None of Self, All of Thee

What gets in the way of being Christ? My clothing choices, the books I read, looking in the mirror, being with people who do not help me draw closer to the Creator. Almost everything in this world distracts from its Creator. It is as satan wanted it to be in many ways. But talking about it and praying about it in the open makes him cower in fear.
    One of the first things I think of when I wake up is what I will wear, and how I am going to “deal with” someone or a certain situation. I do not think about how I can help further the kingdom. I do not wake up thanking God for the day. I think about what is wrong. Sometimes I wish I could tattoo myself permanently with personal reminders!
    When I was baptized I let the Spirit of God dwell in my body and in my spirit. I have the Spirit of God within me. What am I doing to glorify Him? I  want to work as a spirit, not a body.
When I work as a body I think about my image when I work, what does my neck look like? How frizzy is my hair? How uneven are my eyes right now? Are there pimples on my face? When we work as a spirit to glorify the Breather of Stars we forget it all.
    All is left behind. “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” -Matthew 9:37-39
When serving out of LOVE all will be lost. When I read whoever finds his life will lose it- I think that if we find our worldly life when serving to be greater than dying to self while serving we are forgetting what we were made to do and what Christ made us for, expects of us. When I think of someone who exhibits this none of self and all of Thee attitude I think of Kayla Rogers. She is a light to many, including myself. She sees and reflects on the wonder and mystery of God often.
    When I think of Kayla Rogers I think more of her kind heart, willing soul, and love for the Life Breather. She has the attitude of “none of self, all of Thee”, she is beautiful because of her heart, rather than what she wears, or how her hair looks. This counts for any given day!  I want to be like her in this way. She finds beauty in the most simple things, like a flower petal. She can see the LORD in a flower petal.
    How cool is that?
I want to be like her in this, she is like Jesus. I can see Him shining through her. She glorifies Him in all she does. When she spills her coffee. Maybe she embarrasses herself a bit she doesn’t let that ruin her day! She gets up and praises God for what He has done for her. This reminds me of when I was little. After we prayed my family would lie on the ground and praise God with what we had. We would lift our hands in the air and wiggle our fingers. We would say, “Praaaaiiiisssseee Goooood!” Then we would lift our feet in the air and wiggle our toes and say the same thing. We did that often. When I look back on that I think fondly because I see what my parents were trying to show us. Even when we feel like we have nothing to praise God with, when we don’t know how to glorify Him in words, we praise Him with what we have. We give Him all.  The Bethel song, Have It All, comes to mind while recalling this memory.
    Why do we humans feel the need to dress to impress? I have stereotyped people due to what they wear and how they groom themselves. (Heidi Wornock is so good at not doing this). Why do we find confidence in what we wear? I want to find my confidence in Christ! When I look in the mirror, I want to think, “Yep, that’s me, I am created in God’s image. I am His masterpiece, His poem.” And move on.

THINGS TO DO:
Cover mirrors
Hide the makeup
Keep mobile data off
Listen to your mother when she tells you not to watch videos.
Take care of yourself, because you house the Spirit of God
This means you need to work out.
Drink plenty of water.
Eat healthy food.
Don’t replace desserts with other foods.

These are things I want to do because these are some of the things keeping me from God. They’re distractions. Fasting is difficult, and I NEED to do it.

Where My Feet May Fail

i have been super sad the last couple of months. i have been so questioning of myself, my faith, and who i am in general. i feel as though i have lost myself. There are some days or times where i feel as though i will never have to doubt myself or my faith in The Creator ever again.

Other times i feel as though i will always be in a pit. As i type this i realize it is because i am not putting all hope, trust, mind, heart, and soul into my relationship with Him. i was able to go to a wonderful conference last weekend and there was a room in the hotel and station we were able to use. There in the coroner of a dimly lit room was a small model of the cross.

On this cross there were many names of all the people in a certain youth group who have signed it because they realize the importance and the significance of the cross that Jesus took His life for us on. There was a barrier made of little blocks wrapped in brown paper surrounding this cross. On these boxes we were able to write what was keeping us from seeing Jesus face to face and leave it at His cross.

