighting for what they believe in. This book is so powerful talk about how 19 year old guys lose their youthfulness. So I sit here and try to untangle my incoherent thoughts.

Identity

2008-08-05T14:48:00.000-07:00

I was reading the paper today and came across a review about Miley Cyrus's new CD, the ending line was "But at 15, does anyone know who they are?" I was thinking how sad and how true that line is. Many teenagers do not know who they are. The question is why? Have they not thought about it enough? Has the world thrown so many different things at them they don't know what to believe? Has the wold set the expectation that teenagers aren't supposed to have an identity so they've bent themselves to that expectation? I don't know the answer, partly because I'm sure of who I am, but what do you think?

Man's nature

2008-07-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a friend recently and he asked me if I thought man was basically good or evil. I said that man is basically evil. After all, you don't have to tell people how to misbehave and break the law. He said, "We don't know what would happen if man was let loose without any rules." I was thinking oh, my goodness, that would be so scary because man has a sin nature and is naturally evil.
O.k I know that was kind of a weird post, sorry.

Geometry Questions

2008-07-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

Before you run in the other direction screaming because I just mentioned math, let me tell you that this post contains no math you have to solve. It only contains a question proposed in geometry. The teacher made the point that the basis for geometry has been around since about 2,000 B.C. and he said it was very possible that Jesus studied geometry. He mentioned that Jesus was God and God was all knowing, but that He put away His Godliness so He could live among us. So, He could very well have learned geometry. This is where my question comes in. Did Jesus go to school? After all He put away His Godly power, but yet, he was able to do miracles and heal the sick and there was no sin in Him. I don't know what to think, do you have any ideas?

Psalm 4:8

2008-07-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

Psalm 4:8 says, "I will lie down and sleep, and sleep in peace for you alone oh Lord make me dwell in safety."
This is an interesting verse, because it says "...you...make me dwell in safety." Yet, there are so many people around the world who are afraid to close their eyes, in case an enemy shows up. God's word applies to everyone, so how can this be? How can God's word be true when there are people dying in their sleep? I'd like to present my theory, Christians live in a win-win situation. If we live, we're still alive, if we die, we get to go to heaven where there is ultimate safety. That's my theory,

What's yours?

The Future

2008-07-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me the other day if I believed that anyone could tell the future. My answer was kind of complicated, and I'm still mulling this over in my mind. I know full well that no one can tell the future on their own. Their are people who do so through demonic vices, this is evil and wrong. Then there are prophets who can tell little "snippets" of the future. God told Elijah that there was going to be no rain, so Elijah said that, and he was right. But there are also people who are good at making educated guesses. So.. there's my complicated stance.

Thoughts?

Do it Lord

2008-06-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Do It Lord author unknown

I see your sons and daughters prophesying
Seeing visions, your old men dreaming dreams
I see Your glory covering the earth, Lord
Just as the waters are covering the sea

I see the blind gazing at Your beauty
I see the lame dancing strong and free
I see the millions coming to salvation
I see revival fire in the land

Do it Lord, do it Lord,
Do it Lord we are praying,
Do it Lord, do it that your glory may be seen

I see the lost and nameless ones remembered
I see the widows shouting out your praise
I see the friendless loved and celebrated
Orphans fulfilling, Lord, Your calling on their lives

I see forgiveness overtaking hatred
Pride and prejudice now giving way to love
I see depression replaced with joy and gladness
And Satan’s lies now bowing to the Truth

Do it Lord, do it Lord,
Do it Lord we are praying,
Do it Lord, do it that your glory may be seen

This is our prayer O God
This is our desperate cry
In these days that we’re living now
Let Your kingdom come let your will be done

I see the brokenness of families brought to wholeness
I see the prodigals running home to You
Father’s hearts now turning toward their children
And the children’s hearts turning toward their father’s

I see Your Church rising up in power
Laying down their lives in unity and love
I hear the sounds of every tribe and nation
Giving glory to Jesus Christ the Son

Do it Lord, do it Lord,
Do it Lord we are praying,
Do it Lord, do it that your glory may be seen

This is our prayer O God
This is our desperate cry
In these days that we’re living now
Let Your kingdom come let your will be done

Let Your kingdom come
Let Your will be done
Let it be on earth as it is in heaven, amen

This song shows what can happen through the power of prayer.

Ants

2008-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 6:6 "Go to the ant you sluggard, consider her ways and be wise."

My family and I had a bbq on our back porch, I dropped some chips and saw several ants trying to move this (from their point of view) massive chip. As I was sitting there watching them tackle the job, I thought of Proverbs 6:6 quoted above. So, I decided to go to the ant.

I actually did find out a lot of things about ants and daily life.

Team work- There were several ants swarming about one chip they were all working together to move that chip
Perserverance- It took those ants a long time to move that chip but they finally did, and it took a lot of work.
Finding a solution- The chip was so massive that some ants would take little pieces of the chip in thier jaws and take it back to the nest, over and over again they would do this to make the task easier
Strength- these ants were lifting humongous pieces of food and succeeding.

Noticing the little things- I watched those ants and they're really little, if I had not been paying attention to the little things, I would have missed the awesomeness of God.

So, I encourage you, "Go to the ant!"

Who are you?

2008-06-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

(yes, I'm aware that this is the same post on History Maker)
Interesting what can happen when you 're answering questions on some random email forward... As you might have guessed one of the questions was, "Who are you?" I thought that was a very interesting question, most of my friends answered with just their names, but that isn't really the answer to the question. So many of today's teens struggle with just that question. "Who am I?" Peer pressure has molded them into someone they don't know, someone they don't recognize. They're struggling to find their identity in a world that doesn't care. This is question is usually followed by, "Why am I?" or, "What is the reason for living, why am I here on this earth?" Without God there really isn't an answer to the 2nd question nor a satisfactory answer to the first. Becuase I am a born again Christian I can confidently answer both questions.

Who am I? I am a child of God, I am a beautiful girl who lives with a loving family. I am special. I am a History Maker.

Why am I here on the earth? Becuase God put me here to change it for Him as well as to have a healthy relationship with Him.

