Relationships

100 reasons why Stacey is my bffaeaeaeae

100 Reasons why you are my bffaeaeaeae:

1.You go to the coolest church on the planet
2.You are a Christ follower
3. Your just so gosh darn beautiful =]
4. Your parents are my parents, my parents are your parents.
5. We can just be like “Hey wanna come over?” “Yea sure” “Ok cool” “So im comin over?” “Yup” “Sweet”
6.We can give eachother a look and know exactly what eachother are thinking.
7.We bust up laughing at an inside joke in front of everyone and when they question us we just act like nothing happened.
8.You ALWAYS have my back and back me up on everything =]
9.You are a terrific liar, which comes in handy cause i am a terrible one.
10.You can take a secret to the grave.
11. We have the best inside jokes.
12.UP AGAINST THE WALL!!!
13.IN THE TRUCK!!
14.DOOOOODLING is a skill =]
15.T.I.M.
16.Your honest
17.You support me
18.You make me keep in touch with my inner “girliness”
19.We can greet eachother with insults and not be offended.
20.You make me not be emo, and make me be happy and socialize.
21.You know when theres something wrong with me just by looking at me for a second.
22.You make me delicious food =]
23.You bring out my inner Mexican
24.Sabes Que??
25.Marshmallow fight!!!!
26.3am .. hahahaha ..Malachi .....grrrr dang you Dez haha.
27.Your random laugh attacks at night when you get loopy and start hitting me and laughing more, then in the morning you dont remember a thing, but i just sat through the night watching and videotaping you and then i tell you in the morning how drunk you acted =P
28.How freakin OPPOSITE we are. You force me to socialize and cope with big groups even though you know i hate them =P
29.We bash on eachother about our taste in music but listen to it anyways just to make the other happy haha. Justin Bieber vs. Joe Brooks.
30.We dance like idiots then put it on YouTube for the whole world to see, and later regret it ..
31.We make pointless videos that never end up being posted anywhere because their too embarassing haha.
32.You is so pretty and you model for me =]
33.You let me do your makeup .. even though your so freakin dark that none of my stuff shows up on your face =P
34.You claim to be an innocent sweet girl til someone makes you mad then you get all “HOLD ME BACK TEISHA!!!” Hahahaha. You know its true.
35.Your always all dressed up and lookin adorable while im always in jeans and a sweatshirt with running shoes on haha. Opposites ..
36.You love to constantly be with people and talk, i love to just sit alone and be quiet. Opposites ..
37.You love justin bieber, Twilight, and Usher .. i love Queen, Star Wars, and Journey. Opposites ..
38.We try to memorize rediculously confusing songs like We Go Together but end up just going “daadadadaada”
39.You listen to me go on and on and on about something i dont even know what im talking about myself haha.
40.You give me hugs =]
41.You are there for me. Duh .. you better be .. your my bffaeaeaeae xD
42.You'll wanna beat up anyone who does me wrong =]
43.You come to my school overdressed then realize its a school for freaks =] haha
44.You let me try to teach you to swing dance, then you try to teach me how to dance and i FAILLLL.
45.We hang with eachother and do nothing. Or spend the whole time trying to figure out what we want to eat
46.Your not a debbie downer
47.You dont give yourself away to guys. You have integrity
48.You slap really hard .. thats not why your my bffaeaeaeae ... but you do ..
49.Everyone knows never to mess with you .. cause of the previous statement.
50.You're not perfect or normal .. haha face it, we'd all be boring and annoying if we were normal and perfect.
51.You kill icky bugs for me and move them from the under the cup in my room to outside.
52.You wash dishes for me and help with chores =]
53.Your half Mexican and half El Salvadoran .. thats just cool.
54.You help me dress myself in the morning when you sleep over cause you've got a lot more fashion sense than i do =P Not literally dress myself .. just pick out my clothes haha.
55.Your not a druggie, drunk, or smoker. Though some nights i swear your high haha. You and Dez .. Oy vey ..
56.You help me with my homework =]
57.Were both always in denial about something and have to try to convince eachother of it =P
58.Sometimes you act “shy” but we all know your not haha. .. only sometimes =]


