Forgiveness

I've been struggling lately with guilt. Feeling guilty for doing this, feeling guilty for saying that, feeling guilty for thinking what, and it's all just a big guilt trip. In my daily devotion, it talked about the fact that God really does forget sin.

I'm sure many of you are like me, you know that God forgives, but when you truly repent you don't really believe that He does.

Why can't we just accept the fact that when we truly repent, He scoops us up and says, "Forget about it"? I mean He doesn't hold grudges, right? So, why is it so hard for us just to accept that fact?

In Hebrews 10, It talks about some comforting things for the daughters who struggle with this.

Hebrews 10:22 "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."

This verse is proof that, as far as God is concerned, it doesn't matter what you've done in the past. When you approach Him with an honest heart, He washes you clean of all the ugly sin. After that, let it go because God certainly has. Isn't that comforting?

1 Peter 2:24 says, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes were healed."

Because of His sacrifice, we are to live for righteousness, or live for Him. We have been healed from the pain of sin by Jesus Christ.

Such a warm, encouraging thought...Just think God could punish you, He could banish you, or He could ignore you.But guess what He chooses to do? He welcomes you back into His arms, time and time again, rejoicing everytime you return.

One of the things we need to think about more is really how Great our God is. Time and time again, He welcomes us back.

Think of a situation where you had to forgive a friend for doing something they shouldn't have. Maybe it was cheating with your boyfriend, maybe it was ditching you, but whatever it was, I'm sure it wasn't that easy to completely forgive.

But God forgives instantly when we come with an open heart asking for forgiveness. He lets it go.

Isn't that amazing? So next time you're taking yourself around that guilt trip, think about who God is. He is a forgiving God and He loves you.

(A picture I edited last year)

Time to Brag a Bit.

On Saturday, I was feeling well enough to go to Breezewood to support my little brother.

Well,  He's not really my brother but he's such a good family friend! His name is Brandon and hes in the same grade as my brother and sister. So hes 13.

My mom is bestfriends with his mom and he's an only child. So we are always at their house, or they are always here.

This weekend was the first time I got to see him race! And man was I like a nervous big sister!

This is Peytie(my sister) Brandon(my brother from another mother) and I, wating for the big race.


Some pictures when he was racing!

 

 

 

 

Brandon did so well! He came in 4th place out of 12! And he didnt wreck! Which was really nerve racking, because 3 other people did and the ambulance was even there. Im so proud of Brandon!

 

We have alot of good times together, including this weekend!

 

 

And here is a picture with us and my second mamma, Susie, which is Brandons mom. I love her sooooooo much!

 

 

See, I have another reason for this post. Brandon has been one of my 'mini projects'. He doesnt have Jesus in his heart. This past summer, I invited him to Bible school and he showed up 3 nights, which I was so pleased. Im working on him, I just need alot of prayer for oppurtunity. Hes seriously like a blood brother to me. I love him and his family so much.

Heres another picture of me and my sister with our second daddy( Brandons father). He took us for a ride, that was sort of scary but not as scary as this.....

I know I was smiling, but riding was much scarier than I was willing to show! lol. No. It was scary but fun!


So, Im asking for special prayer, because Brandon means so much to me. Hes my brother and bestfriend. And I wouldnt want more than anything to see him become my brother in Christ.

Sick of Being Tired & Tired of Being Sick!

Since last Thursday, I've come down with the flu pretty hard. I have a terrible headcold, sneezing, obnoxious coughing, a body that is aching, a migraine or two, and an upset stomach.

If you knew me, you'd probably say I have the weakest immune system out of anyone in the entire world.

Last year I ended up missing 17 days of school because of sickness. I had mono and also my spleen was so large they thought it was going to explode! But, hey, It got me out of gym for a long time, so I wasn't complaining.

Being in bed for about 3 days can really take a toll on you. I get depressed, exhausted, and unbelievably bored.

So, I was thinking I would look up some verses to help me get through this yucky sickness.

Can you believe how many times sickness is mentioned? I found soooo many:

Deuteronomy 7:15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.

Exodus 23:25 You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.

Psalms 107:20 He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction

Jeremiah 30:17 For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast.

Matthew 14:14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick

Of course, there are many more, but I just wanted to share these.

I've been in the 'stuck inside, in bed, sad' mood all day. So, I have been listening to music. But for some reason I keep letting the song 'You carried me by Building429' play over and over and over again.