Now, I have a question for you,
"Who are you?"

OUCH!

2008-06-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

ACTS 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.

Ouch! The Jews missed the good new of Christ, they rejected it! They were given first choice and they ignored it! Rather than harping on them, though, this made me think, how many times, has God given *me* first choice at something, and I ignored it? How many times have *I* missed it? God, please help me to not miss anything again.

Story

2008-06-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a story I wrote a while ago, it's not the best of stories, but... Here it is.

I lived the hard life, looking out for number one and keeping an eye out for people who would stab me in the back. Little did I know how much my world would change when I came in contact with Grace and her group of fiends, Faith, Hope and Joy. This is the story of Mistrust this is my story.

The Broken Heart

Mistrust walked through the halls of her school, keeping an eye out for friends or enemies. Mistrust had always had a hard time making friends, mainly because too many of them had turned on her. Mistrust was just what her name implied, mistrustful, too used to hurt, too hurt to be able trust. She walked into math class hoping the teacher wouldn’t call on her to answer any questions. She was tired and hurt her friend, Jealousy had ended the friendship for a reason unknown to her, adding another scar to the already torn and bruised heart. Mistrust sat low in her chair, working the math problems faster than most kids, but unwilling to give her answer.
“Mistrust,” Came the teacher’s sharp piercing voice.
“Yes Ma’am”
“Will you come up here and work out this problem on the chalk board.” It wasn’t a question but an order.
Mistrust sighed and got out of her seat. She walked toward the board and began working the problem, in no time she was done.
“Thank you.”
“She’s just lucky.” Jealousy called, “Just because she lives in a foster home where her mom pays for a tutor, she thinks she can make fools out of us by working problems in no time flat.”
“Thank you, Jealousy, that will be quite enough.” Reprimanded the teacher. But it was too late, the damage was done, Mistrust returned to her seat, giving Jealousy a hateful look on her way back. “It’s not my fault I’m good at math, it’s not my fault I’m in a foster home where Mrs. Busy is too busy to spend time with me, it’s not my fault she hires a tutor who drills me in math. I wish I had a friend who wouldn’t turn on me.”

At the end of class, Mistrust hurried out of the hall and ran into Tease.
“Hey, Mistrust, I can’t wait to see you do really well in Grammar.”
Mistrust looked away, grammar was not her subject, she had a hard time concentrating, and remembering subjects and verbs was not her thing. Yet again the teacher called on her, “Mistrust, identify the verb in this sentence, my dog ran.”
“My,”
“No, Mistrust, my is an adjective.”
“Psst… the verb is ran.” Whispered someone from behind Mistrust.
Mistrust didn’t know what to do, what if she was being led into a trap, but she quickly answered, “ran”
“Very good, Mistrust, perhaps you’ll be faster on the next one.” Mistrust hung her head in shame, couldn’t anything go right?
In the lunchroom, Mistrust went to sit in her usual lonely corner, but she found someone sitting there.
“Hi, my name is Joy, can I sit with you?” asked the smiling, pigtailed girl.
“I… I… guess so…”
“So, what’s your name?”
“Mistrust”
“What an interesting name… so, what’s your favorite subject?”
“I… I… don’t have one.”
“You don’t have one?”
“No, I…”
“That okay you don’t have to tell me. What are you summer vacation plans?”
Plans, I don’t have any plans, I’ll probably end up staying at Mrs. Busy’s with a tutor again, I wish I had plans.”
“I…”
“I’m going horse back riding, and then I’m going rock-climbing with Faith, Hope, and Grace, do you wanna come?”
“No.”
“Why not, we have all kinds of fun, I’m sure the girls would love to have you.”
How do I know you’re not going to have fun during summer and then turn on me?
“I’d just rather not,”
“Okay, hey, come hang with us after school okay?”
“Sure, whatever.” The school bell rang, and Mistrust went back to her miserable classes. After school she decided to join the group of friends, after all she had nothing else to do, Mrs. Busy didn’t care when she came home.
Joy was talking about the youth group trip to Lagoon. “Oh, hey, Mistrust come join us, Mistrust, this is Hope, Grace and Faith.” One by one she was introduced to a girl with red hair and fiery green eyes, another with brown hair and black eyes, and one with black hair and brown eyes.
“Hi,”
“Do you want to come to our youth outing?” Hope asked
“It’s really fun,” said Faith
“We’d love to have you,” Said Grace
“I…”
“Please?” Asked Joy
“I guess so…”
“Cool, we’ll meet you there.” Said Joy

So, Mistrust went to Lagoon with the four girls, she spent the summer getting to know them. Then, fall came, and Mistrust kept an eye on her new found friends, she expected to be dumped for the popular girls. When Christmas rolled around and her friends still hadn’t deserted her, she began to hope again. That was when the quartet asked her to go to church with them. Mistrust decided she would, they had been so nice to her, and this would be a way to repay them. She went to church with them not expecting much, then she heard the story of a little baby. He too had no place to stay, He was born in a stable, He too had no friends. And when He grew up, He too had His friends stab Him in the back. Mistrust felt like she could identify with this Man who had lived two thousand years ago. Then the pastor said, “Maybe you too have felt like Christ, your friends have stabbed you in the back, maybe you want a friend who will never leave you. This little baby grew up to save the world, as he was being nailed onto the cross, the man who had done no wrong, said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” If you want a friend who will never stab you in the back, turn to Jesus.”
Mistrust felt as if every word were meant for her, as if love was finally being whispered in her ear, the love that had been denied to her for so long. She sat still letting the love continue to wash over her. When she opened her eyes, she realized her heart no longer hurt, she felt safe and warm, and most of all loved. Then she heard someone whisper in her ear, “I will no longer call you Mistrust, but Delight, my child.”

My side?

2008-06-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

My brother is playing a song by Chris Tomlin called God is on My Side. I was thinking about this, and looking at the lyrics, and I'm not sure what to say about this song. I like how it talks about how God is with us which backs up Romans 8:31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? But, something doesn't sound quite right, we need to get on God's side, and follow his plan, instead of saying, here's my plan God, bless it. But, it's not like God's up there with a big stick either, He loves us, more than we can think or imagine. I still don't know what to think.. Thoughts???

