Hi Girls,
For some of us this is the season for change right? Graduations, either high school or university, out to make your way into the world, or summer time, what jobs to get? Vacations to plan? Or life changes, there are a lot of weddings that happen in the spring and summer.
Some people love changes that life can bring. I think I'm one of those people- most of the time. Partly because, I love moving around. I don't like to stay in one place to long so relocating always excites me. Although, I know there are a lot of people out there who don't share this sentiment. For some, life changes are scary, a step into the unknown, out of the comfort zone into an area of fear.
Just to note, I'm talking general life changes (not necessarily purely good or bad, just stuff that happens like new jobs, new places..etc.).
So where to do find yourself? Excited and looking forward to change? Or scared of it, wanting things to remain exactly as they are? Maybe you feel a mix of both. That's often the case as sometimes we want to go forward but we're hesitant on leaving behind something we really like. Change is such a huge event in our lives and we have to learn to cope with it. People who can't cope with change often end up living in a fearful or limited state and we don't want that. Yet I admit, even though we may be excited for something new to happen, sometimes it's hard not to be a bit scared or uncertain.
Taking the plunge (no matter what form this takes) always requires some risk on our part, some faith. You can probably guess who I'm going to tell you that you need to have faith in- God. Sure it's obvious but is it done? If we truly had faith in God than fear wouldn't be an issue for us.
Why be scared when God is taking care of us? When he has everything in control? He understands your feelings of hesitancy or unsureness at the changes and he is there to support you but there is no need to fear when he directs you down a new path. Sometimes I think we really need to inspect ourselves to see how much we're trusting God. To figure out if that trust is just something we say in our heads or if it truly comes from our hearts. When we step out into the unknown, are we hoping that we have our wits about us? Or trusting that God will direct each step?
Sometimes we put too much faith in ourselves and our human capabilities and not nearly enough in God, creator of those abilities. So if you are going through a stage of change or maybe approaching one, look boldly at it without fear because God is walking with you and he will smash down any mean giants that maybe standing there leering at you.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
A Moment In Time
Hi Girls,
Have you ever experienced one of those moments where you have a sinking feeling, where someone is coming to tell you bad news and you know it has the ability to change your life or break your heart? When you know that whatever they tell you will affect you so deeply that it will change you? Often these kinds of things are always connected to something or someone we love being threatened in some way or a change in our life circumstances that we've grown very comfortable with and like very much.
I don't know about you but I find these are some of the worst moments of life. The bad news. You can tell right away when someone is about to tell you something you won't like, the tone of voice, facial expression, the shift in mood. And then you can feel your heart start to constrict inside and you unknowingly hold your breath until everything is revealed to you.
So where em I going with all of this? Well girls, I had such moments like these over the weekend. What was supposed to be a family camping trip, turned into two days of saving the life of my sweet adorable puppy. He was extremely ill with internal bowel troubles and had a high fever. Fortunately, I can tell you that he is in recovery now, thanks to God, the many vets and technicians and my family. For me, my pets are part of the family so with that in mind, hopefully you can understand a little better how horrible it was.
Now what was really interesting about this entire thing was the faith aspect. And that's probably true for every single life trouble. It's what it comes down to really. People can do all they want, try as hard as they want but in the end, it is still up to God. That's a big leap of trust for all of us. Now, I spent a lot of time praying because that was the only thing that could bring me comfort because I was able to actually do something. It's definitely hard to keep thinking positively in situations like that. I am sure a lot of you can probably understand what I'm saying because whenever there is a possibility of death involved or serious consequences, the feelings of dread, worry, anxiety, fear- all that is the same. And a lot of us have gone through situations like that before. Yet the mind is such a battleground in circumstances like this, especially when you have no choice but to wait for the outcome. The only thing there is to hold onto is God and what he says to us, than trust in that and not doubt. It's tough but important.
So lets just keep in mind that no matter what happens in our life, God can and will take care of us.
