Faith and Guidance

"Pst! Sarah, Sarah. Sarah, wake-up. Sarah, I have to go to the bathroom" 

These are the exact words I wake up to every night.


You see, I have a little sister, actually, I have many, but one little sister in particular is very special to me. Her name is Ava. Ava is a cute and precious little girl. She has my personality and adventurous spirit.


 I have the privilege to share a room with this little character. 


This has brought me to much complaining. (God needs to rid me of this)
A pet peeve of mine is having things organized. My bedroom, being the size it is, can not stay that way with Ava and I both in it. 


Lately tho, God has been working at my heart and allowing me to take situations that have usually gotten on my nerves to change me and mold me into who he wants me to be.


Each night, little Ava comes and wakes me up, having to use the bathroom. 


It is dark and she cannot see where to go.


She is scared.


So, I get out of bed, hold her precious little hand, and lead her through the darkness along the path to the bathroom.


The other night, While I was half asleep and leading her through the hall, a comparison came into my mind. a Comparrison that really got me thinking about faith and Gods leading and my complaining.


One thing I thought about was how I need to take things in life that look like, or can seem bothersome or bad, and give it back to the Lord. Honor him in it. see the pros. 


We cannot see what is up ahead, our road is going to be windy and dark.

Quite frankly, the moral of this post is, 

WE NEED GOD.

God will lead us in the way everlasting.

The Lord is our strength.

His word is a lamp to our feet.

Just like Ava asked me, We need to put our pride aside and ask for help. We can't go on the journey alone.


A verse I have been living by so much lately is

"Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding,

but in ALL your ways, look the the Lord

and HE WILL DIRECT your path."

In Mark 11:22, Jesus said, "Have faith in God"



Do you lack faith? The bible says - "ask and it will be given, SEEK and you will find"
Ask for Faith.
Seek to have faith.

This is my Precious little sister with me. :)

We are so fun.

;)

Last night, at 8:00 o'clock, in the midst our random acts, I got an idea. I Great Idea.

 My idea - My mom and I make a Vlog for you. So, We set out to do that.
We set down our hula hoops, Picked up my camera and tripod, Found a paper bag and got to work...

Our Subject...Vanity!

Check it out...Just click on this link. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-9kD6C6jUU&feature=youtu.be


Comment below and let me Know what you think!

Courtship? Dating? What?!?

"I Kissed Dating Goodbye"

This is a book that I have never read. I have recommended and given it to so many friends, but have yet never read it. In a way, this makes me feel hypocritical. To be honest, I am not sure why, it just does.
You see, Growing up, I never had a problem with dating.
I was never in a relationship.
It wasn't even an option in my home.

Growing up my parents would always tell me and my siblings that the first date we would go on would be with our spouse, when married. I always laughed at this.

 I have never really had to worry about this issue of dating.

Through the years I was always eager for this time of life to get here.

The time of life being-Out of high school, ready for a relationship.
Quite frankly, now that I am actually here, I am scared out of my mind.
I don't want to mess this up.

Growing up, never really thinking much about it,and what not, may or may not have been healthy, but most recently I was hanging out with some friends of mine and the topic came up.
What is the purpose of dating? (this I have always held to)
What am I looking for?
When will I be ready?

These are all things we talked about. Things I have always thought about, But never in extreme depth.

Thinking about all of these, I have come to many conclusions. Therefore, I have decided to write a blog on this. You see, Being the age I am, people are starting to show interested in me as a person...I don't blame them, I am pretty cool (totally joking) but this is something that we can't skirt off to the side. We need to face this season of life in a biblical way. 

An ever so godly friend told me the other day....

Don't settle for great. Settle for Godly!

Boy did this get me thinking.
 I can't let my head get wrapped around these "interested people" and loose sight of my purpose and...Godly!
Just realizing the fact that I haven't even quite gotten to talking about what God has been showing me yet and you may be thinking that I am absolutely insane, If that is the case, I encourage you to keep reading, because there is so much juicy stuff below. :)

When thinking about all of this, there are some points that we really need to see, and Believe!

What is the purpose? - To find that person who you will marry.
                                    -Therefore, don't date for a game. There is no short term dating.
                                    - If you wouldn't marry them...Don't date them.

The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing. -Be patient and wait for Gods leading.

If you have convinced yourself that "They are the one" just wait.-, If it is meant to be.IT WILL Work Out.

Guard your heart- Don't just give it out to anyone, Save it for that special someone that God has instore.

All of this above ties with..... In fact, I feel everything in life will come if you....SEEK THE LORD. 

"Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart.

Lean not on your own understanding.

In ALL YOUR WAYS, look to him,

and HE WILL DIRECT your paths."