Love

2008-06-16T12:49:00.000-07:00

I read a blog a while ago, with an interesting question, "Is it always, good and right to love, even if you get more harm than gain from the relationship?" My answer was yes, because that's God's love towards us. Romans 5:8 says, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. " In other words, while we were still sinners, while we were giving God much more hurt than gain, He loved us. But, then someone brought up abusive relationships, are you supposed to love those who abuse you? I would say, -cautiously- yes, we shouldn't run to abusive relationships, but God loved those who killed Him. As He hung on the cross He said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Christian Martyrs learned to love their tormentors so, love, is it worth it?

Authors

2008-06-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a friend the other day, and she said it was hard to believe that I run both History Maker and Thoughts on Things. I told her it was probably becuase here, I ask questions, on History Maker, I make statements. Both are good, I guess it shows that I really am human, I really do have questios and I don't by any means have it all together.

Money

2008-06-14T16:49:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about money lately, mainly because I need lots of it to go to Jamaica. I've been talking with Dad about having money work for me. So, I've been thinking about money and talking about money, and money, money, money. I guess the best thing to do with money is place it in God's hands and let Him take care of it. That doesn't mean to not pay taxes or balance check books, but to simply let God take care of it. Thoughts??

Independent

2008-06-10T14:54:00.001-07:00

I'm a very independent person, I don't mind doing things for myself, and sometimes I enjoy it. Yet, sometimes being independent can be a bad thing. Why is that sometimes instead of turning to God or my parents and friend for help. I hold stuff in. Pretending I'm okay, trying to deal with things myself? You know what? I can't do it, I've been through this a million times, and I still can't deal with things by myself. I need God to help me. I need friends to help me. Yet I still say I'm okay....

Truth part 2

2008-06-07T15:34:00.001-07:00

I only meant to have one post about truth, but I was thinking more about it. I was thinking if Pilate was truly-in a moment of weakness- asking, "what is truth?" Then that would show that he was human, a human lost in a world where different forces were pulling on him. He didn't know what to think, or where to turn. When it came down to making a decision he was pulled by pressure a pressure to please the world and not God. Yet, somehow you can almost understand why Pilate handed over the son of God to be crucified if he really was asking, "what is truth?" I'm not saying it was right, and good, what he did was wrong and bad. Yet, I still think about what was going through his mind when he asked the intriguing question, what is truth?

Truth

2008-06-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

John 18:38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. This was during Jesus' trial, context doesn't tell us what Pilate was thinking but, it still brings up a good question. What is truth? People think truth is so relative now days, truth is what you feel like. Truth means nothing. But that's not the proper way to think, because, if truth is relative, anything goes. The truth is that Jesus came died for our sins, and by His grace we can get into heaven. I'd much rather live by that truth, than by living with uncertainties.

Dreams and prayer

2008-06-04T18:46:00.001-07:00

I was listening to a Joel Osteen sermon today about dreaming and prayer. He was saying that sometimes God put a desire in your heart, a dream, a longing, but we're afraid to pray for it, so we don't get it. We lose our dreams and put them back on a shelf, and forget about it. He was saying what if we were to get into heaven, and meet st. Peter, and see thousands and thousands of doors with names on them. What if I ran into a door that said History Maker on it, and I tried to get in. I went if and found shelves with boxes on them. The boxes held things like the raise I dreamed about, the money I wanted to go on a missions trips. All these things on a shelf, because, I forgot to ask. I forgot to pray. Sometimes we forget how much God loves us and wants to bless us, so we ask for little things like a .50 raise, when we really need a $20 raise. We need to ask God for blessings and pray to Him for our dreams and desires. We don't need to be selfish and pray about me, me, me all the time. Osteen's point was pray for big things so we can bless other people.

Pray for big things today.

God's will

2008-05-30T12:41:00.000-07:00

The other day, I posted about trying to find God's will, and I realized sometimes, you have to go through life saying, "okay, God, I have no idea what's going to happen, but I trust your will."

Some time ago, I went to see the continental singers. And I applied to go with them. Then I told my daddy and he freaked out. So, I kind of forgot about it. Just as I had almost completely given up on them, I got a phone call from them saying they'd like to talk about me joining. I was floored, moreover, I couldn't figure out what God was trying to do. Then Daddy said, that if God sent the money I could go. So, Mom calls the guy, and we talk about it, and I do a lot of praying and hoping. Then I fill out an application. Then my mommy gets a call practically begging me to join them! God had everything perfectly worked out. He knows what He's doing.

"Be still and know that I am God"

Random thoughts

2008-05-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated this blog in a while, shame on me. Mainly becuase I've been thinking about my other blog, but I'm going to try and update this blog at least once a week.

My mind has been on the will of God, and God's character lately. How do you know you're hearing God's will? How do you know you're not pushing yourself on, by your own selfish desires? I believe in God's peice so, I'm looking for that and trying not to do things my own way.

Then there's God's character, I have a friend who says, God isn't nice, but if God is a mean God, why serve Him? Why praise Him? Why have anything to do with Him?

I still belive that God is nice.

Teenagers

2008-02-15T19:37:00.001-08:00

What do you think of when you hear the word "teenager." Do the adjectives, Early bird, responsible, respectful, kind, and trustworthy come up? Probably not, you probably think of these adjectives lazy, irresponsible, disrespectful, loud, obnoxious, rude, and untrustworthy. Why is that, why is it teenagers are not respected and looked down upon? The world sets really low standards for teenagers, it's almost like we're expected to misbehave and act in an unGodly way. When you have such a low standard set, it's easy to meet. But,there are some teenagers, who don't understand why we have set such a low expectation. These teenagers rebel against the standards set and prove to the world that there are teenagers with Godly Character.

