The Slump.

Okay, before I write this post I thought I'd let y'all know that I have been trying to accustom myself to more spicy food and hot sauce since I am going to work with Mexicans this summer, so right now my mouth is on fire. AHH!! More water, please!

Anyway, back to seriousness. Have you ever been in a slump? You know, one of those times when everything feels hard and hopeless. first you just feel bad, then it starts to show up in your actions. It's seen on your face. It's visible in your posture and heard in your tone of voice. It carries into how you go about your normal life, and it can even affect your health. This past weekend I was in one of those slumps, and it was no fun.

And you know what I found out? It can be overcome very easily and quickly. The number one reason for these slumps is doubt. Our thoughts cause our actions and our feelings. The feelings didn't just pop out of no where, they came because I was thinking wrongly. The solution to the problem isn't to magically change my feelings, it is to consciously change my thoughts. I must recognize that I am believing lies about God's character - I am believing that He's not really good, not really sovereign.

So here's the simple solution: Think right. Do right. Feel right. Repent of believing lies and not serving God with joy like we're commanded to, and cry out to God to help you do what's right. Then when you think something that's not aligned with scripture, replace it with truth found it God's word. Then act on it! And then, guess what - the feelings will follow!

Now this solution was simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. It takes a while for the feelings to catch up with the thoughts. You have to start thinking and doing right before you feel like it. But I promise you, there is joy when you do!


"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" 2 Cor. 10:4-5

Our God is an Awesome God!

Wow... I just have to start by saying God is good.

I've learned so much lately. Over the past few days, there have been several tests of my faith. Sometimes I passed them... and often I didn't.
But you know what? It's not about me.

Jesus didn't die on the cross to make me a better person.Jesus didn't die on the cross to make me love him.
Jesus didn't die on the cross to make me happy.
Jesus didn't die on the cross to make things easier for me.
So why did He die on the cross?Ephesians 3:7 "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

He did it because He is God. He is holy. He is awesome. He is good.
The reason He died is that He is love, and He wants to lavish His love and grace on us!

I'm not going to wake up someday and be overcome with joy that I am perfect, thrilled that I know how to live the Christian life. That joy comes from waking up and knowing that He is God, and He is AWESOME!

I don't have to be perfect; I just have to rest in his grace. I will never be able to repay Him for His awesome love, but I don't have to! Thankfully, it's not about how "good" I am, it's about how truly GOOD and AWESOME He is!

However, that doesn't mean I should just go and live however I want to, and not try to please Him...
1Peter 2:16 "as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."
Romans 6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may bound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"

I am FREE! Serving Christ has been given to me as a privilege and delight! He loves me, and has saved me! I am so thankful and so in awe that He would save a wretch like me!

CHRISTmas!

Okay, I have a lot to say, but I don't even know where to begin, or how to say it all.

I guess I'll start with Christmas. It was wonderful! On Christmas eve we had a nice supper together, and then played games. We had my friend, Vicki, and my neighbor, Zach, over and they added to all the fun! Right now my bedroom is torn apart because we're fixing it up some, so my bed was out in my oldest brother Erik's bedroom. So, I slept in his room. It was kind of a funny night... somehow the heat got turned off so it was FREEZING cold, and I kept having weird dreams and waking up (mostly because it was so cold!). Anyway, we all slept in on Christmas morning and that was actually really nice. I think this is the first year that I've slept in on Christmas. We all got up around 8:00 and sat around talking and such for a few minutes... then we all took our showers and got dressed. It was neat because it was just a nice, low-key day. We opened our stockings, and then had a nice breakfast. After breakfast we opened presents. It was a lot of fun... all of us just sitting around together, laughing, and enjoying ourselves. I got a couple of pairs of shoes which were really cool - one pair was neon pink and the other was neon green. :) I got two books - "Before You Meet Prince Charming" by Sarah Mally, and "Raising Maidens of Virtue" by Stacy McDonald. I've read both of those books before, but it's especially nice to own them. They are SUCH good books!! I would very highly recommend them to any young lady who wants to serve Christ. I also got a really nice handbag with music notes and Scripture about music on it. I love it!! We got some gifts that were for all of us - a bunch of Christian movies! We got Fireproof, Facing the Giants, Flywheel, and some others. I couldn't have gotten any better presents! I love my family so much. It was great to be with all of them for the past few days.

Now to tell you about all the WONDERFUL things God is doing in my life!! I don't know how to put it into words... He has totally changed me, and my view of life! A week or two ago, I was trying very hard to live righteously, but I didn't feel the passion and closeness of our Savior. I wasn't living completely for Him. I was tying, but I wasn't trying in HIS power, filled with HIS Holy Spirit. I just couldn't take that. I hadn't done anything the most people would consider a "big" sin, but I had strayed so, so far from where I needed (and still need!) to be. I got down on my knees and poured out my heart to God. I confessed everything I had done... all of my selfishness and pride, all of waywardness, everything. I prayed and begged God to reveal Himself to me, to give me a passion, to fill me with the Holy Spirit. That was my constant prayer for about a week. On Christmas day, He truly did show Himself to me. I can't explain it... I just had a total change in my understanding of Him. These past few days I have just CRAVED Him. It's wonderful!! I have been reading the two books I got for Christmas, another book called Stepping Heavenward, and of course, the Bible! It's wonderful. God is teaching me so, so, SO much about how I am to live. Please, please pray for me. I don't want to lose this passion. God is doing marvelous things in my life. He is SO INFINITELY GOOD! Praise Him!!

"I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice, and He gave ear unto me." Psalms 77:1

"I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known they faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 89:1

Lessons...

