Sharing...

I just thought this was cute... and I wanted to remember it and share it

“Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky his is to have you.... The one who turns to his friends and says, 'that's her.'”

thoughts...

So, it has been forever and a day since I have last posted anything. I have been really really busy. Well, since last time, I spent an entire summer, okay like 9 weeks, at Camp SWONEKY in Oregonia Ohio. It was a really cool experience. I was privileged enough to work with the youngest kids that come to camp. We had mostly 6 and 7 year olds and 3 out of the 5 camps, we had boys. That was an extreme experience. Eating times, bed time, and shower times were the worst. But I really learned a lot from the camp.
This is a completely fun interjection... I was writing this and I was taking Zoey, the dog, outside and I locked myself out of the house. Oh my goodness. I felt so bad calling Dr. V. Wow!
Anyways, back to what I was saying...I really learned about myslef and what I am capable of doing and how to handle myself in certain situations. Then today, I was extremely motivated in class. We were learning about doing some administrative things today for youth ministry, and I just was very assured that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. However, I am really bummed that I am not doing it full time now. I know that I have to learn it, but at the same time, I am very impatient and I want to be able to implement it right now!! I thank God though for constantly reassuring me that what I am doing is right and in His will.
School has started and I have been so busy. But, it has been very good. Through working on councils and working in academic support I have been able to have more interactions with people that I may not have other words had the chance. Well, it has been one crazy night.. and I think I am going to go to bed.

Chance and Change

Chances only come along once in a lifetime.
Dreams they just come true every once in a while.
I look at you, and I know it was the right place at the right time.
I believed in love, you believed it too, And that one chance in a lifetime came true.
-Tonic Sol Fa

Change...sometimes I think it's good, but sometimes I feel like it's hurting me more than helping. There are a lot of changes going on right now. I am loving the changes right now. I have so much to look forward to. I know that God is good and will provide. He is giving me opportunities that I would have never dreamed of.

I'm headed to Camp SWONEKY this summer. So, I am sure that I will have lots of stories and experiences that will follow this. I'm so excited!

headphones....

What are headphones... well according to the dictionary: n. A receiver, as for a telephone, radio, or stereo, held to the ear by a headband. But as I was walking back from class listening to my music, I thought that there was so much more to them. So many times we isolate ourselves with our headphones. It completely cuts us off from any community. People listen to their music so loud that they can't even hear when someone yells at them and then they are extremely startled when someone comes up to them and taps them. Why do we feel the need to always have "our way" or our music playing. Can't we compromise and be open to what is going on around us? I mean God has his own playlist constantly playing. The birds, the wind... I mean that is the coolest composition anyone has ever or will ever create... but yet we are so caught up in being separated and individualistic. So that is just my 2 cents... and I am more aware of the music playing around me and I can get caught up in it... rather than what the headphones can possibly mean and suggest...

Amazing Day...

So, the weather outside is beautiful! I thank God for his creativeness with creation, although I could do without the big wasps and bumblebees. This has just been a wonderful week. Everything seems to be on the up and up! Dr. V said that I was on my way to a good exegesis... which I was kinda stressed about, and the weather has been wonderful! Stress is not so much anymore even though the end of the school year is coming to a close. I don't have a job this summer yet, but I still feel at ease about it.
Next weekend is the 30 hour famine. The more I think about it, the more I am burdened for those in need. After being in Israel, I have seen more poverty and begging, that I really wanted. It is not as bad there as it is in other places, but the need is still there. I have lived in a small town all of my life and never really been to anywhere that is really needy and where people are starving daily. Or, I just haven't seen it.
Well, the weather outside seems to be calling my name........

So....

