Beauty!

" I see your face in every sunrise, the colors of the morning are inside your eyes.. I look up to the sky and say you're beautiful".
 The words to one of my favorite songs. It is all about reflecting on the beauty of God.
As spring approaches, I think of the beautiful flowers, beautiful weather and the wonderful blue skies. It really has me reflect on the beauty of God.   Creation is beautiful because God is beautiful!   Too often the evil of this world blocks out the beauty  that God intended for this world to be. He designed it so everything in it is beautiful.  Even the people. We are so quick to gossip about others and let others bring us down, but in reality, every person on this Earth is beautiful because God created them . As human beings we all long for beauty. We see it everywhere in magazines, TV commercials and advertisements on beauty products. True beauty comes from the inside. We need to see beauty in others.  There is beauty all around us in the little things and taking time to reflect on  beauty every day will help you see the world in a more positive manner . Reflect on the beauty of God everyday and have it help you block out the evils in this world.

The beauty that I  have been reflecting on the last few days..

My amazing cousin!

Well, I have not posted on here in a few months and need to get better at it. Today marks 8 years since my heart broke and my amazing, beautiful, full of life cousin died. A piece of me died that day. Worst day of my life.  After 8 years, God has healed my heart and there will always be a piece of her with me but God is showing me that If I lean on Him He can comfrot me and strengthen me.  Alana was an amazing person. She loved her family more than anything. Her

She loved Halloween and pirates!

weekends that she spent with her dad were always things she would look forward to. Her dad ( my uncle) and she were always doing adventurous things outside and were very into nature and outdoorsy. I remember going to her house every year at Christmas and having a sleepover. We would order pizza, and than go in the basement in front of the fire and watch Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean. I believe we watched Lord of the Rings 3 the Christmas before she passed. Katie, Alana and I would all sit in this big maroon chair and watch the movie. They would make fun of me because I always fell asleep during these"action movies". She always came to my grandparent's in the summer and we would play for hours in the pool. My sisters and Alana had a secret girls club that held "meetings" in a shed.  In reality, it  was really just a time for the 4 of us to spend with just each other.  She loved Chocolate, the color purple, Spice Girls, John Mayer, N'sync and Halloween was by far her favorite holiday. My favorite color is now purple in honor of her.  Everyone that met her loved her because she was super sweet, had a heart of gold and was very outgoing. The last time I saw her was Easter of 2005. We still had our Easter basket hunt in Nana and Papa's house and she was in tenth grade loving high school. She was excited about learning how to drive that summer in Canada with her dad on the ten mile dirt road.  She never got to learn how to drive. But she  certainly loved her  life here on Earth and was loved immensely and still is everyday.  I will always miss her and think about all the things she has missed. She would loved my sister's weddings and would probably call me up at college and see how I am doing right now.  She would have been at my graduation party and signing my cast when I broke my leg. 

I am truly a blessed girl to have known my cousin for 12 years of my life. I certainly wish that it was a lot longer but her memory will live with me always.  And with the horrible things that go on in this world everyday, I remember that it is so important to always tell the close ones in your life that you love them and to live  every day  trying to be the best person you can be.  Accomplish your goals, work hard at life, laugh often, make lasting relationships and most importantly, be thankful and blessed with the life that God has given you because it is such a gift. 

I love you now and forever sweet girl!

This shows our special relationship. She was my 3rd older sister. not just a cousin.

Defying the Goliath's in our Lives

 The sermon that my pastor preached on Sunday was  powerful. It was the story of David and Goliath a story that many of us are familiar with. Someone who might not be qualified demolished this huge opponent. But what stuck out to me was 1st Samuel 17:45,  David said to the Philistine. " You come against me with sword and spear and javelin but I come against you i the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." Wow. That is an awesome verse.  It reminds me of the song from Chris Tomlin " Our God" when he says, " If our God is for us than who can be against us."  We always have God on our side and He is musch stronger than any human weapon ever created.  This young man David, loved GOd and stood up on His behalf. My pastor said the main thing to get out of the sermon was that those who Love God are willing to stand up on His behalf.  That is true.    I began to think of the "Goliaths" in my life. Everyone has one. That one thing or person that is defying God and tearing you away from Him.  The " Goliaths" in our world are the horrible things. HUman trafficking, famine, racism, murders, shootings, drug abuse, alcoholism, and much more. We live ina cruel and ungodly world. All these things are telling us that we are powerless just like in 1st Samuel 17 when the kings and other men believed that David was powerless. The real hope lies in the fact that Goliath doesn't stand a chance with our God.  We need to stand up on his behalf.

 Also, An 8 year old girl got up and talked about her fear. She said her fear was getting cancer and than she said this amazing profound statement.  Sin is cancer in our lives. It is a sickness. If I knew the cure for cancer, I would tell people about it. In the same way, we have the cure to sin. It is Christ. therefore we need to spread the cure to everyone we meet. She definitely touched me.
 I hope you all enjoyed reading this. It was just something that was on my heart.  Never feel powerless. We have all the power in Christ Jesus. He will never let you fall.

Worship

The other day when I was reflection on a poem that I read in my poetry class, I came across the theme of  worships and praise.  Some notes from my notebook,
" Praise and worship is looked at in society as just singing songs in Church on Sundays. Worship is so much more than that.  The poem's name was " the Journey of the Magi." and it basically told the story of the common story that people know. Bringing gifts of frankincense  incense and myrrh. The poem stated that what could a baby do wit these gifts. These gifts are not at all the gifts that people would give to babies in the 21st century. If those gifts were given today, a mother would give that person a strange look. But what did these gifts mean years ago. It was a symbol of Christi's love for us. How does this have to do worship? These three wise men came to worship an innocent perfect child.  Worship demands our attention and as a follower of Christ I should be worshiping God every hour of my day not just at church on Sundays. Praise can be done in a form of sacrifice as well. Sometimes giving up something for God  can be a form of worship or simply being still in the presence of god and knowing that  He deserve all of my time not just an hour but 24 hours."
This was on my heart and I wanted to share it with everyone.