So this last weekend I attented a onething regional conference in my city. If you don't know, onething is a conference directed by the Internation House Of Prayer, or IHOP. Thier home base is in Kansas City where the have a ministry of consant day and night prayer that has been going on for twelve years. This is powerful stuff. And every year they put on a huge conference in Kansas City that roughly 20000+ people attend! Then, throughout the year, they take a miniature version of th conference around to key cities in the U.S. And this year I got to come! OHMYGOODNESS so. amazingly. good. This ministry is spot. on. They are passionately pursueing God and training thousands of people to do likewise. The directors and speakers seriously know Him. They have devoted their lives to reading the word, interceding, prophesying, and truly seeking God out. And let me tell you right now, there is power with them. Serious power. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to have sat under their teachings and worshipped with them these last two days. I got to experience a move of God as well as full out worship His beautiful and awe-inspiring face. There is nothing better.
So yeah, good stuff, good stuff. I won't be talking about all the things I learned there in this blog because it's already pretty long as it is and that would just add ten times more lol. But just know, I've definitely recieved some precious pearls of wisdom that might work there way into some future blogposts. It's good stuff guys, real good stuff. About the God of the universe who is so majestic and powerful and yet He deeply loves and cares for each and every one of us. I mean, how can things related to Him not be good stuff? lol so yeah, anyway, for now, just continually seek His face. The End.
Love ya :)
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Jesus
So yesterday my family and I went out to eat at this really good mexican restuarant. That's just what you do in texas lol.
So anyway, we got there and met our server who's name was Jesus. He was hispanic so it was actually pronounced the spanish way that sounds rather like "Hey Zues!" But still, everytime he came around his name-tag was plainly printed as "Jesus." And it got me to thinking. If this guy really was Jesus, would I treat him any differently? I mean, obvisly if it really was Jesus I would be tackling Him and laughing, dancing, and shouting I LOVE YOU and stuffs, but just respectfully, as a waiter, would I be kinder to Jesus, than to Hey-zues? Would I smile more? Would I give Him a super encouraging kind word? Would I try to do anything to brighten His day? Would I tip Him a lot?...well actually I probably wouldn't do that one since Jesus already kind of owns all the money in the world lol... But still! This all got me to thinking about a quote I once heard from Mother Teresa. It goes something like this;
"Be Jesus to everyone you meet. And in everyone you meet, see Jesus."
It's really a good solid truth. We are always to try to follow the ways of Jesus and try to be like Him as much as possible, but we are also to treat others as if they were Jesus. Just like in the scripture about the sheep and the goats where Jesus tells everyone who fed the hungry, helped the poor and the sick and the needy, that all that time they were feeding Him, clothing Him, comforting Him.
Yeah...just something to think about.
So anyway, we got there and met our server who's name was Jesus. He was hispanic so it was actually pronounced the spanish way that sounds rather like "Hey Zues!" But still, everytime he came around his name-tag was plainly printed as "Jesus." And it got me to thinking. If this guy really was Jesus, would I treat him any differently? I mean, obvisly if it really was Jesus I would be tackling Him and laughing, dancing, and shouting I LOVE YOU and stuffs, but just respectfully, as a waiter, would I be kinder to Jesus, than to Hey-zues? Would I smile more? Would I give Him a super encouraging kind word? Would I try to do anything to brighten His day? Would I tip Him a lot?...well actually I probably wouldn't do that one since Jesus already kind of owns all the money in the world lol... But still! This all got me to thinking about a quote I once heard from Mother Teresa. It goes something like this;
"Be Jesus to everyone you meet. And in everyone you meet, see Jesus."
It's really a good solid truth. We are always to try to follow the ways of Jesus and try to be like Him as much as possible, but we are also to treat others as if they were Jesus. Just like in the scripture about the sheep and the goats where Jesus tells everyone who fed the hungry, helped the poor and the sick and the needy, that all that time they were feeding Him, clothing Him, comforting Him.
Yeah...just something to think about.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Wisdom and selflessness
I've been reading Ecclesiastes, Psalms and Proverbs a lot lately....well...I'm always reading psalms lol. It is my favorite of favorite books! :D
Anyway, that was besides the point. The point was, there is a heck of a lot of wisdom packed in those books. A lot. And it amazes me how so many people have that much knowledge and wisdom at their fingertips all the time, and yet don't put it into action, myself included.
So I got to thinking...as usual, pretty hard about wisdom. What is it's definition? How precious is it? What constitutes as wisdom? What would the world be like if we all took a good chunk of wisdom and put it into practice? ..A lot better that's for sure...
But anyway, my thoughts eventually picked out and followed the path of different definitions of wisdom. So I thought I'd share some:
(note: I am young, I am immature, and I don't claim that any of this is true, right, or wise. I only claim to have the small amount of knowledge and morals God has taught me since I was a child. So if you don't agree with any of this, please, feel free to comment and discuss it with me.)
Wisdom.
Wisdom is knowing what to do and when to do it.
Wisdom is obeying God's laws.
Wisdom is putting others before yourself.
Wisdom is complete and total selflessness.
Wisdom is knowing when to shut up.
Wisdom is knowing when to speak and when to shut up.
Wisdom is knowing what to say when you speak.
Wisdom is thinking before you speak.
Wisdom is listening, following, and putting God's laws into action.
Wisdom is practicing what you preach.
Wisdom is practicing what God preached.
Wisdom is acknoledging you're wrong, you're not perfect.
Wisdom is acknowledging that God is always right.
Wisdom is following God no matter where He leads.
Wisdom is knowing that God is better than anything else in the world.
Wisdom is putting yourself last.
Wisdom is loving God and His words more than yourself.
Wisdom is listening to God, that still small, beautiful voice in your head.
Wisdom is not only knowing the right thing to do, but when to do it.
Wisdom is following God even when it gets tough.
Wisdom is knowing that the persecutions of this earth are not even worthy to be compared with the treasures God has store for us in heaven.
Wisdom is knowing that all the treasures of the world are not worthy to be compared with even an ounce of God's glory. God's presence. God's love.
Wisdom is more precious than anything else in the world.