So, this is going to be super duper short.. but I just felt like avoiding some homework.. more specifically an exegesis. I really do like doing the research but I am just having a hard time with procrastination.. something that I should avoid!
But anyways... I have been really amazed by some of my thoughts recently, but I don't have enough time or brain energy now to do it. I am way too focused with Philippians 2:1-11 right now! However, I have been recently pressed with a couple issues. One is the 30 hour famine. I am amazed by how much hunger there is in the world. But looking at how far we have come and where we are headed gives hope. And we always need a hint of HOPE! Secondly, the Voice of the Martyrs has been impressed upon me recently. I will share some statistics and amazing stories later on. But I am in an email list that gets updates and I am just shocked at these people and their faith in Christ and what they have been doing for his name. So more on that later, and the stuff I said in the last one I would do later... later... :) time for my theological evaluation and application of the message of Philippians 2:1-11!

So many things going on....

So, I just have a million and one things going on in my head. It is hard to keep them all straight, so I figured I would try to organize them enough to put them onto paper. I don't know how well that is going to work. I have been so busy with all my school work, work, meetings, classes, church, and then the occasional social life. Well, here goes an attempt of organization...
Church - we are starting this new section on media and how it affects our lives. The more and more I have been thinking about it, we cannot get away from media. It surrounds our lives even when we are not looking for it. We see billboards when driving, advertisements on the radio and the tv, movies, ipods, internet on your phone and the list honestly goes on forever. This media affects us. It is either positively or negatively. It can't not affect us. So how do we deal with this media overload? Do we live in a bubble and listen to just the "Christian" music and watch only "Christian" tv shows? Or do we immerse ourselves in it and just say that it is all apart of life? I think that those are the two extremes, but where is the balance. It seems to be a fine line and is becoming finer and finer the more media consumes our lives. There will be more of this as time goes on and I do more searching.....
Basics - what are they and do we need them? What is sin? What is truth? What does the Bible say about homosexuality, relationships, media, healthy living, praying, going to church? Why do I need to pray and who am I praying to? Why do I feel like I am praying to the ceiling? Does anyone hear me? There are all questions that I have asked myself growing up in the church. But as I am getting older (19 isn't really old...) I am understanding that these are the basics of my faith. Once I could answer these and understand these questions, I took my faith as my own and really could live it out. Today's generation of kids/youth that have grown up in the church, don't really know the answers to these. They are lost and confused. So to "fix" that they look to the world and culture to answer it. This is causing so so many problems in the church. They are supposed to be setting the example of Christ Living and yet they are not doing so because they haven't been properly taught. We, I, as a Christian, should have that responsibility of helping them understand the basics of our faith and how to live it out. It really breaks my heart hearing about kids in my youth group that are not against homosexuality and abortion. They don't have a problem with it. This is shedding a new light on the next generation, the leaders of the church, that I am not sure represents Christ the way that he would want to be represented.
So, I am not sure if that is really understandable, but if you could follow it... kudos to you! :) I have been thinking about this a lot and I feel like God has been showing me and teaching me a lot and there is always more to come....

Just a few thoughts....

Well, I am new at this whole blogging thing, but I think that it will help me to sort out my thoughts and maybe share my thoughts with others. I'll start with a little background of the last few weeks of my life. I just spent two weeks in Israel and Egypt. I am so privileged to be 19 and visit the Holy Land and be able to understand new insights in the Bible. So many things have changed in my life since then. I have a new excitement for reading God's word because it is so much more alive for me! I am learning new and exciting things everyday.
I went home and attempted to give a presentation on my trip. But, it was so hard because I could not fit all of my stories and experiences. My pictures do not do justice of what I actually saw. I just wanted to get the experience of being in God's land actually was like. It was so much of the basics of life. This is something that has been pressing hard on me recently.
The basics. Reading. Writing. Arithmetic. The basics to education. If you know these then you will be just fine. The same goes for religious living and having a relationship with God. You have to have communication, an open mind, and passion about Him. This passion has left the generations coming up. They have their minds already set and are unwilling to change. These are the teens that have been in the church all their lives and still don't know how to pray or understand the importance of prayer. People always say that they are the church of the future. But this is so so wrong. They are the church of today! And that is what is scary. They do not follow the doctrines of the church. The world is influencing them and their new philosophy is "do what ever makes you happy" "it is only wrong for me if I think it is wrong for me." This is not right. This is not how God called us to live. How can I, we as a body of believers, start living a better example for them to look up to. Is it my responsibility that they don't know?