What about you?

I've heard both opinions. Some people say they wish they were teenagers again others say they wouldn't go back to those years for anything in the world. Of course I have my own opinion on this matter, but I thought it would be neat to see how many teenagers actually enjoy their young life or how many can't wait to be an adult! This season is definately a big part of our life because this is when we usually make some pretty big decisions that we'll have to live with for the rest of our lives.

So what about you? Do you like being a teenager? Be sure to answer the poll honestly.

Saturday Fun

The veiw when we arived.

This was before we really started having fun!
Isn't it wonderful to be young?

God is the best artest of all. He paints beautiful colors in the sky every night.

My Life the Past Few Weeks . . .

Since it's been a long time since I've posted anything I thought I'd show my face in the blog world so that everyone doesn't forget that I exist. It's clear that my goal right now is not to keep a lot of readers because if that were my goal then I would be failing miserably! Nevertheless, I do enjoy blogging from time to time and maybe one day I will once again be a faithful writer in the Internet world.

Lately I've been reading Miss Jen's blog, Blessed Femina. Every time I visit her (Internet speaking) I drool over her beautiful creations and make good intentions to sew something as elegant as her projects. Tonight I finally put my good intentions to work and started making a weaved pot holder. Since she did such a wonderful job presenting this unique art I won't show you mine, you'll just have to go over to her blog to check it out. So far mine is turning out fairly well and I am having a lot of fun! If it turns out good I might post a picture or two for you to see.

But I haven't been spending my all my time reading blogs and sewing pot holders. In the past few weeks God has shown me how much I don't know about the Bible. It's no secret that I don't like to study, but since I have been raised in church and have been a born again believer since I was 6 I am ashamed to admit to all the things I don't know. I have come across three people, who are completely unrelated, who have inspired me to dig deeper into the Word of God so that I will have a better understanding of how God wants me to live and what he requires of me. After all, shouldn't I have a desire to know why I believe it is wrong to gamble? Shouldn't I be able to know what the Bible says about drinking? What exactly is the purpose of the church according to the sciptures? Isn't it good to be able to talk confidently of my beleifs because I have studied them out myself instead of just taking my parent's or pastor's word? These are some of the questions that have been going through my head. I could probably answer each one in a somewhat true form, but I don't know if I could back them up with scriptures without grabbing a Strongs concordance and Naves Topical Bible. I am starting to realize just how much people take on the beliefs of their denomination without studying them out to see what God says. It is as if we are all living by our denomination . . . not the Bible. But I can't judge anyone because I've done the same thing. Thankfully, it is never too late to give up old habits and start new ones . . . and today seems like a great day to start!

Thoughts on Resisting God

Tonight while I sat at the piano going over my favorite selections a song came to mind. I almost drove myself to the point of going crazy because I couldn't remember the words to the song nor the person who sings it! All I could hear was bits and pieces in my oh-too-short-memory. Finally God brought the person to mind so I got on mama's computer to see if she had it downloaded on Window's Media Player. As I scrolled through hours upon hours of gospel music I caught sight of Bro. Mark McGaughey's sermons. I paused for a minute then went back to looking for the song. Still, I couldn't help but see Bro. Mark's name in my head. Momentarily the song didn't seem very important as I scrolled back up and pressed the play button to, "Ye Do Always Resist".

As soon as Bro. Mark's deep voice sounded on the speakers I felt conviction. I suppose it was because he reminds me of the old camp meeting days when the Spirit of God was real. In those days my heart was very tender towards God and I wanted God to be ever present in my life. During those great church meetings the "in crowd" was serving God.

Or maybe I felt conviction because Bro. Mark seems like a man of God who is completely sold out to Christ. You can hear the compassion in his voice, and can almost see his broken heart at times. He is the man who once said those who aren't living a life sold out to God . . . "They don't know what they're missing!"

The scripture was out of Acts chapter 7, the message was from God. "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." We've all resisted God in our life at one point or another. Whether it's staying in our pew when God tells us to go the altar or saying "no" when God tells us to go to the mission field, it is sin. It is like turning our back on God and walking away from His will for us. It is a very sad and serious matter that I'm afraid we take too lightly. I believe God's heart is saddened every time we say no to the Holy Ghost. Every time we decide to go our own way we rob our self of a blessing. What about you? Have you resisted the Holy Ghost lately?

A Truth to Remember

About a year ago while I was in a ladies Sunday school class the teacher asked a question that we should all want to know the answer to. "What is wisdom?" Since I've heard this question many times I offered my answer. "Wisdom is not just knowing what to say, but when to say it."

Having all the knowledge in the world will do little good if you don't know how to use it correctly. Giving untimely knowledge is like someone telling me to bundle up before I go for a walk in the summer. Why would I want to do that when it's 98 degrees outside? Maybe in a few months I'll need to pile on the coats to face the cold, but in the summer that advice is going to do me no good.

