Cat Lady Status

So I know it's been awhile since I posted last... I wonder if anyone missed me! Haha...

Besides a lack of time due to getting a new job, I've also been lazy and going through a rough couple weeks.

The reason it's been rough all started when my College & Career Sunday School class decided to plan a trip to the beach for a bonfire night. And then the idea was added for everyone to think of and write down or bring an item in our lives that has been a hinderance to us in our Christian walks. So I started thinking about what my hindrance item would be. My automatic dramatic idea was to throw something big in the fire...but that was just being prideful and trying to show off... So I decided against that and earnestly started thinking about what was a hinderance in my life.

I honestly couldn't come up with anything that was hindering me, so I stopped thinking about it and figured I'd throw something together at the last minute if I even ended up being able to go. In true God fashion, I was SHOWN what my hinderance is, although it took me about two weeks to realize it.

My hinderance: loneliness/longing for a relationship.

That should have been the first thing that popped into my head because I know it's a struggle, but isn't it funny how we're blind to things? I went through two weeks of depression, reverting to some old, bad habits, obsessive wishful thinking, listening to more secular music then worship music, etc. I started obsessing over wanting a skinnier more fit body, prettier face, new hair, enough money for make-up and clothes... Anything that would make me better then what I am, because obviously how I am is what makes me alone, right? So if I become attractive then I won't be alone, right?

I couldn't be more wrong.

Because I started obsessing over all those things I started getting depressed and hopeless and nasty, lets call it like it was: I was being UGLY. Ugly comes from the INSIDE. So with all this ugliness inside came all the "I'm going to be alone forever, I'm going to die a miserable old lady  with a ton of pets, no one will ever care about me" (I'm pretty much dilusional at this point).

The last straw was today at church. I found out I can't even go to the bonfire cause I'll be working (shouldn't I be thankful for that??) Plus I was sick. I hate being sick. So I was a grump. In the afternoon for choir practice I was wearing a baggy black skirt, baggy teal t-shirt, and a baggy black sweater with cats and dogs all over it. I couldn't feel more ugly if I TRIED... Then to make matters worse, I was put in charge of the cutest little love offering to give to one of my friends by her admirer... SHOOT ME NOW. I was about to cry because of the jealousy and bitterness I felt at that moment. That was the ultimate #foreveralone moment in my life.

Now the good part! We had REALLY good sermons today, both I really needed to hear. And I hit the alter with an aching heart and I just cried out to God, finally realizing that this, this attitude I had about being single, THAT was my hinderance. And I needed to surrender it. So surrender I did. And I'm so glad I did! I feel like a weight has been lifted! But I know I need to be prayerfully careful too, because I know this struggle won't just disappear. I'm always going to hate being single, and I'm always going to want to be found by The One and be wooed and then get married and have kids and live realistically-happily-ever-after. But if I spend my time and energy being defined by God in the mean time, it's going to make that experience SO much better.

So. Patience, self-control, prayer, and self-worth are what I'm going to be working on. I'm actually glad this all came up because I DID learn from it. And I'm so thankful for the friends I have around me who put up with my dramatic outbursts of insanity. Seriously. So thankful.

Well... That pretty much ends my post. I feel like it was kind of random, but after all I AM sick and it IS after midnight... So that's as good as it's gettin'! I shall leave you with a picture of my "cat lady status" sweater. Enjoy!

Tough as Nails

Tough as Nails

(Before you start this one, I want you do do what the speaker asked us to do: ask God to search your heart and reveal your spirit.)

Tough as nails; How to eliminate drama from your life, was taught by April Goestch. And since that title is self-explanatory, let's jump right into the notes! (Grab your Bible's for this one!)

JAMES 3:13-4:3

Fact: 90% of the time drama comes from/is started by girls... But Rebekah and I know that's not always true! *wink*

Regardless of gender, where does drama come from? ....More then likely the answer is YOU. 

1) PRIDE is always the first step, and pride starts in the heart. 

 -Pride comes in many forms, for guys it's probably more of a vain pride, and for girls it's usually insecurity...insecurity is also pride, why? Because whether you're vain or insecure you're focusing on yourself. That's pride.

THE SOLUTION: Be sober minded. Basically, be realistic. 

Do you know how to think realistically?

Think about it this way: There are pictures that make you look 

terrible, and there are pictures that make you look fantastic. 

BOTH ARE LIES. 

Being realistic is realizing that God made you perfectly to

be you and no one else can be you. 

So stop trying to change who you are!