59.The way you can say something totally seriously but its not true, and sometimes you can even convince me that its true haha. Not anymore though =] Hehe
60.You know how to have fun and party =]
61.You'll do crazy things with me
62.You have awesomely adorable lil cousins. That dont really like me .. haha im serious i just dont think babys like me haha. Someday =] Auntie Teisha!!!
63.If i needed to get away from someone i know you'd come up with some lame excuse to get me away from them haha.
64.You've seen me with zero makeup on. And everyone knows thats pretty rare =]
65.We'll give eachother crazy blind makeovers or just do eachothers makeup badly and try to make eachother look like queeeers.
66.You've seen me cry (At camp) and thats rare for people to see.
67.Your not afraid to get crazy every once and a while and do something out of your comfort zone. You'll try new things. 3Am .. hahaha .. no. Not funny.
68.You encourage me to try new things.
69.You embrace your inner “farm girl” when your at my house =]
70.When you come over you look like me, in my clothes, chillin on the farm (Sweatpants, hair tied, chillin with no makeup on, thats when your the prettiest i hope that you dont take it wrong ;) ), ridin our donkey, bein a hick =] haha.
71.B.
72.Remember the time you wrote the letter 'B' on my forehead with lipstick while playing truth or dare? Haha.
73.In dead silent moments you'll be the one to speak up and be like “Sooo hows everyone doinnnn??” Haha.
74.You sing Down With The Sickness like a pr0.
75.Your house has pro WiFi and no service. My house gets sucky WiFi and .. well .. yea we have sucky service also ..
76.You'll try to learn how to jerk with me haha. So embarassing ..
77.You think before you speak. Unlike a lot of people these days.
78.We walk around and chill in EVERY store in the Albertsons parking lot for like an hour or more, just for fun =P
79.Being the aunt to your baby =]
80.The night in the camper with Dez ..
81. Jumping on your trampoline with soap and water.
82.Trying to fit in your bathtub with you and your cousin.
83.The drive to winter camp.
84.Winter camp in general.
85.Me trying to fall asleep laying across you guys.
86.You accept me for my nerdy dorky self.
87.We couldnt be more comfortable around eachother.
88.You try to strangle me with my own belt.
89.Were contstantly saying stuff and not even having to say “thats what she said” but just start busting up laughing.
90.Our BBQ chip fight on my couch.
91.I can trust you to keep any secret.
92.We write notes to ourselfs together to open them in the future and see how dumb we were.
93.The face you make when your laughing and super loopy.
94.Your a good listener
95.We have mostly the same friends
96.Hot by Avril Lavigne
97.Crush by David Archuleta
98.You make the most awesome faces in pictures
99.You accept my corniness
100.You know how dorky, embarassing, stupid, blonde, clueless, slow, dumb, selfish, jealous, mean, emo, angry, weak, rude, kill-joy, lame, scary-looking, loopy, weird, depressed, negative, nerdy, i can be, yet you still chose me to be your bffaeaeaeae =]

101. (BONUS) The fact that this list was wayyyyy too easy to write.

Then stop giving your heart away

A good friend recently told me somethin that is so simple, yet hit me pretty hard. Something that we all probably know already, but sometimes forget. I was talkin to the person about having your heart broken, and how im sick of getting hurt, being hurt, or any of that crap. I just said how i was so sick of it. And they responded with a simple “Then stop giving your heart away!”. DEEP. So simple, yet so true. Are you sick and tired of getting hurt?? Always being broken?? Are you blaming God for all your hurt?? Sometimes when were in a time of despair, we blame God. Why are you doing this to me?? Why would you let me hurt like this?? Why did you let this happen?” But guess what?? Its not Gods fault that your constantly getting hurt and broken. Its yours. If you dont want that to happen anymore, then stop giving your heart away!! Stop devoting yourself to another person on earth, when you havent devoted yourself to the ONLY ONE who actually matters in this corrupt place we call Earth. When we devote every fiber of our being to God, he wont hurt us. He will love us forever. He will never let us down. He will ALWAYS be there for you. He will never love you any less, or more then anyone else. Nothing you do can make him leave you, be mad at you, or hurt you. But when we become devoted to Him, this doesnt mean that we wont get hurt. Bu thats a whole other message .. How God doesnt make us get hurt, but he allows us to get hurt, because of our decisions. He doesnt go “Ok you've sinned a lot this past week, so your gonna suffer from it this next week.” No, God is not a god of karma. We are free people. We make our own decisions, and its our fault if were hurting. Xola Malik said once ; “You know the song Jesus Take The Wheel? Well i believe that Christ is saying, 'No, YOU take the wheel. I'll give you all the directions, ill be your GPS, but you ultimately determine where your going, where your headed, where you'll end up. But through it all, ill still be there giving you the right directions, no matter how much you rebel against it and try to go a different way, a faster way.'” And thats also where i think Faith comes in. Think about it .. Your GPS 'could' be wrong, it 'could' be leading you elsewhere. And of course God will never steer you wrong (pun un-intended), but we still have to have faith in Him that he is taking us where it is best for us, and where he has planned for our future to be. Faith is believing in something, without actually being able to see it. We may not be able to see God in human form, but every day, we see the works of Him, and what he has done. I mean he created Earth alone. Isnt that amazing enough??

Quotes

“Every breath is an opportunity to receive and let go. I receive love and I let go of pain.” – Brenda MacIntyre

“We need in love to practice only this: letting each other go. For holding on comes easily--we do not need to learn it.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

“Sometimes you have to let go to see if there was anything worth holding on to.” – Anonymous

“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell

“There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn’t the end of the world; it’s the beginning of a new life.” – Anonymous

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ~Anatole France

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~Victor Frankl

Anger Quotes

I was looking up quotes for being mad at someone you love, these arent exactly that, but i thought they were things everyone should hear. Very useful advice.