Surrender ourselves. It has been so hard for me to do this because i tend to hold myself back from God. i don't give Him all i am. And it is such a sad thing. i sort-of avoided this activity until the end of our stay at the hotel. (that is a regret) i ask God over and over again to take all i am. i say i give Him my all. But i guess i tend to keep myself tied down to this horrible, sinful world.

This situation reminds me of this story;

Ananias and Sapphira5 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heartthat you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Now i may not be struck dead by God, but i think you understand the similarities between our relationship with God and how Ananias and Sapphira kept their possessions back and lied. they kind of represent our human hearts. 

Doubt is a normal human thing. That is why we have faith, free will, and grace given to us. What a beautiful thing this is! i will never stop working on giving God absolutely everything. Honestly i wish i could just rid myself of everything that i don't need and become a missionary right now. That would be so cool. It's just i have so much learning to do. 

God gives us so much time. He gives us resources and people. i need to be more thankful for what He has given me. 

God gives and takes away. and through it all i will turn around and thank Him. it may be hard to see the blessing He is giving us at the time that is helping to shape us, but someday the time will come where we will start to understand. God gave me a really amazing friend one time. this person decided they no longer desired to be my friend a month ago. i was devastated. and extremely angry. i still am. 

As i was praying the other night God showed me something; i had let my happiness depend on this person. i had not been trusting or relying on God. (That was a stupid thing to do) i am able to talk to someone about the sadness and brokenness that has come with this. and it has helped some. she said that keeping anger and festering on the anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. i have been sitting on this anger for too long and it is time for me to let go. the other person has moved on and i haven't. i will. i know i will. it's unfair to myself to let the other person live their life and not be able to move on. so i will. i'm working on it. 

at the conference i went to a class where a wise man taught us that it was okay to feel. it is okay to be angry. no person's sadness is less than someone else's. pain and sadness meets us where we are. the body of Christ comes together in moments of joy and moments of sadness. it is okay to be sad. we still need to look to the joy of the Lord. Even when it's hard sometimes i'll praise Him. He gave me this friend and He took them away. soon i will learn to be thankful for this experience. later i will learn how this blessed me. i want to learn. and i will. 

what i have typed has shown that i am a broken person looking for my perfect Creator. i will be healed. i will be renewed. i serve the God who forgives, who blesses, who takes away. Though while we are on this earth we will never truly understand Him, some day we will. and that day and every day between now and the time to come i will surrender and lift my hands and heart to Him again and again. 

HE REDEEMS

HE RESTORES

HE is POWERFUL

HE is MIGHTY

HE is EVERYTHING i am not. 

we will be made new. 

how beautiful is that?

xoxo- the child of the ONE TRUE KING

I honestly don't know how to blog. or be a good blogger. or what to write about.

So if you actually read this, thank you so much. 

I've been having a really hard time recently, especially with friends. I just lost my best friend not long ago. It has been so hard trying to let go of him. 

As I type this I realize I still haven't let go of him. I haven't given this to God how I wanted to. I haven't been giving much of myself to God recently. And honestly I feel like a horrible person. 

I know people make mistakes. But typing this out to publish doesn't seem to validate anything. It doesn't. I don't need to have an excuse. It is all my fault that I have not given myself to God, my Creator, as He deserves. 

He deserves so much and I can't ever return what He has given me. WOW, guys, He gave up His Son for little me. I can NEVER return what He has done. 

But that's what grace is. and I am so thankful for that. He is so good. So so good. 

Have a Merry Christmas and some super happy Holidays! 

Thoughts and Questions

God is good. life is good when i'm with God.

i was thinking (of course) about eternal life the other day.

how do we get to heaven? am i obsessed with the idea of living eternally and not focusing on what i have to do here, now?

we need to live here in the now. we need to focus on what we can do to please God now. this idea is such a hard thing for me to focus on.

i am given the promise of living forever. am i fulfilling my part of this amazing promise?

i am sure i need to focus on what i am going to do here now and not worry about the future. the future is all part of God's wonderful plan that i will never be able to understand.

it is my goal to start living in the now, and working more on pleasing God. for He is awesome!