 

-Develop humility, humility leads to peace. And you need to be at rest with what is thought about you (whether good or bad), because there will always be opinions surrounding you, the only one that matters is Christ's! 

-Always remember that this world doesn't need perfect people that have it all together, it needs REAL people.

-Proverbs 8:13

-Proverbs 16:5

-Philippians 2:3

-Romans 12:3-8

2) JEALOUSY is the second step, and jealousy builds in the mind.

-Proverbs 6:34

-Proverbs 14:30

-We, (especially females), kill people all day long with our envious glares. 

THE SOLUTION: stop comparing! 

-No one has it all together. No one. 

-2 Corinthians 10:12-13, 17-18

3) BITTERNESS is the third step, and bitterness infects the soul.

-Hebrews 12:14-15

-Facts of life: *Life is unfair *People will hurt you *You won't understand why.

-You HAVE to eliminate bitterness, it only hurts YOU.

-You can't choose who hurts you or the type of hurts you receive, but you CAN choose how to react to it. 

-Bitterness is a POISON; the drug of the emotions. It's addictive and it destroys the vessel it's stored in. Bitterness is also a choice; don't be a record player needle that's stuck in the same groove that just oozes the same sob story over and over and over...

-Bitterness is the deliberate nursing of an offense.

THE SOLUTION: choose to forgive! 

-Make the choice to delete your "mind-script" 

-Make the choice to give mercy. 

-Forgiveness is un-conditional, even if they never apologize and even if the offense is repeated.

-You were shown mercy (by Christ) when you didn't deserve it, so how can we withhold it from others?

-Complete revenge on the person who wronged you will NEVER set you free! Showing mercy is what sets you free.

4) NEGATIVITY is the fourth and final step, and negativity comes out of the mouth.

-Ephesians 4:29-32

-Luke 6:27-36

-You would never throw up on someone, or let someone throw up on you, so why do we allow that or do it to others with our words?? (Word vomit)

THE SOLUTION: be nice!

-True kindness: *is not a respecter of persons (it's not choose-y), *always requires action (you have to BE kind), *always leave people encouraged after being with you, *doesn't have an on/off switch.

-Don't let jealousy, insecurity, and envy corrupt your life. 

-If you do all the good you can, to whomever you can, whenever you can, you will eliminate drama!

Pure Design

Pure Design

 

This session was taught by Ashley Chappell and it covers purity. It was supposed to be for teen girls, but Rebekah and I decided to crash the party anyway and check it out. Purity is always good to be reminded of!  Her main topic point is: "Why you're worth waiting for."

-You are loved! Be careful of settling for a quick love.

-You are beautiful! True beauty is a humble girl who admits her sin and then takes on the beauty of God's image. Your identity is in Christ!

- You are worth MORE! Realize the value of your purity and guard it. You deserve someone who would give up their life for you.

Some steps to maintaining purity:

1) PURSUE GOD -- Make that your focus. You deserve someone who values you enough to do anything for you, even die for you. So make God your focus and he'll bring you the right man for you.

2) ONLY DATE WHEN YOU'RE READY TO MARRY -- "You can't go shopping without money." I covered this a little bit in my last blog, but it doesn't even need much explaining.

3) ONLY DATE CHRISTIANS -- If you are a Christian you should only be dating Christians. "Do not be unequally yoked" the Bible says. And the men you date need to be devoted Christians, they need to take Christianity seriously and have a well established relationship with Christ.

4) SEEK WISE ADVICE/COUNCIL -- When you need advice or council on a relationship (or anything really) seek out people who have already "been there, done that"! It's not going to help you if you ask a friend who's never had any experience with what you need help with...Make sense? Haha.

 5) SET PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL BOUNDARIES -- Boundaries are a blessing and a safe-keeping and they need to be seen as such, if you view them as oppressive you'll end up compromising and that only leads to worse and worse things. ESTABLISH boundaries that will keep you physically and emotionally safe, and stick to them! 

6) GROUP DATE -- As someone who's not too sure about courting, I approve of this as a good "compromise" between one-on-one dating and courting. Go on group dates with other godly people. It should be a mix of guys and girls, but not everyone in the group has to be dating someone, groups can be made up of friends and couples, as long as you're not alone. This keeps you safe in multiple ways, plus it's a good way to see how your date reacts to this. If he doesn't want to go out with your friends a couple of times, then he's sketchy. Get rid of him! 

7) PRAY FOR YOUR FUTURE SPOUSE -- Even though you don't know who he is, pray for who God has in mind for you. If you're looking forward to your future then it's going to be easier to wait.