He who angers you conquers you. ~Elizabeth Kenny

Get mad, then get over it. ~Colin Powell

If you kick a stone in anger, you'll hurt your own foot. ~Korean Proverb

No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched. ~George Jean Nathan

At the core of all anger is a need that is not being fulfilled. ~Marshall B. Rosenberg

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. ~Unknown Author

Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret. ~Ambrose Bierce

The Ultimate Worshiper

Citipointe Live was recently at my church a couple weeks ago. They put on a concert, and i got to hang with them the night after in a band meeting, and they are INCREDIBLE people by the way. LOVED. THEM. But the night of the band meeting Aaron Lucas spoke a message on the ultimate worshiper. I took notes so i thought i would post them on here =]

The Ultimate Worshiper

There are five keys a worshiper needs to have:

1. Servant-hood.
We need to get into the mind set of SERVE. Constantly serving others, always thinking what you can do to help at all times. Even if its the littlest thing like re-fill the coffee, get someone coffee, greet people, anything. Its not about us. Get over your attitudes. We are here for the people. Care more for the people and get a heart for them.

2. The fear of God.
Caring SO much for God that you fear so much to break his heart.
Proverbs 1:29 - "For they hated knowledge, and chose not to fear the Lord"

3. Prayer and Fasting.
Both need to be in your life. You don't have time? Take five minutes throughout your day to pray. If the enemy can steal your prayer, he can steal your communication to God.

4. Justice.
Not being afraid to stand up with your voice. Getting involved.
Proverbs 21:13- "Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor, will be ignored in their own time of need"

5. Discipleship.
Live life with the people in church. Be their passion. Avoid mediocre relationships.




"When an old person dies, a library burns to the ground."


"Its amazing what you can accomplish when it doesnt matter who gets the credit."

What MOTIVATES You. (P1

WOW .. i have been so busy lately with school that i haven't had time to blog at all. I've hardly have time to think about anything. So much work and it's only my Freshman year. But its all good, work and stress creates character =] Haha or at least thats what they all say .. Thought these past couple weeks there has been something on my mind. Motivation. Theres a couple reasons i've been thinking about motivation. One, its that time in school where your just getting sick of it and your work is piling up, your so tired and constantly doing work, and personally, i am a huge procrastinator. Big issue. I always wait til last minute .. And i have the hardest time getting the motivation to do it. Another thing .. I LOVE running, working out, yoga, all that good stuff. I love it, i love doing it, i love how it makes you feel, but i have a hard time finding the motivation to actually get up and do it. A friend told me recently, that the only cure to procrastination is to just DO IT. You just have to get up, and do it. But anyways .. thats not the type of motivation im talkin about. I dont know really why i brought that up lol. ANYWAYS .. The type of motivation i'm talking about is our motivation to go to church. What we go for. Why we get up SO early on a Sunday (or at least i do =P) to go down to a building with a bunch of people in it, and listen to someone preach about the Bible, the word of God.
You see, i have been noticing something these past couple weeks about the motivation of the people around me to go to church. Along with myself. Not in a judgmental way, because we all get sidetracked.
People wonder why other people say "i know your type" "i can read you, who you are" and all that, but really, there is so much that tells who a person is. For an example .. when your at church, and your all happy to be there, chillin with your friends, laughing and having fun, then someone suggests, HAY lets just skip out on service this one time, we can just chill here and have fun. Its ok if we dont go to the service just this time. What is it saying about you? If yo go to church, but dont here the message, why are you there??? The whole reason of the Church is for you to come, hear the word of God, be in his presence, and have your life changed. You see, sometimes we loose the meaning of church. Sometimes we get into a rut, and the TRUE reason that we go, is for another reason other than god. We go for our friends, to hang out, have fun inbetween services, or your boyfriend/girlfriend will be there and thats the only reason you even want to go. And during service, your not really concentrating. Your sitting there knodding your head, raising your hands, jumping around in worship, GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS, but during the whole thing, in your head your thinking about .. "what am i gonna do later? I should see if me and my friends can hang after church. Ughh this service is so long, i wish it was over already so i could go talk to my friends, i have something really important to tell them". That shows that you are not in church for the right reasons. You should be listening so intently that your not paying attention to the people beside you. Take in the pastors words of wisdom, they will guide you through that rough time that you were needing to talk to your friend about. Not only is it the wrong motivation, but it is disrespectful to the pastors. They spend months preparing this word to be spoken into your life. And when you dont listen? Just think about that ..When you worship, worship from the depths of your soul, with all of your heart. Dont just go through the motions. Years and years and years ago Pastor Travis spoke a message about just going through the motions of church, doing the same thing every Sunday, and it has stuck with me through all this time. If you've been a Christ follower for a long time now, and you haven't reached out to non-Christians .. then what are you doing?? Our soul purpose, the reason God put us here, is to reach every person on this earth and lead them to Him. If your just sitting in church every week, and not spreading the word, not reaching out to others, just trying to save yourself, then i dont think were doing our job. I believe that we all get into this motion now and then. But we gotta set ourselves straight, and remember what we should be goin for.

Dating around? OVER RATED.

