I have been getting alot of complaints about my not posting enough and not ever posting any pictures. I thought I would try and remedy that today. Since I am on Spring break this week, I have time to post.=)Here are some pictures from my camera taken this past Friday. Here is a piture of Faith at the lock-in on Friday night.

Here is a picture of two of my team members, Courtney and Kelly, at polaroid panic. Our team won the game.

The lock-in at the church was on Friday night into Saturday morning. My Birthday was on Saturday, so Becky decided to surprise me with a cake.The cake has Care Bears on it. Care Bear is my nickname hence the cute cake. I turned 21 this past Saturday, March 6th. Here I am holding my cake.

I have always heard that school, work, etc. can give a person a headache. I have never really known if this could be true. Well now I know. RSCC just started back this past Thursday. Yesterday was my first real day of classes though. I have to admit I was a little bit nervous about beginning classes again, but after they began my nervousness subsided. During my second class I began to get a really bad headache. This headache would have to be the worst headache that I have ever gotten in my life. I began to get extremely dizzy, and felt like I could pass out at any moment. I began to see spots, and feel like I may get sick in class. Thankfully my teacher let us out thirty minutes early. After class was let out I went straight to my car and took some ibeprofin. Something occurred to me though while driving down the road; I had not gotten a headache since the previous semester. Not one headache the entire time of my Christmas break. I now realize that school is a headache, and that I have proof in my own life of this to be true. Lol.

I just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. This year has been a good year. Alot has happened, some happy things and some sad things. But even through the sad things I have grown in the Lord. I just want to say that sometimes the Lord places things into your lives that are sent to help you to grow in Him. At the time it is hard to imagine getting through it, but somehow you have the strength to get through it and come out a stronger person. I know that there are some things that happened this past year that looking back now I know without the Lord I would not have handled it as well as I did. The Lord is so good. His grace is sufficient. He never gives you more than you can handle. My New Year's Resolution for 2010 are to read my Bible more, spend more time in prayer, begin to memorize more Scripture, and meditate more on the Scriptures. I know that I do not do enough for the Lord, but my goal for this coming year is to work my hardest to be a better Christian and do more work for Him. All my life I have heard about the great faith of the Christians of old, they sacrificed so much of their time and of their energy for the Lord, to plant the seed of salvation and to grow closer to the Lord each day. This type of life is so foreign in today's society. There are still some Christians like that, but not many. I hope to one day be considered as one of these sacrificial Christians, who gave all to the Lord and held nothing back. "May the Lord Find Us Faithful" and may we have "A Passion for Thee" as the songs say. I hope that everyone has a Happy New Year.

The All Seeing Eye of the Lord

It always seems that I am apologizing for not blogging as often as I should. Well this post is not any different. Sorry. Now that I have gotten my apologies out of the way, I just need to say that I am so happy that Christmas vacation is here at last. I thought that I would never get through finals week alive, but I did and with good grades to boot.

Right now I have something that is majorly upon my mind that I would like to share. One never knows when his/her actions are influencing others around them. Just before Christmas, I received a card from a guy at my school. In the card the guy thanked me for being a good Christian witness at school. He told me that he really had been going through alot of battles in his life that nobody knew about. Also, he told me that my standing up for the Lord gave him courage to do the same, and helped him to trust in the Lord during the battles that he is facing. This card completely touched my heart, for sometimes it is hard to stand up when you do not think you are making a difference. This card truly showed me that someone is always watching, whether it be someone around me or the Lord Himself. Our actions and our words greatly influence others, whether we choose to acknowledge that fact or not. My desire is to influence those around me for good, although I do not always succeed in this area. Most of the time we do not even know the influence that we are making upon others lives. We as Christians should guard ourselves that what we do and say is Christ honoring. For you never know when what you say and do will help a sinner come to Christ or a struggling Christian come through a trial in their life. Not saying that we are the one that is helping them, but the Lord working through us. We must be willing vessels for the Lord to use. Without the Lord I know that I would not have helped my friend at school, but the Lord working through me. For I could not see what he was going through outside of school, only the Lord can see everything. So many times in my own life I will be going through a trial, and someone will do or say something that greatly helped me. I know that they did not know what was going on in my life, but the Lord did and used them to be an encouragement to me. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and He is so Good.

My Thankful List

Here is just a piece of my Thankful List. This does not even come close to everything I am thankful for. God has been so good in my life.

1. My family(mom, dad, and brother)
2. My pastor
3. My salvation
4. The Bible
5. My Friends
6. My home
7. My car
8. A loving church family
9. Prayer
10. Praying family and friends
11. God's forgiveness
12. God's mercy and grace
13. God's patience
14. God's unending love
15. Warm clothing
16. Books =)
17. Breath
18. My sight
19. My hearing
20. Freedom
21. The military
22. To live in America
23. My phone
24. My grandma
25. Those who have had a great spiritual impact upon my life.

It is never right to do wrong. Sometimes I find in my own life that I do not always heed this truth. Justifying wrong is never right, and under no circumstance will the Lord's will be doing something that is wrong. I have been told this over and over again, and I heed it when it comes to things that I absolutely know are wrong. But sometimes our judgement is not so sharp, and we feel that we must do something in order to please others. Still it is not right though. The Lord will always bless His children when they do what is right and good. Doing right may not always be easy, but in the end happiness will follow. Doing wrong many times is easier, but in the end we feel bad about ourselves. We know that we have let the Lord down when we participate in sin. I just want to say that the Lord is good. He has been so good to me. I do not deserve for Him to be so good and so kind to me. I fail Him so often yet He always loves me the same. As Breakin Ground's song says, "So even when I'm at my worst, He sees me as His best."

Well I have been telling people that I would update my blog for about two weeks now. Well I have done so. Bye. Just kidding.

Here lately I have been thinking alot about the conversations that we engage in. How many things do we say each day that have no significance? How many people do we gossip about in a single day? How many things that do we complain about? How many discouraging instead of encouraging words do we say to others? These questions have been going through my head alot here of late. I try to be very conscious of everything that I say, but sometimes that does not always happen. My pastor in his message yesterday, said something that I really liked and am going to try to make a habit of. Whenever we have a mean thought about somebody, instead of saying what our thought was to someone else, we need to say something nice about that person. Or whenever we start to complain about something, we need to say something positive instead. We need to have good things to say. Words are more deadly than anything. That saying "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" is not really true. Words can hurt you. Not to say that we should wear our feelings on our sleeves, and take offense to everything anybody says to us. We cannot control what everybody else says and does, but we can control what we ourselves say and do. I do not want anybody to say that I have hurt them with my words. I want to guard my tongue. If we are to be witnesses for the Lord, what we say is a big part of accomplishing that task of being a good Christian witness. I would hate for my words to hinder someone from accepting Christ as their Saviour. Also, every word that we say we will be held accountable for someday.

"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is , there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that a make peace."
--James 3:10-18