Have you ever experienced one of those moments where you have a sinking feeling, where someone is coming to tell you bad news and you know it has the ability to change your life or break your heart? When you know that whatever they tell you will affect you so deeply that it will change you? Often these kinds of things are always connected to something or someone we love being threatened in some way or a change in our life circumstances that we've grown very comfortable with and like very much.
I don't know about you but I find these are some of the worst moments of life. The bad news. You can tell right away when someone is about to tell you something you won't like, the tone of voice, facial expression, the shift in mood. And then you can feel your heart start to constrict inside and you unknowingly hold your breath until everything is revealed to you.
So where em I going with all of this? Well girls, I had such moments like these over the weekend. What was supposed to be a family camping trip, turned into two days of saving the life of my sweet adorable puppy. He was extremely ill with internal bowel troubles and had a high fever. Fortunately, I can tell you that he is in recovery now, thanks to God, the many vets and technicians and my family. For me, my pets are part of the family so with that in mind, hopefully you can understand a little better how horrible it was.
Now what was really interesting about this entire thing was the faith aspect. And that's probably true for every single life trouble. It's what it comes down to really. People can do all they want, try as hard as they want but in the end, it is still up to God. That's a big leap of trust for all of us. Now, I spent a lot of time praying because that was the only thing that could bring me comfort because I was able to actually do something. It's definitely hard to keep thinking positively in situations like that. I am sure a lot of you can probably understand what I'm saying because whenever there is a possibility of death involved or serious consequences, the feelings of dread, worry, anxiety, fear- all that is the same. And a lot of us have gone through situations like that before. Yet the mind is such a battleground in circumstances like this, especially when you have no choice but to wait for the outcome. The only thing there is to hold onto is God and what he says to us, than trust in that and not doubt. It's tough but important.
So lets just keep in mind that no matter what happens in our life, God can and will take care of us.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Couple Stuff
Hello there,
Change of pace for today.. You know what's great about being in a relationship with someone? Besides the basic facts of not being alone, having your best friend always with you and all that? It's the little inside couple jokes that occur. I just think being able to share a private laugh with someone you love is so nice; it bonds you together.
It's interesting to study different couples sometimes. At least I think it is but then again, I write stories a lot so it gives me character insight. Anyways, everyone is unique and relates differently. It seems that each couple has something special between them. Some couples have their own song to their relationship- we do, most all have inside jokes, some have special places to visit or meaningful times of the year. Building the what's unique is one of the fun parts of having a relationship.
As I've mentioned lots of time before, it makes me sad that society has relationships so wrong- dating and sex, then marriage and then kids maybe, sometimes they come before. It's so sad because it's so wrong but sometimes that's hard to explain, especially when someone doesn't believe in the Bible. After all, people who have those types of relationships still experience love but I don't think they receive God's blessing or approval. And it's hard to describe to someone who lives like that how God's blessing could change their life and relationship, especially if their blind to the fact of their own sin. That road is tempting for so many people. It's made out to be okay and good so much but I just can't stress how wrong it is. I've rather gone off on a total tangent here but this just bothers me. What do you say to your friends living like that when they come to you for advice or want to talk about their relationship, perhaps praising everything that's good about it? Kind of an awkward situation really because you know the truth and perhaps they don't or maybe deep inside they do but choose to ignore it. Especially when you know that by repenting, turning to God and changing their lifestyle, their relationships would be even better?
Anyway, I've kinda just randomly rambled but I guess that's okay in a blog. Just some of my thoughts really. How about you? What are your thoughts on such things?
Change of pace for today.. You know what's great about being in a relationship with someone? Besides the basic facts of not being alone, having your best friend always with you and all that? It's the little inside couple jokes that occur. I just think being able to share a private laugh with someone you love is so nice; it bonds you together.