I've been thinking.. and all our world is about these days is "dating around". Just experiencing the different kind of people out there, tryin em out, seein what you like, and all that. It is such crap though. People have the mind set that every person that you go out with, that it is just one closer to finding the one. NEWSFLASH! You don't have to date around.. Or find out who's "your type". Every person that you date, and get emotionally attached to, your just giving a part of yourself away emotionally. Picture this.. Someday when you find "the one" .. Dont you want the satisfaction of letting him know that you have waited all these years for HIM? That he can now have ALL of you. Not just.. Oh.. well i still have this part of my heart left.. you can have that part.. and oh.. i didnt give that away.. here you go.. But to say, here is my whole heart, body, and mind. Imagine how special that would make him feel. Cause guess what.. You dont have to date around to find the one God created for you.. God will bring him to you when he wills for it to happen. Don't search for love, but let God bring love to you. It will all fall together. God as already planned your whole love story. He knows what you've done, what is going to happen, and the exact moment that you will meet your spouse.

I was a WEIRD kid ....

So i was lookin through our storage room (That is filled with big scary spiders i might add) and found some random scattered papers of stuff i wrote.. It proves how WEIRD i was when i was like 8-9 so i thought i'd post them haha.


Poem off of top of my head, im guessing i wrote it around.. eight years old? :

I am a girl and girls are weird,
especially me i have a long yellow beard.

I am not normal my head is a square,
I have big purple ees and tears in my hair.

No one likes me exept for my mom,
My dad is too circular and likes the name Tom.

I have no friends only my cat,
And not my owl he looks like a rat.

My cats name is Tom because of my dad,
When i look at her she looks really sad.

I eat iguanas, snakes, sometimes bats,
NOt ever stakes it looks realy bad (i think i meant STEAKS)


Another poem .. Prolly 9-10:

Dads are there for you when you are sad,
Moms punish you when you are bad.

They always take care of you when you are sick,
unlike a dog they wont bite or wont lick.

They discipline you for your own good,
So you'll turn out polite like all children should.

YOu'll have good times and bad times and sad times and more, they'll even take you to the beach to play at the shore.

When they get older you might have sad times,
Like when they stop giving you piggy-back rides.

All parents are different, some short and some tall,
But the will still love you, the best part of all.



I REALLY have NO idea what this is ...... :

Today was not fun at all, a guy shoved me in the face with a pie. Today was so unfun i thought i would almost die. Next i got chases by tigers, got blew on by a whale, then i got a rip in my one and only sail. YOu can see why my day was bad, but that is not all, a giraffe stole my purse i could not get it back because the are way too tall. My rat chewed a hole in my favorite brand new jeans, at dinner my dog stole my only refried beans. Today was not to good, i hope tomorrow is not the same, because i have no one else to blame.


And this one is a classic little kid problem haha :

I dont want to listen to my mom, i dont want to clean my room,
I dont want to listen to thunder i am scared of the big boom.

I dont want to listen to music, my dog barking, or mom yelling,
All i want to do is at my garage sale keep on selling.

Why do i have to clean my room, why do you even care?
Pillows, toys, stuffed animals, are all i have in there.

YOu never even go in unless you say goodnight,
Or if i get a poisonous spider bite.

That rarely even happens to me, only every year,
If you make me clean my room i will always have rainy tears.


EMO TEISHA!!!! :

All alone in the darkness in the silent night,
shivers down my spine it gives me quite a fright.

NO friends, no life, no me,
no identity, no we.

All alone in the darkness with no light lit in the candle,
life is a mess, disaster, a scramble.


Andddd a random emo journal entry from when i was 9=10 im guessing. I forgot that i had bully problems haha. Its pretty deep cause its not made up lol..:

My faveorite song has to be Sticks And Stones by Aly and AJ. Because it explains how you should not make fun of people. And why dont people understand that it hurts other people to make fun of them. And that the joke is always on me. There is this one person that always picks of me in real life, her name is ******, she always calls me ugly and she pushes me around and well, lets just say that if you ever saw a convorsation that we had on a email, you would be pretty mad too! I really have only one friend. Well, kind of two. I have always been the dorky kid at school that gets ignored, so at least at my new school Sky Valley, i fit in a tiny bit more. BUt there is this one girl that wishes i wasnt alive. I wont mention her name though. SO there are a few bullys that always picking on me. People can be pretty mean around here. SO be careful i've tried everything i can do to get rid of bullys but it is practically impossible!!! Any ideas?



Haha yea so those are the random papers i found =P and i am bored.. soooo yeaaaa heres a post..

God has put you where you are, for a reason.

For a while, i really felt as if God was calling me to go to the public high school in our area, my Sophomore year, to reach the kids there. There are so many kids there that need to be saved, and i wanted to be a part of that. And i really was planning on transferring from my school, to there. Now my school, my school is one of those smaller places that they call a homeschool co-op, or an alternative school. Its pretty much a school where people get sent to when they've been kicked out of all the other schools lol. Personally, i love it there, and didnt want to change schools unless God called me to. I am the only person from my church that goes to my school. The only one. All of my friends go to the local high school or middle school. I know that if i were to go there, that i would not personally be able to handle the kids there, or the classes, teachers, the drama, any of it. But if God called me to, i still would. But it occurred to me.. That i am the only one that occurred ones to this school, out of everyone in my church. Therefore, maybe i've been called, to lead the peoplewho is like the lord at my school, instead of the high school that everyone goes to. That maybe its up to me to be the one to lead the youth of my school, to the Lord. Most of the youth in our church goes to the main schools, and it can be their mission to reach those people. It doesnt have to be mine. Cause God has his own plans for me, and their not the same as others, its not to be in that place, at that time. I am placed where i am, because God put me there. For a reason. Instead of worrying about the others of my generation somewhere else, why dont i just focus on the people that i can reach RIGHT NOW. Where i am at. Where God has put me. God set you on this earth with a purpose and a plan. You may have your own plans in your head, but what if we allowed God to do in our lifes, what he has willed for us. Think of the salvations that could be made, the work that would be done in peoples lifes. Let God guide you into His plan for you.

