16 Candles

In 24 days, I will be able to get my license.  It would be wonderful to get a car for my 16th birthday; however, God is telling me differently.  I don't need one.  He placed on my heart that I should do something to give back, to help others who need it more than I do.  Sure, it would be nice to get a car.  I'm not going to pretend that I don't struggle with worldly possesions.  But why should I get a car when some children don't even have a bed?  It's not fair to them.  Luke 12: 48 says, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." 

God has given me so many gifts, so I will follow His Word and help those who aren't as fortunate as me.  This year, I'm asking everyone to give me a few dollars for my birthday, which I will give to Sweet Sleep, an organization that provides mosquito netting and matresses to families in Africa.  I promise you I will not spend a dollar of it on myself; it will all be donated for the glory of God.  I'm giving back, trying to change the world one birthday at a time. 

Carpe Diem

Life is crazy.  Everyone can agree with me on that.  Sometimes, it feels like I don't even have time to breathe.  Especially now that school started, I am more stressed, very busy, and less apt to care about others.  I am so focused on getting homework done or making it to practice on time, I have lost sight of the things that are truly important.  On my door, I have written Phillipians 4:13 on a piece of construction paper.  I walk through that door hundreds of times a day and don't even take a second glance at the verse.  There is so much encouragement in "I can do all things through Christ who stengethens me", yet I ignore it.  High school is hard, and it's not always easy to live a Christ-centered life.  But if I were just to take a few seconds out of my day to look at that verse, it would make it a little easier.  Facing the day wouldn't be such a burden.

It seems the majority of us are losing something that should be essential in every day life: compassion.  No longer are we so concerned with others, unless it's juicy gossip or the latest "story".  When you ask someone how they are, do you care what the answer is?  Or is it a question you ask on the way to your next destination?  Do you hear the reply, or is it just a fleeting moment in your busy day?  It should not be burdensome to listen to someone who needs help, or say a little prayer for someone is going through tough times.  Yet it sure seems like it's a lot of trouble to do this! Why are we so keen to fill our day with meaningless activities?  Do they make us happy? Not usually! Do they honor God? Absoutely not!  Do they express our love to others? Probably not! We are caught up an ongoing cycle of just going through the motions.  We are just exisiting, not really living.  The question I have for you today is will you be the one to break the cycle?
       
"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things."
I'm not sure who said that, but it is so true.  We get so caught up in this and that, we don't realize how precious and beautiful life is.  When I am old, I want to have wonderful memories of people I love and care about, not how much homework I had or how busy I was. I want to be able to look back and say "Man, that was fun." I want to be the one to dance in the rain, siezing every moment like it will be my last.  You only have a short time on this earth, so do what you can do honor God and have fun!  

Lily of the Valley

^{“Lily, come on now, I want to show you something,” my grandma said to me.}

           

 ^{“Coming Mawmaw,” I replied, slipping my small hand into her wrinkled one.  We walked to the car, where I noticed storm clouds gathering on the horizon.}

           

^{“Where are we going?” I asked as she buckled me into my booster seat.}

           

^{“You’ll see,” is all she said, then kissed my forehead.  We were in the car for what seemed like hours, my grandma driving down the curvy West Virginia roads with ease.}

           

^{Finally, she turned down a road leading into a valley.  We passed a dilapidated farm house, a dried up creek, and other houses, most in obvious disrepair.  Not far down the road, we turned into a driveway with a small barn-shaped mailbox long since fallen.  She stopped the car just as the first drops of rain fell onto the windshield.  In front of us was an old stone rancher with a double garage.  In the front yard, and old tree stump sat next to a huge Weeping Willow.  We walked up the steps to the front door, hand in hand.}

            

^{“Mawmaw Hannah,” I whispered, “where are we?”}

           

^{“Lily,” she said, picking me up, “this is my old house.  I want to show you where I grew up.”}

           

^{So we strolled through her old house, her telling me stories of her childhood.  I could almost see where she found the dead hamster in the living room, or her family saying grace around the table.}

           

^{We made our way to the back porch; three rusted metal rocking chairs sat on one end, and on the other, a wooden swing swayed gently in the summer breeze.  Sitting me on the banister, my grandma continued to relive moments of long ago, the rain pitter-pattering against the roof.  A warm breeze swept through, tickling my skin and casting the smell of summer over the yard.  Lightning flashed quickly, briefly shading the valley in purple hues.  Thunder echoed off the hills, scaring me.  My mawmaw pulled me close to her chest.}