8) DRESS TO KILL! (Evil desires) -- This is by far my favorite point for two reasons: a) it's got a sassy title *wink* and b) when the speaker gave us this point she also shared a statistic with us: there have actually been studies done that have proven, PROVEN, that when men see a woman in a bikini their brains register her in the same way it registers other OBJECTS (like a hammer and nails and other tools, etc...) However! When they see women dressed modestly their brains register her as a person... Basically they respect her. This is the way their brains actually work and process things. It's not anything they really control. So why do women get surprised when they aren't treated as valuable when they don't make themselves seem valuable?! Dressing to show as much skin as possible will, yes, get you more male attention, but they will only see you as an object...a toy...

9) MAKE A COMMITMENT TO GOD -- this is pretty self explanatory... Make a commitment to God that you're going to stay pure until marriage, and by pure I mean it mentally and emotionally as well as physically. 

10) LEARN FROM OTHERS MISTAKES -- I am a prime example of mistakes you can learn from. One day I'll post my story, and hopefully it will be a help to others. But you know what? I learned from my mistakes, and I'm learning from others mistakes too... It's how we grow. So, see how it's NOT done and do the opposite, and if you happen to see how it IS done, then copy that! (Referring to a good, godly marriage).

Shopping Without Money

What a silly thought! Shopping without money?? Also referred to as "window shopping," it's a womens hobby.... What's even stranger then the idea of torturing ourselves with looking at stuff we can't buy? The fact that we do it with people too! I'm serious!

Y'all know what I'm talking about! Don't act like you don't! MEN. Yeppers. That's what this is all about, my bad habit with window-man-shopping, hopefully blogging about it will help more then just me. *wink*

So. Window shopping, or shopping without money, is going around looking at stuff you want, but you don't have any means to get it. The way it equates to relationships in my mind is with that phrase you hear in church a lot: "don't date unless you're ready to get married!" ... Which is true, I've learned the hard way that if you aren't ready for marriage, or don't understand marriage, or don't know what you want in a spouse etc., then dating is NOT a good idea. And yet, I'm stuck in this terrible phase of seeing practically every guy I meet as a potential relationship. (I do realize how desparate that makes me sound, sad eh?)

I have come to the conclusion that in order to break this phase, all I need to do is write myself a "shopping list" so that I stop "shopping without money" which will, hopefully, enable me to be more patient. I'm hoping that made sense....if not, the English interpretation is this: I'm going to keep a list of what I want in a guy and in a marriage in the back of my mind so that I know what to look for, and when things and people don't match up it is as easy as checking off the list... No more wondering! No more confusion!

A few things on my list are:
-Christ centered
-second to God, family is the priority
-the thing I want most in a guy is one who loves kids and will be a present, involved dad in his kid's lives as well as a good example to them.

...Those are pretty much the most important things, I could go on forever with little things, but I'm learning slowly to be less demanding. If those three things are met, I'll be a content woman.

I know this was a short, somewhat random, post. Hopefully it spurs some thoughts and helps some people in some way, but if not it at least helped me to get it "off my chest" so to speak. *laughs*

~till next time!~

Tools for Christians

Tools for Christians

NOTE: You'll need to have your Bible pulled out for this post, there's a lot of scripture references that are essential but would take me hours to type out, *laughs*

While this session was originally titled "Tools for Singles," I sat through this class a little confused because none of it really seemed to point to singles in particular. I can see how these things are important to know and apply in your "single" life, but even the non-singles could use these things. So, with that said, I have renamed it "Tools for Christians" (nice and general, eh?) Here we go! 

This session was taught by Rachel Graham (I can't link to her because I can't find anything about her.) Her main thoughts are: "Who Jesus Is" and "We Are Complete In Christ" and she had these verses at the top of the page:

Colossians 2:9-10 "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority."

Philippians 4:10-13 "But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being fulled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." 

1) JESUS IS OUR SAVIOR -- That is our foundation; Jesus is our firm foundation. 

-Titus 3:5-6

-John 3:16

-2Timothy 1:9

2) JESUS IS OUR LORD -- We need to consciously make Jesus the LORD of our lives, every part of it. 

-Philippians 2:9-11  

-Romans 6:14-16

-Romans 14:8

-Luke 6:46

-Mark 12:30

3) JESUS IS OUR LOVE -- Jesus is the only one who can fulfill. Commit to moral purity.

-Romans 5:8

-Romans 8:38-39

-John 15: 9-13, 17

-1John 4:6-7

4) JESUS IS OUR PEACE -- Worry, anxiety, and fear plague all of us, but they don't have to. 