Thoughts-Actions-Habits-Lifestyle-Destiny

The road to sin starts in your mind. Get off the road before you travel too far.

.

Mark 7:21-23, "For from within, out of a persons heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you."

Proverbs 4:23, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."

Luke 6:45, "What you say flows from what is in your heart."

We need to be careful with our thoughts. I used to have a mind set, that only your physical sin mattered. That all that you think in your mind, didnt matter, and that it wasnt sin. I used to think that it was fine because we cant help our thoughts. Until i started reading about it. I found out that your thoughts are very critical. Our thoughts can convince us of many things. Our thoughts are what leads to our sinful actions. Then our actions will become habits, and our habits will become our lifestyle. And once we have a lifestyle of sinful habits.. it becomes our destiny.

Choosing Your Friends Wisely

Proverbs 12:26- "The righteous should choose their friends wisely, for the way of the wicked leads them astray"

Proverbs 13:20- "Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble"

Lately, I've been learning a lot about choosing my friends wisely, and the influence that they have on us. Our peers, are the biggest influence in our life.

These past few years, I've had a lot of different friendships, over half of them, i lost, and haven't talked to them in a long time. But friendships come and go. (Proverbs 18:24-A true friend sticks close than a brother.) But looking back on the friendships i had with those people, now that i have had a chance to grow, and find myself in the Lord, I see how much they truly changed who i was. See.. We often times are entirely convinced that our friends don't change us, we say how no way our friends are gonna change who we are, we say how they don't let them influence us, and that we know who we are and don't care what people think. But the truth is, no matter what, who we hang around is who we are going to become. We don't always notice it though. Looking back, i started to become EXACTLY like the people i hung around and became friends with. I can especially see it because i have always kept journals, and when i read the ones from just last year, i get so disappointed in myself, i am disgusted on how conceited i became, how much i was just concentrated on myself, how i blew off my friends and thought bad things about them. Why was i like that? Because the friends i had at the time were like that. Just because their "Christian" doesn't mean thats it automatically makes them ok to be friends with. Cause their are a lot of people that call themselves "Christians" but they don't life the life of a true Christ follower. We need to evaluate our friendships right now.. are the people we are spending time with, people that we would like to become? If you want to be a strong man/woman of God, then surround yourself in the environment and people whom are people of God. People that can inspire you, encourage you, and help you to be that person. People that have the same desire and longing as you do. To be the person that God calls you to be. Find people with that common interest. If you have someone in your life that is influencing you in a negative way, and pulling you away from who you long to be.. then consider ending that relationship, or limiting your time with them. And when you are with them, to be an example to them in your words, the way you live, your love, your faith, and your purity.

The Cards You've Been Delt

Here are my notes from Pastor Travis's message, "The Cards You've Been Delt".

Just like we play cards, we've all been given cards in life.

James 1:2 - "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy"

The cards we've been delt are OUR cards. We cant change or exchange them. God has delt us THOSE cards, and has a plan for all of them. We ask, WHY God, why these cards. Then we also get some good cards along with the ones we dont like. We may have a great sense of humor and we love the fact that we can make ppl laugh. We love to show off the cards that we like. But we may not like the fact that we are short for our age, prideful, arrogant, get jealous easy, etc. We may have been delt the card of divorce, and we want to hide our "bad" cards behind the good ones. We compare our cards to our friends cards, and get mad at God. Why cant we have our friends card? Why cant we have that?? We ask why he make that person die, or made us an emotional person, etc. God does not make anything bad happen in our lifes. He doesnt go, oh you've sinned so i am going to punish you. God is a God of grace. God did not make the death of a loved one happen. He let all that stuff happen so that you can become the person you are. So you can gain strength and wisdom. The "bad" cards are the ones that will make you into the person God has called you to be. They will make you stronger in life if you let God do with them what he wants. Be happy about them.

Reaching People Through Social Networking for God.