And wisdom cannot be bought, only learned. But that's ok, we have infinite wisdom at our fingertips every day.
But then my mind took another track; selflessness. I've heard several teachings about how pride is the ultimate and very first sin. It is what got the top most Angel, Lucifer, tossed out of heaven. It is what lead the way for every other sin to come into the world. It is the first sin ever commited by a human being.
So what is selflessness? Selflessness, is the exact opposite of pride. It is putting yourself in the very last place of everyone in the world. It is not saying that we are second, for who are we to say that we are second to God? No, wisdom and selflessness is saying that we are the eight billionth. It is regarding everyone else in the entire world as more important than oursleves. Loving them first. Taking the lowliest seat. Being completely selfless. Completely forgetting ourselves in the light of loving others.
So, I reasoned, just like every sin followed out of pride, shouldn't every good, moral, righteous thing follow out of selflessness?
So I guess first you would have to love everyone, especially God, far more than yourself, if you were being completely selfless. Even the Hitlers and Bin ladens, as well as your best friends. Love would come first.
Then you would go out of your way to help people, to be kind, to be a servant, for those things follow love.
And obviously you would not hate, murder, steal, cheat, lust, lie, or anything that hurts others for you care about them above yourself.
Even the small things; you would not complain, for that is simply a bother to someone else. You would not be annoying, or frustrating to others, for you sincerely care about how they feel.
You would be giving, of yourself, your time, your possesions, and anything else. For, once again, everyone else is placed above yourself. Your heart has now been transformed. Your eyes no longer look at yourself. Your mirror is no longer your most treasured item. People are. Neigbors and enemies alike.
I could go one, but I think you get the picture. But as I think about it, I think I am coming to realize that one thing does have to come before selflessness, and that is love. Yeah, now that I really think on it, love does not follow selflessness. Selflessness follows love. Love comes first. Love is the reason the world was created and the thing that holds it together. Love. God. That's it. This complicated world is really quite simple when you think about it.
Love God.
It will lead to loving people.
Which will lead to selflessness, and we all know where it goes from there. :)
Sorry if i rambled too much. Welcome to my mind and how it works, hope I didn't scare you off. ;)
Much love, Anna.
Anyway, that was besides the point. The point was, there is a heck of a lot of wisdom packed in those books. A lot. And it amazes me how so many people have that much knowledge and wisdom at their fingertips all the time, and yet don't put it into action, myself included.
So I got to thinking...as usual, pretty hard about wisdom. What is it's definition? How precious is it? What constitutes as wisdom? What would the world be like if we all took a good chunk of wisdom and put it into practice? ..A lot better that's for sure...
But anyway, my thoughts eventually picked out and followed the path of different definitions of wisdom. So I thought I'd share some:
(note: I am young, I am immature, and I don't claim that any of this is true, right, or wise. I only claim to have the small amount of knowledge and morals God has taught me since I was a child. So if you don't agree with any of this, please, feel free to comment and discuss it with me.)
Wisdom.
Wisdom is knowing what to do and when to do it.
Wisdom is obeying God's laws.
Wisdom is putting others before yourself.
Wisdom is complete and total selflessness.
Wisdom is knowing when to shut up.
Wisdom is knowing when to speak and when to shut up.
Wisdom is knowing what to say when you speak.
Wisdom is thinking before you speak.
Wisdom is listening, following, and putting God's laws into action.
Wisdom is practicing what you preach.
Wisdom is practicing what God preached.
Wisdom is acknoledging you're wrong, you're not perfect.
Wisdom is acknowledging that God is always right.
Wisdom is following God no matter where He leads.
Wisdom is knowing that God is better than anything else in the world.
Wisdom is putting yourself last.
Wisdom is loving God and His words more than yourself.
Wisdom is listening to God, that still small, beautiful voice in your head.
Wisdom is not only knowing the right thing to do, but when to do it.
Wisdom is following God even when it gets tough.
Wisdom is knowing that the persecutions of this earth are not even worthy to be compared with the treasures God has store for us in heaven.
Wisdom is knowing that all the treasures of the world are not worthy to be compared with even an ounce of God's glory. God's presence. God's love.
Wisdom is more precious than anything else in the world.
And wisdom cannot be bought, only learned. But that's ok, we have infinite wisdom at our fingertips every day.
But then my mind took another track; selflessness. I've heard several teachings about how pride is the ultimate and very first sin. It is what got the top most Angel, Lucifer, tossed out of heaven. It is what lead the way for every other sin to come into the world. It is the first sin ever commited by a human being.
So what is selflessness? Selflessness, is the exact opposite of pride. It is putting yourself in the very last place of everyone in the world. It is not saying that we are second, for who are we to say that we are second to God? No, wisdom and selflessness is saying that we are the eight billionth. It is regarding everyone else in the entire world as more important than oursleves. Loving them first. Taking the lowliest seat. Being completely selfless. Completely forgetting ourselves in the light of loving others.
So, I reasoned, just like every sin followed out of pride, shouldn't every good, moral, righteous thing follow out of selflessness?
So I guess first you would have to love everyone, especially God, far more than yourself, if you were being completely selfless. Even the Hitlers and Bin ladens, as well as your best friends. Love would come first.
Then you would go out of your way to help people, to be kind, to be a servant, for those things follow love.
And obviously you would not hate, murder, steal, cheat, lust, lie, or anything that hurts others for you care about them above yourself.
Even the small things; you would not complain, for that is simply a bother to someone else. You would not be annoying, or frustrating to others, for you sincerely care about how they feel.
You would be giving, of yourself, your time, your possesions, and anything else. For, once again, everyone else is placed above yourself. Your heart has now been transformed. Your eyes no longer look at yourself. Your mirror is no longer your most treasured item. People are. Neigbors and enemies alike.
I could go one, but I think you get the picture. But as I think about it, I think I am coming to realize that one thing does have to come before selflessness, and that is love. Yeah, now that I really think on it, love does not follow selflessness. Selflessness follows love. Love comes first. Love is the reason the world was created and the thing that holds it together. Love. God. That's it. This complicated world is really quite simple when you think about it.
Love God.
It will lead to loving people.