PLEASE if you want to tell me about your thoughts or talk about God (I love doing that) please feel free to dm me on instagram @emmagracest

Loving Ourselves and Loving God

This week has been filled with so many blessings! I have felt the LORD so strongly this week.

I am beyond blessed with all I've ever needed and more than what is needed. I am not in need. What a blessing that is!
I don't think I can ever fully realize how blessed I really am. I have a roof over my head. I have more food than I want and more clothes than I need. I have a family who loves me and wants me to grow in God. I have friends who make me oh so very happy!

A few weeks ago I was thinking about doing something. I was thinking about posting a selfie.

Guys, I hate posting selfies. I don't like people looking at me, and I don't want others thinking I am obsessed with my self image. (not bashing anyone who posts selfies! it just isn't my thing.)

the reason i was thinking of posting a selfie was because i wanted people to see that i am flawed and that i can accept that. as i was looking in the mirror the next day and i was thinking of my self image. again.

i guess we are all a little obsessed with our self image. maybe in how we look, how others think about us. but it always comes back to what we are thinking about ourselves. i wish so badly that i could be completely satisfied with my image. the truth is i'm not. i'm sure someday i will be.

i find myself thinking again and again about how i can fix myself. as you know. your beauty isn't what is on the outside, because it will not effect the kingdom of God (unless self obsession takes you over.)

the bottom line is we must love ourselves. God takes time to love us. why can't we love ourselves too?

i can't remember at the moment where the verse is found. and i feel terrible for not looking it up at the moment. but i need to hurry and finish this post! ahhh!

the verse is about loving our neighbor as ourselves. and how we love others shows our love for God. we must first learn to love ourselves so we can love others and focus more deeply upon our love and thankfulness for what God does for us daily.

we are going to be in these "shells" that contain our soul for the rest of this life. we might as well accept it and move on to caring more about our soul and our eternal life. we are given a promise of heaven. we must do our end of this promise and love. love all those around us. love God before all else. and most definitely work on loving ourselves.

i want to show love and God living in me more than i want anything. actually this is what i need. i have no need for material things. only a need and a hunger for God!

God's Plan and Path for Us

(Disclaimer: not everything I saw may be completely correct. But this is what I feel God putting on my heart)

Most of all let love guide your life. -Col 3:14

              

 I thought this was really cool, because I found a hidden meaning for this verse.

(don't you just love finding a new meaning to a verse you've looked at 100 times?)

Most of all let love - God is love!

In another sense this verse states,"Most of all let God guide your life."

After all God knows what's best for you. He knows you better than anyone does.  (Psalm 139:13- For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.)

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future"-Jeremiah 29:11

            He only wants what is good for us. God will wreck our plans when He knows they're about to wreck you.

This being said, I don't want it to come across as a threat at all. God isn't out to destroy you every time your plans don't fit into His bigger one. I'm pretty sure our plans and God's will never match up exactly (Isaiah 55:8-9). Being followers of Christ will mean we will suffer in some way. This may include our plans being torn apart for God to make a way for His better one. 

All our struggles may be God trying to take away what we don't need. 

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. -Proverbs 3:6

In what ways? Does this mean everything we do? I'm sure it does :)

It is so so so hard to think about God during our regular day-to-day activities.  It takes immense effort to do this seemingly simple task.

 If we take the time to meditate on God every day I promise we will be able to God working in our life in ways we may have never noticed before. 

(He is making our paths straight!)

If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. -John 8:31-32

I never have seen this verse before, but when I ran across it finally (today) I immediately thought of the word, "word" as "path". (of course)

If you continue in my path you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free...

This reminds me of Matthew 16:24-26 (this is the take up your cross verse)

If we continue in God's path for us we will surely find the truth He wants us to know. I don't understand this truth completely.

But as I travel deeper into His word and farther down His path I will find true peace and freedom in Him. How beautiful does that sound? 

When am I Going to Blog???

My finals are coming up this next week so I will not be able to make blog posts as I hoped.I will most likely start working more on my blog in two weeks. Thank you all so much for being so patient. :)
                         -A Few Crazy Curls

Oops! Sorry!

Obviously I'm not the best with committing to a blog because I haven't done anything on here in about three or four months. Of course I'm here to apologize for doing nothing about it. so here is my apology letter.