God been putting something on my heart lately about the media. We have so many ways to talk to eachother. We use Facebook, Myspace, Email, Texting, Phone calls, Twitter, and all these social networking sites that we use to reach people, talk, and stay connected. Those who text, im sure you all know how annoying and stupid chain mail is. Its all about forwarding some message or else you will have bad luck, or your crush wont love you, or your mom will die or somethin stupid. Sometimes we use social networking for things that we shouldnt. Complaining, letting out feelings that we will later regret, and it spreads to the world. I know personally i struggled with that and Twitter when it first came out. I had no one to talk to so i would vent everything on Twitter. We shouldn't be using MS and FB for that type of stuff. We dont realize that we have an amazing opportunity right in front of us. We have all these ways to reach and influence people. Everything we say influence someone in someway. I say we stop using these networks to complain and be negative about everything, and start using them to reach and encourage people with the words of God. Why send out a post about how your day at work or schooled sucked, when you can post a verse that will encourage us all, and uplift our spirits. Why send a text to our friend saying how someone just upset you, and gossip to them, when you could text them something Godly that has been on your heart. Imagine if all of us did this, if we all posted something that we are thankful for each day, or something that God has been doing in your life, or even just the highlight of your day. Instead of embracing all the negative crap going on in our lifes. Were supposed to bring all that crap to God, not to the world. Not to Twitter or FaceBook. That just causes rumors and drama. So bring all that negativity to God, and start spreading the word to everyone you can. Just that, will make SUCH a big difference.

Posting how terrible your feel wont do anything, how about saying how you know God will heal you and you are so thankful for that? I have personally experimented. I used to be constantly complaining about everything going on, and guess what, people didnt like me very much. They got really sick and tired of me and didnt want to be around me. Then i started posting things that God was putting 0n my heart, and i got text messages saying that the words i put out there for everyone to see, really changed their heart, and that they really needed to hear that. We can change our generation by changing the ways that we speak. Let God speak to you, and through you. Dont hold back the excellence God has spoke into your life, for just yourself to consume. That will take you no where in life. Instead, spread it for all the world to hear.

What Does It Mean To Be Beautiful

What does it mean to be beautiful?

1 Peter 3:4 says: "You should clothe yourselfs instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."

Proverbs 31:30 says: "Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised"

Romans 10:15 says: " And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news" ."

B- Be yourself. If we are not ourselfs, then when we find "Mr. Right" then hes not going to like us for who we are, hes gonna like us for someone we are trying to be.

E- Enjoy life and the place that your in. We often live our lifes always looking forward to something, saying "I cant wait!!" and we try to pass time as quickly as possible, we dont enjoy the time inbetween. We need to enjoy every moment of our lifes, because we will never get these times back once they are gone.

A- Always maintain your hygiene.

U- Use your God given gifts to talk positively. "If someone is gossiping to you, they are probably gossiping about you." If you wouldnt say it to their face, dont say it to anyone else.

T- Trust. Trust that God has a plan for your life. Jeremiah 29:11

I- Intelligence. Choose your friends wisely. Our friends have the GREATEST influence on our lifes. Who you hang out with, is who you will become.

F- Forgive. Even when your wrong. Be the friend you want to have.

U- Understand that God wants to be yoru father.

L- Love. Love God first and He will bring your romeo. He is to chase you, you are to say no and say yes to God, at this point in our lifes.

HEADLINES- Ten Not So Common Courtesies to Start Working On Today

1. Go out of your way to speak to people. "Pleasant words are...healing"

Proverbs 16:24

2. Make a commitment to engage in honor. Our actions will then be swayed by our commitment, not circumstance. 1 Peter 3:8-9. It determines our level of blessing.

3. Smile, it adds to your face value.

4. Be friendly and helpful. If you do, people will return it. "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24

5. SHow genuine interest. If you try, you can find the good in almost anyone. Phil 4:8-9, "Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

6. Be cautious with criticism and generous with praise.

7. Be slow to judge. Three sides to every story: your side, their side, and the correct side.

8. Instead of using others, serve them. Galatians 5:13, "Use your freedom to serve one another in love."

9. Start trusting people-- It builds lasting relationships.

10. Be humble. Oswald Chambers, "When a saint becomes conscious of being a saint, something has gone wrong."

Acquire The Fire- Notes

Im lookin through my prayer/notes journal and all the ATF sessions are in it. So i thought i'd write the notes down of what Joel preached on Romantic Love and about our Identity. Their just a few notes so may be kinda hard to understand, sketchy, and jumps around a lot, but its good stuff. =] So much more to say about all of it, but in a nutshell, here's what we talked about.

ATF (Session 3) Joel Johnson.

Romantic Love

Romantic love is a special type of love. Its like a fire. Fire is awesome, fun, amazing, beautiful.. in the right context. If you take the fire out of your fireplace and put it on your living room floor, it is a lot more dangerous, and it will burn. Dating is not a practice for marriage, its practice for divorce. You need to know how to be a good friend, and know how to make sacrifices to be in a healthy romantic relationship. Sometimes we fall in love with the idea of falling in love, rather then sacrificial love. Where your body goes, your heart follows. Where your heart is, your body follows. Women of God don't dress trashy, they dress classy. Modest is hottest ;) The bait you use, determines the fish you'll catch.

ATF- Morning message- Joel Johnson

The worlds screams to us that we are worthless. That no one is ever going to love us. Were not gonna do anything in our life. And we start to believe it, and it starts to become our identity. Our identity gets stolen, and we become someone were not. God put us here for a reason, with a mission, and an identity. Our identity is not in skating, cheerleading, or anything. It is in Christ. We begin to feel empty, and it ruins our self-esteem when we find it in someone else. Maybe someone has said something to you, ever just joking around, but it has effected your life and self-esteem. Thoughts lead to actions, actions lead to habits, habits lead to lifestyle, lifestyle leads to destiny. We have to make a deciscion everyday to listen to what God says about us, not the world. And then we need to open up Gods FaceBook (The Bible). Will you lay down your old identity for your identity in Christ?

