3-12-12

today God made a metaphorical lesson into real life.
i just finished reading the book 1000 gifts. it was amazing. and its focus was noticing and counting the joys God places in front of you, like for instance,
the sound of the keys as i type,
or the feeling of warm air in this room..
anyways, i read how these little joys add up, and how they always give you something to hold on to, look to, even in the hard times..
WELL...
this morning i wake up...sick...
but i have to go take a quiz for class,
one i was sure i was going to fail
but i throw on some clothes and go anyway.
as i walk, i count the blessings..
...rain..
..wind....
..laughter as the umbrella fails to do its work..
i settle into my desk, and take the quiz
i actually know ALL the answers! another blessing.
as i walk out of the building and into the storm, i see a leaf on the ground
i immediately know its for me. i pick it up, i thank God.
as i walk back to my dorm i am amazed at wind, and rain, i am in love with it.
as i approach the door i realize i forgot my key..
this turned into 30 minutes of standing outside my dorm in the storm..
all the while holding onto my leaf..
never letting go of the smallest joys, even when i was stuck in a storm.
literally.

Captivating Quotes

"Beauty is, without question, the most essential and the most misunderstood of all God's qualities"

"There is a radiance hidden in your heart that the world desperately needs"

"we are not living in the world our souls were made for"

"the wounds you have received have come to you for a purpose from one who knows all you are meant to be and fears you"

"we dont feel that we are irreplaceable, so we try and make ourselves useful"

"Renounce the agreements we made with the messages of our wounds"

"A woman becomes beautiful when she knows she's loved... This doesn't need to wait for a man... God longs to bring this into your life Himself."

"Following hard after JESUS is the heart's natural response when it has been captured and has fallen deeply in love with HIM"

"Worship is what we give our hearts away to in return for a promise of life"

"To pursue intimacy with Christ, you will have to fight for it"

Romance

So I was reading a pretty awesome chapter of Captivating, when it challenged me to ask this question..."JESUS how are YOU romancing me?"... This is a beautiful question.

So, If you are struggling with self worth loneliness, appearance, whatever it is. Looking at JESUS, and TRUTH about who you are to HIM, will differ from what you are currently letting the world tell you.

It's hard to remember and easy to forget. I KNOW. Ha. I do it all the time. Like ALL the time.
So...
I'm going to ask this question every night. And really think and answer it.
Because HE is showing HIS love for you specifically, open your eyes and look for it.

Let's be confident in our relationship with JESUS.

Wow

"What if the message delivered with your wounds simply isn't true about you?"
-captivating

In 2011...

I graduated high school.
Harry Potter ended.
I went to Haiti.
I turned 18.
I went on my very first date.
I started college at Simpson University.
My best friends had a baby girl and I love her so much.
UNITE
My aunt beat breast cancer.
ANTHEM got a new youth pastor.
New years was actually enjoyable.

Yah..these are some of the big things that happened this year.. But God did so much more, HE was present in so many of the things I don't even remember. Thankyou JESUS for the things I've forgotten and the things I'll never forget.

HE IS GOOD. NOTHINGS GUNNA TAKE HIS PRAISE OUTTA MOUTH.
bring it 2012.

Words of an old friend, My heart breaks

"don't be afraid of seeking Him in rolling hills or restless wind or capturing Him in the most obvious place...your heart"
-A.N.


Miss you.

alcohol

so today i sat in a car, and listened to 2 people talk about drinking and alcohol. it broke my heart. It's like they're talking about alcohol like it defines them. The kind/brand they drink matters, it gives them worth. And If they dont drink the right stuff theyre not accepted. You think you'll fit in if you just drink, but it never just stops there. There's always something more the world wants you to conform too.

its not worth it

Late night lament

I'm not worthy of who I'm waiting for
Your looking at me and shaking your head
My flesh fails
Why do You love me
Why do You care
I reach for something that was never there
I settle and and feel worthless because of my sin
Tears run down my face because the place I find myself in
I love You, I do
I want to love someone else too
Give me the strength for this wait
I don't want to feel anymore of this weight
Save me OH GOD save me please
Forgive this wretched women of me
I don't want to look anywhere but above
I mess up, sin and replace my first love
Your blood runs down
So do my tears
Soon I can't tell the difference
Thankyou Thankyou for the way that you died
The result of a lie, bleeding slow
I'm here below
On the ground in the dirt
Reaching toward Your feet
Out of the game I don't want to compete
With the world and it's images, standards and pleasures
It's fickle and folly when compared to Your measure
I don't deserve to be here
I'm dirty water
That's what I have to offer
To a God that's thirsty for who He made me
If I drank myself I think I'd be sick
But you swallow me whole and let me live