Which will lead to selflessness, and we all know where it goes from there. :)
Sorry if i rambled too much. Welcome to my mind and how it works, hope I didn't scare you off. ;)
Much love, Anna.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Word.
more more More More MORE MORE!!!!!!!!!
That's all I can say guys. All I can say.
And I'm talking about the Bible.
Look, I know we always talk about how it is such a powerful book and we claim to read it and such, but...
When you actually crack that thing open. When you actually intentionally dig into what it says, and I mean dig.
When you actually sit there with only the bible to keep you company.
When you actually spend hours, digging into it. Reading it. Learning it. Understanding it. Loving it.
It is like none. other.
There are no words to describe this feeling.
It's like, the more you read and know, the more you want to, the more you need it, the more you have to have it!
The more it literally becomes your food! Your water! Your life!
The more you absolutely rely on it to get you through your day and you wonder how you ever survived without it.
The more you find how living and active it is! How you discover the same words you read yesterday have a completely different meaning today!
You discover verses, words, that seem to be spefically meant for you! You wonder how a multitude of these aren't quoted on facebook everyday!
It's just all so wonderful!
I truly wonder how I ever lived without this.
It's like a drug..a drug that will never get old, never harm you, never get boring, will always get better every time, and will actually help your life.
Yeah, this is the stuff I wanna get high off of.
That's all I can say guys. All I can say.
And I'm talking about the Bible.
Look, I know we always talk about how it is such a powerful book and we claim to read it and such, but...
When you actually crack that thing open. When you actually intentionally dig into what it says, and I mean dig.
When you actually sit there with only the bible to keep you company.
When you actually spend hours, digging into it. Reading it. Learning it. Understanding it. Loving it.
It is like none. other.
There are no words to describe this feeling.
It's like, the more you read and know, the more you want to, the more you need it, the more you have to have it!
The more it literally becomes your food! Your water! Your life!
The more you absolutely rely on it to get you through your day and you wonder how you ever survived without it.
The more you find how living and active it is! How you discover the same words you read yesterday have a completely different meaning today!
You discover verses, words, that seem to be spefically meant for you! You wonder how a multitude of these aren't quoted on facebook everyday!
It's just all so wonderful!
I truly wonder how I ever lived without this.
It's like a drug..a drug that will never get old, never harm you, never get boring, will always get better every time, and will actually help your life.
Yeah, this is the stuff I wanna get high off of.
Monday, May 2, 2011
"For the hands that hold the world, are holding your heart."
I had a good looong talk with God last night. I wrote down everything He said. And every time I go back and read it I am continually amazed. I mean, God is so freaking cool! I just love Him to bits!
But yeah, so I just though I'd share with you some of the things He's been telling me recently:
1. I don't need to worry. About anything. Cause God is in control. Of everything. He takes care of everything. He's got a plan. And it's a good one. It's the best one. Whether I know what it is or not. It doesn't matter. He's God, He is in control.
2. I have nothing to fear. Again, God is in control. There are no circumstances that could happen in my life that are not part of His perfect plan. So along with no need to worry, there is no need, and nothing, to fear. He is my protector. He's watching out for me, for I am special to Him. He loves me, so therefore what can man do to me?
3. God is holding my heart. Now this one was a bit more spefically to me. Just something that God was telling me in particular. That I do not have anything to worry about and nothing to fear, for God is holding my heart, and will not let it be taken or broken by someone else. He told me this. He told me that everyone in my life He has put there for a specific reason. He is planning something big for me, and He is ordering all my relationships with people in ways to prepare me for...God knows what! (pun intended ;) But anyway, in all this, again, I have nothing to fear. For God is holding my heart, and "guarding it jealously." Those were the exact words He used. Oh my God I love you like none other!!!
So anyway, just getting encouragment from the Son of Man upstairs lately. My love for Him is beyond words, and He has told me He loves me "with all that I AM." "I AM", the Creator, The Author and Finisher of our faith, loves me with all that He is.
There is nothing better under...or over, the sun. :)
But yeah, so I just though I'd share with you some of the things He's been telling me recently:
1. I don't need to worry. About anything. Cause God is in control. Of everything. He takes care of everything. He's got a plan. And it's a good one. It's the best one. Whether I know what it is or not. It doesn't matter. He's God, He is in control.
2. I have nothing to fear. Again, God is in control. There are no circumstances that could happen in my life that are not part of His perfect plan. So along with no need to worry, there is no need, and nothing, to fear. He is my protector. He's watching out for me, for I am special to Him. He loves me, so therefore what can man do to me?
3. God is holding my heart. Now this one was a bit more spefically to me. Just something that God was telling me in particular. That I do not have anything to worry about and nothing to fear, for God is holding my heart, and will not let it be taken or broken by someone else. He told me this. He told me that everyone in my life He has put there for a specific reason. He is planning something big for me, and He is ordering all my relationships with people in ways to prepare me for...God knows what! (pun intended ;) But anyway, in all this, again, I have nothing to fear. For God is holding my heart, and "guarding it jealously." Those were the exact words He used. Oh my God I love you like none other!!!
So anyway, just getting encouragment from the Son of Man upstairs lately. My love for Him is beyond words, and He has told me He loves me "with all that I AM." "I AM", the Creator, The Author and Finisher of our faith, loves me with all that He is.
There is nothing better under...or over, the sun. :)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
A-very-boring-and-entirely-uneventful-day
Today, I meowed at kittens (and fooled a couple cats :), danced on a gigantic mound of wet sawdust, swung on my favorite swing, talked to myself for a long while, watched youtube videos of lions roaring, wrote a piano song, got paint all over myself..it was red..i looked like I was bleeding all day..., listened to songs about dentists (shout-out to owl city! lol), aced tests, laid stretched out on the top of my swing-set in the sun, ate motzas, stared at kids as they walked home from school, wrote a story, chatted with my Fiance (God), and thought alot about a certain particular person....all in all it was a normal and uneventful day. ;)
Actually...until just now as I'm reading this over...I really did think this was an entirely boring and normal day...
Good golly gosh I'm wierd.
Actually...until just now as I'm reading this over...I really did think this was an entirely boring and normal day...