Stand up to your friends for GOD

Something i have always delt with, is friendship issues. One of the things i wanna talk about, is a quality of a true friend. A quality that is hand for some to do, because it takes boldness, fearlessness, and trust in the Lord. I remember a message that Pastor Travis spoke a few years ago, about friendship. And he talked about all the things a true friend needs to be. One of them, was that you have to look out for them, and if you see them heading for trouble, to talk to them about it. I cant remember exactly what he said cause it was like 3-4 years ago.. But something that has stuck with me through all of my friendships after that message, to this day, is that you have to be willing to sacrifice your friendship. I found a scripture that really touches on that, it is Matthew 10:22. It says “And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.”. For some reason this scripture seems like a good one for what i wanna talk about.

If you just stand by.. and watch your friends fall, and get into something that you know will end up hurting them, then what type of friend are you??? To just stand around and watch them walk away from Christ.. or maybe its not that serious of a situation, but you're too afraid to stand up for Gods word. Your too afraid to say something, or a scripture, because of what it could do to your friendship. That if you speak up for God that it could make your friendship awkward, or they might think “haha well thats a cute little scripture.. but this is serious”. I think what its talking about in Matthew 10:22 is that when we speak the word, not everyone is going to like us. Some may hate us for our beliefs. But we have to stand up for God and even if it costs us a friendship with someone, if GOD speaks to you, speaks into your HEART to tell your friend something in a time of hardship, then we can not hesitate, we can not worry about what will happen to our friendships if we are BOLD and speak the word that God has put on our heart for that friend, that stranger, or that family member. Because if we do that, then we willbe blessed beyond comprehesion. I have personally struggled with this all my life in my friendships. I have lost many many friends.. Due to speaking up for God, and my “friends” did not agree with me, they got upset. But i do not regret a word i said to them. I know in my heart that God used me and spoke through me to them, and i was put in their life temporarally so that i could tell them about my Lord who has saved my life. But sinse i took that leap of faith, God completely BLESSED my life. I went for three years without a single good friend. But then i got more connected into The Rock Church after about two years of attending. Me and my family prayed for one friend for me.. just ONE good friend. And literally just suddenly, i got blessed with 5 new amazing friends in my life that i am still friends with to this day. You see, God used me to speak to those other friends, and then he released them from my life, so that i could have even better friends, and LOTS of them!! Now today, i have countless amounts of friends. So many amazing people that i would do anything for.

It sounds easy.. you may be thinking, duh i'll speak the word to my friends if God tells me to!! But to tell you the truth. It was not easy at all. Some of the leaps i took were the hardest things ive ever had to do. To say. Because the things they said back to me.. would cut deep in my heart. Its the only thing they could do. Was come up with the BEST way to insult me, and HURT me. I mean what were they gonna do?? say “Yeah your right”?? haha i dont think so. The only thing that kept me going was putting all of my trust in God. As BAD as the things were that they said to me.. I tryed with everything in me to not let it get to me, and not take it personally. And that right there was the hardest part. Hearing what they say back. God helped me through those times so much. All i could do was smile and laugh about it. And pray that someday they will see the light. And if they ever came back asking for help, that i wouldnt turn my cheek because of what they said to me, but i'd let them come with open arms and help them with whatever they need. I remember one time.. I sat down with one of my friends/bullies (yea idk how that works) in her room.. Cause i wanted to talk to her about something. And when i told her, she got a little upset, and said somethin that hurt, but when i looked in her eyes, she was tearing up. Those tears were a sign to me that i had made a difference. I know that i have hurt some people from being brutally honest, but i also know that i have changed some lifes, and even if they never realize it, i know i have impacted them in some way. And that is the best feeling of accomplishment you will ever feel. A feeling that no trophy, job, or award could ever give you. But i am certanily not perfect in this at all. It takes practice, and graciousness. Because i know that there has been times where i have been too harsh, and said some un-nessesary things that were not spoken to me by God. Because of this i have learned to ALWAYS think before you speak. I always think over every little thing before i give any advice now. Or even just speak.

I know that God has put me in the lifes of many others, and them in their lifes, right now, so that i can do the same. But i also have friends now that will listen to what i have to say, and will consider it, and do the same to me. Im certainly not trying to say that everyone you talk to will get mad at you and do what they did to me. That was just my personal experiance.

Just remember Matthew 10:22 when your caught in a situation like that.