Seek the Lord violently and he will show you.

I know for myself, talking with my friends, all of the above, I believe. I live by. I am in no hurry to "find someone to date." I am waiting for the Lord to strike that one.
 But one thing is for sure, by golly, I know what I am looking for.  Biblically. A godly upright man.

A Man of Character.

"Character is what you are in the dark, when noone but God is looking" - Randy Alcorn

     -A man of prayer
     -A man who is a Seeker and leader
     -A man who Loves God, more then He would love me.
     -A man who is unashamed of the gospel
     -A man who is financially wise
     -A man with Agape Love
     -A man with an Attitude...
            _Attitude of humility
            _Attitude of obedience to God
            _Attitude of contentment
            _Attitude of hopefulness

One of my favorite quotes -

"A woman's HEART should be so hidden in GOD that a man has to seek HIM just 

to find her"

-Max Lucado

We can not give up hope that God has that perfect person for us. Seek him and let him lead. 

Don't try to take matters into your hands. 

Maybe he wants you to accept the place you are at in life before he will give you something else.

All I know is, I have faith in my God. If he so desires to bring me that "Knight", "prince", Man, I 

will be there ready to accept that. but, If he doesn't in my timing, and doesn't at all, I will be ready 

to accept that as well.

I encourage you to continue to seek the Lord. 

Psalm 16:11 - Thou wilt show me the path of life.

He doesn't lie, Have faith in that and Seek. 

You Will Find

A Wake-Up Call!

"Hurry it up, I'm not getting any younger."

This is a phrase I hear people say far to much throughout my day, Especially when I am at work. 

The fact of it is, it is true. We aren't getting younger. Each day we live, is one more day of our life....gone. 

Now, it all depends on how you look at the glass, 'Half full' or 'half empty'. Quite frankly, I look at it half full. So this saying "I am not getting any younger" is very trivial to me. 

A role model in my life would always say "Today is another day closer to Eternity." What a true fact. Every day, every moment and every breath we take, we are getting that much closer to seeing Jesus face to face. I don't know about you, but that gives me goose bumps to think about. 

When thinking about that fact, I mean, really thinking about it, I have to look at my life an question it.

Here is something I always ask myself...

What did I do today that will impact eternity? Did I show a lost soul the Maker within me and his saving grace?, or even do something sacrificial for the Lord?

What are the motives behind what I do? I question myself with this ALL THE TIME. 

I know a lot of the girls i mentor always ask, "whether we eat or drink we have to do it to the honor and glory of the Lord" How am I supposed to do that? 

I believe it all ties back into our motives. Are we eating to satisfy ourselves or to give us the energy to keep serving the Lord. So many things we do through out each day, We need to look at our motives behind them. 

James 1:17- "Every good and perfect thing is from above..." We need to accept the fact that nothing about us is good. Everything that we do, that is truly good, is the Lord doing it through us. We may be a Christian, and an over-all good person in general and just do'good things' all the time.

BUT if we aren't denying our self daily and taking up the cross, the Lord isn't going to work through us to do that and it will be,...overall....worthless.

This life is NOT our own.

We think the World revolves around us. We get so upset by 'that car' that cut us off. We HAVE to have the biggest cookie, OUR needs, OUR wants, OUR desires are always first. That's our flesh.

Why do we waste our life on such petty things? 

Jesus didn't waste his. Aren't we striving to be like him?

Jesus gave up heaven, came down to this earth filled with wretched people, and took the form of a human. He should have been praised, But instead, he sacrificed his whole time here. He was a servant. He washed his disciples feet, He paid the ultimate sacrifice...He died. 

Why are we wasting out lives? I know i waste mine daily. 

Romans 12- Give your life as a sacrifice! (like Christ did) AFTER ALL- this is our reasonable service"

We go to idols so much instead of our Lord. Someone told me an idol is something you will sin to get. I do believe that, but I believe it is more then just something you will sin to get, it is something that takes the place of God. 

I recently deleted my Facebook for 4 months because It was an idol to me. I am not saying this to talk my self up, by no means, I am saying this because we ALL have idols and we need to man up (or Women up) and get rid of them. 

We are here for one purpose and one purpose alone. To serve our God. 

We can't do that with Idols, wrong motives and a fogged view of how soon he is coming back.

I believe the Lord is bringing Revival.....

....and it's going to be big.

Revival is going to hit America like a wave. A tidal wave. Only some will ride the wave out, And others, they will be left holding on to their traditions and un-biblical rules/beliefs. 

We don't want to get lost in this wave.

We want to be so confident that when this wave hits, we WILL be riding it out, and we need to help others get on the wave to. (discipleship!)