12/8/11

I'm just an insecure girl inside of Gods world. Take me away from the confidence HE gives me, the beauty HE shows through me, and the worth HIS death proved to me, and I'd fall apart.

love

So i was in the process of helping out a friend when i came to an awesome realization.
i think back on my time in high school as a christian, and i look at the commitments i made to God.
one of them was to not date or get in a relationship until college.
recently i was challenged to look back on that time, and i remember how insecure and worthless i felt or sometimes still feel when there is no guy interested in me.
but heres where God revealed Himself last night..
God knew my heart, He knew my goals, and He knew my commitment to HIM.
when there was no guy trying to get in the way and change that, it showed that God was actually respecting and protecting my heart.
so this has changed EVERYTHING about the way i view things now.
my God loves me, and He isnt trying to rob me of love, He is protecting my heart so that it can love.
THANKYOU JESUS.

Just came across this again...haha

Gentlemen, there are wonderful Christian girls waiting for you to act, well, like a man. Stop waiting for romantic lightning to strike. stop waiting for the umpteenth green light. Stop "hanging out" every night without ever making your intentions clear. Go ask a girl on a date, or ask her "to court". or whatever you think is the appropriate language. But do something. If you want to be single, that's great. Jesus was single. I hear it can be a pretty good gig. But if you want to get married, do something about it. take a chance. risk rejection. be the relational and spiritual leader God has called you to be.
-Just Do Something

Late night thoughts

There is nothing more attractive than a man who
Knows what he wants
Waits for what he wants
Then pursues what he wants when he finds it

December 5th 2011

You are in the quiet of a storm
You are in the noise of a peaceful brook
You are not what we expect
You are a whisper
You are a roar
But we cannot hear you if we do not intentionally listen

Ezra 9:5-15

Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God and prayed:

“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.

“But now, for a brief moment, the LORD our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes and a little relief in our bondage. Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.

“But now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commands you gave through your servants the prophets when you said: ‘The land you are entering to possess is a land polluted by the corruption of its peoples. By their detestable practices they have filled it with their impurity from one end to the other. Therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Do not seek a treaty of friendship with them at any time, that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it to your children as an everlasting inheritance.’

“What has happened to us is a result of our evil deeds and our great guilt, and yet, our God, you have punished us less than our sins deserved and have given us a remnant like this. Shall we then break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit such detestable practices? Would you not be angry enough with us to destroy us, leaving us no remnant or survivor? LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”

12/1/11

i will wait for you.

leafs are magnificent

so today i was at a family friends house, and get this! her husband writes on leafs and then gives them to her. she even has some framed, and it was so cool. wow i get so joyful even thinking about it! so beautiful.
hint hint to that future man in my life. :)

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.
period.

11/19/11

so today i found this leaf that is about 3x the size of my head. i absolutely love this leaf. God seriously has been blowing my mind lately at all of the things He has made. i mean, look at this leaf! and i just found it on the ground, it just... fell out of a tree... i WISH i could of seen the tree this leaf came out of, i mean, a whole tree of GIANT leafs!! wow.

Lets go on a walk, one where we escape time and have no reason to rush. just you, and me, and the many different views of God.
i will wait for you...

God is so present in so many of the little things we see all the time. HE is so beautiful.
im always curious at the different ways we all see God.. so i wonder, what do you see that takes your breath away? that is so beautiful the only way to describe it as something only God could have made. becuase HE made it for you. doesn't that just make you want to praise HIM.

those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy. psalm 65:8

Unite October 24 2011

-There's something about holding your palms up, that causes a vulnerability in my heart and soul.

Risen King Church
"HE has put a life i our reach that is centered on JESUS Christ."
"When you rise up from that voice that knows YOUR name, you will hold your head high because you are HIS daughter."
"Find a way to do something with the way God has made you"
"It will radically change the way you learn in the classroom when your feet are in the trenches of service."

