lies.

So, I'm reading a book called "Lies Young Women Belive." In this book, Dannah Gresh and Nancy Leigh DeMoss discuss how Satan destroys our walk with God by telling us a series of lies. The following is the basic points I got from the first few chapters. I highly reccomend the book, even though I'm only on chapter 4.

Satan has a goal- to kill and destroy us.

I'm not meaning physically, I mean spiritually. He wants us to die spiritually and become separated from God, who is our life. To do so, he tells us a series of lies. We are "not good enough" or " not beautiful enough". We aren't worth it. All of these lies are meant to destroy us. When we hear them, we should run, far far away. By listening to and dwelling on these lies, we begin to believe them. When we believe them, we begin to act on them an they become a pattern in our lives. Instead we should immerse ourselves in the truth.
Truth is not just "something that is not a lie." Because a lie then is simply "something that is not the truth". The problem with this is circular reasoning. There is no standard to judge against. A better definition is that truth is "an agreement with a standard or individual" (thank you dictionary.com!!) The standard for this truth is Jesus Christ. Jesus says in John 14:6 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life". He is the standard, he determines what is right.
By surrounding ourselves in the truth, we can find verses to counteract the lies that Satan tells us. Jesus promises that if we know the truthm the "truth will set us free" (John 8:32). The way we live our lives now establishes the pattern we will live our lives in the future. It sets the bar for our standards.
Elizabeth Elliot says in her book, Passion and Purity, "He gives all. He asks all." Jesus gave everything for us. He wants all of us. Why would he tell us these lies? Its clearly Satan at work to destroy us. God only tells us things that are good, things that are lovely, things that are pure. In Christ and his Word, we have the truth that sets people free. But, because we listen to Satan, we belive these terrible lies and we think that we are not good enough, we are too bad to be forgiven. Stasi Eldredge says in Captivating, "We are afraid of being truly seen, and so we hide our truest selves and offer only what we belive is wanted." We all want to be beautiful, but seem to belive that we are not enough. We are not worthy of love. But, these thoughts are not of God. They are lies from Satan to destroy us. God wants us, in all of our brokeness to come back to him, pleading for forgiveness (which he will give), and give our lives back to him.
A missionary named Ruth Stull of Peru once said, "If my life is broken when given to Jesus, it is beacuse pieces will feed a multitude, while a loaf will only satisfy a little lad." Come back to Jesus. He's calling.

motions.

I don’t wanna go through the motions.
I don’t wanna go one more day.
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me.
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking,
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions
-Matthew West

What does it mean to live fully for Christ?
What does it mean to die daily for him?
What does it mean to give everything for Him?

Somehow, I don't think that its as easy as people make it out to be.
It seems like every sermon we hear revolves around the concept of dying to yourself and becoming new in Christ. And then we hear a prayer and sing a song and your life is supposed to miraculously change. Its supposed to be easy. But its not. Its hard, terribly hard. It means giving up every part of yourself and giving it to God. Trusting that he will do something with your life, make it into something amazing. Having faith that he will work it out.
I want to try this. I want to try trusting in God and not keeping things in my hands. Doing things to the best of my ability and then turning it over to God. Whatever happens, happends. Stop stressing. Over the little things and the big things. So, I have a goal.
One week. Seven days. Of trusting God whole heartedly. Devoting myself to prayer and study and scriptures. Asking God for guidence in all I do. I know, I know, I should make a commitment for life, but I'm starting small. After this week, turn it to a month. And then two months. And then on and on. I'm going to stop going through the motions and immerse myself in all that is good and holy. The all consuming passion. The everything.

1 week. Thats my goal.

oh, what to do.

So, you know when you have something that everyone else says is amazing but you don't?
And you're really stressed because you don't know what to do next?
And your decision really really matters in the long run?

Yeah....that's how I feel.
Honestly, I don't know what I'm doing here.
I could easy tell you where I want to be in 5 or 10 years.
But I have no idea how to get there.
I have some ideas, but they all involve huge consequences.
Either way, I'm going to lose something.
What to do...
What to do...

go away rain!

So, today it rained.
Its raining, its pouring, the old man is snoring.

So, I've always wondered why the old man is snoring. I mean, I know he bumped his head and cant get out of bed and all, but seriously, what's this dude's problem. is he clumsy?

so, today i went with a group of girls from my social work class to visit a social worker from eamc. he was pretty cool, but i'm glad its over with. now to get on to this weekend!! not like i'm doing much, but still--no class for 2 days!! :)

i'm one quiz, and 4 classes away from the weekend.
but, now i'm going to sleep.
nighty night!

the climb

there's always gonna be another mountain,i'm always gonna want it to move.always gonna be an uphill battle,sometimes i'm gonna have to lose.ain't about how fast i get there,ain't about waiting for what's on the other side.its the climb.

