Broken And Beautiful

Ok, so if you haven't heard Mark Schultz - Broken and Beautiful song, I think you should take a listen because it is awesome! The message is so powerful and the song/beat just makes me feel so uplifted. I love hearing it come on the radio as I'm driving in my car.

Broken And Beautiful - Mark Schultz

There’s a businessman, there’s a widowed wife
A smiling face with a shattered life
A teenage girl with a choice to make
It’s crowded here in church today

And the preacher says as the sermon ends
“Please close your eyes, bow your heads
Is there anyone in need of prayer,
Oh Jesus wants to meet you here”

Cause we all fall short,
and we all have sinned
But when you let,
God’s grace break in

(Chorus)
It’s Beautiful, Beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

Well he’d never been to church before
But he came today as a last resort
His world was crashing in
And he was suffocating in his sin

But tears rolled down as hope rushed in
He closed his eyes, raised his hands
Worshipping the God who can
Bring him back to life again

(Chorus)
And it’s beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful

Cause there’s nothing more beautiful at all
Than when His sons and daughters call, broken

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Come as you are
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Come as you are

(Chorus)
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful
Come as you are
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful
Broken and beautiful
Broken and beautiful
Beautiful

I know I am broken, or have been before, but I know that even in my worst hour, if I look to God for help and strength, I am the most beautiful thing. God's love, is the most beautiful thing.

Until next time, God Bless.

Praise To The Lord Of Light

Wow, what a day! Don't you just love Sundays?? I do. But most of all, I love how this Sunday, I got to church and heard my youth pastor, Rob, say that his son, Jonah, who had been ill, is doing a lot better and he was in church today! I was so happy about seeing him in church, healthy and happy, that I almost started crying right then and there, I had to really hold my tears in.

I prayed so hard for that little boy, I know many people did, but it just felt so good to see that God was listening and that He does amazing things. I know sometimes it feels like, things are going all wrong and they are so crazy and I get so stressed out and upset and I think to myself, "what more could possibly go wrong?" But it's times like these, and God's never-ending love, that keep me so strong and so proud to have found Him. He deserves the most praise and the best love.

-Thank you Lord, for your mercy, your kindness and your love. Thank you for hearing so many of our prayers and showing us that You do amazing things and that we can always turn to You. You truly are the light of the world, and I know, that with You, I will never walk in darkness...even in the worst times. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.-

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

Until next time, God Bless.

Dedicated To My Friends

I found myself thinking about how thankful I am for the wonderful friends I have in my life, and how I wouldn't be who I am today without them. I've always believed that God brings people into my life for a reason. I believe that each person who enters my lives was put there to teach me something, whether it be about myself or something else. I also believe that if I loose a friend, or they leave my life somehow, that it was also meant to be. But as of right now, I am so blessed with the many wonderful friendship I have in my life.

I was looking through at different verses in The Bible to see if I could find any verses on friendship and fell upon these;

"I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus." (1 Corinthians 1:4)

" I thank my God every time I remember you." (Philippians 1:3)

These verses might not necessairly be meant for what I found them for, but in my heart I can see them as working for how I feel about my friends. I thank God so much for my friends, they have blessed me and encourage me in so many ways and I just pray that God will always watch over them and bless them as well. I know He will, but it's important for me to share that anyway.

I also received a really lovely email today from a special friend of mine and they sent me some quotes in the email and it just totally made my day, so I feel it's important, since this blog is for my friends, to post those quotes here.

"A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure."

"Faithful friends are beyond price: No amount can balance their worth"

"Friends are friends forever, if the Lord is the Lord of them. And a friend will not say never, cause the welcome will not end. Though it's hard to let you go. In the Father's hands I know. That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends."

To all my friends who take the time to read my blogs and leave me comments, thank you. You're always in my thoughts and prayers.

Until next time, God Bless.

My Plate Is Full, And I'm Not Hungry

I think I'm crazy. Seriously. I don't have any reason to feel overwhelmed, or stressed, or tired, or anything. I just got back from a fantastic vacation for goodness sake! But, I do. I feel like my life is so packed up...and I have to juggle things like, school, my friends, my job, and my own personal time to be alone with myself and with God.