October 23, 2011

i just need to let it go
out of my mind, out of my heart
into the air, somewhere far
if it returns I'll throw it right back
I'll only accept it when it comes from YOUR hand.

Unite

this is a place that has become apart of my heart. i allow God to throw me so far out of my comfort zone, i worship God with all that i am, and i take the knowledge of those around me and let God change my heart and motivate me for action. this is my new home. its awesome when you find a place your comfortable being uncomfortable in.

Poem 10/22/11 (first one in a long time)

I'm so fed up with who i see
this person, these thoughts they are not me
yet who i am let them into my mind
slowly they changed my heart and my eyes
i stand here now ashamed and strayed
i just want to become the girl YOU made
these thoughts and this focus only adds to flesh
let me find meaning before i lose the rest
the rest of me, the girl with YOUR heart
the rest i find, only in YOUR arms
loneliness is bitter but YOU are sweet
i will never get up from my knees
here i will stay with one thing in mind
the hope that YOUR presence will someday be mine
not looking around waiting to see
but being okay with it just being me
God YOU are worth all of my love
please open my eyes to what YOU'VE put in my cup
i am unworthy yet always loved
i know this by the death of YOUR Son
no other man can define my worth
forever and always i will do YOUR work

so in chapel Travis talked about how God gives each of us what we need for each day, and how when we take our eyes off of what we have, and look at others, we become discontent.
ive been doing this way too much lately. and theres lots of influences and reasons why, but its all on me, im responsible for how i react to what is given to me. im so sick and tired of feeling like this. because HE knows what i need to serve HIM for the day, why would i question it, or want more, or even less? idk i just cant stop thinking about it. there's no way i can do this without God. but theres also no way id ever want to do this without God. so win win. so to those readers, look at what Gods given you, and DO SOMETHING with it. and its okay to look at what HE's given others too, only if your looking to encourage them toward fruitfulness, if not, don't force dissatisfaction on yourself. you have a reason to be joyful. God put something inside you that connects with something HE's given you today, don't let anything ruin that. its not worth it. your eyes wander easily, but it takes training to keep them on JESUS. i'm refreshing my heart and my mind, and re-training my eyes. and its already exciting me.

Joyfully Accepting Confiscation

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/anthem/id471564482

hey! if you havent heard my message or wanna hear any of the other messages being thrown down at ANTHEM, check out our podcast! this link will take you to it but its on itunes!
get fed!

ANTHEM message 10/14

Hebrews 10:32-36

New International Version (NIV)

³² Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. ³³ Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. ³⁴ You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. ³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

theres a time in your relationship with JESUS where you stop and realize how beautiful it really is to be seen as a christian, and when that happens, let it motivate you to never stop becoming more and more like HIM.

Unite 10/10/11

wow. just another reminder of how much i dont deserve what God gives me.
it was kind of a hard night, but HE was in that place. and HE spoke to me, when i didnt deserve it.

Send out YOUR light and YOUR truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to YOUR holy hill
and to YOUR dwelling!
then i will go to the alter of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and i will praise YOU with the lyre,
O GOD, my GOD,
why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
hope in God, for i shall again praise HIM
my salvation and my GOD.
Psalm 43:3-5

"God did not create us to be comfortable
and God has better things to do than make us comfortable"

YOU are the love i need

there's no place id rather be than here in YOUR love
set a fire down on my soul
that i cant contain
that i cant control
i want more of YOU GOD

another one of my passions.

"a photograph is a portrait painted by the sun"

"she glances at the photo, and the pilot light of memory flickers in her eyes"

"it is one thing to photograph people. it is another to make others care about them by revealing the core of their humanness."

"Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter."

"My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph."

"I didn't want to tell the tree or weed what it was. I wanted it to tell me something and through me express its meaning in nature."

The strongest type of love is the kind where

one heart striving to be like JESUS meets another
when 2 people have the same God,
they have the same heart
they have HIS heart

"fire doesn't die because it wants to"

This quote was said at Unite.. and it really got me thinking about the importance of obedience. and how when you are obedient its enough to keep you going. you might not be feeling God, but your fire doesn't go out because of something as human as a feeling. so when you cant feel God, don't give up, the fire inside you can still build as long as you feed it. and when the feeling or desire comes back, it'll be that much more overwhelming. maybe you need to be refined, and the bigger fire you build, the more you become like JESUS through it.

keep doing work.

i think all christian men should read the 9th chapter of Just Do Something.

