The God of the Heavens and the Earth - made YOU!

So last night I was planning on getting to bed on time for once. ....It all worked out fine, until I looked out the window.
The clouds and the moon looked absolutely stunning. And try as I might, I couldn't resist getting my camera out and taking some video/photos.
I lay on my back in the dark, in the cold, on our rather wet porch holding my camera up towards the sky.
I was overwhelmed with how beautiful the sky was! Cold as I was, I stayed out there for at least fifteen minutes.
The thought that God created this. He formed each and every cloud...just took my breath away.
You can't look at the beauty of the rapidly moving clouds across the moon and not think about an omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God who created it.
I can't describe or even begin to describe how awesome God is. How amazing his creation is.
A God who created the sun, the moon and earth, how much more has he created you? Created you just as he wanted. No part of you is a mistake or a mess up. Frizzy hair? Hey! He gave you that! (As weird as it seems!) God created you specially and he loves you.
So don't blow it off by trying to make yourself something you aren't.
What if the sky wasn't happy with how it looked? What if it wanted to be green instead of blue? Ok, ya I know that's a little over the top idea...but do you see what I'm trying to say?
I am overwhelmed with God's power and love. Even this morning, as I look outside and see the snow falling. As much as I don't really care for snow, it's absolutely beautiful.
Psalm 139:13, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

So It's February - And the mountains keep coming

 Wow. February 1st 2011.
Two years ago this date seemed so far ahead.
Now it's here.
It's crazy how fast life goes by. It's true what they say, life is over before you know it. I'm starting to see how fast it goes by...and I'm only 17! I can't imagine how it's gunna be when I'm like...old...like...30. haha ;)
So often we want so much just to get through with the day, but it feels like we're stuck. We're stuck staring at this huge mountain we have to overcome.
So often we find ourselves in conflict with family or friends.
And how often do we keep putting it off? Put it off for another day?
You don't want to deal with working out your issues with your sibling or parent. We don't want to do things that are hard. Things that aren't fun.
We just want to live for ourselves. To pack as much fun in as we can.
But where does that get us? That mountain is still there the next day. And the more you put it off, the more it seems to grow.
Life isn't about serving ourselves. It's about serving God. Doing His will. Trusting in Him.
Now I'm not saying that we aren't allowed to enjoy life. Nope, that's not what I'm saying at all!
I'm saying that we should find joy in honoring Christ. When we serve Him wholeheartedly we will be filled with an unbelievable joy.
When we leave conflict unresolved, it grows. We aren't serving Christ. We serving ourselves. Maybe you don't want to sort it out with that person, because you're afraid of what they'll think. Maybe you don't see any wrong in yourself. That when they are ready to talk it through, they'll come to you. No, Christ calls us to love one another. To serve others above ourselves. Part of that is not living with resentment or anger. If there's strife between someone, work it out. Pray about it. Don't let that mountain grow.
Ephesians 4:26-27, “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold" That verse says it so clearly. "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" If you have unresolved conflict between someone, don't just put it off. If you can't work it out with that person, and if you're upset at them for some reason, don't let the bitterness. Forgive them. Pray about it. God will give you strength to let go of any anger. Don't let the devil sneak in. Don't let that mountain grow.
If you can work it out, DO IT! Go talk to that person. But with humility and love.
With God's help you can overcome that mountain. :)

(Btw isn't my bro adorable???) ^_^

This is my life

My life between the hours of 10am-2pm, Monday-Saturday.

It includes:
Coffee
Bible
CLEP book
Computer
Ipod
Sharpies
Reminder to eat lunch
and...ya that's about it. :)



^{Philippians 2:14-16, "}Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain."