Everday this week I have something planned/scheduled. And it's funny because I know there has been times in my life when I had nothing to do ever and I was so bored and I'd get so frustrated because I just wanted to have something to do! And now I do and I just want to curl up into a ball on my bed and hide and wait for all of it to go away. But then again, at the same time I'm so pumped that I have the friends I have, and I want to see them/spend time with them always! I think I need help. Hah.

I feel so weak though, I think what I really need is just time to focus and reflect for myself. I think I should give up staying on the computer so late, I should try and motivate myself to do the things I know I have to do such as, I should get all my serious work done before I go out and play, and I should spend more time alone with God.

I'm in need of prayer my friends. I wish I didn't feel so much like I am complaining, but I'm so emotionally exhausted. But I know there are people out there that definitely have it SO much worse. Like, look at me. I'm complaining because I have "too much to do" Pfft! I feel so guilty for complaining about something like this.

Why am I so messed up? God, I really need you. Help.

Until next time, God Bless.

No Words Needed

My goodness, long time no post huh? Well considering I got used to posting atleast once a day the majority of the time. But I'm back from my vaction now and ready to jump right into it again. I missed blogging dearly, but I kept up my own personal daily bible readings and devotions in my journal while I was away, so that helped.

There is something on my mind and it's stirring and stirring, and I'm sure that it's the fact that sometimes I feel overwhelmed at all the thoughts, feelings, and prayers I want to share with God and talk to him about. Sometimes I almost feel bad, because I know I have lots of very important people in my life that I want to talk to God about and pray for them, but the list is so long sometimes that I just find it difficult to be able to.

I know God always knows my thoughts and what is in my heart, but it's important to me, that if there is a someone, like a friend, or just someone I know, that I want/feel the need to pray for, sometimes I find it hard to do so, because I usually do my good, long, end of the day prayer to God before I go to bed, because it's easy for me that way, because I'm alone, in silence, there are no distractions, and I can say what I need to say to God, and then go to sleep.

I guess, I just find it hard that at some random time during the day, if something comes up that I feel I need to pray for, it's hard for me to go find silence, bow my head, and pray to God. I know I should definitely find more times to pray to God during the day instead of trying to save up all the "really important" stuff for my bedtime prayer, so I ask for prayer for that now.

-Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you just look into my heart and hear my thoughts and words. There are so many people that I want to pray for Lord, and so many issues or events that occur everyday that I need to pray for, but sometimes I don't know if just thinking about it or saying "I'll pray for you" is enough. But Lord, I want you to know my thoughts, feelings, and what is inside my heart, and even if I don't get around to "formally praying" for these things, that you know I am thinking about them and they are in my heart. Thank you, in Jesus' name I pray, Amen."-

I feel inspired to write a poem at the moment...but I'm just too tired to do it right now, I will get around to it soon enough and post it. Thanks for reading my blog, it's good to be back. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers my friends.

Until next time, God Bless.

Your Plan

I guess it's no surprise that of course I am super excited about the trip I am about to go on but I just wanted to post before I headed off because I probably wont be able to do so for a while.

God has given me such an amazing gift and has blessed me so much, I of course believe that everything happens for a reason and there is a reason I am going on this amazing trip of a lifetime. I am really truly excited to be able to go with my dear friend Kayla, and for us to be given the chance to spend this time together and I can be there for her if she needs me, and our friendship can grow a bit as well. Also, being able to spend this time with her will give me the chance to show her even more, the love and gifts of God and what He has done for me and how He has helped me to get through my break up with my boyfriend and how He has been such a strength and comfort.

My friend Kayla, isn't technically a Christian or anything, so I just hope that while we spend the next week having fun and being together, that I can show her just how amazing God is and hopefully, she'll see it and possibly decide that He is what she needs in her life, to fill that emptiness that her break up has left her with.