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
let YOUR face shine, that we may be
saved!

nothing's gonna take Your praise out of my mouth
As long as I shall live,
As long as I shall live,
'Cause He's a great God.
He's a great God.

You are my love and all of my life
You are the love i need

remind my soul i am YOURS
i am forever YOURS

open my eyes to see all that you made me
-reveal

i found beauty in Haiti. through the people, through the church, and through creation. theres so much around you that can hinder you or blind you, but when you open your eyes to the hope that lives in these people. that is when you open your heart to the beauty God is trying to show you. the kind of beauty that moves you to serve.

spider man. i dont know his real name, but thats what i called him. he always wore a spider man hat, and one day he even wore a shirt. he was always around us. he helped us work, he was always there. i miss this little guy.

I Miss Haiti

this kid. man he was so cool. what he has is a butterfly tied to a string. i dont know how he did it, but he was just throwing it up in the air, letting it fly, then catching it again. it amazed me.

reflection on UNITE 9/26/11

wow. so i had this thing called unite. and i got to learn what it really is, and this fired me up. but what the most exciting part is, is that this idea was put into action by guys like me. they thought of it and have spent so much time getting a hold of pastors and planning it all out, praying for it. and it is so awesome to see how excited they were to actually be starting it. i got to pray with 2 people. i got to see students lead worship. speak with, pray, move, with God and serve. i have the same heart as these leaders. and even though i am a part of Unite, i want to become a bigger part. i miss the leadership ANTHEM needed from me. I'm ready.

Quotes from the night:
disagreement does not equal disunity
God has created unity, we are just going to celebrate it
being who we are here when we leave here
-Kyle Power

there is no designated time for prayer
-Matt Roberts

John 17:20-23
My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

let loose the passions inside you
-Travis Osborne

i will wait for you

my heart

http://youtu.be/igCj3jsbcqs

September 25 2011

man the body of Christ is so cool. its like its so easy for one christian to encourage another, so why dont we do it more often. i think we underestimate the power of Joy, or just the level of relating we get from eachother. us as a body would be alot more alive and thriving, ready to do work if we just broke away from our insecurities, selfishness and comforts and encouraged eachother.

a translation of Shakespeare.

Poor soul, right at the centre of your sinful body, slave to its rebellious worldliness, ever attacking you. Why do you dwindle away inside, suffering starvation, while decorating your outside walls with such expensive paint? Why such expenditure when the lease on your crumbling mansion is so short? Are you doing it so that worms can inherit this excess and eat up what you've spent? Is that the purpose of your body? Instead, live on by starving your body and let it dwindle away while you enrich yourself. Gain spiritual wealth by discarding worthless worldly things. Feed the inner self and allow your body to be poor. In that way you'll eat up death, that feeds on men, and once death is dead there will be no more dying.

Timothy Keller 'the girl nobody wanted'

"until we look to HIM, we can never deal with all the imperfection around us."

"i wont add anything to JESUS Christ as a requirement to be happy"

"the only eyes that count are ravished by you, thats the only comfort that cant be quenched."

"God works with very weak people"

God is ALWAYS good

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. (Psalm 57:2 ESV)

6/26/10

its so sad that there are so many little beauties in the world that noone will notice

how do you make being a christian look so easy?

oh man, it is so far from easy. idk where to start. theres times when the situation is easy, but IT is always hard. and it will always be hard when i think it has anything to do with me.. but when i remember that it is all for God, and think about what HE expects and promises me, thats when it feels... not easy, but worth it. i can see how it looks easy, thats probably becuase its hard to feel what someone else does.. the closer i get to JESUS the more my heart beats like HIS.. the more it hurts to do ministry but the more necessary it becomes. it also becomes harder to hide your sin.. which results in the act of giving it up becuase now that you have God inside you, you become this person that wants evil but knows whats right. when you let the Holy Spirit control you, people see God in you more, but it is no where near easy.

communion 2/18/11

i dont, ever did, deserve this, i dont want to swollow that bread or drink that wine, becuase i am so wretched, and it is so hard to think that you did what you did for me... No, that is a burden to bear, it is love...love... wow i dont deserve any kind of it, but i know what you have done is TRUTH, and why would i let me, the person that caused this mess, to get in the way of accepting it...

this gave me new life, new heart, new pain.

