Oppurtunities

on Sunday my pastor preached on trials. it was an absolutely amazing sermon. he told the church that he can't solve our problems for us or tell us some magical thing that will make all our problems disappear but one thing that really stuck out to me was that he said that every problem that comes our way whether it be financial problems, friend problems, physical problems, spiritual problems, or just a bad day to think of every hard thing as an oppurtunity to praise God. little did i know sunday evening that this message would be critical for my week. today i had just a bad day and this message came flying to my mind and i thought to myself this is an oppurtunity to praise God. i'm going to rejoice in the good things!!! as paul says many times in philippians "Rejoice in the Lord." this is just a little reminder to everybody that God sends us problems so we can praise Him. remember to lift each other up in prayer. have a Godly week!!

way past time for another post

well i guess i'll take this post to discuss ,"have a dialogue" you might say about what's been happening lately. if you are in government or are really up on the news you might get the have a dialogue thing anyways ask me about it later if you're really curious. well not much has been happening. i was kinda upset last week though when winterjam came to greenville and all of us Bob Jones kids were stuck at home on that friday night thinking about all the people screaming their heads off at the most awesome concert ever. i love BJ. at school things are kind of at a lull. Bible conference is just around the corner YAY! i am so ready! another interesting thing happening in our circle of friends is the quaker meetings, and yes jigger they are called the quaker meetings. they have been going really well lately and i have learned much through them. one thing i really enjoy about the quaker meetings is how we can all get together and worship God during the week and how we can learn things about each other's spiritual lives and better know how to lift up our friends in prayer. i think it really has strengthened our group of friends. we are close in God and i hope that never changes. well i think i have successfully rambled enough and stretched this post on probably way longer than needed so yeah. remember to stay in God's word and be praying for your friends cause they probably need it. Have a godly day!!

Fearers of Men

i started reading a new book in my devotions. the name of the book is When People Are Big and God is Small. last night i was reading in it and it gave all kinds of examples of how we "fear men" basically how we please people over God. how we fear people more than God. if we aren't wearing the best outfit at school or if we don't get good grades, or don't meet up to people's standards how do we react? my answer to that question is that i would be upset. i am a people pleaser. so often i become prey to peer pressure or wanting to do things well so people will look at me and think "wow she is good" and you know what my focus is no longer on God when i am worrying about what people think about me. this to me seems like an unbeatable problem, but i left something out....God. i can't conquer this without God and the problem is i was trying to accomplish it by myself. so now when i feel the fear creep into my throat of "oh my word they looked at me weird did i do something wrong do i look weird?" i bow my head in prayer and say Lord help me to take my focus off of people and fear you. You are Almighty God!!

shane and shane

i recently got a shane and shane cd. the title of the cd is psalms. it is a really good cd. the song i am going to share with you is from that cd and if you pull out your Bible and read along with what they're singing i think you will find it is pretty much straight out of the Bible. so for all those people who think that ccm doesn't use the Bible in their songs...you're wrong. the chapter is Psalms 143. one time i was doing my devotions and listening to this song while i was doing devotions and i read the passage while listening to the song and it was such an encouragement to me so i thought i would share this encouragement with you as well. also, there is something i have been thinking about recently that i would just like to share with you guys who are my closest friends. a couple of days ago i was visiting my grandmother up in virginia and it really got me thinking. her husband my grandfather died at the beginning of the semester and it is really hard for her. she is schitzophrenic (i hope that's how you spell it) and has depression and she lives by herself in a very small house on the side of a mountain. she never goes out. if she does it is just to get groceries so she can live. both me and my mother feel so burdened for her she is just so...secluded from the world and she doesn't have anybody but her dog to keep her company. on my way home from virginia i started thinking. how is it that God wanted me to be so fortunate? i have so many things and i have friends, a nice home, a car, and anything i could possibly ever want. why am i so blessed? i deserve hell! how come i am not some old lady stuck in her house, going crazy, with nobody to keep her company? and the longer i thought about it the more i decided that God has given me all i have so i can give it back to Him and use it to serve Him and reach others. so i guess you could say this is my "new year's resolution" (although i despise new year's resolutions) to give everything i have in service to God. i will not be like the rich man who denied God because he wanted to keep his wealth i give it all to Him. i also thanked God for giving me so many things that i don't appreciate even such a small thing as coffee. i love coffee and some people don't have money to enjoy a nice cup of coffee every morning and i can thank God even for the little pleasures in life. well this has stretched on way longer than i intended it to. maybe someone like bethany will actually read it through. ;) so here is the song remember to thank God for everything and to serve Him with your life. till next time.

My Favorite Picture in the World

the outerbanks

my vacation was absolutely amazing!!!! i had a wonderful time. it was so relaxing. we stayed in the coolest house ever. it was a short walk to the beach and we all had our own bedrooms. on the first floor we had a pool table, a heated indoor pool, and a hot tub. then on the top floor we had a big screen tv, kitchen, and a big dinner table. i could have spent the whole vacation in our house. the first day we were in the outerbanks we went to the currituck island lighthouse and the whalebone clubhouse that was a very fun day. the next day we went to kitty hawk and went to the wright memorial and museum then to the bodie island lighthouse. the last day we went to the hatteras island lighthouse and then drove 8 hours home. it was a very fun vacation we spent a lot of time playing pool and swimming in the pool and soaking in the hot tub. it was awesome. i hope you all had as good of a thanksgiving break as i have had. here are some pictures. the Lord is good! i am thankful for all the wonderful things He has done for me.

Artist Series

That was a very hilarious play i must tell you. i pretty much died laughing. not to mention i had the best looking date around. :)all i can say is that Jeremiah Dew or however you spell that is absolutely hilarious not to mention very good at being a shakesperian character. well i decided i would post pics so everybody could see that i really did have the best looking date. he also got my very nice flowers. you go jig!! haha. ok i won't embarass you anymore i promise. i hope you have fun reading this post and make sure to make some hilarious comments. keep trusting in God. till next time.