Today I just have a thought to tell you about what God is teaching me. I have been learning to let go of things. I have a real tendency to be angry about things... which leads to bitterness. I used to just get depressed when bad things happened, but recently I've started getting angry. I've been watching a series of sermons on DVD by Paul Tripp called, "How to Be Good and Angry," and it has really been good for me. I realized that the reason people get angry is that we make our normal desires into demands. God has given us desires... that's completely normal and good. The problem is when a desire becomes a demand. We HAVE to control our desires! We all have a sin nature, and our desires can very easily take control of us. The human heart is an idol factory. We have to keep laying our desires down before God and not let them become controlling. I've been learning to keep returning all of the things God gives me to Him, and also learning to rise again after I fall and mess up. When you sin, don't fall into a pit of despair. It is right to feel grief over your sin, but don't wallow in it. Repent and keep going on to do what's right. Thankfully, God is SO merciful and good as I go through the process of learning these things!

"For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity." Proverbs 24:16, ESV

Thanks for taking the time to read! God bless you all; have a great Christmas!

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now." Philippians 1:3-5, ESV

Lessons from LOTR

Hey! I haven't posted in a while because there hasn't been much to tell about. We have mostly done lots of chores for the past week.

Two nights ago I watched "Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring", and last night I watched "Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers". I absolutely LOVE the LOTR movies. I also gained a lot spiritually from it. Tolkien (The writer of the LOTR books) didn't intend for it to be allegorical, but I found it to be in some ways. Some of the things that really struck me are:
-The hearts of men are so easily corrupted and deceived.
-Frodo has to carry the ring, which is evil, with him, even though he doesn't want to. In the same way, we have the burden of a sin nature that we have to take with us, even though we don't want it.
-Frodo never HAS to put on the ring, but he does several times when he wants the easy way out of situations. If we have been saved by Jesus Christ, we never HAVE to sin, but we do so many times when we are tempted.
-Then there's Gollum: he started out as a normal, hobbit-like creature, but he allowed the ring, and what seemed like pleasure, to poison his mind. He became a hideous, worthless, disgusting creature. Likewise, as Christians, we don't have to be hideous creatures, but if let we the temporary pleasures of sin poison our minds, we will be.
-Gollum meets Frodo, and realizes that he doesn't have to be Gollum. He can be Smeagol, which is who he would be if he wasn't under the control of the ring. He realizes that he doesn't have to be a slave to its power. He wrestles with this for some time. He is torn between his addiction to the ring, and his desire to be free. By the end of the series, he has completely given himself over to the ring's power, and his greed for the ring brings him to his death. We also don't have to be ugly creatures. We don't have to give ourselves over to sin. If we are born again believers in Jesus Christ, we have the power to fight the temptation to sin. We can be made new in Christ. We DO have sin natures with us though, and if we don't continue to wrestle against them, we will give in. Sin has the power to tempt us still, and if we don't fight it, we'll give in, and sin always leads to ruin.
-Gollum struggles constantly with his own self. One side of him tells him that he NEEDS the ring, and that Frodo, who helps him and understands him, is a thief, while his other side tells him the truth. We, as Christians, often struggle with listening to lies that Satan puts in our minds, instead of the Truth from Christ. If we listen to the lies, we will give in to sin, and it will destroy us.

All of that goes to say that you can learn SO much from so many things, if you think about it! Instead of just watching a movie, I try to pick it apart and see what the worldview is, and what there is to be learned. I hope that all makes sense. That's all for now. God bless! :)

My birthday! :)

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't written in so long. It's been busy! Let's see... on Friday we headed to my Grandparents' house, and we spent the day with them. We watched TV for a long time and talked. Then we had supper and they made me a cake for my birthday! :) It was nice. I got a present which was jewelry, nail polish, and lip gloss. AND GUMMY BEARS!! I love those things - lol :).

On Saturday it was my birthday!!! YAY! We headed toward home at 8 AM and Mom said she was planning something special but wouldn't tell me what. After about 2 hours of driving, we showed up at Camp Lamoka, where my brothers work! See, I worked there for one week on a Ministry Team last year and I LOVED it, and my brothers always tell me how much fun they have working there, so I wanted to go there again and meet all their new friends! I met some friends, and enjoyed a couple of hours there, and I found out I was going to my brothers' friends' house with them to spend the afternoon there! I was nervous at first, but it turned out to be an AWESOME day!!

On Sunday, I had 2 friends over and we did a photo-shoot in a beautiful field. It was so pretty! We all wore coordinating colored dresses and the pictures turned out so nicely! Later, I opened my presents from my parents. I got: an AMAZING black hat with studs on it. (That sounds punk-ish but it's actually really cute) and I got very pretty earrings, and a big purple plaid pillow, and an awesome little purple plush doggy. The 2 friends I had over, Danna and Glory, gave me $14 and one cent! The one cent was because it was a day late. :) All in all, I had an awesome birthday and awesome weekend!

I have also been learning a lot about sin. I often feel like I'm a slave to sins that I keep doing over and over, but then I realized, I am NOT a slave! I have been freed by the blood of the Lamb! I don't EVER have to sin again!! I won't be perfect, of course, but it is very relieving to know that sin has no grip on me, and I never have to sin again. It's a battle though, and it has to be fought! It's guerrilla warfare. The enemy has been defeated, but refuses to give up, so he sneaks in and tries to cause as much trouble as possible. Therefore, we must watch and pray!! God has taught me so much. Please pray for me, that I will fight the battle and not give up.

That's all I have to say now, so toodles! :) :)