2/18/11

what can is say

what can i do

but offer this heart oh God

completely to you

this heart that is...

yet this heart is what you want from me

and all i can think of is how GOOD you are

becasue when its up to YOU

my heart isnt any of the things I make it

its a part of YOU

12/25/10

Luke 2:10 ... I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ALL the people.
Why have we all of a sudden let people turn our good news into something were ashamed of, or scared to stand up for. Our good news brings us joy, why isn't that desirable. It's because they can't see our joy..

What are we failing in...? Luke 24:52-53..

Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

thought 12/25/10

even though i was in a very awkward situation, i actually love how they notice that i'm uncomfortable or that im different. that they see the warm people as cold, its more real in that environment, when im so used to fake.

communion

It's like I'm always hungry for HIS body. But when It comes the time for me to reflect on myself, and realize why i even get to eat HIS body, it becomes extremely hard to swallow

hold me to this

I'm ready. To take this on. I don't care how much I have to shoulder.

I don't care if it's awkward, or hard, discouraging, or hopeless.

Because it can also be life changing, effective, encouraging,

hard, better, meaningful, amazing. Why leave his eternity up

to a few comments. Comments that will be controlled and manipulated

by the devil. Why not show and say something that only proves

JESUS. I don't want to leave it up to him. The fact is, I need to

do something in order for something new to happen. And I want

something new to happen!
October 13, 2010

Quotes

"i think the saddest part of getting so consumed with music that has nothing to do with God, is that thats the melody thats going on in your heart all the time."

"God always connects our relationship with Him to our relationships with others."

-FRANCIS CHAN-

"be the spark forsake your pride"

"ill give you all i have left, a strained outstretched hand"

-THE BEAUTIFUL REPUBLIC-

from the fool that fell for you

I think sometimes I forget how lucky I am. How much God loves me. how much I took and take for granted, even though I don’t see it yet. I forget how God supplies what I need. I just looked back on something, something that made me feel amazing, loved, beautiful, but something I ended giving up, but I couldn’t even focus on the fact that I didn’t have it anymore. All I could focus on was how God still made me feel amazing, loved and beautiful, and I didn’t even notice. Sometimes what you give up isn’t a sacrifice at all, because really, if you do it because your obeying JESUS, then He’ll replace those worldly worth’s with some that give so much more truth. Sometimes I takes looking back on what you had, to see what God has really given you.

11/21/10

Poem 11/18/10

all the ways you messed with my head
turned and twisted the truths I knew
my heart was fragile, your schemes perfected
knowing which darkness could blacken my light
my lack of knowledge allowed light to diminish
my naïveness thought it was still there
you take mistakes and turn them into character
numb to grace but never not aware of it
your expectations were low and easy to please
left me falsely believing I had achieved
your opportunity arose October ninetieth
the night I hid broken, with nothing to believe
you took it and ran, I did nothing but follow
nothing I thought yet it took everything I knew
throwing me into things I thought would prove worth
your words in my head convincing me I was dirt
a new belief became of it, one with no hope
yet it strung me along because I thought it would work
a tiring cycle of empty pleasure and tears
somehow I ended up writing this here
I recognized your wickedness, deceit and incompetence
you expanded my weakness, made me succumb to your power
but I stand here now with incomparable strength
as you tremble below me because you have nothing I fear
you see, your words only worked before I knew truth
JESUS changed this person you once used
for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

Coach Carter

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. 
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. 
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking 
so that other people won't feel insecure around you. 
We were all meant to shine, as children do.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

10/8/10

I want to see your beauty in the sky. Not just in pictures. I want to look out, and be completely overwhelmed by you. A time where when I think I couldn't feel your love any more, but you prove me wrong by lighting up my eyes, igniting my soul. A feeling that expands throughout my heart. A beauty that captures my being. An opportunity to allow my spirit to worship yours. A sky that causes me to fall on my knees because I cant imagine how much you could possibly love me if you made it just for me.