Good golly gosh I'm wierd.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Lord, break my chains.
You said if we would return to You
You said if we would turn from our wicked ways
You said if we would humble ourselves and pray
You said if we would come with weeping
You said if we would come and rend our hearts
You said if we would come
And let your hear our voice
Let you see our face
That You would come
You said if we would learn to cling to You
Forgetting all of the wisdom of man
You said if we would but humble ourselves and repent
You said if we would come tearing our hearts
That You would answer from on high
You said if we would cry out
You would come
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
Here we are, God
In these latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
Here we are
We humble ourselves in Your sight
We confess that there is no other hope
And we repent, God, from our wicked ways
I repent, God, for my double-mindedness
My heart so prone to wander
So quickly to cling to another
I've been leaning on the wisdom of man
And I've been leaning on the lust of the flesh
And I've been grieving the Holy Spirit
And now I fall face down, down, down
And I repent
And I tear my heart
I rip it open
All that I've been holding onto
When You are forgotten
I take my heart and willingly, I rip it open
For I only want to cling to You
I don't want to cling to another
I've been chasing all those other loves and I've forgotten You
Now I take my heart and I humble myself in Your sight
And I confess...
I confess...
And I confess...
I need You.
So come break the chains
The chains that hinder love
All that remains of yesteryear
Come break the chains
The chains that pull me down
Come break the chains and draw me near
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come take away everything
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come and
Write Your name upon my heart
Til all that remains is the light of Your countenance
I will be satisfied when I awaken
As a lover of You
As a lover of You
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, just take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come take away everything
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come and
Write Your name upon my heart
Until all that remains is the light of Your countenance
And I will be satisfied when I awaken
As a lover of You
"Break the Chains" -Misty Edwards-
You said if we would turn from our wicked ways
You said if we would humble ourselves and pray
You said if we would come with weeping
You said if we would come and rend our hearts
You said if we would come
And let your hear our voice
Let you see our face
That You would come
You said if we would learn to cling to You
Forgetting all of the wisdom of man
You said if we would but humble ourselves and repent
You said if we would come tearing our hearts
That You would answer from on high
You said if we would cry out
You would come
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
Here we are, God
In these latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
In the latter days
Here we are
We humble ourselves in Your sight
We confess that there is no other hope
And we repent, God, from our wicked ways
I repent, God, for my double-mindedness
My heart so prone to wander
So quickly to cling to another
I've been leaning on the wisdom of man
And I've been leaning on the lust of the flesh
And I've been grieving the Holy Spirit
And now I fall face down, down, down
And I repent
And I tear my heart
I rip it open
All that I've been holding onto
When You are forgotten
I take my heart and willingly, I rip it open
For I only want to cling to You
I don't want to cling to another
I've been chasing all those other loves and I've forgotten You
Now I take my heart and I humble myself in Your sight
And I confess...
I confess...
And I confess...
I need You.
So come break the chains
The chains that hinder love
All that remains of yesteryear
Come break the chains
The chains that pull me down
Come break the chains and draw me near
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come take away everything
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come and
Write Your name upon my heart
Til all that remains is the light of Your countenance
I will be satisfied when I awaken
As a lover of You
As a lover of You
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, just take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
Whatever it takes, take it away
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come take away everything
And let Your fire burn, consuming me
Let Your jealous flame come and
Write Your name upon my heart
Until all that remains is the light of Your countenance
And I will be satisfied when I awaken
As a lover of You
"Break the Chains" -Misty Edwards-
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter!
HE IS RISEN!!!
Oh my goodness! So every year, this holiday just becomes more and more exciting to me, as I understand more and more fully just what it's all about. The closer I get to Jesus, the more incredibly exciting His resurrection becomes!
"My God is NOT dead! He's surely ALIVE! And He's LIVING on the inside, ROARING like a LION!"
"On Friday a thief, on Sunday a King. Laid down in grief, but awoke with the keys of hell. On that day, first born of the slain, the Man Jesus Christ laid death in his grave!"
"Christ THE LORD is risen today, hallelujah!!!!!"
He is risen indeed!
Oh my goodness! So every year, this holiday just becomes more and more exciting to me, as I understand more and more fully just what it's all about. The closer I get to Jesus, the more incredibly exciting His resurrection becomes!
"My God is NOT dead! He's surely ALIVE! And He's LIVING on the inside, ROARING like a LION!"
"On Friday a thief, on Sunday a King. Laid down in grief, but awoke with the keys of hell. On that day, first born of the slain, the Man Jesus Christ laid death in his grave!"
"Christ THE LORD is risen today, hallelujah!!!!!"
He is risen indeed!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
This is the day my beautiful Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. :D
Hello beautiful! I don't even know who you are, but right now I think you're beautiful. I think everybody is beautiful. I think everything is beautiful. I think life is beautiful.
Did I mention I'm having a good day? lol
I just feel happy...I rather like feeling happy...just so you know. lol ;)
Anyway, one good thing that comes with me feeling happy is that I become inspired! Inspired to write, to paint, to twirl, to smile, to dance, to sing, to make music, to laugh, and to blog.
So here'y'are! A blog full of mindless nothings and happy ramblings. :)
So hmm what's up...well, I went to prom last saturday. That was fun! Always is :) Homeschool prom is where it's at! And then afterwards it was off and away to visit a neverending stream of relatives in Austen, San Antonio, and San Marcos. Admittedely I'm quite an awkward child around my dear relatives. I love sitting and listening to their stories...to a point. And when that point comes..the point in which I start fidgiting and spacing out and desperately thinking of any way possible to excuse myself and escape to a back room. I don't know what it is...I guess it has something to do with the fact that I'm always the only teeager in a room full of adults all over fifty and nobody talks to me..haha yeah... that's probably it. lol
But ya know, I don't really mind it. Sure, I may be an introverted bump-on-a-log while I'm around them, but I do enjoy listening to the conversations. Especially when it's my aunt and uncle on my dad's side. They are so on fire for Jesus! Just hearing all their stories about miracles and revivals and things God is doing in and around them, even in their lifes right now, is so exciting! If I ever live that long, that's what I want to just sit around and talk about. :) And I want to have that going on in my life at 60+! Heck yes! Please and thank you :)
Anyways, my dear peeps, there are other things going on in my life as well. Good things, bad things, amazing things. I'm not going to go into all of it, but just know, I'm taking the good with the bad and praising God through it all. :)
That's something I've really been digging in with God lately. He showed me so many wonderful passages with neverending praises for His glorious name! It's exciting to me. Just how awesome our God is I guess. So I started my own psalm book to Him! In this amazingly cool old journel I bought in England. I'm just writing out my prayers, praises, poems, songs and requests to God. I love it! It's just a wonderfully special time with my Savior/Lover/Creator. I love Him. So. Much.