Here are the lyrics:

I’ve been so busy, I missed the reasons. I missed Your love and I nearly missed it all. Still You’ve held me and You’ve healed me. You’ve given all and it brought me to Your cross.
And I stand only because You’ve given me grace to walk. Only because

You carried me, You carried me. You carried me through it all. And I believe, yes, I believe, You’ll carry me all the way home. 'Cause mercy covers all, mercy covers all.

I know the scripture, I’ve known the songs. I sang the words from my hollowed heart. But You’ve spoken softly, through the storm, I heard Your voice and I felt the calm
I stand only because You’ve given me faith to walk. Only because

You carried me, You carried me. You carried me through it all. And I believe, yes, I believe, You’ll carry me all the way home.

Lord, I know that You love me. I’ll never doubt it, I can’t live without it. Your mercy has found me, I am astounded. I can’t live without it, oh.

You carried me, You carried me. You carried me through it all.
You carried me, You carried me. And I believe, yeah, I believe, You’ll carry me all the way home. 'Cause mercy covers all, mercy covers all. Yeah, yeah, and I believe.

This song is my absolute favorite song. Just to stop and realize that, He is the one that carried me through ALL of it. Not only sickness, but all the heartbreak, disappointments, hurting, ....everything. Its seriously so breathtaking. Even though I'm so discouraged with this sickness, I know He is carrying me through it.And I will get over it only because of Him.




Lord,
I cant even imagine how people with a permanent sickness handle it. Lord, I  pray for those people. I pray for the people around here, the kids in school, that are just sick and need healed. Lord, I pray that their eyes would be opened that Youre the only true Healer, physically and mentally. I pray for everyone who is in school right now, that they are learning to their best ability and that they dont come down with the sickness that the devil is providing. Thank You Lord for being the Healer and Carrying us through anything and everything.
In Your Name,
Amen.

 

beau.ti.ful

Sometimes, people need a little motivation push or encouragement, especially us girls. Since school has started, its been really hard to stick out and be that one that is different than anyone else. I decided to start a new devotion series. Its called Redefining Beautiful. Its by Jenna Lucado, of course, the amazing Max Lucado's daughter!

Girls,
Alot of times in school we like to compare ourselves to other girls. Our weight, hair, clothes, beauty, makeup, different styles, shoes...the list goes on and on right? Sometimes we get in the mood where we literally beat ourselves up emotionally. We think we arent good enough, pretty enough, popular enough. Trust me, I know the feeling. Going into this further, I realized that we are all made beautifully. No matter what we think about ourselves, God is looking at us saying you are sooooo beautiful.

A note from Jenna Lucado:

"Some days I like him. Most days I hate him. But I do have to admit, he's honest. He'll always tell me if I have food in my teeth or a booger in my nose. He isn't afraid to let me know if a certain shirt is too tight or if a color doesn't complement my skin. I appreciate the honesty, but he is deceiving all the same. Deceiving because anytime he tells me, "Just get this cute shirt and feel better about yourself" or "Just lose five pounds and be forever happy," it doesn't work. Im never good enough for him. I try not to hang out with him too much, or else I can easily fall into his trap of discouragement--"Jenna, I see that cellulite back there. Your skin is looking pretty oily these days. Those teeth need some whitening!" I try to block out his lies that tell me Im not good enough, that Im not beautiful, but its hard. Im sure youve met him. He tends to pop up in all sorts of places: bathrooms, cars, department stores, gyms. And Im sure youve felt some of these same insecurities when standing in front of him. His name? Mirror."

So I really never thought about this until I read this. And I happen to feel the same way. So the question is....what really is beautiful?

Beautiful: 1. Having attractive qualities that give great delight or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc. 2. Excellent of its kind. 3. Particularly graceful, lovely, or pretty....

Alright. Even though thats the definition of beautiful, I think we always let popular people, tv, magazines, and mirror decide what beautiful is. Let me tell you what beautiful really is....

Beautiful: What God sees when God sees you.

So when you are having one of those days and you are so down, remember God made you beautiful. Dont go off of what guys say, what tv tells us, or what we read in magazines. God has made us unique and soooo beautiful and he does not want us any other way.

Im sure Ill have a lot more to add as I go further in this devotion, but I just wanted to throw this out there tonight.

Sometimes we all need reminded and encouraged. Remeber when God sees you he only sees beautiful. Thats what you are, beautiful.

Back to School

I can not even wrap my head around the fact that tomorrow morning I will be sitting in school. This year Im starting my 11th grade year. There is sooo much to look forward to!