My Point- Revival will only come through those who DENY ONESELF, Take up their cross daily, and make them self an open vessle to the Lord to fill up. 
The Lord is going to bring revival through those people.....

,....and I believe A Lot of those people are going to be the youth of America. 

When we look at a lot of youth, our first reaction is no way. I know so many Youth that are seeking God with all their heart. All they want to do is get together and pray and seek. 

Maybe this is just me, But I am sick of adults saying "Boy, its something else to see a kid your age really seeking the Lord." Ha! That may be true in a way, but It would be something else to see more Adults TRULY seeking the Lord, Or anymore for that reason.

There has to be so much more to Christianity then, reading, praying, singing,  Church, and discipleship. I want to experience my God. The God of the Old testament- Who has and will never change.

"Ask and it will be given, Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open."

Examine your life..... What are you REALLY living for? What Idols are getting in the way God? Are we willing to be a sacrifice to him?


Friends, ASK for the Lord to give you a driving passion to seek him. (then praise him for it) SEEK him, and you will find him.(Prov. 8:17- Those who seek me, find me) Knock, He will open the door to show you all he has in store for you.

My Latest Devastation

Everyone has something they are passionate about. Something that means a lot to them. This varies for every person. This can be things like Sports, Sewing, collecting things, photography, having the latest trends, etc. Well, I am about to let you in on a secret that not many of you may know. I am very passionate about....
..My Hair.


You see, When I was a little girl, I had long beautiful hair all the way down to my lowest back bone. 


Then, I wanted something different, so at age 12, I cut my hair all the way up to my chin! :0 
   

Short, huh!

Well, of course, right after that, I wanted it long again, so I decided to never cut it again.

This probably wasn't the best idea because I hear your hair grows better if trimmed occasionally. Well, I was always scared that the hair dressers would cut my hair to short when trimming it. Therefore I have trimmed my hair since I was 12 (with maybe 3 times having my cousin do it).

Well, I am now 18 and my hair has finally started getting Long again. 

My hair grows so slow. :(

So, Here is is...

Isn't it getting so long? :) (it's so great)

Well, Most recently I went to get some red highlights put in my hair (looks awesome, btw) But, the hair dresser asked if I wanted a trim. I did something stupid. 

I said "sure".

While emphasizing the point that she couldn't cut off very much because I had been growing it out.

Well, this ended very bad. Sharp scissors and 4 inches later, what had been done was done. 

My whole family and all my friends have heard me complain about this far to much.

I was/am pretty much devastated.

So, here is my 'New' and hated 'Trim' :(

Isn't that super sad? Look how short it is!!!

All this to share with you how sad I am. and, to ask you, What are some things that meant a lot to you?

A Silly Leading?

Have you ever been praying for God to lead you in a certain area of your life or you have you merely just ask him something, and what he lead you to do seemed absolutely silly? I know I have. That is for sure. It has taken a great deal of faith to act on a lot of things sometimes. 

  Well, while doing my bible reading, I was reading through Joshua. Now when people hear of Joshua, most generally the first thing thought about is 'Joshua, Jericho and the walls falling down'. Now this is a story that I am sure many have heard in Sunday school class. I know I did in class, Our teacher had us all yell at once to pretend a wall was falling down. If you lead a class of some sort and are teaching them this book, I wouldn't recommend doing that. :0 anyways, While reading I just have to put myself in Joshua's shoes and try to think just what he was thinking. 

Vs. 3 "march around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for 6 days. Vs4...on the 7th day, march around the city 7 times with the priest blowing their horns, When they give a loud blast, have all the people give a loud shout, and the walls will collapse and fall down.

That seems pretty crazy and intense to me. I wonder what the people inside the city must have been thinking while listening and watching that happen. However the true fact of it all is, Joshua had faith through it and did exactly as the Lord said, resulting in the Lords promise being fulfilled. 

Listening to the Lord and acting upon his lead no only helps us, but honors him. 

I write all this, knowing that this is probably not new to many that will read it, but merely to encourage you in the fact that if you ask God something, Regardless if it sounds silly in our little noncomprehending minds or not, We need to Follow through with what he says. 

Sometimes in situations we will have to have faith in our Lord to jump in totally blind, knowing that HE WILL catch you.

30 Days of Seeking (and Finding)

What Kind of Faith are We Living Out?

Today, Wednesday, was such a crazy and lovely day. I woke up at an hour that is to late for my good and went about my morning business of preparing for another day/blessing from the Lord. You see, I had the day off from work. Because my boss was so gracious to give me my Sunday free every week for Church, I don't get many of these days off during the week, so it is rare to have other days off as well. So, I took advantage of this rareness. I wanted to make today different. So, I did one of my favorite things, I went to the gym. Right after that I went to a book store for 4 1/2 hours to begin a challenge I have given myself. 