Teenagers, we need to fight against the standards set for us, we need to kick things up. We have tons of energy, but all too often we expend that energy on things that don't matter. Imagine with me what would happen if we used that energy to serve Him. Imagine what could happen, teenagers, we'd change the world! There's a website specifically dedicated to that cause, and it's called, the rebelution. So, what exactly is the rebelution? It's a rebellion against the low standards that the world has set for us. Now you're probably thinking, how can we rebel against this? Simple, we can behave in a Godly manner, we can be respectful of our parents, we can be kind to our siblings, when we're told to do something, we can do it, WITHOUT grumbling!
So are you with me?
Teenagers, let's CHANGE THE WORLD!

Teenager
Teenager, teenager,
What do you think of when
you hear
Teenager, teenager.
You think of happy,
Smiling Teens,
Respecting their parents,
And being responsible,
You think of smart teens,
Worthy of your trust right?
WRONG!
Teenager, teenager
What do you think of
When you hear,
TEENAGER!
Loud, angry lazybones,
Disrespectful, obnoxious,
Grouchy, TEENAGER!
But what would happen
If our teens turned to Him?
What would happen, if they were pointed
in the right direction?
The word Teenager would change into
Loving, polite, God Fearing
World hating, Satan Trashing
World Changing, History Making
TEENAGER!
That’s what we can be if we
Rally together,
And turn our hearts around,
So I’m calling you
TEENAGER!
Who are you going to reflect?
Change the world,
change the meaning of the word
TEENAGER!
(c)2008 History Maker

A different kind of story

2008-01-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

We’ve all heard the stories of villainous villains, heroic heroes, and pretty princesses. However, they always have one thing in common. The girl. She’s always worried about her hair, or her makeup, or whether or not prince charming will come to rescue her. I happen to know that there are girls, who are very different from that, so I present to you,

A REAL Fairy Tale by History Maker

Once upon a time in a land not too far from here, there lived a villainous villain, whose name was Villainous Victor. He spent his time capturing pretty princesses so he could get heroic heroes to try to come and rescue them. Once the heroes got there, Villainous Victor did away with them.

On the other side of town there lived a very pretty princess named Marian. Now, Marian was not a normal princess, rather than sit around brushing her hair, or worrying about her make-up all day, she would train herself in the arts of fencing, archery and horseback riding. Her brother, Rillian could not understand her. He would always tell her, “Now Marian why can’t you be like other girls and worry about your looks rather than doing boyish things?” To which she would always reply, “A girl has to know how to defend herself against villains, besides, if a girl’s doing these “boyish things” then they’re not boyish are they?” Rillian would just shrug his shoulders and wish he had a less crazy sister.

Villainous Victor had his eyes on Marian, she would be perfect bait for Heroic Hector, so, in the middle of the night, he snuck into her room. However, he had the misfortune of tripping over the windowsill. Upon seeing her awake, Villainous Victor expected Marian to scream and beg him not to hurt her, but instead, she fixed him with as level gaze and demanded, “What are you doing here?” To which Villainous Victor replied, “nothing.” Obviously, Marian did not believe that Villainous Victor would sneak into her room in the middle of the night for nothing; so, she asked him again, to which Villainous Victor replied with nothing, but drawing his sword. Instantly, Marian leapt into action, she grabbed her sword and stood at the ready. Villainous Victor expected to win easily, but he had underestimated Marian. She fought valiantly, and proved to be a lot more skilled with a sword than he expected. Still, Villainous Victor, having villainous strength, managed to knock the sword out of Marian’s hands. He grabbed her and tried to drag her out the window, but kidnapping her wasn’t going to be easy, she struggled, and kicked, and bit, trying to get away from him.

After much fighting, Villainous Victor managed to drag Marian to his castle. Where he had his many mean minions throw her in his tower. Marian, rather than sitting around crying, and hoping a heroic hero would come rescue her, began to think of a plan. She was going to escape.

Back at the castle, Rillian was surprised to find that his sister wasn’t up practicing her fencing. He looked in the horse barn, no Marian, he looked in the meadow where Marian practiced her archery, no Marian; he went back to the fencing yard, still no Marian. So, he went to her room and knocked, no answer. That wasn’t like Marian, he called, “Marian, are you okay?” No answer. After standing around for a while, he decided to go in. No Marian. Marian had been princess-napped!

So Rillian did what a normal prince would do, he called Heroic Hector. Instantly, Heroic Hector was away on his speedy steed, to rescue the fair damsel in distress.

Marian didn’t look very distressed right now, however, she was too busy trying to pick the lock with her hairpin. She tried again and again, but she wasn’t very skilled at it. She searched the room for a way out. But the only thing remotely close to a good escape route was the window, but it was pretty high up from the ground. Marian paced back and forth trying to think of a way out. Finally she sat upon the bed in despair, but instantly she sprang up, Marian had a plan! She started knotting the sheets together, then, tying one end of the sheets to her bed, and taking the other end in her hand, she dropped to the palace courtyard. She snuck around trying to find a way out and stay out of the guards way, she managed that quite well, but she didn’t escape running into Heroic Hector. Hector was a little baffled to see Marian, because damsels in distress usually look well-distressed-, but here was Marian looking rather triumphant and just as startled to see him as he was to see her.

Soon, a mean minion caught Marian and Hector trying to figure out what was going on and sounded the alarm. Immediately, Marian leapt in to action. She disarmed the guard coming at her and turned to face the other guards. Hector, drew his own sword and tried to defeat the guards coming at him. Soon Marian and Hector found themselves back to back in a circle of soldiers, on and on they fought, but there were way too many soldiers for Marian and Heroic Hector. Just when the were about to lose the battle, Villainous Victor arrived and shouted, “bring them to me!”

Villainous Victor was very pleased with himself; he had Heroic Hector right where he wanted him. “Heroic Hector, here you are surround by my gaurs with only this crazy girl to help you.” At this, Marian scoffed, “I’m not “only a girl” I’m a warrior princess and with God on my side, who can stop me? You know just as well as I do, that I almost won that little duel back in my room, if you hadn’t used brute force-” Villainous Victor drew his sword and struck at Marian, but Heroic Hector was too quick, he blocked the villains sword, allowing Marian to, well, to put it nicely make an end of Villainous Victor.