This summer I renewed my faith, became a stronger Christian, and committed my life fully to the Lord once again. I had to learn alot this summer and even get hurt by my most loved ones. Im realizing I cant push people into my life if God doesnt want them there. So what better way to start the school year than choose a theme verse to live by this year?

Going Without Knowing!

My Theme Verse this year:

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

In this verse there are three principles. The very first one is: I CAN DO.

If you live life with the cants, youre not going to get anywhere. You will end up living a negative life with no motivation. Be like Thomas the Train, YOU CAN DO. (: If you tell yourself you can, you most likely will. Saying you can will provide you with hope and a destination.

The second principle: IF GOD'S IN IT, I CAN DO ALL THINGS

Just think about that for a second. ALL THINGS. EVERYTHING!!! Through Him nothing is impossible. In John 15:5 it says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." What does that last part say? Apart from ME you can do NOTHING. So without God, you can do nothing, but with God you can do ALL THINGS.

The third principle is: RELYING ON JESUS.

To me, this kind of reminds me of a pacemaker. When we are on our lowest amount of energy, depressed, or hurt, God comes over picks us up and says Im here, I always was. So it is our job to rely on Jesus. We need to trust his plans. Like I said before, I have learned this summer that I can not force people into my life that God doesnt want. God knows what's best. We need to let go of our plans and fully rely on Jesus' plans for our life. We need to be going without knowing. And maybe logic will drive you crazy, but Im pretty sure its suppose to be that way.

My final thoughts with this verse is the conclusion that God chooses what we go through but we have the choice of how we go through it. So this year as I go into Central  High as a new creation, Im longing to live out this verse. I CAN DO...ALL THINGS...WITH JESUS.

To close, there is a song by Francesca Battistelli "Im Letting Go" and it really expresses that really relying on Jesus is like falling and not completely knowing whats going on. Thats the life I wanna live, Going without knowing. Everything is according to Gods timing and plans for me.

"I’m letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I’m losing control
Of my destiny
It feels like I’m falling and that’s what it’s like to believe
So I’m letting go

This is a giant leap of faith
Trusting and trying to embrace

The fear of the unknown
Beyond my comfort zone

Giving in to your gravity
Knowing You are holding me
I’m not afraid "

**A picture from my yard. God is so goooooooood. Abeautiful rainbow full of promises.

Is Summer Really Ending?

The events of this summer:

Camp:
Right here is my lovely Cabin Girls from Cabin 3! Obviously this was the funny picture!

This year we learned about how to go about in our everyday lives but how to have faith that is unshaken. We learned how important is to have rock solid faith and to devote our lives fully to Christ.

Through the week I got very close with each girl individually. It was really hard to know that the seniors won't be returning next year, but it's amazing that each of the senior girls are an incredible role model and friend in my life.

First Senior, Erin.
Erin and I both have the same personalities which made it sooo much easier to talk to her. The last night at the camp fire, I sat with her, and something was laid deeply on my heart. She was the first to notice, take me aside, and pray for me. This means alot to me and taught me how I should be toward other girls! I love her so much. Our joke was, Heyyy. I mustache youuu a question, but Ill shave it for later!

Second Senior, Lindsay.
Lindsay is a great girl! She focused on getting to know the younger girls rather than sticking with her friends. This really inspired me because my goal is to always be a great leader and role model for younger girls. I enjoyed talking to her about college, school, and our likes and interests. By the end of the week, I knew that she would always have my back and if I ever needed an older leader to talk to, she'd be there.

Last Senior, Hannah.

Hannah has a funny, smart, and fun personality. She really cares about your troubles and always makes sure she prays for you. She is a great leader and has an awesome love for the Lord. I really look up to her because of how she carries herself. She isnt always worried about herself, thats the least of her worries. She always makes a point to make sure youre okay.

Something amazing happened that week too! I was sitting at TWG(Time with God) which is about 45 minutes to an hour where we get to go off into the woods of camp, or wherever, to just have silence and prayer and reading with God. Jenna walked up to me and for some reason I finished early that day and I was just silently speaking with God. Jenna is a girl Ive known since 6th grade. We are in the same grade and go to the same youth group. She said "Mattie, I need to talk to you about something." I said "Sure, Anything!" She said, "I really need an accountability partner, and I really want it to be you." And I hugged her and said "Yes! Of course!" So to this day we are accountability partners. Summer has made it hard but we try to talk to eachother once a week. Once school starts and we get back into the swing of things, we are going to meet and  pray with eachother once a week.

