People Change, God Doesnt.

"He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers." ~Romans 2:6,7

Am I the only one who is extremely bothered by what the teens in our culture are involved with? Some of the things that people are doing in thier daily life are just appauling to me. I feel like an old person when I say that, but some of my best friends (or who i thought were my best friends) who I never ever thought would do some of these things are doing them. My heart's broken for all of these lost people and our call is to help them come back to thier creator! It's hard not to judge people like this sometimes but if we didn't know the truth, where would we be? Sometimes it will cost us our reputation, social life, or even friends in order to make the right decision. God is the judge of everyone. Serving Him and keeping our hearts in the right place guarantee a happy walk with God, and a spot in heaven. God wants all of His children to know Him and we're lucky enough to be His hands and feet and reach this generation that is becoming so lost... Remember how blessed you are to know the truth, and be free of the patterns of this world!

Patience & Prayer

32 Better to be patient than powerful;
better to have self-control than to conquer a city. ~Proverbs 16:32

Lately, God has really been showing me a lot about being patient and waiting for His timing. There's a lot of times in life that we're going to have to wait and be patient when we don't want to. As teens and young adults we want immediate results but in most cases that won't happen. Recently I got my whole life stolen at Cedar Point (as most of you know) well not my life, but my phone, sunglasses, digital camera, and coach wallet filled with my identity (license, soc security, insurance, cash..) I was seriously shocked that the last ride of the night someone jacked my stuff! Speed sprinting from the Maverick to the front of the park security is not fun, let me tell you. I became so impatient with the security officer and was having the hardest time keeping the mind of Christ. I felt like I was going to blow up on him at any minute. Not to mention i wanted to tackle every pedestrian carrying a blue draw-string bag on thier back. That night I got over it. Yes, being phoneless sucked and whats the point of having a purse with nothing in it? But I got over it and gave it to God. I know He cares for me and wants me to be happy, so why did a Lord-loving girl like me get stolen from?

I believe this was a lesson of patience for me. I waited on the Lord and trusted Him. I spoke positively over the situation and kept reminding myself that material things can be replaced and no one can steal my identity or stalk me because God is always protecting me, and everything evil bows to Him. How awesome is it to have authority over our lives?! Almost 3 weeks later I recieved a package in the mail from CP. Enclosed was every belonging that I had lost except my phone and cash in PERFECT condition. God is sooo amazingly good and His power and love never ceases to amaze me! Prayer and patience can definitely change any situation, no matter how long the period of waiting will be, just trust your Father and worship Him. He's already pulled through for you!

It kinda reminds me of the song While I'm Waiting" by John Waller.
While i'm waiting, I will serve you while i'm waiting...
I will worship while i'm waiting...
I will not fade I'll be running the race...even while I wait...

Impact Summer Camp!

It was a blessing to attend Impact Summer Camp this year in Hillsdale, MI. It was my second time at camp and I didn't expect to compare it to last year, each camp was unique and both impacted me in different ways. This year God reached my heart on a different level, I cant really explain how as i'm still trying to unravel what God impressed on me while I was there. Honestly, last year I felt the focus of camp was more on myself while I was there, (myself recieving the Holy Spirit, myself getting healed, myself being led to altar calls, etc.) It was definitely a great time for me to recieve all that God had for me as one of His children. But this year I went to camp as a much more mature christian. I loved the theme of camp which was re-charging your heart and Josh Joines gave great revelation into what it truly means to love and renew your heart. I enjoyed the first night service but by the second day I felt a little strange, like why didn't I feel led to the altar every time like pretty much everybody else did? Why did it seem like everyone was being amazingly changed and I wasnt?

I continued to check my heart about this. I figured I better get things straightened out because camp only comes once a year and I wanted to be overflowing with what God had for me by the end! Soon enough I figured out just what the problem was. I was limiting God! He had me there for an important purpose just like everyone else. I realized that all week, I had really helped some important people in my life along in thier walk with God! God used me to encourage and help so many people while I was at camp. I also saw the fruit of my labor, the past year was such a year of training for me and I had been merciful and compassionate in some hard situations but at camp God freed the souls of some people that I had been praying soooo hard for all year! I couldn't stop praising Him for everything He has done, and will continue to do!

Josh Joines was excellent while speaking on true love and compassionate hearts towards others. He said "compassion is not a feeling it is an attitude inside of us (from Jesus)" We already have the gift of compassion inside of us, we must practice that constantly even when we don't feel compassionate because feelings don't matter. I think what hit me the hardest at camp was that we need to live out what we believe every day because He shed every drop of blood for us! Think about it for real! Jesus knew he was going to be crucified and that it would be intense, terrible pain and suffering to go through so that we would be right with the Father. He got nails drilled through him so that we can LIVE! He died so that we wouldn't have to go to freaking hell! I don't deserve that...nobody does. But He had so much compassion for us that He didn't care what it took to save our lives so that we could have freedom and joy and peace. Psalm 147:3 says that God heals the brokenhearted. He heals our hearts and re-charges them so that we can continue to love Him and love others. Camp was such an encouraging experience, I know I will definitely take what I learned and have it in my heart to express outwardly every day of my life, hope you do too! :)