So Marian went home to her castle and continued to practice horseback riding, archery and fencing. Rillian never again laughed at Marian for practicing such things, and Heroic Hector learned that not all damsels in distress are completely silly. So they all lived adventurously ever after if NOT happily.

Love

2008-01-26T14:43:00.000-08:00

February's coming up and that's Valentine's day month. People hoping that a special someone will pop the question, or ask them out. But really, they forget to look to the Lover of their Souls.

Jesus Christ.

Speech

2008-01-23T17:44:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted here!

Here's a speech I'm working on, thoughts?

Night after Night from our trench side seats, we watched the Allied planes, caught in the searchlights, coming in to drop their bombs. Desperately we prayed that the planes would escape the antiaircraft shells bursting around them when we saw them burst through the “ack-ack” without breaking formation and apparently unharmed, we slumped down with thankful hearts and closed our eyes, waiting for sleep or the next bombing raid to come. Even if it rained during a raid, we dared not return to the shelter of the barracks. Seventeen inches allotted to each person in the trenches didn’t permit reclining or moving about. By morning we were desperately weary.
Those were suspense-filled, nerve-racking nights. We became adept at telling the time by the position of the Milky Way and the Southern Cross. I often thought of Genesis 1:16: “He made the stars also.” No room for doubt as to the origin of those stars; they are the work of His hands. I thrilled to their beauty, but I worshiped their Creator. We waited with anticipation for the rising of the magnificent, bright morning star, even as we awaited the coming of the bright Morning Star, our wonderful Lord Jesus.

This was one of the many experiences of Darlene Deibler Rose in “Evidence Not Seen”. Darlene was a prisoner of WWII .

Two days later, early in the afternoon of July 17, we heard the sound of many planes. The air-raid alarm was sounded. We all ran for the trenches and sat to watch the planes. They were headed straight for our camp. The planes were silver and had double fuselages and they were dropping silvery objects. Some of us were yelling, “Chocolate bars!” Others were crying, “Canned goods!” Still others were screaming “Pamphlets!” All of us were seeing illusions of the things we longed for most-food and news! Our joy was short-lived, for suddenly we recognized the whistling of bombs; in minutes our whole camp was in flames. I jumped back into the slit trench, but the second my feet hit the bottom of the trench, the Lord said to me, “you borrowed Mrs. Lie’s Bible!
“You’re right Lord, I have no right to let her Bible be burned!” I ran into the burning barracks scrambled up the ladder, grabbed her Bible off my bed, dropped to the floor, and ran outside to get out from between the burning barracks and the dining shed, not knowing in which direction they would collapse. I saw Rose David standing in front of me.
“Darlene, where do we go?” she cried. Wherever we looked there was fire.
“I don’t know, Rose.”
“Oh my God if you don’t know, who does?”
Just then, I saw that the gate leading out of the camp had been opened; women and children were fleeing across the moat and over the embankment. “Rose, the gate’s open. Come, run!”
No sooner had we crossed the moat and the road than we realized that the camp was surrounded by hundreds of Japanese soldiers with their machine guns set up on the embankment ready to fire on the planes as they circled to make their second bombing run on the camp. Running down into the midst of the soldiers, we thought only of passing through as quickly as possible into the surrounding rice paddies, where we saw others of the woman and children,
“Tidur! Lie Down!” Screamed the Japanese as they turned on us with their guns, and tidur, we did. Not another step. Wherever we happened to be, we threw ourselves prostrate on the ground. A bayonet jabbing at my back was a great persuader. If we were in the soldiers’ way, they ran over us and began firing at the planes. The planes immediately circled, coming in low to strafe the Japanese and knock out their machine guns. Bullets were flying all around us as twenty-three airplanes passed over. How, could the stray bullets miss us? I braced myself, knowing that it was altogether possible I could be hit. Dropping my head onto my arm, I whispered, “Lord, if anyone is alive at the end of this day, it will be a miracle.”
God wonderfully ministered to me, through a song, in this time of terror:
Other refuge have I none
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.
Leave, O leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.

Suddenly the shelling stopped and no one was moving. Looking up I could see the planes disappearing in the east. “God, it’s a miracle, I’m alive! I’m alive! Thank You for overshadowing me!”
The Japanese burst into activity. Grabbing their machine guns, they disappeared across the rice paddy. As I stood up, I saw Ruth with other women and children from our barracks before it had been hit. I suggested that we return to see if we could find our spoons, tins and other belongings in the ashes. We crowded though the gate and returned to where Barracks 8 had been.
I stopped in front of where my bed would have been when it dropped to the ground burning. There, on the top of the heap of ashes, lay my Bride’s Book- my beautiful Bride’s Book that I had carried with me all these years, sewn inside the native sleeping mat. Somehow-no not “somehow,” but by my Father’s ordaining-the fingers of the flame had peeled away the mat and flicked through the pages to the centerfold, where my marriage certificate was written in gold ink. I gasped… it was beautiful, that bright shining, gold ink on the black, charred page-gold purified by fire, glittering in the rays of the late-afternoon sun. I dropped to my knees and reached out, but the moment I touched the book, it was disintegrated and gone. I rocked back on my heels and in anguish cried, “Lord, that was the only thing I had left! Couldn’t I have had that? Just that one thing?” I covered my mouth to keep from screaming. I closed my eyes and crooned, “Father! O Father!”
Gently, so gently He answered me, “My child, that’s what I wan to do with you-make you like pure gold-even if I have to take you through the fire seven times.” I was shaken to the depths of my being when I absorbed the enormity of what He had said to me. "O Father, seven times?” I don’t have anything left to give You…but myself.” I felt His arms of love lifting me up. Sifting through the ashes, I found a small teaspoon and a dessert spoon, birthday gifts from friends of my barracks; the watch Russell had given me; and three lockets, gifts from the Jaffrays.
I heard someone sobbing. Looking around, I saw the leader of Barracks 7 crying. I went over and put my arm around her. “My mattress burned,” she sobbed. It was just a thin pad she had been allowed to keep because she was an older woman.
“Oh yes, everything has burned but we’re still alive. We have much to thank God for!” I reminded her.
“But I didn’t leave it in the barracks. I threw it in the ditch where you always lie.”
I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and a chill went through me. Walking over to the edge of the ditch, I looked down. There, where I had been crouching, was the casing of the bomb, and the ashes of her mattress! I walked away, unable to talk; so great was the sense of awe that had come over me. “Lord, it wasn’t Mrs. Lie’s Bible you were concerned about, was it? You knew that was a way to get me out of that ditch… to save my life! Father, whatever is left of life to me it’s Yours. It all belongs to You!