Wisdom is the same way. When knowledge is given too often or at the wrong time it is not going to sink into one's mind. We have to look closely at peoples lives and be sensitive enough to see those "go ahead" triggers.

Imagine you are a young mother raising your first child. You haven't figured everything out yet but you think your child is perfect despite all the things she does wrong. When she pitches a fit you think she is just going through a stage and as soon as the temper tantrum is over you are back to talking about how sweet your child is. If ever an angel did live, it was her.

Susie, on the other hand, has raised many children and knows that if these bad habits aren't taken care of at a young age you will lose control of your daughter. So Susie goes to you and tells you quite bluntly that you need to discipline your daughter better and she knows the best way to do it if you'll only listen. You would most likely be taken back because you didn't realize there was a problem! You thought you were doing just fine. You might even think, who is she to tell me how to raise my child? She needs to stay out of my business! The knowledge she gave is true, but it was given at the wrong time. If Susie felt the need to talk to her she should do it in a very calm way as if to suggest, but without going into a lot of detail. If you really wanted to know more, you would ask questions.

Now lets look at it in a different light. You realize that your daughter is getting out of hand more and more each day and you worry about how she acts when she doesn't get her way. You may have even voiced once or twice that you just don't know what you are going to do with her. When Susie hears your frustration she is able to reply with a way to discipline her. Since you are looking for a different method of training your child you listen to every word she says not wanting to miss a thing! This is knowledge given at a the right time and is very effectual.

This is just one of many examples. We all need to be reminded how important it is to wait for the right moment to speak. Knowledge given at the right time can make a world of difference.

"Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will

despise the wisdom of thy words."

~ Proverbs 23:9 ~

Me? A Writer?

Last week I had a rather interesting conversation with a friend. A conversation that brought new thoughts to mind and questions that needed to be answered. Here's a tid bit of our talk:

Friend: So what do you guys do around here when you're not playing games.

Me: Well I work everyday and lately I've been studying to get my coding certification. Other than that I like to take walks, play the piano, and write."

Friend: You write?

Me: Yeah, I use to have a Christian magazine for teens. Now I have a blog that I write articles for.

Friend: So you're a writer?

Me: I guess, though not a very good one.

Just for the record, that was the first time anyone had called me a writer. The fact that I've been writing since I was 12 years old didn't seen sufficient enough for me to own such a title of that carried by people like L. M. Montgomery or Elizabeth George.

Oddly enough, it was kind of scary being called that. Being a writer requires a great deal of responsibility and diligence that I'm not sure I want to dedicate to the art of literature. Being a writer means that you not only know how to write words on a piece of paper, but that you are also good with words, and big words too! (I can barely spell the small ones!) Writers have to know how to weave words together to make a simple thing sound beautiful. In my opinion, a writer is someone who has talent in the area of putting words to paper.

Those things don't seem to describe me as well as I wish. I generally write my thoughts down quite frankly without all the frill. Like my hand writing, it can probably be more accurately called "scirbbling".

But then again, I suppose the real definition of a writer (no matter how boring it may sound) is simply: a person who writes. And in the light of that definition I suppose I am a writer. . . but I'd much rather be called a scribbler! :)

But putting all nonsense aside I will admit, this conversation also got me thinking about why I write. I've always used my writing ability to express my thoughts regarding the Christian life, but it goes farther than that. Am I writing to be a good Christian writer remembered by many? Am I writing to become famous in the Christian realm? Am I writing simply for the pleasure of it? Or am I writing for the glory of God?

The answer I should give is obvious - "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." I Corinthians 10:31 - but saying that truthfully is another matter. It is easy to get my focus off track and forget the root of it all. Thankfully, God sends along little things like this conversation right when I need them to remind me to evaluate not just what I am doing but why I'm doing it.

Something Good

Lately my life has not been as wonderful as I wish it were. I don't really know if it would be true to say that so many things are going wrong in my life because it very well could be that I am just experiencing a very big bout of "negativism". I do tend to see the bad things more then the good at times. It is so much easier to blame all my faults on the trial at hand then to suck it up and be strong like the Bible teaches. (Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ~ 2 Timothy 2:3. That's not an easy verse to swallow!)

But today I am counting my blessings! Someone from our church came over for dinner which was followed by several ours of playing games. We played Taboo, Uno, Pit, Clue . . . pretty much everything on our shelf! What made the afternoon so fun was the laughter we shared, the jokes we told, the teasing we threw back and forth, and the common bond of God's love in our life. It's not very often that we come across people who have the same interests as we do much less the same senserity of serving God. It was so nice to be able to enjoy several hours with another Christian who understands why we live the way we do.

In the midst of all that the devil is throwing my way God gave me something good. Even if a dozen other things in my life seem to be going wrong, I am going to be thankful for the good thing that God has given me today. And if I live day by day - looking for those small blessings - life will be much easier.

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:" Psalms 103:2