Be Still....

 

{photo credit goes to my sister Mary!}

 

  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.--John 14:27

Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.--Isaiah 12:2

 

  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 

“Peace be with you."--John 20:19

 

 

The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.--Numbers 6:25-26

Things I WILL Do Before I Die....

I will....see snow. No, I have never seen it before. But I will before I die...and when I finally get my wish, I will make a snowman, a snow angel and throw a snowball at someone.

 

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I will....read all of Jane Austin's books. I have read "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility", but that's about it. Perhaps I will read "Emma" over Christmas break....Hmm...yes, I think that's a good idea.

 

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I will....dye my hair. I was thinking about doing it over Christmas, but I'm thinking about waiting a bit longer. Just too scared to do it right now. Lol.

 

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I will....travel to Europe.

 

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And while in Europe....I will...visit Scotland and take in all the amazing Scottish accents. I will go see Loch Ness and take pictures in front of an awesome (and old) Scottish castle.    

 

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In Europe, I will....take a train through Switzerland. This wonderful idea came to while looking at the back of an old Keith Green record....Keith Green was sitting at a train station in Switzerland.....and it made me want to go there and ride a train. :)

 

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In EuropeI will...go to the Eiffel Tower in France. I want to see it so badly! I want to ride the elevator all the way to the top...I want to see it all lit up and sparkling against the nighttime sky.

 

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In Europe, I will....go to England and take a picture with one of these guys! Aren't there hats just awesome? Haha!

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So....that's my bucket list! :) Do y'all have anything that you've just GOT TO DO before your life ends? Do be a dear and share!

Learning to Love....

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It's easy to judge. It's easy to point fingers and say, "How dare you?!?". I know this all too well. I know how easy it is to allow yourself to fall into that "holier than thou" way of thinking. I am a friendly person, but I have the tendency to be critical. I have been guilty of talking about people behind their backs....of being two-faced at times.

Now, some might say that this is just part of being human. But I refuse to allow my human nature be an excuse for my sin. And that's what it is, it's sin. As ugly as that may sound, it's true. 

God has really convicted me of this. He has shown me how it's wrong to tread down this path, even if the person may deserve it (in your mind, anyway!). He has shown me my need to repent and begin living like Jesus.

As a Christian, I am called to love people as Jesus did. That means not judging them. That means loving them where they are in their lives. That means not focusing on the ugly parts of their lives.

This DOES NOT mean condoning the sin. This does not mean approving of sin that might be in that individuals life, but it does mean accepting a person as they are. It means that you realize that like you, they are not perfect. It means overcoming that Pharisee outlook. It means ridding yourself of the "Thank God I'm not like them" attitude. Because, guess what, you and I are sinners too! We are redeemed sinners, but sinners none the less. 

Once again, love and acceptance does not mean ignoring the reality of sin. We cannot do that, because if we disregard sin, we disregard our need of a Savior, and goodness knows we CANNOT do that. 

What we can do is surrender ourselves to God and tell Him to use us to touch others. Truly loving people means that we are allowing Jesus to lead us to people, love them, and testify His love to them.

                             Give me Your eyes for just one second

                                  Give me Your eyes so I can see

                                  Everything that I keep missing

                                  Give me Your love for humanity

                                 Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted

                                 The ones that are far beyond my reach

                                Give me Your heart for the once forgotten

                                Give me Your eyes so I can see...

                             -Brandon Heath's "Give Me Your Eyes"

Shout to the Lord

My Jesus, my Saviour
Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love

My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You

Shout to the Lord
All the Earth, let us sing
Power and majesty
Praise to the King
Mountains bow down
And the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name

I sing for joy at the work
Of Your hands
Forever I'll love You
Forever I'll stand
Nothing compares
To the promise I have

In YOU!

This Week...

...I have stressed over and worked on a boatload of biology homework...and there's more to come. Joy.

....I gave a presenation in my government class. Fairly nerve racking, but it's over...and for that, I am thankful.

...I survived an algebra test. Didn't make the greatest grades, but not a terrible one either....and because of that, I am happy.

...I did volunteer work at my local pregnancy center. Feels good to help others...and for that, I feel fulfilled.

....I had a babysitting job. The 2 little dudes I babysit, Clayton (3) and Cooper (1) are handfuls, but adorable. Love them to pieces...and because of them, I am smiling.

...I have been getting to bed far too late and getting up too early....and because of that, I am sleep deprived.

...I have been enjoying me some caffine. ^^See above statement^^....and because of that, I am surviving.

...I have been overwhelmed at certain moments, but now that it's over, life is good...and for that, I am grateful.

Senior Picture Ideas

So this year, I am a senior in high school. Whoop, whoop! Very, very excited...to say the least! ;) Something I am most exicted is my senior pictures. A wonderful woman from our homeschool group is going to be taking them next month, so I've been browsing around trying to get some ideas of what I like. Here are a few things I'm considering thus far....

...balloons. I think balloons would be so cool to incorporate into the pictures.