Just Do It

By Clari Noel and Char Char

Today while hanging out with my wonderful buddy Charity C. we were
elected to cook dessert for church lunch tomorrow. First mistake of the day. heh heh heh
We hired two minions to help out, Little-Man and Mini-Man. They gladly excepted and loved stirring the....stuff.
We flipped through the old and worn cook book hoping to stumble upon something of interest and deliciousness. It came like a light from above.
Fluffy white cake with broiled coconut topping.
We began to make the fluffy white cake with the needed ingredients-until we reached flour. The 4th ingredient.
::Gasp:: We were heavily dismayed to discover we had no flour.
After much violent debate with Charity insisting upon using tapioca(raw) and Clareesa really wanting to use white flour to make is unhealthy, an agreement was made. We would use the 'mystery flour' found back in the shadows of the pantry. We say mystery flour because it was an odd blackish color and didn't really look like flour at all. And Charity almost died when smelling it.
Clareesa really wanted this to be a coconut cake. Coconut goes in everything right? Soooo she threw in about half a cup (we just kinda dumped. Charity insists it was at least a cup) of coconut milk powder...which later exploded in Charity's face.
Then to make it even more coconutty we decided to use canned coconut milk (it was Charity's idea). It worked wonderfully. Until we opened the the can. Is coconut milk supposed to stay conformed to the can after you dump it out?
It smelled weird too. Mini-Man said it smelled like mustard.
We needed more flavor.
Lemon extract? Sounds good.
We dumped some in. Not really knowing how much to use. The whole kitchen held an odor which was strangely similar to lemon.
The batter began to form. And smell.
Charity proclaimed it to took like pureed dog food. It tasted pretty close. Clareesa refused to get near it.
We thought maybe food coloring would make it look more delectable.
All we could find was orange.
It looked like puked pureed dog food now. And tasted about the same.
Clareesa dumped in some sugar, which then caused Charity to gasp in horror and cry out "It was ALREADY too sweet!"
Charity finally got (pretty much forced) Clareesa to try some.
She insisted it needed more coconut to cover the flavor. So we added some shredded coconut.
After that it was....edible. But still looked like puked pureed dog food...now with odd chunks.
Then we talked about cooking it. Charity mentioned it would be "Solidated puked pureed dog food".
We found blue food coloring. We put it in. We looked at it. We thought it looked gross.
Clareesa's mom walked in the room and said, "Oh green cake batter? Interesting."
Our hearts were bruised. But not deflated.
We put it in the oven and gave Mini-Man and Little-Man the batter bowl to lick out. 5 minutes later they could be found running around the house with a trail of batter falling off their faces and hands.
Next. The topping. The broiled coconut topping.
Sugar, evaporated milk (which Charity discovered tastes absolutely revolting straight out of the can after guzzling it.) and butter boiling over the stove. And odd smell wafted through the doors of our house. Something like....well something unknown. Something like "Clareesa and Charity are cooking again" smell. (Later to be an odd burnt smell).
Charity had her back turned toward Clareesa who was stirring the boiling mixture on the stove and soon heard, "Oh! oh! OHHH!!!" She turned around and saw in horror the mixture was spilling over the sides of the pan and down into the stove. Clareesa was jumping around frantically trying to calm it down. Finally it was under control. (With much mess!)
Then crushed almonds and more coconut shavings. Smelled alright. Tasted alright.
We mixed it all together.
Did not look anything like frosting. More like...as Charity put it...oatmeal. Tasted rather (*very*) sweet.

And now we wait for it to finish cooking.

I'll admit it...

I'm terrified of phones.

Little Moments

Sometimes life is a little odd.
I found the moments I treasure most i'n life aren't when I'm having a ton of fun. They aren't the moments when I find myself amongst a large group laughing and having a great time. They aren't crazy moments where I feel like maybe I had just a 'tad' too much coffee.
I found the moments I treasure most, the ones that remain i'n my heart, are those little moments.
Those quite moments alone with a best friend.
Those quiet moments playing a game with a sibling.
Those moments after a crazy-wild day, when you are absolutely exhausted, but to sit i'n silence with a friend, as you both try to stay awake.

I used to take for granted those moments.
But you never know when those moments will disappear.
So let's not forget what we have. Let's not forget the ones who love us.
Life isn't about seeing how many friends you can make. It's not about being popular.

I love the song Thankful by Josh Groban. Beautiful song with beautiful lyrics.
I feel like tearing up when I hear it for a number of reasons.
1. Just the lyrics themselves are powerful
2. The first time I heard the song, it was at a going-away party for a very dear friend of mine. How I treasure those moments we had together
3. Just yesterday, We were driving home from the annual Snow Trip. Everyone was exhausted and the car was pretty quiet. Aubrey and I were listening to that song. I had been feeling exhausted and a little depressed at how the day had turned out. But listening to that song, I realized I had been surrounded by people whom I love. That moment, there i'n the car, sitting next to a friend I am so incredibly grateful God placed i'n my life, was one of the best moments i'n my life.

God how blessed me i'n an amazing way.
Those little moments he's placed i'n my life
Those little moments I will never forget.
Those little moments, I will never again take for granted.

A Burden For Prayer

     About fifteen minutes ago I saw a picture of someone I used to know, and it was disgusting. To see a person grow up in a Christian family, then turn away from the God who created them, grieves me so much. Quite often the only thing you can do for them, is pray.

     1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
     Prayer is extremely powerful. I saw this quote that said, "Pray as if your life depended on it. It does." Are we praying sincerely for those we love? Are we praying sincerely for our enemies? (Matt 5:43-44 - "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.")Are we praying sincerely to God? Or are we just praying during Church, when the pastor says, "let's pray"? Are we praying because it's just the 'Christian thing to do'? Why do you pray? How often do you pray? WHO are you praying for?
     When we go to someone's house, and they aren't saved, are we ashamed to bow our heads before the meal? Are we ashamed when we go to a friends house, and they are saved, to bow our heads and thank God...even if they don't?
     Prayer is something that should be taken seriously. When praying we are speaking to a God who created us and loved us! We are casting our cares upon Him. We are asking Him for grace, for mercy. We are thanking Him for all He's given us.
      Psalm 5:3 - "My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will look up."
     Are we praying through-out the day? When we pray is are we letting our thoughts wander?


      Luke 11:1-13 - "One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'"