Be Yourself

If i have learned one thing this year, it would be just two words. Two words that i have heard my entire life, but they never meant anything until now. I always just saw words, and like oh thats cute. That's a cute little saying, sew it onto a pillow, ya know. Those words are, BE YOURSELF. Or i remember i used to always say “Be who you want to be, not what others want to see”. Which actually i thought of while writing a poem when i was 10, but i guess its a big quote that everyone says haha. Im just that smart ;) This past year those words have really sunk in my heart, and i've been shown how important they truely are. There is SO much pressure on teens these days, to change who you are so that you will “fit in”, or change for a guy. And i think thats why no one these days really know who we are. That is why we are sterio-typed, labeled, assumed about, and that is why we are SO lost. Because we just dont know who to be. Should we be a drinker? Smoker? Be a partier? Christian? Skater? Emo? Hooligan? Vandalist? Gangster? The list could go on forever.. But we try out all these personalitys, looking for which one we fit best into, but they all get old after a while, and we just keep hoppin around. We will search for ourselfs in the opposite sex. But anyways, (i get sidetracked easily =P) for me personally, i did a lot of that last year. There were some guys, that i felt i needed to prove myself to be like them, or become like them, for them to like me. For one, i started becoming a “bad girl”, and tellin him what he wanted to hear. Because i thought it would make him like me more, cause he enjoyed that sort of talk. Later i found out i was pretty much gettin used. For what? I was the girl he was friends with just because i told him what he wanted to hear when he was having a rough time. He began to change me into someone im not, i changed MYSELF into someone im not, for him. And i now realize how ignorant that was, when i knew he was a bad influence on me. And i do regret some of the stuff that was said. There are other times where ive changed what i like and am into, such as video games, guitar, and all sorts of things. And im sure ill look back in a year and realize things im doing right NOW that are stupid like that. But my point is.. God has given us an identity. First of all, An Identity in Him. To be his sons and daughters. But second, when we find ourself in Christ, we start to put together who we are, and you dont feel like you have to keep searching for who you are. For instance, i love Longboarding, Snowboarding, ATV-ing, bein outside, and i enjoy hangin with the guys ang gettin dirty. But i also love make-up, cuttin hair, want to go into cosmotology, and will longboard in dresses and high heels. And i have a problem with procrastinating and motivation. Its just who i am, and its who God created me to be. I cant help that im girly in the sense that i love make-up, i cant change the fact that i hate math, and that i honestly dont like video games that much, or that i hate reading with everything in me. I can not pretend for a friend or for a guy that im totally into Halo or HoN, or COD, or TF2, or MW or whatever. I cant pretend that i love football or sports cause i am sooo not a sports person!! Another thing is stealing your peers identitys. For an example, a girl will like a guy, but the guy likes another girl. Whats the girl going to do?? Well of course, she is going to analize the girl, and try to become like her, and do what she does, like what she likes, so that the guy will like her. But all your doing is being an identity theft. Becoming someone your not. Lately, one of the biggest things that keep me on track to who i truely am, and keeping true to myself, is this; Say you become JUST like someone else.. When “the one” guy comes, or just any guy, (or even a friend) comes, and you get to be really good friends with, you get to know eachother, and he really likes you. But the person he got to know.. isnt really you. Its someone else, your just pretending to be like. Your being a FAKE. Our world today is FILLED with fakes that put on an act every day. But you see.. the truth will ALWAYS win out. Luke 8:17- For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open. And what i always remind myself.. i want people to like me for who i am. I would rather be hated for WHO I AM then loved for WHO I AM NOT. And when “the one” comes along, i want him to fall in love with ME. Not all the things im pretending to be. You can only put on an act for so long.. Eventually people are going to catch on.. But sure.. sure we will go through life trying new things.. and having them just not work for us. Like some ppl try to learn Piano.. and they are determind at first to be the best, but deep down they hate it, and just want to do it cause its “cool”. Im trying to explain this as best as i can.. But i just cant seem to get through what i am really trying to say.. Though i am trying as best as i can. We just cant care what others think of us. If were worshiping in church and feel like gettin down on your knees, or jumpin around like crazy, then you cant be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, and not worry about the people around us. If there were no one else around we would be perfectly fine with being ourself and belting out some lyrics. So when were out in the real world, away from our alone time, you cant hold back who you are or your just not being yourself. Now this doesnt mean if your in WalMart, and your feel like screaming at the top of your lungs as you run through the isles, (or during service in church for that matter =P) that it is acceptable. Ya gotta be respectful =P I think what im trying to say is.. You can not be embarassed for ashamed of who you are created to be. Dont try to change things about you that you cant do anything about. Dont try to hide it. Because God created you PERFECT in his eyes. To God, you are his PERFECT creation. He doesnt see anything wrong with you. Its never you that he hates, its the sin that he hates. He will never love or hate us any more or less no matter what he do. Theres so much i wanna say.. and i could babble on for the rest of my life about all the lessons life has for us to learn, but i'll just stay on the subject of bein yourself for now.. Causeee i've already wondered and i have no idea pretty much of what i just typed =P It just kinda flows through my fingertips and i just keep typing as things come to mind. Which that brings me back to finding yourself in Christ. God gave me a scripture this year, its 1 Corinthians 12:7-. It explains how We are each given a spiritual gift. We are given this gift so that we can help people. God gave me the gift of being spoken through and the ability to give wise advice. Where others, they may have the gift of prayer, healing, speaking in tounges, etc. Etc.

Soooo before i make a novel out of this one subject, ill end it with that scripture. Cause i could say soooo much more about it. There is so much more about your Idenity in Christ and all that. But heres for now =] I pray that you understand what im talkin about and get the message im tryin to get through.