9/25/10

im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done im done

PLEASE GOD LET THESE WORDS BE TRUE.

9/23/10

i love how God gives us other people who love JESUS,

people who you can pray with,
and just accept and claim their words as your own,

the way it brings you closer with them and with God.

tonight we had a JESUS group, where we just prayed together.

me, madpal, travis, cameron, bryce, and gustavo.

and it amazes me how someone elses prayer to God can just be exactly whats on your heart too,

how we all pray to the same God,

have different lives and different problems,

but are still able to relate together on such another level,

a level of communication with our God.

wow.

Lord of the Rings

Its like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end.
Because how could the end be happy?
How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?
But in the end, its only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass.
A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
Those were the stories that stayed with you.
That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now.
Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't.
they kept going because they were holding on to something.

Dear, Woodland

This commitment isn’t going to be easy. When JESUS committed to changing the world, He had to suffer and die before He had His victory. JESUS never gave up.
He didn’t stop when the flesh was torn from His back
when He was so whipped He was unrecognizable
He didn’t stop when a nail was hammered into his wrists and feet
when He was thirsty and tired
He didn’t stop when blood ran into His eyes from the thorns digging into His head
He didn’t even stop when a person in His same position mocked Him..

He finished what He committed to doing. I highly doubt we will experience that kind of suffering.
but WHY WOULD WE NOT DO EVERYTHING.. IF IT WORKS.
JESUS did that to change the world, why would we expect to do any less to change woodland..

Dear, Woodland

Dear Woodland,

I write this letter for you. My name is Elizabeth. I am a girl that hang out with a group of silly, goofy, crazy, knuckleheads. JESUS has my heart, and i will never stop searching for His. I love reading the Bible. His word gives me so much more life. I love worshiping Him too. I am a part of a group that loves eachother and everyone else.
the reason I am writing you this letter is because I refuse to ignore the death I see all around me. the life I have can no longer bare the pain of loneliness and discouragement. I am tired of leaving so much change up to chance. So I am going to do something.

I am refusing to believe the lies of this town, I know truth
I am through with compromise, I want change
I will never settle, my worth is proved by His blood
I am done with defeat, my God is for me

I don’t care what you may think, or say, or do, the Holy Spirit leads me.
and right now, I am being led to cause chaos in the middle of this comfort. I have a passion that can shake darkness. And woodland… im not alone.

Love,
Elizabeth

Romans 8:31
³¹What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

hm

GOd is so amazing when he presents soemthing to you in form of a burden, but it turns to be this oppertunity that has so much responsibility attached that its scary to think about. but the more you dig into the more you realize how much its a blessing. who am i that God can trust me with this? im ashamed how much i was dreading it, it just shows how near sighted i am when it was first presented to me, because GOd really has way more to this than i could imagine.

1/5/10

chains of vanity and lust

helplessly determined

blindly entering a world with no cause

temptation only viewed as opportunity

BLIND SO BLIND

see the scars

blood runs down onto the floor

the world deaf to the screams of the soul

it teaches hope and love to all

when it fails you simply brush it off

naive to the cuts and frail bones

your life lived in chains

do what you want and never realize

the grips getting tighter

bruises and scabs cover your wrists

but your living the life your told to live

slowly bleeding but blind to the wounds

and makes fun of Christians in movies and cartoons

wondering why they never reached out to you

content with living life as your told

no Christian ever showed you a life worth leaving the old

BLIND SO BLIND

were all too busy with something useless

complain about the lives were told to live to the fullest

we wonder why people cant see

Christians that compromise and argue mindlessly

where is JESUS in those people

show the world our God is begging

its full of pride and neglect of humanity

we need to show it our absolute humility

those people are bleeding because we are failing

we will not defeat darkness with attitudes of flesh

only with JESUS will this red world be fixed.

OPEN YOUR EYES.

7/11/10

I feel like my heart is glowing, but everything surrounding it is dying...slowly.
Ash falling choking out my breath,
How can a spark of life cause so much death?
This glowing heart needs to move and spread throughout this darkness,
Fear of losing this light paralyzes it's expansion,
The weight of ash takes over the lightness of freedom,
Everything sinking...
Please don't disappear,

persevere through the heaviness of the dark,
Don't let this heart go,
I can be so much more than this

5/11/10

BITTERNESS PRIDE EVIL AND EASE

why do these things keep you away from me?