Can you tell?
I hope you're laughing right now...cause I'm laughing at myself. ;)
Anyways, for now, I shall probably depart. Even though I have said absolutely nothing of consequence this entire blog...but then, does anybody ever? What are our human words in the grand scheme of thing? Just a breath into the passing wind. Wonderful, isn't it? :)
So ta-ta for now dear ones, love life, love eachother, and most of all, love True Love, the Lover of us all.
*insert incredibely uber smiley face with a big hug attatched here*
Did I mention I'm having a good day? lol
I just feel happy...I rather like feeling happy...just so you know. lol ;)
Anyway, one good thing that comes with me feeling happy is that I become inspired! Inspired to write, to paint, to twirl, to smile, to dance, to sing, to make music, to laugh, and to blog.
So here'y'are! A blog full of mindless nothings and happy ramblings. :)
So hmm what's up...well, I went to prom last saturday. That was fun! Always is :) Homeschool prom is where it's at! And then afterwards it was off and away to visit a neverending stream of relatives in Austen, San Antonio, and San Marcos. Admittedely I'm quite an awkward child around my dear relatives. I love sitting and listening to their stories...to a point. And when that point comes..the point in which I start fidgiting and spacing out and desperately thinking of any way possible to excuse myself and escape to a back room. I don't know what it is...I guess it has something to do with the fact that I'm always the only teeager in a room full of adults all over fifty and nobody talks to me..haha yeah... that's probably it. lol
But ya know, I don't really mind it. Sure, I may be an introverted bump-on-a-log while I'm around them, but I do enjoy listening to the conversations. Especially when it's my aunt and uncle on my dad's side. They are so on fire for Jesus! Just hearing all their stories about miracles and revivals and things God is doing in and around them, even in their lifes right now, is so exciting! If I ever live that long, that's what I want to just sit around and talk about. :) And I want to have that going on in my life at 60+! Heck yes! Please and thank you :)
Anyways, my dear peeps, there are other things going on in my life as well. Good things, bad things, amazing things. I'm not going to go into all of it, but just know, I'm taking the good with the bad and praising God through it all. :)
That's something I've really been digging in with God lately. He showed me so many wonderful passages with neverending praises for His glorious name! It's exciting to me. Just how awesome our God is I guess. So I started my own psalm book to Him! In this amazingly cool old journel I bought in England. I'm just writing out my prayers, praises, poems, songs and requests to God. I love it! It's just a wonderfully special time with my Savior/Lover/Creator. I love Him. So. Much.
Can you tell?
I hope you're laughing right now...cause I'm laughing at myself. ;)
Anyways, for now, I shall probably depart. Even though I have said absolutely nothing of consequence this entire blog...but then, does anybody ever? What are our human words in the grand scheme of thing? Just a breath into the passing wind. Wonderful, isn't it? :)
So ta-ta for now dear ones, love life, love eachother, and most of all, love True Love, the Lover of us all.
*insert incredibely uber smiley face with a big hug attatched here*
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
England England England...
I really don't know what say, I figured it's been long enough, that I really should say something...but what?? There's just too much! How am I supposed to put ten days of non-stop action into a blog? Admittedly I'm having the same problem with my follow-up letter for all my supporters, and sadly there's more of a deadline for that...
Well I guess what I'm gonna try to do here is write. Just write out all the main events and what God was working inside of me at those times. Then maybe I can use a version of what I write out here in my letter...yeah, that sounds good. So bear with me, this is going to be a bit of a read.
So England, the first thing you need to know about England is how incredibely beautiful it is. Everything. Green grass, green trees, green fields, beautiful mist, and stately old yet beautiful houses everywhere. Not to mention their flowers all bloom brightly in 40 degree weather lol.
Second thing, there's a lot of litter. Now this may be a more surprising fact to you, but there is a lot of litter, on the streets and on pretty green grass. The funny thing is though, these two things I mention are incredibely telling of the heart of the country itself. On the outside, it's gorgeous, beautiful, old, vintage, foggy, history-ridden, and lovely. But the hearts of the people there are so. lost. I talked to one of my friends I met there and she said in her school of a hundreds of people, about five that she knows of are saved. So many people there are desperately lost. It's heart-breaking. They are a beautiful people with a wonderful culture and an amazing history, but they have strayed so far away from God. It really does break your heart.
Another thing about England: There are beautiful old churches that look like this everywhere:
But the number of people in attendance at these churches is usually around ten to fifteen or less...and the people are about as old as the churches themselves. (jk...sort of lol) Still though, it's rather sad.