Immigration

2007-12-31T09:35:00.000-08:00

This is in response to a post by Jason. Kind of, he gave his opinion on illegal immigration, here's mine.

There are some illegal immigrants who just want a chance at a better life and it takes forever to get accepted so they come illegally.

But then agian there are illegal immigrants who want to hurt Americans.

So what do we do? I don't know, but I do know that we can always pray for the people in power

Girls

2007-12-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

Why is it that girls aren't respected?
In older times, girls weren't granted an education, they were supposed to do the cooking and the cleaning. Then they were granted an education, but they weren't allowed to vote.
Now, they are allowed to vote, but disrespect of girls still continues.

In Las Vegas, there are pictures of girls everywhere. Only they're not viewed as girls, they're viewed as "beauty models" "things" to look at.

Why, why are girls' indenties lost?

Then there's the people with "girlfriends". To quote a friend of mine, people talk about girlfriends as if they were candy bars "things" to be had.

"I have three girlfriends"
"Oh yeah, I have four."

Why is it girls are looked upon as objects, not real people?

Of course, not everyone's like that, there are some guys who still see girls as people.

To them I say "good job teach other guys to respect girls too."

Basic Knowlege? part 2

2007-12-21T13:14:00.000-08:00

Here we go again, LOL!

I my last post I said that we have a consience, but we don't have a basic sense of right and wrong. Jason said

According to the dictionary.com unabridged dictionary “conscience” is defined as follows “the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives,”. By that definition it seems that if a person has a conscience than they have an inner sense of right and wrong.
(for the full version go to his blog)

Perhaps we do have a sense of right and wrong, but wouldn't you agree that our consciences need to be trained. We need to be reading the Bible and in constant contact with God so that we can keep our consciences up and running.

And then there's always the people who "had their consciences removed ten years ago."

When we ignore our consciences, we weaken them, until eventually we don't feel them telling us "don't do that"

I guess I just agreed with Jason, oh well, that's me.

Basic knowledge?

2007-12-18T12:45:00.000-08:00

I don't know how I got roped into this, my friend wanted to start a blog debate so I said sure! I'm posting in regards to his post at Jason.kosloski.com
In his post he said that we all have a basic sense of right and wrong. I however, would beg to differ with him. Yes we do have a consience, but we aren't born with a basic knowledge of right and wrong. Take kids for example, you don't have to teach them to misbehave, rather, you have to teach them how TO behave.
As I said earlier, my friend Jason asked to start this debate, and by no means am I mad at him or trying to bash him, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

To watch how this debate unfolds, go to http://www.jasonkosloski.com/

And as always, your Thoughts on These Things are greatly appreciated.

Randomness

2007-12-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

Randomness, is it good or bad? I'm such a random person, constantly jumping from one thing to another. Which might be a good thing since my life is so crazy right now, running from thing to thing. But then again randomness can cause me to be disoriented and disorganised.
So what do you think about randomness?

You are special

2007-12-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

Here's the updated version of my persuasive any ideas?

Head down, quiet, alone, hurting. Does this describe someone you know? Someone you’ve seen or perhaps even, you yourself? Head up, talking to everyone, walking with poise, but still, hurting. I just described two different types of people who belong to the same class, this class of people? Those who don’t feel special.

Today, I would like to talk to you about four important things, what exactly the word “special” means, what tears away a person’s sense of self worth, who makes you feel special, and lastly, what you can do to make other people feel special.

What do you think of when you hear the word special? Do vision of popular people, expensive gifts and the like appear in you head? Do you think of yourself as “regarded with particular affection and admiration? Unfortunately, many people would not believe that they fit the American Heritage High School Dictionary, definition of special. They would not believe that they are regarded with particular affection and admiration.

Why do these people feel so “un special?” The reason is simple, they are constantly bombarded with the enemies missiles, screaming “you aren’t special, you are worthless.”

The media is one of these such tools, through adds and slogans it shouts, you aren’t special, you have to wear this brand, or dress this way in order to be special. “Mudd, better when it’s on you,” is the slogan for the brand Mudd, it screams you’ll be special when you wear this product, you’ll look good! Don’t’ wear it, and you find yourself in the out crowd. Have you ever heard this slogan? “All girl are gorgeous in Jantzen.” Wait a minute, did that slogan just say, that girls aren’t gorgeous without wearing the cool Jantzen brand? All of these slogans eat away at our self worth, they cause us to reevaluate who we are, they make us think, “Am I really special?”

Also, Peers can all too easily damage one’s self worth. If you’re not too tall, you’re too short, too cool, too dull, too pretty, too ugly and so on. If you’re not wearing the “cool” brand of clothes they are, if you don’t have a cell phone, or an I-pod, or whatever, they cast you out and you become “un” special.

Another very damaging thing peers do is form cliques. Cliques are groups of people that are friendly with each other, but don’t allow any one else to join their circle of friends. The reason cliques hurt so much is because we’re so desperate to belong, desperate to feel special. But cliques, rather than satisfying that need send the message “you’re not special.” Loudly and clearly.

