Mission trip...

So there's been a change of plans. My trip is now switched over to Italy so I'll, God willing, work in towns around Rome. On my free day I we go to Rome and have the option and do two different things, one of which is going to the Coliseum and shopping in shops around it. The ministy that we'll maybe do is street drama and one-on-one evangelism. But perhaps we'll do relief work (did you hear about the earthquake in Italy and then the aftershock?) and coffee ministry. In the morning we'll advertise for the drama, in the afternoon sometime we'll do it, then go out to the people, love on them, get to know them, and share our testimony. It'll be a GREAT experience! Please pray for me and the trip and everything, wisdom, money, spiritual growth, preparation, and on. Thanks, everyone! :)

Easter!!

Isn't it funny how we make Christmas a bigger holiday then Easter? Easter is a huge holiday and yet so often we don't celebrate it as much as Christmas. Easter isn't at all about about the Easter egg hunts, Easter bunny, chocolate candy, or even the empty tomb. It's totally 100% about Jesus and God (and remember, Jesus was totally God and also 100% man). It's about how Jesus was right and that He really is the only God. What he said really was real, Who He was, really was genuine. It's about His power, His truth in who He said He was. It's about His love for us. He loved us so much He went to the cross and rose from the grave for us. It's about how we don't live with and serve a God in the grave but we serve a living God!! We have a God who has more power then anything, even death. Always remember that we serve a living God!!!
Read the Easter story today, maybe from a different gospel or from another translation. (You can find it Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20. Perhaps you can choose a verse that stands out to you and memorize it.
We have chosen holidays to celebrate things, Jesus' birth, Easter...but we can thank God anytime for what He did.

The Rock and Worship Roadshow

On Good Friday my youth group went to The Rock and Worship Roadshow where they had five bands come in, Hawk Nelson, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, Tenth Avenue North, and they were going to have Addison Road but when the main singer who was pregnant went into labor...they didn't come. Instead we had The Afters, who began the singing. Before, we went to All Stars Sports Center and ate at Freddy's Frozen Custard or Sonic before going to where the concert was, waiting, talking, taking pictures, tossing balls, or playing... The concert was sold out! There were 11, 000 people there! Lights would swept over people, music blaring, hands in the air, hands clapping, sometimes we'd jump up and down. And while there wasn't a long message, there were some great things said!! It's a bummer I can't remember more of what they said. When I listen to the song or are going to and think about it, then I can sorta remember. The main singers of the bands/artists would most of the time speak and say great things. So you could kind of "get to know them" in a way, hear their story and stuff. Jeremy Camp told us how he had lost his wife to cancer eight years but he told us that after he had sang one of his songs with part of the chorus: And I will walk by faith, even when I cannot see. Each one of artists and on were different, probably believed different things, looked different, there were different types of music...But they were all there for God and wanted to bring glory and honor to Him. God was there smiling with tears in His eyes! God is with us!! We teenagers are in an amazing spot and need to change our generation to Jesus!

Love God and Love Others!

Last Wednesday our youth group started a new series and talked about forgiving but we also spoke about loving God and people, which was so GOOOOOOD!! Some of the things that my youth pastor said were they (speaking of people) are not going to know that we're Christians by our tee-shirts or bumper stickers but by our love. Think about it. You might see someone wearing a Christian tee or have this cross necklace but when they're yelling at their Mom or whatever else, you are seriously going to doubt that they love God, which kind of leads into something else that we spoke about (though it actually was before that :). You cannot say that your relationship with God is going good and not love other people, here. Our relationships effect our relationship with God. Here'sverses that we looked up and please do look them up, too! They are really good!

-> Matthew 5:23-24-reconile, move on. Don't bring the sin up anymore. -> John 13:34-35-love will speak to the world that we are children of the King. -> Matthew 22:36-39-The first and second commands. The first and greatest, love God with everything. The second is loving others like ourselves. The NLT says, "A second is equally important". The greatest command is to love God but the next, to love others as ourself, is of the same importance. Crazy, hun? -> Ephesians 4:1-2 tells to lead a life worthy of God's calling in verse one. Verse two tells us things we should do but they're not rules. They are commands and if I love Christ, then I'll follow them.

This week at our youth group, just yesterday, we spoke about acceptance, continuing in the second week of our series. With acceptance there is no normal. There's really no thing as normal. God doesn't make the stories in the Bible perfect but He leaves them in for us. We live much of our life to be accepted. But we need to remember that even when others don't accept us we're totally accepted by God. And if you haven't accepted God's free gift, then please think about it seriously. Place your faith in Him, in the things He said, and accept His free offer. And as a Christian, we need to follow God, you and me. Because Jesus accepted us, we need to go out and accept others. Accept!!