Anyway, one thing that we would do on the sundays when we were there would be to split up into groups and visit several churches during the morning, or evening services. That way we were able to minister to several different people and churches across the board. Different things we would do in the services included giving our testimonies, dancing, leading worship, singing, doing skits, and I would paint. This was truly a blessing to us as well as them. We got to meet and talk with so many strong and faithful christians and they got to see youth such as ourselves stand up and declare our passion for the Lord. That was something interesting about England, although there are many older people in the church and they sometimes have large children ministries, youth and young adults are virtually non-existant in the church. So it was encouraging to all the older generations to see us youth boldly declaring His name. You see, in England, faith is somewhat considered to be a private thing. Something decided by the individual and to be kept to the individual. This may be one of the reasons for the church's shrinking numbers. But while we were there, you could tell that the church was being convicted. I believe God was already planting those seeds of awakening. Awakening the older generations to reach out to the younger. To draw their own children and grandchildren back into the fold. To not be afraid of speaking up for the gospel, even in their own homes. In fact, one night after several of us had shared our testimonies in front of the church, a man walked out of the service with tears streaming down his face. He was too overcome with emotion to talk about it. But we got the gist of it was just how much he was struck by our williness to talk about our passion for the Lord. It was funny, our testimonies, because in the end, it didn't really matter what we said, the fact we said anything at all was enough for God to work with. :)
Anyway, now another thing I mentioned above was me painting. Say wha? You ask. Well, one way I worship God is through art and painting. God will give me a picture, and while listening to worship music or such, I'll simply paint it out. Now, in England I had the wonderful oppurtunity of doing that during the services in front of the whole church. I would get up there at the beginning, and paint what God had showed throughout the entire service. Let me just tell you right now: So. Much. Fun. I think I'll remember that feeling for the rest of my life. :) And what was truly amazing was how God would use my paintings. Like this one for instance:
This is actually two paintings put together to make one. It represents England on the left (with green fields, old houses, and driving on the wrong side of the road) and Texas on the right (with yellow grass, blue sky, and tall buildings.) The meaning is that even though were seperated by an ocean and we may seem different, God created each of us in His image and loves us all the same. So I drew people from England; young and old, and people from America; young and old, together in a circle around God's heart, celebrating His love and salvation.
The cool thing about this painting, is that it ended up becoming the symbol of our mission trip. We would take it wherever we would share about God: schools, churches, homeless ministries, etc. And in all those places I got to talk about it's meaning and how I worship God through art. It was soooo amazing! God is so incredibely good :)
The second painting I did was on the day before we were to go home; a sunday night. And it is more personal. It's really rather a picture of my testimony:
This one represents the song "Safe in His arms" by Phil Wickham. Which was a song we sang a lot on the trip. The painting means that no matter how many things(deamons, distractions and such) of the world are trying to get at us, we will always be safe in His arms.
So yeah, theres that. So now I've told you about the services we did in the church, but real quick before I move on I just want to mention how loving all these older people were. I am downright convinced that they didn't have a spec of judgementalness in them. They were all totally fine with us coming in and completely rearanging their services. With our contemporary songs, skits, paintings, and testimonies, they were only ever 100% loving. So. Amazing.
Moving on; the schools. One other thing that we were able to do almost every day we were there was go into primary school assembly's. (Primary schools are what they call elementary schools in England.)
We would just go in, and talk in front of the whole school about "being an american" and include God into that. Then we would do a christian children's song, and maybe read a story. And every time, I got to show them all my painting and talk about it. See that was the nice thing about the schools in England, you could talk freely about God, since that's officially the queen's religion. So we did, and we had a wonderful time talking with and answering questions of the many beautiful children there. It was heart-warming.
Side note: We worked with a lot of children the whole time we were there...and I mean a lot! Now that may not seem important to you, but you see, I don't work well with kids...at all. I actually don't even, (or didn't before this trip) like them. I didn't like talking to them or even being around them. But that was truly one of the biggest miracles for me in England. God completely turned that around! I worked amazingly well with the kids, and in the end I ended up wanting to take them all home with me. They were just too cute! And me ever saying that at all is truly a miracle. :) Praise God!
While we were in England we also visited the lighthouse homeless ministry, which is part homeless shelter and part rehab. And let me tell y'all what, God is moving there!! And big time! I mean it. You can feel His presence the moment you walk in the door and the hearts of the men there are so full of His spirit and grace. It's truly amazing. These men are struggling so much with drugs and alcohol and homelessness, and yet they are so ready to dance and worship and sing out on the top of their lungs to praise their father. There was even one homeless man there who had written out two notebooks full of poetry and songs to God. They were so simple and yet you could tell his entire heart was in it. Another man names Robert was there that night, and several of our group prayed over him to recieve healing from his alcahol addiction. We've now recieved word that he's been 100% set free and has not had (or wanted) a drop of alcohol since. It was truly an amazing experience.
The last ministry-oriented thing I'd like to share with you is about the friday night youth club we went to. This was one of the view oppertunities we had to reach out to youth our own ages. So, here's how it went: we tried to open up the evening with worship, carson (who plays guitar) and I (on the mic) led a couple songs. The problem was, the kids didn't seem to care..at all. They just kind of shrugged us off and kept talking. What was amazing though, was that as I sang out the worship songs, I looked out at the reaction of our group, my friends, in the back. They were praying like they'd never prayed before. You could tell. Many of them were pacing in the back and practically calling down heaven. It was really cool for me to watch on stage. Still though, the English kids didn't really seem to be getting into it. Course we didn't find out why till later. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Anyway, Carson and I wrapped up the worship songs and as I was getting off stage Keva (one of our pastors) told me that some of the English youth might have talents they'd want to show everybody. So I went back up and asked for any of that, one girl sang a beautiful song, and another slightly-nerdy looking kid beat-boxed (amazingly well! I might add). It was just a fun and silly time that you could tell they were more used to. So we let them have their fun for a little while. But then we performed our skit for them. Now I don't know if you ever have seen the "everything" skit to the song by lifehouse, but if not, you should definitely look it up on youtube right now. So. Amazing. And we performed it for the kids. They were instantly shocked. All their goofiness and unwilliness to be serious vanished. They suddenly were all staring at us with big eyes. I think it really penetrated their hearts. Then afterwards three of us got up and gave our testimonies, including me. It was actually the only time I gave my testimony all week. And I felt like it was the right time. I was nervous. But God took over, and I think I said everything that needed to be said, and everything that didn't. There were lots of things I remembered later that I could have talked about, but I know in my heart that God hand-picked the things that came out of my mouth. Thank goodness lol. But we had them, they were all wide-eyed and listening. The skit had broken down some walls, I think. And they suddenly trusted us. And when we bared ourselves to them, sharing how we've messed up yet still are saved by God no matter what. I think some of them truly believed us. There was just one thing. We were all told, after the night was over, that none of them were probably saved. None of them attended church regularly, and this was just a hang out spot for them to keep them off the streets. We had no idea. Suddenly we were all thinking, oh, well then we shouldn't have poured on the worship so thick, or I could have simplified my testimony, or we could have this, or we should have that. Then I realized something, God had a plan, He had a reason that they forgot to tell us these kids weren't saved. Maybe God wanted them to see it thick, to see it real, to see all of our hearts poured into this God. And the coolest part of the story is, the next sunday morning, two of the guys showed up at church. They had never been to a church service in their lives. They didn't even have any idea of when it started, they just walked there together early in the morning, hoping they wouldn't miss it. It was truly an amazing miracle of God. Praise Him from Whom all blessing flow, eh? :)
So let me see, now I've told you about the churches, the schools, the lighthouse, and the youth club, so what's left? Well the non-important stuff I guess lol.