Everyone longs to hear the three simple words “you are special.” But where do we go to hear them? The very best place is the Bible. It tells you exactly what God thinks of you.
Psalm 139:13-14 says, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb, I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” This is so cool, God made you fearfully, awesomely, wonderfully. The really cool thing about this is that God has given you proof that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. I want to talk to you for a minute about Lamanin. You’re probably thinking, “What on earth is Lamanin?” Lamanin, L-a-m-a-n-i-n very simply, is a protein cell in your body that literally holds your skin, muscles, organs, and everything else in your body together, it is literally the glue of your body. Now you’re thinking, so? What does that have do with how fearfully and wonderfully I am made? The incredible thing about this protein cell is the fact that it is shaped like a cross. Yes, it’s true, the protein cell that holds you together is in the shape of a cross. God made you fearfully, you didn’t come from some ape, God planned you carefully, and holds you together with the cross shaped protein, Lamanin.

Let’s look at another verse that affirms the fact that you are special. Psalm 4:8 says “ I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Think about that, God makes sure that you can sleep in safety and in peace, because you are special.

You are so special to God, that He sent his only son to die for you. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that He sent his one and only son into the word, so that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life.” God thinks you are special enough to come to Heaven and be with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. BUT the wonderful promise doesn’t stop there, John 3:17 says “For God did not send His son into the world, to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” God didn’t send Jesus to make sure you do everything right and if you don’t He’s going to zap you with a lightning bolt. No, God sent Jesus to save you. Romans 8:1 reiterates the fact that you uncondemnable by saying “There is now therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” God will never condemn you.

Another way God tells you that you’re special is by calling you His child. Galatians 3:26 says, “By faith you are in direct relationship with God.” If you have faith in Christ Jesus you are God’s kids. This verse says you are in DIRECT relationship with God. That means He wants you to come and talk to Him directly.

God never decides that your less special, more special, or worst of all, not special. Romans 8:38-39 says “I am absolutely convinced that nothing- nothing living or dead, angelic, or demonic, today or tomorrow, thinkable our unthinkable- nothing can get between us and the love of God, because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” Nothing can separate you from God. He promises in Hebrews 13:5 “I will never let you down, never walk off and leave you.” God will never leave you, nothing, be it an angel, or a demon, or a person, or sin, or the highest of heights, or the lowest of lows, absolutely nothing can separate you from the love of God because of the way Jesus has embraced you. God loves you unconditionally.

Two more great sources for these three important words are your parents and your friends, I’m sure most of you, at one time or another has heard their parents say, “You’ll always be my baby.” I don’t know about you, but that used to bug me. Like, hello! I’m not a baby anymore! But you have to listen to what your parents are saying, their not saying that you’ll always cry, and sleep, and mess up your diapers. No, what they’re saying is, they’ll always love you and take care of you no matter what.

Your friends should be a great source of encouragement, they sholdn’t leave you because you don’t wear the right clothes, or the right shoes, or have the “latest” gear. No, they should love you for who you are. If your friends are putting you down and make you feel “un” special, then they are not true friends. True friends will always be there to say those three important words.

You are special, and you now know that. But that’s not the only thing I want you to walk away with today. I don’t want you to leave this room without realizing that you can make other people feel special, you can and you should, why? Well God says quite simply in 1st Thessalonians 5:11 “Speak encouraging words to one another.” You need to speak encouragement in order to help people feel special.

I came in this room with a purpose. That purpose was to be an encourager to make you (make eye contact with someone in the room) feel special. And you can have that very same mindset. The mindset of an encourager, the mindset that you will do you will do everything you can to help people feel special.

You may be thinking, “How do I make people feel special?” It’s so easy. Al you have to do is be nice to someone, and that can be as simple as smiling when someone makes eye contact with you, or saying hi to that person sitting by themselves in the corner. And you can always pull out those three important words, “You are Special.”

I don’t want you to leave today without some change in thought, if you came here feeling beaten down by the world, and “un” special, then remember those three important words, “You are special.” God, you’re friends, and your parents care about you. If you ever need a reminder, go to God, He will tell you, I love you and you are special. Lastly, please, make one person feel special today, it’s not enough to know you’re special, you need to make other feel special.

Let me leave you with three important words, you are special.

Criminals don't have to be geniuses

2007-12-11T19:40:00.000-08:00

I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Someone was convicted of stealing car parts and selling them.
He pled innocent, but his cell phone told otherwise.
On his screensaver, there was a picture of him and a STOLEN car.

This makes me think, his pride got away with him. If he hadn't been proud of stealing he wouldn't have that picture.

Don't get me wrong, what he did was wrong, but still.

Guys VS. Girls

2007-12-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you've heard or maybe gotten into a Guy vs. Girls conversation. Why do people get into these conversations? 'Cause they want to feel superior? 'Cause they enjoy putting people down? Like I said these are my thoughts, I dont' have answers.

I do want to tell you however, where I, and I think God stand. Guys and girls are both special, niether one is better than the other. However, Girls are better at some stuff and Guys are better at some stuff.

We're all equal.

Feel free to comment, but keep your comments nice, no bashing guys or girls

Loyalty to friends

2007-12-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

Like I said in my previous post, I've seen teh movie Transformers,and like I said, it's not the best movie I've ever seen. However, there where a few "scenes" that made you think.

On time the bad guy humans were trying to kill "bumblebee" one of the good robots. Another robot, watched helplessly. Yet another robot said, why don't you save him? The first robot said sadly, I can't without harming the humans.

This brings up a question. How far does one go in protecting their friends?

Transformers

2007-12-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

I recently watched the video Transformers while it wasn't a very good video, it had some parts that made you think. The bad guy said to the good guy, "You've chosed to side with the weak." As I was thinking about that I realizeed that should be our action, to side with the weak and help them.

Will you side with those who can't help themselves and tell them about Jesus?

You are special

2007-12-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not planning on posting more than once every day,but I wanted to know what you guys thought of my persuasive.

Head down, frowning, quiet, alone, hurting. Does this describe someone you know, someone you’ve seen, or perhaps even you yourself? Head up, talking to everyone walking with poise, but still hurting. These are two different types of people who belong to the same class. This class of people? Those don’t feel special.What do you think of when you hear the word special? Do visions of popular people, expensive gifts and the like appear in your head? Do you think of yourself as, "regarded with particular affection and admiration? Unfortunately, many people would not believe they fit the American Heritage High School dictionary’s definition of special. They think, me regarded with particular affection and admiration ? I don’t think so. Many people point to other things, when they hear the word special.