Lately God has been working at my heart, I have been wrestling with what to do with my life. You see, I have talents the Lord has blessed me with and so many things I want to do, but, I don't know how to use them and God hasn't led me to anything yet. I recently read the book 'Radical' (I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to live a radial, different life for the Lord.) Anyways, At the end of this book they gave 5 challenges to change your life. One of these challenges was to read the bible in a year. You see, I am ashamed to say I am 18 years old and have never read through the entire bible. Also, Recently While I was reading a book, a friend challenged me, he said " You take time to read other, very large books, in a week or two, but you haven't read through the whole bible through your whole time being yet?" So, I decided to do something, I set a challenge in front of myself. You see, I like challenges and I LOVE pushing myself, So, I decided I was going to read the bible in a month. I did all these calculations, That leaves 40 chapters a day. Now, People can look down on this and say I will get nothing out of it, But, I will be going through and will outline and journal everything I read. It is going to be a hardcore month of study, not a month of reading. However, some can try and praise one for this saying "Wow, how great a thing to strive after the Lord like that. Great Job." NO! No one say that, because this will only happen by Gods grace, It sure won't be easy. All credit is due to the Lord.

Now, all of that to say, today was day 1 of the challenge. I went over to my local 'Barnes and Nobles', bought a coffee (which was silly because I don't like coffee), opened my bible and a notebook and began reading. This was hard at first because I had just finished reading through Genesis and Exodus the month before, BUT, I definitely was challenged with putting what I read into perspective and I learned so much. So, down below I wanted to share with you what I learned and was challenged with.

I am beginning to realize that this will be a long post. :0

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." Now, that isn't the exact wording of that verse, It is from memory, But as it says, faith is believing in the things unseen. Merely, as we all know, Anyone who is a Christian has faith. What kind of faith do we have? Do we have enough faith to "move a mountain?" While reading through Genesis and coming upon chapter 22, I was extremely challenged. 

In this chapter it talks about How God told Abraham to sacrifice his son. Now, many thoughts had to be going through Abraham's head. Thoughts like "Your crazy", "He is my only son, what about the promised nations", "How do I tell Isaac?"  I know I can not imagine God asking me to do that to anyone, Yet alone my own son. I don't know if I could do that yet SHOW FAITH in doing that? This challenged me in 2 areas. 1. I lacked Faith in my savior, and 2. I definitely don't think I could submit to Gods authority if he asked me to do something like that. Two big areas I needed to change there. 

Also in this passage, I was challenged by Isaac. He willingly submitted to his father, had faith in his dad, and wanted to please the Lord. I know If I were him I would have questioned my dad over and over, I wouldn't be willing to climb on that alter and I definitely wouldn't have kept my cool. 

Such faith demonstrated in those two men. 

Later in Genesis, Chapter 24, Rebekah comes into the story. Rebekah was to be Issac's wife, But she didn't know this. Basically, this chapter makes me laugh when I try to picture myself as Rebekah. Picture this with me,  "I am out by a well, I see a man praying, I approach him, He starts praising God and tells me I am related to him. I take him back to my home with me and he tells me and my family that We are all related and He prayed to God these exact things to happen from the girl he was to find and I acted those all out and Now I am to go back with him and marry a man of whom I do not know." THAT IS CRAZY! How much faith she must have had in her Lord to believe all that and to act upon it. :0 Insane.

Then, For an epic ending of the book of Genesis, Joseph. Josephs life was a mess, He was sold at a young age, and every time things started to look up for him they went down hill. Through his whole life tho, God blessed everything he did (because of his faith) and in the End, God used everything that happened to him for his Glory. So many times Joseph could have gotten discouraged and not seen his purpose in Life, But he stayed faithful, Sought the Lord and was used in a mighty way. 

All of this challenges me in so many ways. First, We need to see if we ONLY have faith in the Son of God and what he did, Or if we have a faith that will really change the way we live our lives. Second, God is in control of my life and will use me to bring him the most glory. A friend was once challenging me and He said "God looks at your life as a red carpet, He looks at the beginning and the end and the middle will work out to fulfill the end in whatever way he sees fit." Just like Joesph, He could have felt like he wasn't being used, but God was using him.

 

If you haven't realized by now from this post, and my others, I am struggling with finding my purpose, Living a radical life, Knowing what to do next, BUT (the big word that changes everything) I have been realizing more and more that in his time, his perfect, holy time,

 HE WILL USE ME.