-Isaiah 26:3 

-Ephesians 2:13-14

-Philippians 4:6-7, 9

5) JESUS IS OUR FORGIVENESS -- The key to our relationships.

-Ephesians 1:6-7

-1John 2:1

-Isaiah 55:7

- Colossians 3:13

6) JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS -- On our own we will always fail, but we can do all things with Christ. 

-2Corinthians 5:21

-Philipians 39

-Romans 9:30

7) JESUS IS OUR DELIVERER -- We are free indeed. Jesus can deliver us from every struggle we deal with. 

-Isaiah 61:1

-John 8:32, 36

-Romans 8:2

-Romans 6:22

8) JESUS IS OUR FELLOWSHIP -- Depend on Jesus. Take life one day at a time.

-1John 1:3

-1Corintians 1:9 

-Revelation 3:20

-John 14:23

-John 15:4-5,7

9) JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE -- Don't ask "why me??" Ask, "why not me?"

-1Peter 2:21

-Ephesians 5:1-2 

-Philippians 2:5-8

-Mark 10:43-45

10) JESUS IS OUR COMPANION -- (at this point the speaker realized she was running out of time so I don't have any more side notes, just the scriptures)

-Psalm 119:63

-Proverbs 18:24

-Hebrews 13:5

-John 15:15-16

-1John 1:7

11) JESUS IS OUR BROTHER

-Matthew 12:50 

-Romans 8:29

-1John 3:1

12) JESUS IS OUR SECURITY

-1Peter 1:3-5

-John 10:27-29 

-Philippians 1:6

-2Thessalonians 3:3

13) JESUS IS OUR SUFFICIENCY 

-2Corinthians 3:5; 9:8 

-Philippians 4:19

-Mark 11:24

14) JESUS IS OUR EVERYTHING

-Philippians 1:21; 4:13

-Romans 8:37 

-Psalm 68:19 

-Ephesians 1:3

Some extra notes I took:

-We are complete in Christ

-We need to develop personal discipline: body, spirit, and soul.

-Fill your mind with influences that strengthen your walk with Christ.

-Intimacy with God is important, develop it!

-Lack of moral discipline disqualifies many Christians from the race of life.

-God didn't call you to be the judge, He just called you to love others. But be wise in how you act on loving others... In the case of helping those in need: don't just hand out money to those who ask, instead offer to go with them and buy them what they need. Then invite them to church or hand them a track.

-Live selflessly and give extravagantly.

-Examine your friendships, do they build you up and bring you closer to Christ?

Building Your Dream Home

Building Your Dream Home

This session was inspired by HGTV... Personally I have never even heard of that, but they talked about how people win dream homes and home make-overs on that channel. So, following that theme, this session gave us some essential qualities that our "dream homes" should have. 

1) CHRISTIAN -- First and foremost, our homes need to have Christ present and He needs to have preeminence. We need to be teaching sound doctrine in our homes, and we need to be prayer warriors for those in our homes. 

2) LOVE -- We need to say it and we need to show it. When we say it, say it often, and then put actions to your words and show your love. "We don't have to do great things, just things with great love." 

3) FORGIVENESS -- Don't hold on to past offenses, it only does damage, and most of that damage is done to yourself. 

4) TRUST -- Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You." We need to trust the Lord with His plans for us and our families. Trust His protection and provision. Also, "do what you say, and say what you do," so that you build trustworthiness and others can trust you. 

5) HUMILITY -- James 4:10 "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exult you." Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important that yourselves." DON'T BE SELFISH! Be a servant! Admit mistakes. And have a zero tolerance policy for bad attitudes. 

6) GRATITUDE -- Enemies of being grateful are: entitlement and comparison, don't allow them to creep into your life and steal your joy. Be grateful for everything. 

7) TEAM WORK -- Train your children to give 100% and be the example of that for them. Everyone should be helping out in the home. One person doing everything for everyone else is only harming them, not helping.

8) HAVE AND CHOOSE CONTENTMENT -- Philippians 4:11-13; 19-20 "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me..... And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen." Who you are, where you are, what you have, every circumstance, in everything be content.

9) HAVE FUN -- Make time to have fun with your family. Fun with your family is an important aspect of life, it doesn't have to cost anything, but make sure you don't get so busy that you never have any fun with your family. 

10) COMMITMENT -- Be faithful to the Lord and surrender your will to Him. 

One final thought: Is how YOU live going to inspire your family (current or future) to imitate you and live a life that follows Christ?