"O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago." (Isaiah 25:1)

Everything happens for a reason, God has made my path and has set it out for me and I plan on continuing to follow it and walk down it with Him. But this trip is just such an amazing gift and I just pray that God will be with me and Kayla and her parents while we are away and that great things will continue to happen. I also pray that God will keep my family and friends happy and safe and free of worry, espcially my mom.

For those of you who read my blog, thank you, and I promise to post all about my trip and my thoughts and feelings I had regarding my relationship with God while I was away. I'm bringing my Bible and Devo Journal with me of course so I'll make sure to write down anything I need to blog about. Thank you for your love, thoughts, and prayers.

Until next time, God Bless.

Feelings Of Joy

Happiness is such an amazing feeling, it's an emotion that I crave all the time and wish I were all the time...I've been told that sometimes that can be a downfall for me though, because it isn't really possibly to be happy all the time, eventually you have to face issues and things that will make you upset.

But I think, especially now, my walk with God is going quite well, so I'm feeling happiness more and more everyday, and I also find it so much easier to deal with things that would normally make me really upset. I know God is there for me always and I can always turn to Him, it's amazing.

I think sometimes, people might even question, how I can be so happy all the time, and I feel so proud to be able to say that I owe my happiness to God. I really hope for one day that I can change someone's life for the better, like my friend has done for me. I have a couple of friends right now, that don't go to church and I've been praying for them and I talk to them about God, and some of them seem to like hearing me say the things I do about Him, so maybe in time, they will decide to find Him.

I just wish all my friends could feel the feelings of joy that I have when I'm at church or youth, or even just having a simple spiritual conversation with a friend of mine. I have a friend that comes online every night and I just look forward to talking to him, because we always seem to have such a great conversation about God and our spiritual lives with Him. It's awesome.

One day in church, the pastor? I think it was the pastor...but anyways he said something about asking your friends "How is your walk with The Lord today?" I think that is such a great question to ask! I definitely would love someone to ask me...because then I could say, "My walk is going great! How is yours?"

Walking with God isn't always easy...but it's definitely worth it, because you find so much goodness that you just can't get anywhere else. I pray that all my friends find this happiness.

"He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor." (Proverbs 21:21)

Amen!

Until next time, God Bless.

Constant Battle

In life, it's kind of ridicules how the battles between good and bad, right and wrong, etc. constantly roam through our lives. You'd think that if you are a good christian and you love God and everything, you'd think that there wouldn't be the good vs bad battles in your heart, because God would always win right? And obviously God stands for all things that are good, so you would never have to worry about your head and heart battling and the "Bad or Wrong" choice winning. But unfortunately, I think that, even for good Christians, the bad choice might win sometimes.

There will always be temptation, and things that feel good, but you know they aren't right and you might not exactly get the chance to ask for guidance on what your choice should be before you make it.

I guess I should stop talking about others being involved in these feelings, but I feel weird just pinning it on myself. But basically, I feel like I am faced with decisions and dilemmas all the time and there might even be things that I want to do or say but something inside tells me, that it isn't a good idea. Unfortunately...I haven't always listened to that voice.

So tonight, I just ask for forgiveness, and that God will help me and guide me. I want to make the right choices, the good choices, and I want to live my life doing the things that would make God happy. So please my friends, pray for me, and help me to do the right thing, and become the better person that I want to become. Thank you.

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." (Proverbs 18:10)"

-I want to run to you Lord, keep me safe from the wrong choices...lead me not into temptation, and give me strength. Amen.-

Until next time, God Bless.

Gratified Refuge

Lately, things seem to be going pretty good in my world...and by world I mean life. Haha. I haven't really got an update on how my dad is doing...like if his symptoms are still pretty bad or what not, but of course he is still in my prayers everyday and I just know that God will be my strength and that He does amazing things, and everything will be ok if I just continue to believe. Which of course reminds me...thank you to all my friends who have been praying for my dad, I truly appreciate it, and God bless you for your love and kindness to me.

I'll probably end up repeating myself forever through my life when I try to explain the wonders and power and amazing-ness of God's love and how I feel it so strongly now in my heart. I just feel like, there is almost nothing that could break me down...because I know, even when I get to my weakest, all I have to do is pray to Him, for He is my Father in Heaven, and I know He'll protect me, just like a daddy would protect his child.