It's interesting to study different couples sometimes. At least I think it is but then again, I write stories a lot so it gives me character insight. Anyways, everyone is unique and relates differently. It seems that each couple has something special between them. Some couples have their own song to their relationship- we do, most all have inside jokes, some have special places to visit or meaningful times of the year. Building the what's unique is one of the fun parts of having a relationship.
As I've mentioned lots of time before, it makes me sad that society has relationships so wrong- dating and sex, then marriage and then kids maybe, sometimes they come before. It's so sad because it's so wrong but sometimes that's hard to explain, especially when someone doesn't believe in the Bible. After all, people who have those types of relationships still experience love but I don't think they receive God's blessing or approval. And it's hard to describe to someone who lives like that how God's blessing could change their life and relationship, especially if their blind to the fact of their own sin. That road is tempting for so many people. It's made out to be okay and good so much but I just can't stress how wrong it is. I've rather gone off on a total tangent here but this just bothers me. What do you say to your friends living like that when they come to you for advice or want to talk about their relationship, perhaps praising everything that's good about it? Kind of an awkward situation really because you know the truth and perhaps they don't or maybe deep inside they do but choose to ignore it. Especially when you know that by repenting, turning to God and changing their lifestyle, their relationships would be even better?
Anyway, I've kinda just randomly rambled but I guess that's okay in a blog. Just some of my thoughts really. How about you? What are your thoughts on such things?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Doubt that Kills
Hey Girls,
Do you want to have more faith? Stronger faith in God? I sure do. Having faith in God is so important to- to everything!
Yet many of us have this little nasty issue called doubt. The Bible talks about doubt in Isaiah 40:27-28 "O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding." Oh but that's not all, in James 1:5-7 it says "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord."
Ok, to sum up those two verses, we know that God is everlasting and always sees our troubles. He will also be faithful to give what we ask when our faith is in him alone otherwise if we doubt him, we should expect nothing from our petitions. After all, remember those numerous verses about asking requests of God? 1 John 5:12-14 tells us clearly "My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours."
Want another great example of what it means to have faith? Remember Abraham and Sarah? Romans 4:18-20 says "We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!" Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God."
Okay that's really long- I know but I just really liked how the message version said it. It's clear enough that I don't need to comment on it.
Well, all these verses just prove to us the importance of having unwavering faith. It's hard though isn't it? And sometimes it's hard to recognize doubt too. Doubt can creep in so quietly and then slowly eat away and destroy our faith- it's like a weed. For example, imagine someone whose finances are really tight on a regular basis but a whole bunch of bills, like license plate renewals, just came up so fast and she didn't have the funds yet. So she prays and she prays but then goes out and gets a second job to make ends meet. Ok- now I'm not saying it's bad to work more but I'm using this example because it shows a woman acting on her own initiative. She got the second job but God didn't tell her too. Sometimes, even though we pray for something, we end up acting in our own self interest to take care of that request on our own without even giving God the opportunity to do something. Perhaps we're on a time crunch sometimes and we think waiting on God just won't pan out because he just may not come through on time. Well, reality check. God's timing is not our timing! He knows what's best above all! So if we are really going to trust in him for everything, than we have to actually trust!
If you believe in God as a loving Father, that he will take care of you, than don't doubt that he will. We don't need to scramble to help ourselves. God knows what we need. When we ask for something, let's not doubt him. He's God after all. Doubt can destroy our faith, destroy our lives, our relationships, our jobs- anything if we let it. When you start to second guess God, you're letting doubt in, you're taking the control back, and you're killing your faith.
We have to make the choice to believe but once we do, let's stick by it. Let's reject those doubts that say God won't come through. He will always come through in the way that's best for us even if we don't see it at the time.
So truly girls, have faith in God and what you've asked of God according to his will, believe that you've received it and that he will take care of you.
Do you want to have more faith? Stronger faith in God? I sure do. Having faith in God is so important to- to everything!
Yet many of us have this little nasty issue called doubt. The Bible talks about doubt in Isaiah 40:27-28 "O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding." Oh but that's not all, in James 1:5-7 it says "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord."