Plugged into the Power

Plugged into the Power

Plugged into the Power was our first session at the women's conference, it was taught by April Goestch. (Blue words will be her notes, pink will be mine)

This message probably impacted me the most. Her question to everyone was: 

"What is Victorious Christian Living?"

1) KNOW WHO YOU ARE -- YOUR OLD NATURE IS DEAD (Romans 6:6)

  

A. The old man was crucified with Christ. Your past has no hold on you anymore, Christ is in you and has made you new!  

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

 B. Even if you don't feel dead, you still are. Your feelings always scream louder then the truth and they tend to drown out the truth from your mind. 

-Sometimes it's hard for Christians to believe that their old nature is dead and gone, and if you stay chained to that you will never live victoriously. 

-The Bible doesn't say that the pleasure of sin goes away, it's just now against your new nature. 

-Don't ever allow your feelings to drown out the truth of the God's Word!

Romans 6:9 "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." 

2) KNOW HOW GOD SEES YOU -- AS FULLY ACCEPTED THROUGH THE BLOOD

-Satan tries to convince us that every time God looks down at us He's frowning because of how much we've failed throughout the day.  But that is so far from the truth! When God looks at us He doesn't see US, He sees Christ and HIS BLOOD SHED FOR US. 

-It's not up to you to make yourself acceptable to God, you'd never be able to do that. Christ already did that for us when He died on the cross for us, wasn't He enough?! 

-The Blood of Jesus was not meant for us to see or feel, it was solely meant to satisfy God. 

3) KNOW YOUR MOTIVATION TO LIVE -- BECAUSE OF CHRIST'S DEATH, YOU HAVE HIS LIFE  (Romans 6:8)

-The Blood of Jesus was not just meant for salvation, but also to give us complete, direct, unrestricted access to God. Nothing we can ever do will make us better or worse, we come before God through the Blood regardless of how our day has been. 

-Hebrews 9:1-14 

-Boldly approach the throne, because you have a High Priest (Jesus) who has provided a way for you! 

4) KNOW THE REASON FOR THE FRUSTRATION -- SATAN WILL DO EVERYTHING HE CAN TO GIVE YOU A FALSE IDENTITY 

A. Don't believe the LIES of Satan. (Romans 6:11 "Likewise reckon [continually conclude] ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord") 

-Just like a hypnotist, Satan will try to convince you of every lie in the book. 

-Satan can't take your salvation away, you can never lose it, so he does the next best thing: he confuses us and makes us doubt our identity. 

-The song "I'm just a sinner saved by grace" can be a dangerous thought if taken too seriously, because when we are saved we share CHRIST'S identity...why are we downplaying the magnitude of how He has changed us??  

-Do you ever look at a butterfly and think: "Wow! What an awesome, converted, used-to-be-ugly, worm!"??? NO. You just see a butterfly. So why do Christians believe Satan's lies and look at ourselves that way? YOU'RE NOT A WORM ANYMORE, DON'T ACT LIKE ONE! BE A BUTTERFLY! 

 

B. Don't give POWER to the flesh. (Romans 6:12-14)

-Ephesians 5:1-8

-WE have the CHOICE to yield ourselves to Christ or to Satan. Which will we choose? 

-Always ask yourself, "what's true, and what's feelings?"

5) KNOW YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE -- YOU ARE A FRUIT HANGER; NOT A FRUIT PRODUCER (John 15:1-5)

A. Follow the PATTERN of Christ--Total dependency on God

-John 5:36 "But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me."

-John 12:49 "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 

B. Love Him because He first loved you

-Love leads to Dependency which leads to Obedience.

-1John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

-1John 4:19 "We love Him, because He first loved us"

C. Constantly ABIDE in the vine

-John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing."

-It's only the branches job to HOLD the fruit, that's it, nothing more. It's Jesus' job to bear the fruit. 

One final thought:

There's a story of a boy in a room, he's got headphones on and is clapping and tapping to the music he's listening to. Then (as a test) a deaf boy is added to the room... He sees the boy clapping and tapping and figures that that is just what is done in this room and so he starts clapping and tapping too. However, since the deaf boy can't hear the music, he eventually tires and stops clapping and tapping. 

This is how it applies to us:

Apart from a heart motivated by the Spirit to live right, we're going to stop "clapping and tapping" to the "music." So seek the Spirit's guidance in your life, don't ever allow yourself to get to the point where you can't "hear the music" because that's when weariness sets in, and then we fall away from God. Instead, keep close to Him, read your Bible, pray, spend time in worship, all these things will keep you motivated; keep you going.