shine on! :)

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our dark that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don't feel insecure around you.We are all meant to shine as children do. Its not just in some of us; its in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsiously give other people to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

the bigger picture

Lets take a moment to set our priorities straight. Have you lost sight of our purpose here on earth? Is our purpose really to blame everything going wrong on others or God? Or to pick out fights with people over things that simply won’t matter tomorrow? How can this be from God when its doing more damage than good? It’s hard to ignore, but what good is dwelling on it going to do? Just let it go, move on. Honestly, compare it to the bigger picture, and it will seem SO much less terrible, and pointless to be upset about. You make it hard for others to see God working for the good when you’re constantly pointing out everything people are doing wrong. God made everyone different for a reason! Girls, boys, quiet leaders, loud leaders, people who like skating, people who like music, people who like sports, crazy people, or people who’d rather listen than be the star of the show, God STILL loves each of us. More than our human brains can even fathom. A true, perfect, genuine and pure love. A love that NEVER ever fails, will never lead us down a path to destruction, but guide us to righteousness. A love that brings peace and hope, a love that never ends. Think about this love, and what sacrifices God made JUST because he loves us, when your annoyed with someone because they do things a different way than you. Think about how the same God that made you who you are, made them JUST the way they are. And remember, we are all equal. So instead of trying to make everyone just like you, trying to make everyone have the exact same point of view, or listen to the same music, read the same book, believe in the same things, or dress the same way, focus on what God made you to be YOU, not what makes OTHERS you. we are all different, but how great is that! together, we make the body. we are ONE as we join together. like it says in 1 chor. 12:12 "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." let us keep this in mind, day to day. when we see others that aren't just like us. let us remember how wonderful it is that not a single one of us is exactly alike...so from that, we are able to form one full, complete body, which enables us to further the glorious kingdom of God.

the greatest of all is love,

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.

who is God?

When we make the statement that God is good, what do we mean by good?

Our natural tendency is to believe that if God is good and He loves mankind, then He will make life pleasant for us.

Consequently, when things go well for us, we're inclined to think that God is good, and when they don't, we question His goodness or even His existence.

Our current happiness is not a standard by which to judge God's goodness.

We are not the center of the universe, not the reference point against which goodness can be judged. It sounds silly even to say it, but we act and think as though God's goodness depends on how well we like what's going on.

We are not in a position to judge the goodness of God's actions. We see too small a part of the overall picture — a picture that covers all of time and all of mankind.

The only way for us to know whether God is good is to get to know Him, to experience His character first hand.

When God reveals Himself to us, then we know that He is good.

That is our experience of Him. Goodness beyond imagining, goodness that is pure and true and complete.

When we know that God is good, then we begin to see Him bringing good out of sufferings and tragedies.

This is the form God's goodness takes in our world: He works to bring every person to a knowledge of Himself and to an active relationship with Himself.

This is goodness: to know God, to experience His love and guidance in our lives.

Is God good? There is no other good but God. He is the source of everything that is good! :)

society

This blog is going to ramble, jump from subject to subject, and probably make no sense to anyone reading. I just feel intellectual right now, and I would like to pump some of my feelings and thoughts into words. I was thinking about babies the other day, and seriously how pure they are. My cousin is nearing 10 months old, and was recently faced with her first corruption...pierced ears. It’s insane how our society influences anybody and everybody, regardless of their brain activity or age. My cousin cannot talk, however she’s already been corrupted and spoiled with clothes and toys, and now her appearance and body has been marked when she isn’t even able to make the decision for herself. I’m not calling my aunt a bad parent, my cousin looks rather cute with earrings, I just think it’s insane how we intrude others. I was at the mall the other day when i saw a group of girls that looked to be 12, it was so sad to see them wearing skirts and makeup with their cell phones out and no parental supervision. When I was 12, girls wore swishy pants and sweatshirts, and we dreamed of even playing with our parents cell phones, if our parents even had cell phones. Our society is changing at such a rapid pace of fast living and high demand, that its influencing 6th graders into longing to grow up when they should be savoring their childhood. It’s insane to think about those kids reminiscing about their past when they’re older. I’ll look back and remember camping in backyards and thinking boys were so gross. The sixth graders now will look back and remember losing their virginity after a seventh grade dance. Society by american standards is an ever changing whirlwind of acceptance and high standards of living that keeps blowing at a faster speed. It’s really twisted to think of the future and how crazy our youth will be then. Parents excuses for giving their children cell phones at a young age is "it’s incase of an emergency." what emergencies do 6th graders in the olympia area encounter? It’s an excuse and it’s an easy way of letting our children know that it’s okay to develop brain cancer because their use of a cell phone is justified by calling a friend to tell her that new boy in the back of the class is hot, and was looking at you during silent sustained reading. We’re using all this new technology whose long term effects are unknown; we’re drinking sodas that we know will cause heart problems by the age 50, we’re using medicine as drugs to get a high, we’re smoking cigarettes that we’ve watched our grandparents die of it’s effects, we’re more worried about our appearance than our health and we’re already talking about curing death. What about curing aids or diabetes, how about curing cancer which is the number 1 killer in the world, or what about curing our corrupt youth that are so desperate for acceptance that they’re out joining gangs because they know they’re with people just like them. Lets show them a better life, lets stop worrying about our own lives that are better than half the worlds and start thinking about how you can help another’s. Put your feet in a poor african americans shoes living in the slums of new york city. Your teachers show up day after day worried of dying or losing their jobs because your school has no motivation, your school books are torn and littered, you know exactly where you’re headed after school, college is not even a thought, your idea of luxury is having enough money to feed yourself and you know the only way to achieve that is by breaking the law, and you know the only other people in the same boat as you are either dead or well on their way, so you join up with them. Now think of us, privileged americans. We go to school day after day with no real worries, our teachers show up daily without a problem, our school books have the occasional flaw, our schools are in top condition, and college isn’t even a question for most of us, even if its just community college, our idea of a luxury is a brand new car. America is so diverse from coast to coast, and we all don’t take the time to think of under privileged kids when we’re out buying a brand new cell phone or car shopping. Overall, we all need to take a break from our expensive lifestyles and think about people from all over the world who would kill to live in our shoes for just a day.

the mind

Sometimes I get so darn tired of thinking all the time; wishing there was an on/off switch in my brain to give myself a break for two seconds. Thinking is good I guess, but I feel that life is so much easier without those millions of thoughts constantly muddling everything up. When I think less, I experience more, I live more. Or at least that has been my experience. Some people don’t have this problem, the thoughts thing, and I am envious of and appalled by that all at the same time. Not to say that there are people in the world who don’t think, we are humans and by nature we all think to some extent. But there are some people who don’t give much heed to the look they received from their local 7-11 clerk and whether that means I have something in my teeth or perhaps they just think I am a sad excuse for a human being because I’m purchasing ding-dongs** for the third time this week and wondering whether or not I should purposefully stop buying ding-dongs from this guy to prove that I am very interesting and have much better things to do than buy ding-dongs all day long…or maybe I’ll just go to the 7-11 down the street where the clerk has no predisposed opinions about my ding-dong buying habits. This kind of thought process accounts for a good 99% of my day and it is exhausting. I need a lobotomy.


**i dont really eat ding-dongs lol.