YOU are my heart, i long for yours

my messengers fail, come up short

i almost have your heart, i weep for your soul

I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU! why cant you hear me?

i thought satan was beneath my heal

yet many accompany him on that level

I WANT YOU I WANT YOU! i love every single part of you

sadly enough i dont have a strong pull

satan's lies get in the way

takes your flesh's desire and throws it in your face

im not what you want

but i will beg for you, for your to be in my arms

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

i cant say it enough

nothing else matters

let it all go

look in MY eyes I will never fall short

come home

i love you

-JESUS

7/27/10

[[i just rewrote the lyrics to tonight by fm static]]

i remember the times we spent together all those drives

we had a million questions all about our lives

we would park and talk still everything was right

i wish you were here with me....tonight

i remember the days we spent together were not enough

we would always try and cook cept we'd always mess up

never thought not having you here now would hurt so much

tonight IVE fallen and i cant get up

i need your loving hands to come and lift me up

and every night i messed up you would help me up

and remind me God is holding me. holding me.

holding me tonight.

i remember the time you told me about the life youd live

and all those things you said that night that just couldnt wait

i remember the car you would drive me in

and the rides we would take

all the times we spilled our soda and stayed out way too late

i remember the time you sat and told me about your JESUS

and how not too look back even if noone believes us

when it hurts so bad sometimes not having you here

i sing...

tonight YOUVE fallen and you WONT get up

i give my loving hands to come and pick you up

but every night i miss you becuase its not enough

its the world thats holding you. holding you. holding you tonight

i sing...

tonight YOUVE fallen and im begging you now

to come and run with me towards something we once found

and every night i miss you i will just look up

and pray that God is holding you. holding you. holding you tonight.

Hebrews 3:12-14

Hebrews 3:12-14

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

JESUS

Francis Chan

just some quotes from His podcast.. 'beware of good liars'. its awesome!

-"it disgusts me how many i can lead astray if i wanted to...why? becuase you dont know this book."

-"how can an evil person tell me to do good things? because those good works are based upon your own pride"

-"our desires go a certain direction our theology follows."

-"we got this weird understanding that if its the poPular view its the right view."

i'm totally fired up right now! just cuz of how easy it is to spend time with God. ya know? i mean i just decided to listen to this podcast while i exercise or while i'm on the internet, and its a way God can teach me things. and it takes almost nothing than just giving up an hour of music. AN HOUR OF MUSIC FOR THE VOICE OF GOD. why not trade it. its so worth it. its so amazing. waste time with GOD.

where we belong

we run to your throne. where we belong.

Sanctus Real Lyrics

-I’m so distracted by senseless passions
Tempting my wandering eyes
But every pursuit brings me closer to the truth
That only You can satisfy

-Cuz You can make a weak heart stay alive

Forever

And this is where heaven and earth collide

I lift my hands, I give my life

This is how my weary heart stays alive

-Sometimes I just wish we could say

All the things that are easy to hear

Ignore the injustice we see

And explain every unanswered prayer

But Id rather speak honestly

And wear a tattered heart on my sleeve

Cuz in the middle of my broken dreams

Redemption is here

-Never want to, never wanna be against You
Never meant to, never meant to resist You
I never want to, never want to be against You, against You

Oh, how could I resist You?!

-So I wanna get lost
I wanna get lost in your arms
I wanna get lost
And lose my way into your heart
Cuz there’s so many voices
Telling me how to get lost in this life
So right now I wanna get lost in you
Before I lose myself

-I never imagined at the start
The thousand ways I could find my heart
Caught in a web of compromise
Stuck in the prison of my own lies

-Dear Heart, you're in the wrong place,
Looking out for yourself no matter what I say.
And I know that you're holding me back,
And it's time for a change, so I'm giving you away.

Heart, you've let me down,
Chasing love where it can't be found.
And Heart, we've fallen out,
Cause all of your emotions
Have led me to doubt. Only Jesus can save us now.

Psalm 18:1-20

I love you, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.

He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.

The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.