Those things include that we went to Sherwood Forest, saw what they believe was Robin Hoods Hideout. Visited the Wentworth house which is the largest house in Europe, visited the Chattsworth house and grounds where the Duke and Duchess live and where parts of Pride and Prejudice were filmed. Visited John and Charles Wesley's rectory in Epworth and walked around the town seeing the different historical places that they preached. Went to Meadow Hall in Sheffield which is the biggest mall I have ever been to in my life. And on the last day we went to London where we saw Big Ben, the ferris wheel, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and the crown jewels. All in all, as you can imagine, every single one of our days was jam-packed with stuff to do. We hardly ever got a moments rest. But I'm extremely grateful for the experience as I know it's one I will remember for the rest of my life.
And now, just know that there are a billion other stories just as amazing that I have not been able to tell you. I only wish I had time to write out (and you had time to read) all the other amazing things that God did in and through us there. It's truly left a deep imprint on my mind. I'm continually processing things that happend and amazing things God showed me every day. I will also be continually in prayer for every seed that was planted while we were there, and I ask that you would be too. God's starting a mighty work in England. I get emails from some of the friends I made there talking about how the spiritual warfare is getting stronger. And it's incredibely exciting :D So yeah, God's good...I guess that's all I have to say. :)
Well I guess what I'm gonna try to do here is write. Just write out all the main events and what God was working inside of me at those times. Then maybe I can use a version of what I write out here in my letter...yeah, that sounds good. So bear with me, this is going to be a bit of a read.
So England, the first thing you need to know about England is how incredibely beautiful it is. Everything. Green grass, green trees, green fields, beautiful mist, and stately old yet beautiful houses everywhere. Not to mention their flowers all bloom brightly in 40 degree weather lol.
Second thing, there's a lot of litter. Now this may be a more surprising fact to you, but there is a lot of litter, on the streets and on pretty green grass. The funny thing is though, these two things I mention are incredibely telling of the heart of the country itself. On the outside, it's gorgeous, beautiful, old, vintage, foggy, history-ridden, and lovely. But the hearts of the people there are so. lost. I talked to one of my friends I met there and she said in her school of a hundreds of people, about five that she knows of are saved. So many people there are desperately lost. It's heart-breaking. They are a beautiful people with a wonderful culture and an amazing history, but they have strayed so far away from God. It really does break your heart.
Another thing about England: There are beautiful old churches that look like this everywhere:
But the number of people in attendance at these churches is usually around ten to fifteen or less...and the people are about as old as the churches themselves. (jk...sort of lol) Still though, it's rather sad.
Anyway, one thing that we would do on the sundays when we were there would be to split up into groups and visit several churches during the morning, or evening services. That way we were able to minister to several different people and churches across the board. Different things we would do in the services included giving our testimonies, dancing, leading worship, singing, doing skits, and I would paint. This was truly a blessing to us as well as them. We got to meet and talk with so many strong and faithful christians and they got to see youth such as ourselves stand up and declare our passion for the Lord. That was something interesting about England, although there are many older people in the church and they sometimes have large children ministries, youth and young adults are virtually non-existant in the church. So it was encouraging to all the older generations to see us youth boldly declaring His name. You see, in England, faith is somewhat considered to be a private thing. Something decided by the individual and to be kept to the individual. This may be one of the reasons for the church's shrinking numbers. But while we were there, you could tell that the church was being convicted. I believe God was already planting those seeds of awakening. Awakening the older generations to reach out to the younger. To draw their own children and grandchildren back into the fold. To not be afraid of speaking up for the gospel, even in their own homes. In fact, one night after several of us had shared our testimonies in front of the church, a man walked out of the service with tears streaming down his face. He was too overcome with emotion to talk about it. But we got the gist of it was just how much he was struck by our williness to talk about our passion for the Lord. It was funny, our testimonies, because in the end, it didn't really matter what we said, the fact we said anything at all was enough for God to work with. :)
Anyway, now another thing I mentioned above was me painting. Say wha? You ask. Well, one way I worship God is through art and painting. God will give me a picture, and while listening to worship music or such, I'll simply paint it out. Now, in England I had the wonderful oppurtunity of doing that during the services in front of the whole church. I would get up there at the beginning, and paint what God had showed throughout the entire service. Let me just tell you right now: So. Much. Fun. I think I'll remember that feeling for the rest of my life. :) And what was truly amazing was how God would use my paintings. Like this one for instance:
This is actually two paintings put together to make one. It represents England on the left (with green fields, old houses, and driving on the wrong side of the road) and Texas on the right (with yellow grass, blue sky, and tall buildings.) The meaning is that even though were seperated by an ocean and we may seem different, God created each of us in His image and loves us all the same. So I drew people from England; young and old, and people from America; young and old, together in a circle around God's heart, celebrating His love and salvation.
The cool thing about this painting, is that it ended up becoming the symbol of our mission trip. We would take it wherever we would share about God: schools, churches, homeless ministries, etc. And in all those places I got to talk about it's meaning and how I worship God through art. It was soooo amazing! God is so incredibely good :)
The second painting I did was on the day before we were to go home; a sunday night. And it is more personal. It's really rather a picture of my testimony:
This one represents the song "Safe in His arms" by Phil Wickham. Which was a song we sang a lot on the trip. The painting means that no matter how many things(deamons, distractions and such) of the world are trying to get at us, we will always be safe in His arms.
