well…i’m getting ready to go to a church in cincinnati tonight with my best and some friends. it’s such a beautiful saturday here! i am so thankful that the warm weather is finally here. it’s finally starting to feel like summer. i have all of next week off work too, which i am thankful for! on monday i’m going here to see john piper speak which should be pretty amazing. i don’t know where this is going so i better end this here before it gets too long and boring have an amazing weekend full of Christ’s love, His peace and His joy.

much love.

 

 

sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up in my own little life doing my own little things that i don’t take the time to see what is actually going on around the world….like the fact that…right now in china nearly 19,000 are buried alive and 12,000 died after an earthquake that struck there this week. this breaks my heart. so many now are without homes, without shelter. we in america are so worried about the gas prices, about the economy, about such small things when others around the world (even in america) are looking for a place to sleep tonight, where they are going to get their next meal, how they are going to support their family yet another day… Lord, we are so blessed here. i pray that we won’t be blind to the needs of others. open our eyes & may we see the needs of others before our own…

 

one decision down…the rest is in His hands. i knew that i needed to decided on what school i’d be going to in the fall and praise Jesus, that part is done. for two years, i’m going to stay home (the thing i didn’t think i was going to do… .. .His ways are not our ways sometimes, are they? ) and go to nku (northern kentucky university) and ccu (cincinnati bible college.) i’ll major in photography and take classes through ccu to minor in biblical studies. : ) not what i would have though i would be doing five months ago, but i’m pretty much excited. after those two years…maybe bible college in europe….maybe this or that…who knows. i’ll follow where He leads. as much as i love working full time (8-5) and my job…it will be nice to mix up the hours a little bit come fall. but…i have the whole summer until then..

“be Thou my vision, o Lord of my heart…”

 

 

 

i’m going to start leading a girl’s bible study..somewhere, i don’t know where yet but, somewhere. i’ve talked about it long enough and now it’s actually time to do something about it. i want to disciple young girls and encourage them and show them the blessings of living a pure life with a pure heart. our generation desperately needs young woman to take a stand for their purity and their innocence. there needs to be young woman who are set apart for Christ. living an un-compromised life because they know that they have been bought with a precious price. living a life for Christ and not for temporary pleasure. this is my heart cry. that they would see they are treasured…that they are beautiful in His sight.

these girls need to see and know that their beauty is not to come from what the media tells them…what they see on tv or in magazines or on the internet. it does not come from broken relationships, chasing guys, wanting the attention of others. no, their beauty is so much more and can only be found from loving Jesus above everything else. it can only be found in treasuring Him above their popularity, above their status-quo, above everything. the Lord has such good things in store for those that truly seek Him…for those who give Him their all. oh, that the Lord would touch this generation. a generation that is looking for something more. something better. give me words to speak, Jesus…

“blessed are the pure in heart…”

 

oh..decisions, decisions. i’ve decided to not worry about tomorrow…or about what college i’m going to, or if i’m going to college–my future is in His hands, and that is where it will be. i’ve been spending entirely way too much time worrying about the college i’m going to and what i’m going to do next year that i have not spent time thanking God for the present-for here and now. “do not worry about tomorrow…” Jesus says in Matthew…so, i leave it in His hands and will remain thankful for where He has placed me now. the Lord will open doors when the time is right, you know?

 

also…in other news : ) this past weekend i went out and bought a d300 nikon…i had been saving and decided that it was time to go for it. i’m ecstatic..she’s a beauty… maybe i’ll put up some pictures soon : )

 

blessings.

 

 

i read this in a book by elisabeth elliot last night and was so blessed by it…

” there is only one classroom in which to learn:
1. the work of God
2. the will of God
3. the trustworthiness of God
4. the presence of God

the classrooom is where i am now. this is the place appointed by
God for my instruction and santification- even here:

1. where it seems God is doing nothing (He is, in fact, at work in unseen ways)
2. where His will seems obscure or frightening (He will surely give me peace at last)
3. where He isn’t doing what i want Him to (He is doing something better- perhaps He is doing the very thing i prayed for, but in a way incomprehensible to me)
4. where He is most absent (yes, even there His promise holds: I will never leave you or forsake you..) “

the Lord is at work, even when i don’t realize it or feel far from His grace. He is there, always steadfast and true. i think that this is such a new season in my life…and i’m ready….and trusting Him…

 

 

“let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. every one should see goodness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile. joy shows from the eyes, it appears when we speak and walk. it cannot be kpet closed inside us. it reacts outside. joy is very infectious..” (mother teresa)

 

“therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. and walk in love as Christ
loved us & gave Himself up for us…” ephesians 5:1

 

tonight i was praying some and you know, i was really convicted that at times…
i really don’t have the faith that i should have. i read something today like this…

“My child, you believe Me for so little. don’t be so safe in the things you pray.
who are you trying to keep from looking foolish? Me or you?”

and i stopped. and thought. that is so true in my life. i have so little faith but why? He is the One who
does the impossible, the Creator..our Savior…why should i doubt Him? why should i worry?

i also read this….

“and this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if
we ask anything according to His will He hears us. and if we know that He hears us in
whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him…”
(1 john 5:14-15)

oh, to think that He cares so much for us…Lord, forgive me for any unbelief i have.



i think i’ve almost decided that i’m going to new york next month on a missions outreach..and possibly to amsterdam again this summer on another trip. i’m still really thinking about it but..we’ll see. i’m thankful for the doors that the Lord has opened! and also, tomorrow i’m sending in my college application ahh. i’m pretty excited : ) oh…the best is yet to come…

 

wow. yesterday i saw this video that someone had made of our trip to new orleans last month: “when you see it like Jesus saw it, then you will do it like Jesus did it.” i miss that all so much. to be the Church wherever we are..not sitting in a pew in church on sunday mornings but out reaching to the poorest of the poor, to the broken hearted. i just keep thinking of this verse… 

 

“religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflicition, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” james 1:27

 

(Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours…)

  

: ) i’m sitting here listening to christ for the nations and simply thinking…and resting in His peace. i’m so thankful right now and i know that there are so many good things to look forward to. just being able to live each and every day for Christ…to be able to bless others…..oh, it’s so good. i was talking to my mom about college again last night and if it is really worth going four years to get a degree in counseling. i really think that i’m going to go for two years for missions/general studies. if, for some reason, i am meant to stay longer or study something different i’ll know…but for now, i’m looking forward to it. i have a little while though, so i’ll be patient.

anyway, i read this little story last night and i loved it…a lot. so here it is…be blessed by it. i’ve got to get back to work : ) rest in Him & have a beautiful weekend.

 

   “There is a legend that tells of a german baron who, at his castle on the rhine, stretched wires in the air form tower to tower so that the wind might treat them as a wind harp and thereby create music as it blew across them. yet as the soft breezes swirled around the castle, no music was born.

one night, however, a fierce storm arose, and the hill where the castle was struck with the fury of the violent wind. the baron looked out his doorway on the terror of the wind, and the wind harp was filling the air with melodies tht rang out even above the noise of the storm. it had taken a fierce storm to produce the music!

haven’t we all known people whose lives have never produced any pleasing music during their days of calm prosperity but who, when fierce winds have blown across their lives, have astonished us by the power and beauty of their music?…”