My Father...forgives me

"..as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
                                                                                                              ~Psalm 103:12
I wanted to repost this verse in the NLT version as well; "He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west."

We make the mistakes, but Jesus is the one who paid the price for our sins. 
All the time we make mistakes and fall short of God; yet, he still forgives us. Despite all our faults and failures he can forgive us. If we ask for forgiveness, and truly mean it with all our hearts, he is ready to forgive.

My Father...cares for me

"Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
                                                                                               ~Matthew 6:26
My Father cares for me.
God is always watching out for us. He cares about us more than we even know. At times, when we are faced with a difficult decision, it can feel like God doesn't care. We wonder if God cares so much then why aren't we just immediately rescued from our problems?

I've realized that God's timing is always perfect. Even though I stress and worry a ton when I get nervous; ultimately, God has a plan. He has plans for our lives, even when we don't know them ourselves.

God is constantly showing he cares through everything he provides us with. Oftentimes we can take for granted the signs that show us he cares. I saw something on line recently that really made me think about everything I take for granted and don't thank him for. It said "What if today you only woke up with the things you thanked God for yesterday?"
He believes in us. He provides for us. He loves us. We are like a precious jewel in his eyes, valuable in every way. Think about that for a second. The creator of the UNIVERSE finds you valuable!

From today's verse I get several things. One, God is our heavenly father and he never stops caring for our needs (even when we think he doesn't care). Two, alot of the time we take for granted his blessings. Every one of those blessings is a sign of how he cares for us. And three, we are valuable to him. No matter what we do we are still valuable and he still cares.

So next time i'm stressed here's what i'm going to try and do; thank God for the blessings I have in my life. I may not know why whatever is happening is happening, but I know God cares for me and he has laid out a plan for me because I am valuable to him.

My Father...loves me

My Father Loves Me. <3
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16

Ever claimed that you loved someone so much you'd die for them? Well Jesus, actually did die for us. His love for us exceeds anything we can ever understand. To think that he didn't do anything wrong, yet, he took the beating for you and me.
The songs that speak this truth of Gods never ending, unconditional love are numerous. Two of my favorites are "True Love" by Phil Wickham and "How He Loves Us" by David Crowder band. If you haven't heard those songs you should go and listen to them .....go on now! ;-)
Let me share with you the lyrics to the chorus of "True Love." They say this:

The earth was shaking in the dark

All creation felt the Fathers broken heart

tears were filling heaven's eyes

The day that true love died, the day that true love died

When blood and water hit the ground

Walls we couldn’t move came crashing down

We were free and made alive

The day that true love died, The day that true love died 

If that doesn't put things in perspective and give you a visual image of  the Lord's true love for us, I don't  know what will. Sometimes, it's hard for me to understand why Christ would do this for me, and why he had to. However, I know that he had to do it to save me. He did it so that I wouldn't be condemned and I wouldn't have to. He. Loves. Me.

The Lord is my Father and he loves me. The Lord is YOUR Father and he loves you.
Oh, how he loves us!

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
                                                                                                                               ~Romans 5:8
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to seperate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 8:38-39

Ever had a dream?

Have you ever had a dream? Now I don't mean those visions you get when you're sleeping, but a goal that you wanted to achieve. I know I did but after a while of not achieving that dream I stopped pursuing it. It's kinda sad to think that I just gave up. What's even sadder is that millions of people have done the same thing, given up on their dream. In Todd Wilson's book "Dream Big But Beware of Dream Killers" he says this, "...time has plenty of trophies on its shelf in the form of millions of men and woman in whom God placed a dream deep in their hearts but for one reason or another failed to step out in faith and achieve those dreams."

Now to me that's just terrible. We should all have dreams and pursue them with all our hearts! As the wise philosopher Cinderella once said, "A dream is a wish you heart makes." So why shouldn't we follow our hearts!? God has placed a dream there for a reason. In the same book Wilson writes,

 "The Bible is filled with dreamers who, against all odds and common sense, believed God and did something worth recording. In fact, their stories were recorded for us and serve as a reminder, not of great men, but of normal men and women who were used by a great God to do great things."

The part where he says "against all odds" is what really sticks out to me. Right now i'm happy that i'm able to do what I love. I guess my worries some from the fact that this chapter of my ife is closing and I wonder, How am I going to fulfill my dream in the new chapter of my life? I don't know the answer to that question yet but I'm going to have faith that whatever happens it happens for a reason, to fulfill God's ultimate plan for my life.

I guess what i'm trying to say is DON'T GIVE UP! Seek God and he will direct your path. Have faith and he will guide you. And in everything you do give the glory to God!

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed." ~Proverbs 16:3 NIV

My Father...

Ahh the awesome things you ca find on Pinterest! Recently I found this photo on Pinterest and it both inspired me and made me think. 

I'm not sure what the original source of this  photo is but what I do know is that it's pretty awesome. God is our Heavenly Father and he is everything it says. He is Gracious, he is Compassionate, he is Understanding, he does love me.

It's amazing how one little picture can provide so much hope and inspiration.