"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." (Psalm 59:16 )

God is truly my refuge in times of trouble and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful life and I'm just thankful for my family and friends and I'll keep praying for all of you...

Until next time, God Bless.

Tears and Joy

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy," (1 Peter 1:8)

I basically just stumbled upon this verse while I was looking through the bible and it totally like...continues on with what I was talking about yesterday about "Blind Faith". Argh!! I wish I stumbled upon it yesterday so I could put it into my other entry...But I guess it doesn't really matter, I could always continue on with it today.

It brings me such...peace. To think about...how strong my love has grown for the Lord, and how I have changed so much...and for the better. I really feel like I'm on the right path now, and everyday I become closer and closer to being a better person all around.

I'm also really praying for my friends around me who aren't necessairly Christians, or who don't have God in their lives...I pray for them so that maybe someday soon, they will find Him...God is always reaching out for us, all we have to do is accept Him and take His hand and He'll be there.

I feel so full...and so complete...I know this is happiness, this is love and truth and beauty. I just wish everyone could feel these amazing feelings I have inside when I think about God and how wonderful He is. Even as short as a couple of weeks ago...I felt weak and sad...and tears would form in my eyes...But God has made me stronger...and I know I have His love so just by knowing that I feel like...even if I'm sad or scared or cry...I know that soon enough I will be happy again, filled with joy and laughter and love, and I wish that on everyone.

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." (Psalm 126:5)

Until next time, God Bless.

Blind Faith

Webster defines Blind Faith to be: "belief without true understanding, perception, or discrimination"

Ok...So...If you believe in God...blindly...it's because you believe in Him fully but without true understanding of who or what He really is and/or does? Hmm...so...do I have Blind Faith?

Honestly...my road of Christianity has been a hard one...all caused by myself of course...but it has been very "all over the place" and at times, somewhat very hard to follow...so much that, I got off that road for a long time. But still...even though I wasn't on God's path...I never forgot, denied, doubted, that there is infact a God that loves me very much...Unfortunately, I just refused to follow it.

But if it wasn't for me falling off that road...I doubt that I would have met the people who are in my life now, that got me back on that amazing road. At the beginning? I believe it was near the beginning anyway, I wrote a poem about how I was lost and not on my personal road to/with God, but a friend had helped me to get back on...I think now is a good time to share that poem...Some have already seen it and that's fine but...I feel like I need to post it here.

ANGEL

I was walking around in darkness,
Trying to find my way.
How come it didn’t occur to me,
That all I had to do was pray?

But then You brought me someone
An angel from the sky.
And I could tell he was from You,
With just the look in his eye

I could feel peace in his presence
I found comfort in his name,
So that night I searched for You,
And prayed thanks that he came.

I read your words of wisdom,
I’m sorry it took so long.
I prayed for forgiveness,
And also to be strong.

But to gain strength you have to fight,
And I felt too weak.
But Your angel was there to help me,
And brought me to my feet.

I’m still seeking all Your glory,
And pray for it everyday.
But I thank You for coming back for me,
I know now that I’ll be okay.

I owe my happiness to Your angel,
That You sent from the skies.
And if I need to find You,
I’ll just look into his eyes.

I do feel so blessed, that I have had the chance to do the things I've done and meet the people I've met, especially those I feel have helped me so much spiritually. It's really not an easy thing to be on a road that you feel you belong to so much...then find yourself fallen off of it...and then to get back on again. Wow...I just..it's hard for me to think and try to explain what I strong feeling I had when I knew that God was calling me back to Him...It was just something that I could feel in my heart...I knew I had to get back on that road, and I'm so glad I did.

-Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much for all that You have done for me. I pray with my whole heart that You will bless my friends who have done so much and who've helped to bring me back to You, Lord. I can't imagine how I ever lived without You completely in my heart, and I hope I never have to feel that emptiness again. I have always believed in You, Father...and if that means that I have Blind Faith, than I thank You for that blessing. In Jesus' name, I pray...Amen.-

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers my friends. Until next time, God Bless.