The media screams that you’re not special, or that in order to be special you should look a certain way, or wear a certain brand. "Mudd. Better when it’s on you." Is the ironic slogan for the brand Mudd, it screams you’ll be special; you’ll look good. Don’t wear it and you’re in the out crowd. Have you heard this slogan? "All girls are gorgeous in Jantzen." Wait a minute; did that slogan just say that girls are not gorgeous without wearing the "cool" Jantzen brand? All these slogans eat away at our self worth; they cause us to re-evaluate who we are. They make us think, "Am I really special?"

Peers all too easily damage self worth. If you’re not too tall you’re too short, too fat, too skinny, to cool, to dull, to pretty, to ugly and so on. If you’re not wearing the same brand of clothes as they are if you don’t have a cell phone or an I-pod or whatever. They cast you out and you become "un" special.
Another way Peers tear down your self worth is by forming cliques, cliques are a group of people, friendly with each other, but with no one else. Trying to enter a clique, is like trying to go through a wall. These cliques hurt people so badly, because we want to belong, but cliques isolate us and send the message "you're not special" loudly and clearly.

Everyone longs to hear the three simple words, "you are special." But where do you go to hear them? The very best place is the Bible, it tells you exactly what God thinks of you. Psalm 139:13-14 say, "You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." God made you fearfully, awesomely, wonderfully. He took the time to plan you, why would he do that if you weren’t special? Another verse in Psalm 4:8 says, "I will lie down and sleep in peace for you alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety." God takes care of you; he makes sure that you sleep in safety and in peace because you are special.

Some of you may be thinking, "Can God really hold me together, does he really care about my every situation? Let me tell you about a special protein cell called Laminin. Now you’re probably thinking, what on earth is Laminin. Laminin, very simply is a protein in our body that literally holds our skin, organs, and everything else in our body in place. It is the glue of our body. The most amazing thing about Laminin is its shape. This protein cell that literally holds you together is in the shape of a cross. God is holding you together, Laminin represents God, God loves you. You may be going through a hard time, but God loves you and he will walk you through this hard time he will be with you.

You are so special to God that he sent his only son to die for you. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." God so loved. He didn’t just love, he so loved. Everyone who believes in Him can have eternal life. God thinks everyone is special enough to come to heaven through faith in Christ Jesus, everyone includes you. John 3:17 goes on to say, "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." God isn’t up there with a big stick, looking for where you’ll mess up, he sent his son to save you, and to love you.

Romans 8:1 reiterates the fact that you are uncondemnable by saying "There is no therefore no Condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Think about that you cannot be condemned because God saved you!

Another way God tell you you’re special is by calling you his child. Galatians 3:26 says, "By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God." If you have that relationship you are God’s kid. You are in direct relationship with Him. He thinks you are special enough to come to Him directly.

God never decides that you’re not special, less special or more special. Romans 8:38-39 say, "I’m absolutely convinced that nothing-nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, thinkable or unthinkable-absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us." Nothing, absolutely nothing can separate you from the love of God, because Jesus your master has embraced you. In Hebrews 13:5 God says, "I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you." Wow! God will never walk away from you. Nothing, be it a sin, or a person, or an angle or demon, or the highest of heights, or the lowest of lows, NOTHING can separate you from God and make him leave you. God loves you unconditionally.

Two more great sources for those three important words are your parents and your friends. I’m sure all of you, at one time or another have had your parents say, "You’ll always be my baby." I don’t know about you, but that used to bug me, me a baby? Not any more! But it means so much more than that; you have to listen to what your parents are saying. They’re not saying that you’ll always cry and scream and sleep and mess up your diapers. It means they’ll always love you and take care of you not matter what. Next time your parents tell you that, don’t brush it away, hold it close and remember you are special.You friends, should be a great source of encouragement. They don’t leave because you don’t wear the right shoes or the right clothes or have the latest gear. No, they love you for who you are. If your friends are putting you down and making you feel "un" special. Then they are not true friends, because true friends will always be there to say those three important words.

You are special, you know that, but that’s not the only I thing want you to walk away with today. I don’t want you to leave this room without realizing that you can make other people feel special. You can and you should. Why? Well God says quite simply, in 1st Thessalonians 5:11, "So speak encouraging words to one another." You need to speak encouragement. I came in this room with a purpose that purpose was to be an encourager to make you feel special. You can have that very same mindset the mindset of an encourager, the mindset that you will make people feel special. You may ask, "how do I make people feel special?" It is so easy, all you have to do is be nice to someone, and that can be as simple as smiling when someone makes eye contact with you, or saying hi to the person sitting by themselves in a corner. And you can always pull out those three important words "You are special."

I don’t want you to leave today without some change in thought. If you came here feeling beaten down by the world and "un" special, remember those three words, "You are special". God, your friends and your parents care about you. If you ever need a reminder, go to God he will tell you, "I love you and you are special." Lastly, I have an assignment for you; please make one person feel special today. It’s not enough to know you’re special; you need to make other people feel special.

Let me leave you with three important words, "You are special."

Rushing to grow up?

2007-12-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

I read in the paper recently that lots of girls aged 8 and up are wild about teen rock star Hannah Montanna, but now they're trying to make Hannah Montanna dolls for kids 4-5. And I was wondering, why are we trying to push kids into growing up? Cell phones, makeup and "adult" clothes are not uncommon in kids under 3. Come on! Childhood is just that CHILD hood. Why rush kids into growing up? Let them grow up and enjoy their childhood.

Thoughts on Things

2007-12-04T13:33:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone, some of you may know me as History Maker.
I decided to start Thoughts on Things to talk about stuff I think is important, but doesn't necessarily fit under History Maker. However, since our focus should always be on God, I still am going to have a Christian perspective, and a Christian moto Philipians 4:8 "For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]."

Oh yeah, and in case you're wondering about the picture of the galaxy in my header and the puppy dog background. I LOVE dogs!