Momentum:

I know I talked about Momentum in an earlier blog. So I'll keep this simple and with pictures! For those of you who didnt read my blog before, this year Momentum focused on seeing the unseen people, the homeless, the brokenhearted, the poor. This week really touched my life. The sessions were increidble, the worship was beyond belief, and the fellowship was more than I could ask for.



This is Geno. He is youth pastor from the other church that tagged along with us! On the last day, I, alone, had the chance to sit and have lunch with him! I love him! He talked with me about school and such. Hes just a big teddy bear and has a huge heart for the Lord!

My roomie, Rebekah Stern. She's one of my bestfriends and this is our second year rooming together. We plan on doing it next year too. In this picture I was not happy! She was keeping me up and all I wanted to do was sleep! hahah. I couldnt have asked for a better roomie though. I was her alarm clock and she kept the schedule on track. I love her!

It was really awesome getting to know the younger guys. I dont really get to talk to them on a daily basis! I sat with John(the one with the frog hat on) for about 1 hour talking about chick flicks, animals, and the week! hahaha.

The Beach:

This year for my sweet 16, I got to take 3 girls to the beach! Here are some pictures!

I really can not believe summer is ending! My summer was absoulutley awesome! I loved every minute of it! I can't wait to see what this year entails! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

A Long But Joyful Week!

I apologize for not writing as much as I would like to! Summer has been going way too fast and week after week my days are full!

The main focus of this week has been Bible School!

This week alot of other things went on in the area. There were three other Bible Schools in town, mini cheerleading camp, and sports camps. But every night we maintained the attendance of 80 or higher.

For what our church has been through in the past 6 months, that is amazing!

A few months ago, our pastor walked out of our church. Half of our church left. Most people were saying, Bible School will not be good this year.

For some reason, that thought never crossed my mind. I kept thinking, God, Show them they're wrong. Show them how awesome You are. And that's exactly what He did!

I got the awesome oppurtunity to take the 1st and 2nd graders and let me tell ya, I fell in love with each and everyone of them, fast.

 And here they are! In order from left to right! Camden(the class clown) Alivia(the only girl and the drama queen) Kenny(the smart one and more mature than the others) Kasey(brother of Kenny and sooo into sports) Alex(the hyper, yet funny one) & Mason (the one who hated to have his picture taken)

My favorite thing about this week was getting to know each one personally. I loved getting the chance to talk to them about their likes and interests.

It was also great to partner with the 3rd and 4th graders. This is only 3 of the 7 or 8 that they had every night!

So. When I asked God to show everyone how awesome He is, He really did. On Tuesday night we had 14 kids come to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts! How incredible is that!?

And I am so happy to say that 3 of those 14 kids that accepted Christ, were in my class. Now this may humor you a little bit, We asked them if they ever committed their life to Jesus before, their responses are as followed:

Alex: Uhh, I think so but I forget.
Mason: No.
Kasey: Yeah, I did it before but I dont think the Pastor ever did anything about it? (this made me laugh)

So that night, those three boys made the greatest decision of their lives.

Another awesome thing was the offering! This year, Dave Taylor, from The Door helped us out alot. Dave is a pastor, missionary, and a father like figure to many people. Dave has The Door. The Door is a home for mainly teenagers that dont have a great home life. They feed them, tutor them, and most importantly help them grow in a relationship with Jesus. And this week we were able to hand him a check for $1,500. It's amazing!! He also informed us that after 10 years of renting the building that they have for The Door, the owners are giving them the building free of charge!

GOD IS INCREDIBLE!

Of course I have about 300 pictures of Bible School because I love photography so much, but Ill share what I can:

The wonderful artwork for our background:

Playing Games(Angry Birds, Laser tag, Dart tag, The Soak Bucket):



And Prizes, Music, Crafts, and Snacks have to be in here too:

Finally a few photos  from class time:

This week could not have gone any better! I love each and everyone of the kids we had, despite how hyper they were!

I kid you not, on Thursday night we had to take them outside 3 times to try to get them to run out some energy! .....that didnt work.

To say the least, this week was exhausting and long, but joyful and incredible!

Sorry for overloading this post with pictures! I even let one of the girls take a picture of me!

Lord,

Thank you so much for providing the kids for us this week. I pray that as these kids go on in their normal lives that they would look back on Bible School and all that they've learned. I pray for the 14 children that have committed their lives to you! I pray that they only continue to grow and walk daily with you! I pray specifically for my 3 baby Christians that were in my class, Lord. That Alex, Mason, and Kasey would remember forever the life changing decision that they made. Thank you Lord again, for giving us a wonderful week! I love you and praise you!

Amen