Ok, to sum up those two verses, we know that God is everlasting and always sees our troubles. He will also be faithful to give what we ask when our faith is in him alone otherwise if we doubt him, we should expect nothing from our petitions. After all, remember those numerous verses about asking requests of God? 1 John 5:12-14 tells us clearly "My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours."
Want another great example of what it means to have faith? Remember Abraham and Sarah? Romans 4:18-20 says "We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!" Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God."
Okay that's really long- I know but I just really liked how the message version said it. It's clear enough that I don't need to comment on it.
Well, all these verses just prove to us the importance of having unwavering faith. It's hard though isn't it? And sometimes it's hard to recognize doubt too. Doubt can creep in so quietly and then slowly eat away and destroy our faith- it's like a weed. For example, imagine someone whose finances are really tight on a regular basis but a whole bunch of bills, like license plate renewals, just came up so fast and she didn't have the funds yet. So she prays and she prays but then goes out and gets a second job to make ends meet. Ok- now I'm not saying it's bad to work more but I'm using this example because it shows a woman acting on her own initiative. She got the second job but God didn't tell her too. Sometimes, even though we pray for something, we end up acting in our own self interest to take care of that request on our own without even giving God the opportunity to do something. Perhaps we're on a time crunch sometimes and we think waiting on God just won't pan out because he just may not come through on time. Well, reality check. God's timing is not our timing! He knows what's best above all! So if we are really going to trust in him for everything, than we have to actually trust!
If you believe in God as a loving Father, that he will take care of you, than don't doubt that he will. We don't need to scramble to help ourselves. God knows what we need. When we ask for something, let's not doubt him. He's God after all. Doubt can destroy our faith, destroy our lives, our relationships, our jobs- anything if we let it. When you start to second guess God, you're letting doubt in, you're taking the control back, and you're killing your faith.
We have to make the choice to believe but once we do, let's stick by it. Let's reject those doubts that say God won't come through. He will always come through in the way that's best for us even if we don't see it at the time.
So truly girls, have faith in God and what you've asked of God according to his will, believe that you've received it and that he will take care of you.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Thankfulness
Hi Girls,
This is a reminder of thankfulness. I was thinking today that I don't say thank you to God often enough. We have so much to be thankful for and are so blessed to have him watching out for us. Even just the small things too make a big difference. For example, I'm thankful that dairy queen has buy one blizzard get a second for 25 cents- it sure made the bike trip to gan more fun! And I'm thankful that it's nice and sunny today! Think of some of the things you're thankful for.
It's good to be thankful because it makes us aware of all that we have, keeps our eyes on the positive side (rather than thinking on what we are lacking). It raises our moods and keeps our hearts more pleasant. Some days it's harder to be thankful than others, especially when everything seems to go wrong. But even on those days, and maybe your having one of them right now, at least find something to say thank you for and you'll hopefully start to feel better. At least it will bring you around to a more positive way of thinking! After all, God is always watching out for us and we can always be thankful for his love!
This is a reminder of thankfulness. I was thinking today that I don't say thank you to God often enough. We have so much to be thankful for and are so blessed to have him watching out for us. Even just the small things too make a big difference. For example, I'm thankful that dairy queen has buy one blizzard get a second for 25 cents- it sure made the bike trip to gan more fun! And I'm thankful that it's nice and sunny today! Think of some of the things you're thankful for.
It's good to be thankful because it makes us aware of all that we have, keeps our eyes on the positive side (rather than thinking on what we are lacking). It raises our moods and keeps our hearts more pleasant. Some days it's harder to be thankful than others, especially when everything seems to go wrong. But even on those days, and maybe your having one of them right now, at least find something to say thank you for and you'll hopefully start to feel better. At least it will bring you around to a more positive way of thinking! After all, God is always watching out for us and we can always be thankful for his love!
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