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...books. Like I've mentioned before...I'm a book worm, so I for sure have to use books as a prop. :)

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....umbrellas. I have this adorable zebra striped umbrella that's going to look awesome! :)

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....records. I really have no idea how I could use these in my phot shoot, but I'd love to figure out a way to work them in there. Any ideas?

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So those are just a few of my ideas....I'm very open to hearing y'all's, so if you have any suggestions, drop me a note!

You Make Me Smile....

I  must say, I have the best best friend ever. Katie and I have known each other for nearly 2 years. We met over at my Voices of the Innocent blog...she left a comment and her blog link. I visited her blog quite often and enjoyed her various posts and pictures. So....one day, I shot Miss Katie an email and asked her if she'd like to become email buddies. Katie emailed me back and said that she had been praying about asking me the same thing! And thus, our fabulous friendship began.

 I'm so thankful to have her as a friend...there was only thing about our friendship that wasn't the greatest....we live in two different states. We had never met in person, and since neither one of us travel very often, it didn't look like we were going to have an opportunity to get together for a good while.

Until this past weekend...for the first time EVER, I got to meet my amazing bestie! Katie and her family were on vacation, and we were able to meet up. I was so excited. It was so good to finally meet this beautiful girl! We had so much fun together...breakfast at Cracker Barrel...then we spent the afternoon hanging out at the mall. We went to Barnes and Noble and did some shopping (best place ever to get some Christmas shopping done!:)), Bath and Body Works (and smelled all the awesome body mists! Haha!), and a few other stores. Lots of fun! We ended our time together by grabbing some coffee at the Starbucks in the Barnes and Noble store (yep, back to Barnes and Noble!). It was a really amazing time...to say the least! :) 

Katie and Me at Cracker Barrel.

Love black and white pictures! :)

Our amazing coffee!

My sister (who came along with me to meet sweet Katie)

informed us that we looked adorable sitting there drinking our coffee.

And we had to take a picture with these awesome

little food toy things. Lol.

This is Katie with some Dr. Who related thingy.

Tardis, I think? :)

Us....

And us again!

Modeling my awesome new shades that Katie brought me.

Love them!

What Friendship is (by Winnie the Pooh)

“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one

day so I never have to live without you." 

 

 

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh?" he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's hand. "I just wanted to be sure of you.”

 

 

“How do you spell 'love'?" - Piglet
"You don't spell it...you feel it." - Pooh”

 

 

“Friendship," said Christopher Robin, "is a very comforting thing to have.” 

 

 

 

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Aren't they just adorable? I firmly believe that every person deserves to have a friends like Pooh or Piglet. Someone who is totally and completely devoted; someone who loves you, fully aware of your faults and quirks (and unquenchable desire for honey!). Sigh. So sweet. Just love these two! :)

 

 

Healing Begins

So you thought you had to keep this up
All the work that you do
So we think that you're good
And you can't believe it's not enough
All the walls you built up
Are just glass on the outside

So let 'em fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Afraid to let your secrets out
Everything that you hide
Can come crashing through the door now
But too scared to face all your fear
So you hide but you find
That the shame won't disappear

So let it fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now
We're here now, oh

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides
With the dark inside of us
So please don't fight
This coming light
Let this blood come cover us
His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

I am a Bookworm

Close youreyes and envision a rainy day. The water droplets are falling steadily, "kerplunking" on your roof. It's the kind of day no one wants to be out in. The kind of day that inspires you to forget about that long "to do list" and instead make yourself a cup of coffee. You track down your backpack and pull out a book you picked up from the library early that week. Your house is silent, save the ticking of the clock and the pattering of the rain. You curl up in your favorite comfy chair and open the book to page one. You take a sip of your coffee and begin to read....sigh....yes, this is heaven.

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...do you get the drift I'm a bookworm? Yep. I am. I love books. Always have...ever since I learned to read, I've always been enthralled by what the literary world has to offer. When I was little, I went on adventures with American Girls like Samantha, Kirsten, Felicity or Kit. During my preteen/early teen years, I read the classic Nancy Drew books. In more recent history, I've read the "Lord of the Rings" series, "The Redemption of Sarah Cain" and "Hunger Games" series (which, by the way, Hunger Games=love!) just to name a few. I just finished reading "The Walk" by Richard Paul Evans. Wonderful book! I'm picking up the 2nd book in the series tomorrow from the library.

Presently, I am in the middle of"How to Be Your Own Selfish Pig". Intriguing title, yes? It's written by Francis Shaeffer's daughter Susan Schaeffer Macaulay . It examines and compares Christianity to other religions and modern, more humanistic philosophies. It covers some pretty deep stuff, but at the same time, it's not hard reading. It's quite good. I highly reccomend it.

Books are quite wonderful, aren't they? :)

It Runs in the Family

Mary isn't the only talented photographer in my family. Nope...there's another one...thus, I am introducing my sister Amanda to the blogging community. Amanda took a photography class a few months ago and did quite well in it. These are a few of my favorite shots by her.

I love all of these, but I'd have to say 1 and 3 are my very favorites. The clouds are simply amazing (!!!) in number 3...just sayin'!