Seek God!

Have you ever wondered, "God, why don't you just write down what to do and what not to do? That'd be so much easier... Then I'd know what you thought about country music, proms, and school dances, guys, and everything." As I was telling my youth pastor just Thrusday, it's probably kinda good that God doesn't just say "don't go to the school dance" because that makes us seek Him for answers. Do you want answers? Go to God, seek Him totally! If you really seek Him, you will find Him. Your answers might be different then someone elses but maybe that's because we're different, we have different strenghts and weaknesses. God says that He'll give anyone wisdom without finding fault. I need to seek God...Will you join me? But when we seek Him, we need to seek Him first, before anything! Go to God! He's there waiting for you.

I Love You!!!

LOVE LETTER
I saw you yesterday as you were walking with your friends. I waited all day hoping you would walk and talk to me.
As the days end, I gave you a sunset
And a cool breeze to rest you.
As you fell asleep I longed to touch you.
I spilled moonlight on your face….
Again I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk.
My friend, I love you.
I whisper it in the leaves and the trees.
I shout to you in the mountain streams.
I clothe you in sunshine.
My love is deeper then the oceans.
You and I will spend eternity together.
I would love it if you would talk to me.
It is your decision…
And because I love you I will wait.
~Your Heavenly Father~

We hear it all the time but God really does love you! And He shows it...in the sunsets and everything. He wants you SO much! But He's going to wait for us because He loves us and loves that is forced isn't really love. So, I have a lot about God's love but God is also a God of righteous wrath. He is a God of love and at the same time discipline... But it's all because HE LOVES YOU!!! God lets us go through pain and hard times, He disciplines us because He loves us. That's true love.

Forensics...

This past month in February I went to a forensics compeition with my younger sister and Mom. It's my second year in forensics (public speaking through acting, writing speeches, and you can also do debate offers debate, which isn't forensics). More then that, it's a Christian forensics as well as homeschool. The compeition was three days long and each day we'd get up early and perform, eat, wait to perform as debate went, and on. The pieces that I preformed were Tilly by Frank Peretti for open, The Ragman for dramatic, and for humorous I did the piece Amelia Bedelia. Tilly was a piece about a lady who has an abortion and the part I did was almostly all when she's in a dream where she meets her little daughter, Tilly and talks to other(s). The piece that I did for dramatic was called The Ragman. The story really is like about how Jesus took our dirty rags and put them upon Himself. In the end, the Ragman dies but after three days, but comes alive again. Sounds familiar, hun? Isaiah 53 at the beginning of verse four says, Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows... And, finally, I did the piece of Amelia Bedelia who takes things a bit to literally!
I was excited to break into semi-finals with my open, Tilly, and shocked to found out that I broke into finals with my dramatic. I ended up placing 6th in dramatic and open and got 25th place in IE sweepstakes.
Looking at my ballots now, it's interesting how some judges would give you a higher placing and another would give you the lowest. It really reminds you over and over that everyone is different! There's no copy of you and therefore, you can't fail at being you. Get it? I heard that and had never thought of that...I cannot possibly fail at being me! Can I fail God's plan for me? Perhaps but God's always there to lift me up. If you feel like you're a failure in your activites and life, who are you comparing yourself with?
I'll share a memory with you. So, it's the semi-final round, there was this older couple sitting in the room. I perform my piece Tilly and a girl in front of me performed part of Max Lucado's "He Chose the Nails." Also, the girl before that performed a dramatic piece. After the semi-final round, the first girl walks up to me when I'm talking to a girl and asks me something or says something to me. Well, skipping ahead, her Mom ends up telling us that the couple in the room weren't Christians and came out and were like, "Is this a Christian thing or something?" Her daughter was actually like, "No, no, you said they said something about "preachin' at us." So, her Mom said that it was cool to see the Holy Spirit play a conviction in their hearts and it was neat that I played a part in that. I had no idea!!! Did those people ever come Christians or think anything about it? We'll probably never really know here but it's important to put our best in whatever we do. God might use us to change someone here, rather we'll know it or not.

Go with God, friend!

Baja, Mexico, Here I Come!

Chance of a Lifetime

This summer I have the wonderful oppertunity to go to Baja, California, which is really in Mexico. It lays in the peninsula by Mexico and California. I am planning to go with a mission group down in Texas for a week in the summer. Over the week, we will be building

house(s) for the neediest families and doing door to door minsitry. Although most of my siblings have gone on mission trips, this will be my first experience...First experiecnce to send out support letters, to raise money for my trip--to be the one going, to go on a trip. It will be an AMAZING growing experience and seeing the world from totally another culture. It will be life-changing, not only for the people to whom we hope to share God's love, but also for me.