Quote Happy

A while back I had been hearing about this "Pinterest" thing alot via my friends and facebook. Naturally, I wondered what it was and I set out on my own little adventure to find out what it was. What I found excited me! Pinterest is (well at least for me) pretty much a place to "pin" all the interesting things you like on the internet into categorized lists or "boards."

Ever since I created an account for Pinterest i've been OBSESSED! I seriously waste so much time on this site. The cool thing about it is that you can also follow other "pinners" and see what they pin. Recently, i've pinned some pretty cool quotes that i've gotten online and from fellow pinners so I thought i'd share! :)

"If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." ~ C.S. Lewis - May I just say C.S. Lewis is so incredibly cool. He always has the best quotes!

"A woman's heart must be so hidden in God that a man has to seek him to find her." ~ Maya Angelou -I've heard this quote before and i'll hear it a million times but it never loses its truth. <3

"God cannnot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." ~C.S Lewis - What did I say!? This guy was one smart man!

"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car." ~ Unknown - Amen to that! It's so much more than putting on a front one day a week. It's a personal relationship with the Lord that you strive to grow in everyday and tell others about him!

"The phrase "do not be afraid" is written in the Bible 365 times. That's a daily reminder from God to live every day being fearless." ~ Unknown - Mind. Blowing. Awesomness.

And here are some other fun ones:

"Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life." - Haha I love me some new shoes! x)

"More girls need to be searching for guys who have goals and ambitions, because 10 years from now "Swag" isn't going to pay your bills." - Lol! It's so true!

"If there ever comes a day we can't be together, keep me in your heart, i'll stay there forever." - Winnie the Pooh - D'awww So sweet!

Longing for a Fairy Tale Ending

Boyfriends. Girlfriends. Relationships.
It seems like these things are pushed all around us. I mean, ever since I can remember my dream was to be like a princess. You know, a Disney Princess like Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, etc. A princess who gets to dress up in beautiful gowns, live in a gorgeous castle, and most importantly meet a handome prince.

Now i'm not saying it's wrong to want your own prince because even God created Adam and Eve to be together. Man and woman and relationships, that's just the way it works. The problem starts when your quest to find Prince Charming overtakes your life.

It's sad to go on Facebook and see young girls (i'm talking 12 and up) in and out of facebook relationships. Those young girls who have already begun to allow their quest to take over. Young-boy crazy-impressionable girls that allow their relationship status to define who they are. I've seen it happen where these young girls think that a certain boy is "The One" one day, then the next she has her eye on another guy. Soon, she is entangled in a web of what she thinks is love. It's sad to see this happen to these young ladies because more likely than not, the entire situation will end with her getting hurt.

When I was younger I was in a club where we read "The Princess and the Kiss" by Jennie Bishop. It's a great story about a princess who was gifted, by her parents at birth, a very special gift from God. This gift was, her first kiss. When the princess was finally grown, the king and Queen presented her with the gift (her kiss). The book then goes on to detail the pursuers that came to try and win over the princess and her gift.

The story is so wonderfully written and packs a meaningful story in it's colorful pages. All Princesses have a gift, and that gift is to be given to your husband. If us ladies are running around trying to find our Prince Charming we are giving away a little piece of our hearts, or a little piece of our gifts.

After reading this book, I decided to make a promise to myself. I promised to keep myself sexually pure until marriage and to cherish my kisses. A great reminder of my promise is my purity ring. It's almost like my signature on my promise contract. By wearing the ring, it signifies that I will not break my contract (or promise). And as for cherishing my kisses, well that just means that I'm not going to kiss just anyone. I'm holding out for a special someone to give my first kiss to.

I haven't found my Prince Charming yet but i'm young and I have plenty of time to worry about that later. Right now, It's a perfect time to grow in my relationship with someone else. And that someone is the Almighty God.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Time is ticking away and i'm not getting any work done. 15 minutes pass, no 30 minutes, no an hour! My day is gone like that and i've hardly done anything productive. Ever had a day like that? I think we all have and I can't say I like the feeling. It drives me crazy to know that I have so much to do, but I just have no energy to do it!

Thank goodness God doesn't think that way! He never thinks, "Oh i'm too tired to keep the world running. I'm just going to take my hand of the universe and let it fend for itself" If God did that, we'd be in some deep trouble. But God would never do that because of how much he absolutely loves us. It's really amazing if you think about it, how much he loves us.

Even though I may not always be productive, I thank the Lord for each brand new day. I know that another day is a blessing from God and I have to make the choice of what i'm going to do with it. :)

Leap day?

What does one call February 29th? The years that have February 29th are called Leap Years, but what is the actual day? Leap day? Sounds odd, Happy Leap day! ;P

On "Leap Day" I actually learned why we have an extra day every 4 years. It turns out that it takes the earth about 365 days and 6 hours to rotate once around the sun. Thus, every four years those leftover 6 hours from each day make up a full 24 hour day! If we didn't add an extra day, then eventually seasons wouldn't match up with our calendar dates.

This is the day,

This is the day,

That the Lord has made,

That the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice,

Let us rejoice,

And be glad in it.

And be glad in it. ;D