           

^{“You know what my grandpa used to tell me what thunder is?” she murmured into my ear.   I looked up and met her dark brown eyes, glistening with tears.   I shook my head.  “He told me thunder is just ‘taters falling out of a wheelbarrow.  So there is nothin’ to be scared of.  We used to sit out for hours, watching the rain fall.  My favorite place to be was in his arms during thunderstorms.”  She hugged me tighter, and I snuggled into her welcoming embrace.  Thunder rumbled faintly as the lightning bugs began to dance against the silhouette of the trees.  Frogs croaked loudly, and crickets hummed melodically.  That was when I realized my favorite place to be was in her arms.}

^{I wrote this for English class.  We had to tell about our favorite place from someone else's point of view.  It's different from most of the things I write, but I hope you like it.}  

In Memory of September 11, 2001

Black smoke covered the sun
The impossibly blue sky
Was an echo
Of their last goodbye

A nation watched in horror
As our souls were torn apart
There was nothing we could do
As the planes shattered our heart

Chaos erupted in the city
As the first tower fell
What could we do
To stop this living Hell?

Our tears were not enough
To quench the raging inferno
Still today, the embers
Of our pain still glow

They thought they could crush us
With that brutal plane crash
But like the Pheonix,
Our nation rose from the ash

God's Hands

Sorry this is the first blog I've done in a long while - I've been crazy busy. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that God has been working in my life lately. All through the month of August, the youth group has been teaching the Sunday night children's ministry. Each week, we have a different lesson we are to go over with the kids. A couple weeks ago, we had the lesson that Jesus is the good Shepard and will lay down his life for his sheep. The night we did this lesson, the kids were wild. I felt like I was telling them to listen more often than actually teaching. But later that night, I was informed that some of the kids had asked about how to become a Christian. It amazed me that God used me, just a normal teenager with an extaordinary God, to minister to these sweet kids.

Also, this Sunday morning I'm doing the chat time thing in front of the church, and I am very nervous. I'm still not sure what I'm going to talk about, but I know from experience that God will give me te words He wants me to say. I am so thankful that I have been given the opportunity to minister to the children of our church. Though I am nervous, I am truly blessed to be able to minister and show others - especially the kids - Christ's love. For I know I was put here to be God's hands, so I pray I will do just that in order to glorify Him.

Always and Forever

C.S Lewis said, "God has infinite attention to spare for each of us.  You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being ever created."  Honestly, I had never looked at it that way.  In the times you feel completely alone or unwanted are the moments that God is closest.  No matter what is going on in your life, God will always be there to listen, even when it seems no one else is.  To me, it's extremely comforting to know someone loves you, in the good times and the bad.  So take your sorrows, your pain, your worries, your joys, and your love and lay them at the feet of God because He will be there to help you.  Always.   

"I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not."

Many people crave the same thing: to be seen as normal.  In order to achieve this, you need to figure out the definition of normal.  One technical definition is confoming to a type, standard, or regular pattern.  Today, teenagers view "normal" several different ways: having many of the greatest possesions money can buy, having a very physical relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or hanging around the coolest people and going to all the right parties.  We all know who the "cool" crowd is, and there are a lot who want to be assosiated with the them, the "normal" people.  But why?  Why do we call them normal?  In reality, no one is normal; we all have our unique idiosyncrasies that set us apart from everyone else.  That's the way God intended it to be, so why do we all try so hard to fit in?

In society, everything seems black and white.  People can take one look at you and label you.  The thing is, God created us in His image so we are so much more complex than one word.  Judging someone before you even know them creates insecurities and unhappiness.  You may miss out on befriending a wonderful person simply because of the way they look or the "group" you think they fit into.  Sure, we do tend to hang around people that are like us, but that doesn't mean we should label. In one given group, each person may possess one thing in common. After that, each person may be slightly different than the next.  If you look at all their differences rather than their similarities, the group is so diverse that it is impossible to label.   

Each person is so incredibly unique, so be yourself and hold true to your values and ethics despite what the "normal" people say.  Don't give up on yourself just yet.  Keep pushing forward and never live a lie.  And never understimate the talents and characterisitics God gave you because being YOU is worth so much more than you think.