so, i am def. in love with the hannah montana movie soundtrack. i bought it today from wal*mart.com ($9+tax). and yeah...its the new fav. but, for some reason, i really like this song. its on the movie preview, so i heard it there first. its like, for some reason, when things start going really great, other things start popping up. always another boulder in the way of where i'm going. but in the end, it doesnt matter how fast i get to then end, or what will happen next, its about the lessons and experienced i have along the way. its about the climb. the journey of life.

on another note: a prayer request. one of the blogs that i've been keeping up with brought the story of this little baby named Stellan. he's 4 months old and was supposed to born with severe heart problems, but when he was born, they couldn't find anything wrong with him. but, over the weekend, he got sick and his heart began to not work right. Please, go here and get updates on his story and pray for him. (Also, his mom has an amazing way with words and an amazing faith in God). thanks.

so, i think thats all for today.
yep.
thats all folks!

first 5k.

so, today i ran/walked/jogged my first 5k. 43 minutes...not terrible....hey, i finished!! :)

the race was for the footprints ministry, an organization that helps preemie babies. you can find their website here.

i think we will probably be doing this again sometime, it was really fun and wasn't all that bad! but i think next time we will be running a little more, i want to make it in the 30s next time!!

birmingham.

Today, we made a trip with the family (mom,daddy,max,desi, and me) up to Birmingham.

We went to:

• The Botanical Gardens: was a little cold. only went to the Japanese gardens. should wear walking shoes...not yellow boxes.
• P.F. Chang's: lunch. fried rice and chicken and a diet coke. liked the food. creepy spotlght thingamabob in the bathroom.
• The Summit: Anthropolgie. Pottery Barn. Pottery Barn Kids (bought really cute polkadot tissue box cover for $5), Gapbody, and Urban Outfitters. Boys went to Apple store.
• Whole Foods: really good organic food. spent...at least an hour, maybe more. :) i like this store. i mean, they make an offbrand SmartWater...what's not to love??

All in all--fun day. Now, to get some sleep before the Footprints 5K tommorrow!! :)

a silly song...

on the third day of spring break, my mommy gave to me:



1 wake up call at 8 am because of the chimney being torn down...

2 brothers to take pictures of...

3 pieces of pizza from CiCi's...

cuppycakes.

so, tonight for desert, i'm making these:

http://bakingbites.com/2008/06/mini-chocolate-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-frosting/


haven't eaten them yet, but the batter sure tastes good!! :)

willl post pictures later.





edit:: they were amazing!!

25 random facts about me.

1. I'm working on becoming a social work major at Auburn, but its a fairly complicated process. I will be very glad next Spring when I don't have to explain how "officially" I'm a polysci major, but "technically" I'm a social work major.

2. I'm beginning to realize that my views on social welfare are VERY different than those of the College of Liberal Arts. Maybe because I'm not very liberal. Imagine that.

3. I like dancing to old school 90s music, even though I didn't listen to much of it in the 90s. :)

4. Apparently, I'm a very girly-girl. The whole pink with sparkles, disney princess, ohmygosh Hannah Montanna girly-girl kind.

5. Apples to Apples is the best board game ever. I own the Bible Edition. Yes, they make a Bible Edition.

6. I HATE World History with a PASSION!!!! It possibly the worst class I have EVER taken, and if I don't get into grad school, you will know why.

7. My favorite number is the number 7.

8. I love scrapbooking with my mom.

9. I do feel like a failure at times though because I have taken a lot less pictures since I've come off to college and normally I just "steal" them from other people's facebooks.

10. I'm an Auburn fan.

11. My favorite color is pink with sparkles. No, you cannot forget the sparkles.

12. One of the highlights of my week is lunch with my mom at Panera every Thursday. :)

13. I miss my family quite freqently. I think I'm the only one in the dorm that thinks its too quiet b/c I'm used to hearing a 7 and 11 year old brothers run around screaming.

14. I love Jon and Kate Plus 8. :)

15. I like making cupcakes...well, watching Ivy make them putting sprinkles on them. And then eating them.

16. I'm secretly addicted to watching reruns of my favorite tv shows online. Shh...don't tell.

17. My favorite letter is Z. As in Zebra. And as in Zizzerzazzerzus. Ask Dr. Seuss if you dont belive me.

18. I'm addicted to facebook and checking my email. Eek.

19. My favorite disney princesses are Cinderella and Belle. I do NOT like Jasmine for some reason. And Pocohontas is NOT a disney princess in my eyes. Just saying. And its not because I wish I was as tan as them.

20. One of my new year's resolutions is to read my bible more and I'm working on it. :)

21. Bees have a natural attraction to me. Their was a massive hive thingy outside my room at home, and then I have a yellow jacket nest outside my dorm room window. And to make it better, I have a fear of bees.

22. I dont like the rain either. Or rather, teh lightning and thunder that comes with it.

23. I swear I am ADD sometimes.

24. I hate dirty bathrooms.

25. Teddy grahams are amazing. Especially with frosting. I know, so nutritional. :)


So now, you know a little more about me. :) yay!