Praise and Prayer

Philippians 1:9-And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge nd depth of insight.
I want to encourage you all to really pray, talk to God. Praying doesn't mean that you must use "thee" and "thou" or any special languauge. It's a conversation with the Creator, like you'd have with a friend. It's also not just asking God for stuff. In fact, one book puts it something like, Stop asking what God can do for us but instead ask what can we do for You? It's confessing, just chatting, thanking, being silly (if you want), praising, and asking for things. It's cool to ask God for things but remember that the God who can give you want you want also needs praise. Psalms talks a ton about praise! Right now you can just post praises and prayer requests that you have. Then we can all pray for each other. We might not know each other but in the body of Christ, we are all one. Our differences don't matter anymore because we aren't united by those. God longs to have a relationship of love with you!
Pslams 108:3-4- I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

I am shocked!

Is it possible that my trip is already upon me? In a few days I will leave. It used to be like 40 days away and now, well, it's nearly here! I just want to encourage you for a minute. Please trust and rely on God and Him only and with all of your heart. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" says Proverbs 3:5. It's so easy to lean on other's-and yourself- because they are here with us in body! In Pslams 9:10, as well ast many other places, God gives us reasons to trust Him. He won't let us down. Trusting God is really hard isn't it but know that you aren't the only one that wants to and is trying to! A ton of the time we're like, "I'm all alone" and sometimes, it will just be you standing up for the truth--and it will happen. Please trust God's word and hold it as truth more than anything else. We can learn God's likes and dislikes (yes, even God has those!), what he loves and hates, what he wants of us, etc. I've written it before but maybe God doesn't just say, "Don't do this _____"-you fill in the blank-because he wants us to seek Him.
Just because I am going to Italy doesen't mean I can serve God more. Serve Him right here. Sometimes we have to do that before we can go oversees. Look for ways to serve because it's not going to be easy and it's not on our radar. Sometimes you won't feel like it-do it anyway. Love, or serving, isn't just feelings, it's actions, right? Pursue the Lord. He loves us more than we could ever possibly know! Maybe it's one of those things that we can't wrap our head around. God is love and let's love each other. Can I post something that my sis posted on her Facebook page? You love Jesus as much as the person that you like the least.
Follow God regardless of anything else!

Dancing with the angels

Recently my Grandmother died, a week go today. It's been tough and if you still want to pray for us, that would be great. She is in heaven right now though so we have a reason to celebrate. Below is a poem I made a few days after she died.

Even though we ache and grieve in our earthly bodies, there is a light of hope leading our next step.
Even as the shadows melt in around us, the goodness of God blows our minds.
Even though sometimes all we see is hurt, confusion, and anger love fills this place.
Even as we are sad, we have a joy knowing that our grandmother is in heaven dancing, now more than ever before.
As we wonder, a peace overflows in our heart. It is a peace that passes any understanding.
Even as we cannot see the light of day or the next step we are about to take, even though we question why, faith urges us on.
With Christ with us, there is victory.
Even as we are pressed on every side, we are not crushed, even as we are perplexed we are not driven in despair, we are persecuted but not abandoned, and we are struck down on every side but we are not destroyed.
Even as we walk in the valley of the shadow of called death, God is with us.
And we shall not fear. For He is with us.

Just a few thoughts...

Wouldn't that be amazing to be the wisest person on earth? Once our pastor said, "I pray for wisdom the most because I know that's what I lack the most." Solomon was the wisest person that's ever lived. But did he do everything right and dandy? No, he still made blew it, even though he knew what the right thing to do was. Sometimes we're like, "God, just tell me what's right to do!" but even if God did give us a ring on the telephone and say, "Do this, Anna", I might not do it. We have the right choice in front of us but we still have to choose what to do. Just because we know what right thing to do would be doesn't mean we do it, you know? So, pray for wisdom and help to do the right thing!

It's pretty exciting...I got a camera and it came today! My cousin, or aunt, ordered it and we picked it up at their house today. It was expected to come tomorrow yet came early. So exciting! Isn't it strange how we try to get the nice stuff, camera's, computers, clothes (ohhh!! All c's) but that doesn't fill us? You know what spot I'm talking about? We always think, "If only I had a cell phone, I'd be happy." Or whatever that blank is that we asume would complete us. But we always want more because only God can fill that spot. Nothing else ever can!!

Church isn't a soical event and other wise words

Yep, the title pretty much says it all! I don't even need to post! But in all seriously, sometimes all of us probably have "church problems". Maybe with friendships, the people, the message-what is it for you? Can I just tell you a quick few things? First, making friends at church shouldn't be our top goal. Yes, we need to to be with other believers but please remember that before anything, it's all about God. The church is created for God. So, it's first about GOD! Second, church isn't about fitting in, wearing the right clothes (it matters more what you wear on days besides Sunday), or singing the best (you aren't singing for the person next to you and it's about the heart!!). Once again, it's about God. It's all about Jesus and loving Him, then being with other Christians, sharing our struggles, and living our faith. It's about re-fueling, being encouraged, for the rest of the week.
You might struggle with church. But please make the most of it! It's between you and God and it really can be a great time when it's about God--not other's. Enjoy fellowship with other believes because we need that, as well. REMEMBER: Fellowship is really important!
Kind of like life...It's not about other's or ourself. Let's live it for God...all for Him.

Star Sprinked Night

On Thursday night and part of Friday (it started to rain), my family has been camping on top of the "big hill". The big hill is a place with a blowing breeze where you can view acres of beautiful Kansas land. We have rolling Gyp Hills dotted with green trees and wild prairie grass. Cows roam the land and in the distance, you can see the red blinking lights of wind towers. It's really quite pretty. Our family camps out there but we don't have a tent air mattresses. We just sleep under the stars on a gymnastics mat, one roll out bed, and blankets. I went to sleep on Thursday night without many stars in the sky. The moon was up, along with the milky clouds. I woke up about two hours later and it was stunning-breath-taking. Stars sprinkled the sky as if God Himself dumped a buckle of twinkling lights on the velvet curtain called sky. I even saw some shooting stars, something our family loves. I spent the rest of the night listening to my mp3 and eating. Oh, and waking my Mom up and telling her not to snore so loud. :-) It's nice to get out and enjoy what God created for our enjoyment!