Life moment #4

April 2009:

The weekend weather had been beautiful, high 80's, sunshine, blue skies. Quite unusual for Ohio. I had spent the weekend out side enjoying God's creation. Jeramy, Laura, and I had just finished a long day of hiking and we were driving to Chick-fil-a. Then windows were down, the radio was up and it was perfect. Then Jeramy gets a phone call and we roll the windows up so he can hear. My car, which does not have air conditioning, starts to heat up, fast. And soon we are sweltering. Jeramy is still on the phone clearly trying to end the convo but the person on the line just keeps talking. Me and laura are sweating to death in the front....Finally Jeramy hangs up the phone we all scream and roll down the windows and let the fresh air in. Till this day this memory makes me laugh. Good times with great friends.

Summer sun, something's begun, but uh-oh those summer nights

Summer 2010 to do list:

A. Go mud sliding (rainy day, big hill, lots of friends)

B. Have a movie marathon day

C. Go putt putting

D. Get semi good at a sport

E. Road trip with friends

F. Go hiking at least once a week this summer

G. Create a giant slip-n-slide

H. Host a Bible Study

I. Go late night swimming

J. Have as many bonfires as possible

K. Go on a picnic and take a real picnic basket

L. Commit to doing an extended period of God time at least once a month

M. Tan on my roof

N. Do something artistic (ie. paint, write a song, take sweet photography)

O. Go to a local fair

P. Sleep outside

Q. Lay on a trampoline and look at the stars

R. Wake up to watch the sunrise (preferably on lake erie)

S. Go to Canada

T. Go camping

U. Play in the rain

V. Go to Country Diner at 2am

W. Stay up all night doing stupid stuff

X. Go visit Becca at camp

Y. Go to the drive in

Z. Go tubing

A1. Make a pie and cool it on the pie window

B1. Sailing

AND A TON MORE!

The lies they tell us

Lies:

You are too fat

Your not pretty enough

You have be thiner

You have to fit into this size

You need to look like her

You need to wear make-up/do your hair

Nobody will like you if you look like that

You are not worthy of love because of your body

These are things that i hear and think everyday. Almost every girl, women, and female person deals with these lies or ones like them on a daily basis. Some girls are crushed by these lies, some push through, some just deal.

I try to put on a smile, everyday when i wake up i go to the mirror and think...Am i going to feel pretty today? It is a rare occasion when the answer to that question is yes...but when it is, my smile is real and i feel like i can do anything.

I know this is deep stuff but i don't think i am alone in this struggle. Girls deal with this everyday. And it starts young. For me it started when i was 12... 9 years dealing with the ever present lies.

So how do we silence them? How do we silence the hissing lies that tells us we are not worthy?

The first step is to go to the one who silences the lies with His love.

Jesus loves each of us, and his eyes we are beauty beyond compare. He sees us as perfect, beautiful, with out fault. Everyday we must ask him for the help to listen to these truths, and that He will silence the lies we hear.

The second step is encourage one another and love on each other by expressing truth.

Ladies, this works in two ways. One stop saying the lies out loud, stop saying "I am fat, look at me i look like crap, i will never have a boyfriend...etc" If we tell ourselves those lies it will be harder to get rid of them. Two encourage your sisters! Tell them every chance you get that you think they are lovely, and shine a light on their good qualities.

Guys, i am not sure how many of you are reading this but if you are i just gave you a glimpse into the inner workings of a female mind. Don't abuse this privilege. Use this info to speak truth to your sisters in Christ. Encourage them! Tell them about their beauty in Christ. And by all means do not further the lies. But pray they are silenced!

Jesus will and does silence the lies with His love! You are his creation and you are beautiful no matter what.

This is your life

This idea is completely stolen and not my own...thanks taylor (;

My life is insane....I have been on this earth for 21 years. What makes up these years? What sticks out? Here are three of my most important life memories:

#1

Tuscarora Winter Weekend- I can't remember what year this was...i want to say 2006? Its Sunday night. We are sitting in the auditorium and had just heard the speaker give his message, and they begin to show this video. It is a simple video just a song being played with words running across the screen. The song "Arms of Love" by Kutless. The words that were on the screen escape my mind but I remember reading them and breaking down. I remember the message of the words was saying something to the extent if you feel unloved, or unwanted God is there for you. At this moment in life this shook me to the core. I was bailing, crying my heart out, feeling so alone. This moment was the beginning of a very hard year for me, the year of pain and loneliness. But throughout that year I learned that God was there for me...which brings me to moment 2.

#2

August 2006. Four teenagers invade my world. Four amazing people that brought me out of a downward spiral. I had gone to some hardware store with this group to buy paint and one of the girls, Adrienne, comes up to me and says "I think we are gonna be good friends" Never have such truer words had been spoken. Those two weeks that i spent with my four new friends where the best two weeks of my teenage years. These friends helped me to see that i was loved, wanted and appreciated. They replaced all the lies that i have been told with their love! I will never forget that first moment.

#3

September 2008. First Campus Focus Trip ever. Woodfest. Saturday night. Jen Vrooman had just given her testimony and i was trying to hold back tears as i walked to the dinning hall, to sort out my thoughts. Clearly i must have looked pathetic because, this random girl came up to me and said "Would you like to talk?" I was embarrassed to say yes but i did. This girl didn't know my name or story. But she sat and listened to my story. My failures, my problems. I had never had someone do this with me. A stranger had never cared this much. I remembering introducing myself after the cry fest, but i couldn't remember the girls name. Then a few weeks later she walks into my small group. I am shocked. This girl who had given me a chance and a shoulder to cry on was Laura. My sister throughout my college years.

I am sure there are many more significant memories. These stick out at the moment...

What is your life look like? What moments make you who you are?