So yeah, theres that. So now I've told you about the services we did in the church, but real quick before I move on I just want to mention how loving all these older people were. I am downright convinced that they didn't have a spec of judgementalness in them. They were all totally fine with us coming in and completely rearanging their services. With our contemporary songs, skits, paintings, and testimonies, they were only ever 100% loving. So. Amazing.
Moving on; the schools. One other thing that we were able to do almost every day we were there was go into primary school assembly's. (Primary schools are what they call elementary schools in England.)
We would just go in, and talk in front of the whole school about "being an american" and include God into that. Then we would do a christian children's song, and maybe read a story. And every time, I got to show them all my painting and talk about it. See that was the nice thing about the schools in England, you could talk freely about God, since that's officially the queen's religion. So we did, and we had a wonderful time talking with and answering questions of the many beautiful children there. It was heart-warming.
Side note: We worked with a lot of children the whole time we were there...and I mean a lot! Now that may not seem important to you, but you see, I don't work well with kids...at all. I actually don't even, (or didn't before this trip) like them. I didn't like talking to them or even being around them. But that was truly one of the biggest miracles for me in England. God completely turned that around! I worked amazingly well with the kids, and in the end I ended up wanting to take them all home with me. They were just too cute! And me ever saying that at all is truly a miracle. :) Praise God!
While we were in England we also visited the lighthouse homeless ministry, which is part homeless shelter and part rehab. And let me tell y'all what, God is moving there!! And big time! I mean it. You can feel His presence the moment you walk in the door and the hearts of the men there are so full of His spirit and grace. It's truly amazing. These men are struggling so much with drugs and alcohol and homelessness, and yet they are so ready to dance and worship and sing out on the top of their lungs to praise their father. There was even one homeless man there who had written out two notebooks full of poetry and songs to God. They were so simple and yet you could tell his entire heart was in it. Another man names Robert was there that night, and several of our group prayed over him to recieve healing from his alcahol addiction. We've now recieved word that he's been 100% set free and has not had (or wanted) a drop of alcohol since. It was truly an amazing experience.
The last ministry-oriented thing I'd like to share with you is about the friday night youth club we went to. This was one of the view oppertunities we had to reach out to youth our own ages. So, here's how it went: we tried to open up the evening with worship, carson (who plays guitar) and I (on the mic) led a couple songs. The problem was, the kids didn't seem to care..at all. They just kind of shrugged us off and kept talking. What was amazing though, was that as I sang out the worship songs, I looked out at the reaction of our group, my friends, in the back. They were praying like they'd never prayed before. You could tell. Many of them were pacing in the back and practically calling down heaven. It was really cool for me to watch on stage. Still though, the English kids didn't really seem to be getting into it. Course we didn't find out why till later. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. Anyway, Carson and I wrapped up the worship songs and as I was getting off stage Keva (one of our pastors) told me that some of the English youth might have talents they'd want to show everybody. So I went back up and asked for any of that, one girl sang a beautiful song, and another slightly-nerdy looking kid beat-boxed (amazingly well! I might add). It was just a fun and silly time that you could tell they were more used to. So we let them have their fun for a little while. But then we performed our skit for them. Now I don't know if you ever have seen the "everything" skit to the song by lifehouse, but if not, you should definitely look it up on youtube right now. So. Amazing. And we performed it for the kids. They were instantly shocked. All their goofiness and unwilliness to be serious vanished. They suddenly were all staring at us with big eyes. I think it really penetrated their hearts. Then afterwards three of us got up and gave our testimonies, including me. It was actually the only time I gave my testimony all week. And I felt like it was the right time. I was nervous. But God took over, and I think I said everything that needed to be said, and everything that didn't. There were lots of things I remembered later that I could have talked about, but I know in my heart that God hand-picked the things that came out of my mouth. Thank goodness lol. But we had them, they were all wide-eyed and listening. The skit had broken down some walls, I think. And they suddenly trusted us. And when we bared ourselves to them, sharing how we've messed up yet still are saved by God no matter what. I think some of them truly believed us. There was just one thing. We were all told, after the night was over, that none of them were probably saved. None of them attended church regularly, and this was just a hang out spot for them to keep them off the streets. We had no idea. Suddenly we were all thinking, oh, well then we shouldn't have poured on the worship so thick, or I could have simplified my testimony, or we could have this, or we should have that. Then I realized something, God had a plan, He had a reason that they forgot to tell us these kids weren't saved. Maybe God wanted them to see it thick, to see it real, to see all of our hearts poured into this God. And the coolest part of the story is, the next sunday morning, two of the guys showed up at church. They had never been to a church service in their lives. They didn't even have any idea of when it started, they just walked there together early in the morning, hoping they wouldn't miss it. It was truly an amazing miracle of God. Praise Him from Whom all blessing flow, eh? :)
So let me see, now I've told you about the churches, the schools, the lighthouse, and the youth club, so what's left? Well the non-important stuff I guess lol.
Those things include that we went to Sherwood Forest, saw what they believe was Robin Hoods Hideout. Visited the Wentworth house which is the largest house in Europe, visited the Chattsworth house and grounds where the Duke and Duchess live and where parts of Pride and Prejudice were filmed. Visited John and Charles Wesley's rectory in Epworth and walked around the town seeing the different historical places that they preached. Went to Meadow Hall in Sheffield which is the biggest mall I have ever been to in my life. And on the last day we went to London where we saw Big Ben, the ferris wheel, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, and the crown jewels. All in all, as you can imagine, every single one of our days was jam-packed with stuff to do. We hardly ever got a moments rest. But I'm extremely grateful for the experience as I know it's one I will remember for the rest of my life.
And now, just know that there are a billion other stories just as amazing that I have not been able to tell you. I only wish I had time to write out (and you had time to read) all the other amazing things that God did in and through us there. It's truly left a deep imprint on my mind. I'm continually processing things that happend and amazing things God showed me every day. I will also be continually in prayer for every seed that was planted while we were there, and I ask that you would be too. God's starting a mighty work in England. I get emails from some of the friends I made there talking about how the spiritual warfare is getting stronger. And it's incredibely exciting :D So yeah, God's good...I guess that's all I have to say. :)
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