Reminding myself...

¹ Blessed is the man
         Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
         Nor stands in the path of sinners,
         Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
 ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
         And in His law he meditates day and night.
 ³ He shall be like a tree
         Planted by the rivers of water,
         That brings forth its fruit in its season,
         Whose leaf also shall not wither;
         And whatever he does shall prosper.
       
 ⁴ The ungodly are not so,
         But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
 ⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
         Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
       
 ⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
         But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

-Psalm 1

There is so much more to this life...

"And He said to them, 'Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.'"

-Luke 12:15

100 Things I want to do before I die:

You may have seen these types of posts floating around the blogisphere, and while I know this deviates from the kind of posts I generally make I thought it would add a personal side to the blog... I'm not preachy-preachy all the time. 

(In no particular order... and obviously I need a few more)

1. Compete in the Olympics
2. Get a 4.0 in college
3. Design and run my own magazine
4. Go bungee jumping
5. Go snowboarding (like... legit snowboarding, not just in my backyard off the little hill)
6. Meet Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina
7. Go hunting
8. Record my own song (original song)
9. Lead someone to Christ
10. Write at least one novel
11. Do something drastic.
12. Get married
13. Have kids
14. Read the entire Bible
15. Have my own photography studio
16. Shoot a perfect 400 in air rifle
17. Compete in finals at a national competition
18. Graduate college with honors
19. Make All American in rifle
20. Compete in NCAA's
21. Sing the National Anthem at a Cardinals game
22. Totally trust God. Automatically obey. No second guessing.
23. Send out anonymous money to those who really need it
24. See Dancing with the Stars live or on tour
25. Meet Maks
26. Do what mom and dad ask right away
27. Go skydiving
28. Be in a constant state of abiding with God
29. Share with someone what God has done for me in person- not over email, facebook, or a letter.
30. Ride in a horse drawn sleigh (with snow) at Christmas with my husband (with jingle bells)
31. Ride in a boat
32. Homeschool my kids
33. Design and plan my own wedding (make all the invitations, reception decorations, etc)
34. Sing in a "real" talent show
35. Live in my dream house next door to my sister and her dream house
36. Go on a mission trip to Africa
37. Love unconditionally whether people deserve it or not


...No one can say I'm not ambitious.

So you think you're something?

"The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 

-1 Corinthians 1:25

How Great is Our God

This morning at church Bro. Michael opened the service by speaking about the greatness of God... check it out:

"He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing." -Job 26:7

NASA- Rotating Earth

Big God? Yes.

"He binds up the water in His thick clouds, yet the clouds are not broken under it." -Job 26:8

Stay with me here, this is fascinating! A little white puffy cumulus cloud like this one:

Weighs approximately 550 tons... To put it in perspective, that is the equivalent to 100 elephants.

However, a cloud like this:

Weighs approximately 200,000 elephants.

That is a mega huge amount of weight, yet our amazing God suspends the clouds on nothing. And He houses the water in such a way that it becomes tiny molecules, because of that we can maneuver our way through them by flying and such.

God is unbelievably huge and undeservingly amazing, yet He became small in order to take the form of man (He was God with skin) and die for us... What love.

Dear God, I want to go to Africa...

You lived among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away.

All my needs You have supplied.
When I was dead You gave me life.
How could I not give it away so freely?

And I`ll follow You into the homes that are broken.
Follow You into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God.
Follow You into the world.

Use my hands use my feet
To make Your kingdom come
Through the corners of the earth
Until Your work is done
`Cause faith without works is dead
And on the cross Your blood was shed
So how could I not give it away so freely?

And I`ll follow You into the homes that are broken.
Follow You into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God.
Follow You into the world.

I give all myself.
I give all myself
I give all myself to You.

And I give all myself.
Yes I give all myself.
And I give all myself to You.

And I`ll follow You into the homes that are broken
Follow You into the world.
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God.
Follow You into the world.

Waiting for Butter

In my pursuit of sexual purity and saving not only my body but heart for my future husband, I've always likened the physical purity as waiting for butter. Butter is the real thing and, when made the way God intended, is healthier and better for you than anything offered on store shelves. Sex in the confines of marriage--the way God intended--is the best. Anything less is margarine. Just a substitute.

Let's list a couple of the offered substitutes in today's society:

• Coke vs. generic
• Butter vs. margarine
• iPod vs. any other mp3 player
• Off-brands in general are substitutes for the real thing (definitely not knocking off-brands, that's basically the only way to shop- I adore Aldi's)

So in a world full of substitutes (and let's just face it, most substitutes aren't as great as the real thing... you can usually tell a difference in quality, taste, and overall satisfaction), Jesus died a substitutional death. (Can I get an amen for the substitute of my sins?) The only substitute that is better than the real thing.

"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:3-4

He died as a substitute for my sins so I would have too.

Anything less than God's best may bring temporary (fleeting) happiness, but will not satisfy. God gave His best because He was the only One who could satisfy His judgement.

What an amazing substitute.