Dearest readers,
     I'm sorry for not being as committed as I should have been and should be. Undoubtedly you are all wonderful people and I'm sorry if I disappointed you all. i'll start trying harder to blog more. Have a blessed day!
                -A Few Crazy Curls

A Quote to Live By

   

                                       

No-media December

Media has truly changed lives. Some for better like those who share their faith and have found their talent and profession through the Internet. 

I can't say that I did well during my no-media December. I was on YouTube and Pinterest a lot. I was very lazy and didn't know how else to use my time. That hit me hard, why shouldn't I do something better, why am I just sitting here? 

I need to try this again in about two months. I suggest doing it yourself. 

Others have had their true identity picked away from them by getting on their Instagram or Twitter every day because of the "great" things going on in their lives, and depression can come out of FOMO (fear of missing out). 

When it comes to it social media won't matter in the end. It might matter depending on the actions or feelings we practice because we were on our Facebook or MySpace (haha funny, what is MySpace) account.    

This past month I learned that I really don't need social media to truly make me happy. I don't need a like to make me acceptable or a reblog to make me feel like I have actually done something cool.

I learned social media puts a fake face on life. We get fomo because of a post we saw where everyone one of our friends were there but us,when they were very probably on their phones the hole time, and didn't talk once. I don't want to be artificial. 

Any good time spent on the Internet when you could have done something useful is time wasted. I don't want to be remembered as the girl who had to impress everyone. I want to be known as someone who spent their time well and for the Lord. 

I challenge you to purge yourself from everything that hinders you from doing something for someone else, or for the Lord. -Emma 

Rethinking...

This month, being all of December I'm taking a break from media with a few other friends. All media instagram, blogging, and even pinterest. We're taking a step back and looking at each other. We're deciding that internet selves don't matter. It is crazy hard to keep off of social media. 

For some reason looking at social media puts me in a bad mood.

Only because of FOMO. 

Also known as Fear Of Missing Out. I feel super jealous when I see one of my friends in a group of others I'm good friends with but I'm not there. 

Why should I feel jealous? I shouldn't. This is why my friends and myself are going through a whole month without looking at our media.If you want to you should do it with us! It would be so cool to know viewers are doing it too! 

I want to be able to be real with everyone. Be able to look at them for something other than a post or username. I want to take a step back and look at my friends and appreciate them. 

I would love to not want to go back and look at Instagram and Pinterest for more than five minutes.  I want to get to do things I could have done when I was surfing the Internet instead. 

This wasn't my best post... at all. I hope you do it with me. May the Lord bless you all. 

P.S. I will be writing a post about Thanksgiving after the holidays are over. 

Quiet My Heart

Just Like Jesus.

Psh

Psh let's forget the HUT story it's too long and I've missed blogging. I just want to say sorry to those who might have been hurt by someone who calls themselves a Christian. Those who have been hurt have also probably hurt another person. This is the hard truth in my life. I saw something on pintrest the other day about gay parents who bring their children to rallies and that the children don't know what their parents are making them support. Then I read the comment under it and it urked me; it said something about so many people go to church and don't even know what their doing and what and who they are supporting. Some church goers are like that. Lots of churches will care about how you dress, and how you worship. Others are like cults. While others are happy clappy churches that only care that you love the Lord with all your heart. I am so sorry for all those I have and will hurt.I am as guilty as anyone for hurting someone. Not everyone in the church know what they are doing; this is very true. I hate that when people who aren't in love with Christ see the church as a bunch of terrible people who hate those who aren't Christian. Lots of places, clubs, any group gathering thing is seen by the worst person or peoples in the group. (Not very well described I know) God loves everyone, I have a hard time myself loving everyone. This is every human. Please hear me out, because Jesus loved everyone we should too; it doesn't mean we should love their actions, but rather love their soul and pray for everyone. This is a little venting session because of that pin that got me thinking hard. Thanks for reading if you did! God bless you; he and I love you! 

Oh so Much Fun!

Last weekend I went to a retreat thing. I'm guessing you can call it that. I actually went to a missions training village. If you want to go you can look up H.U.T (Harding University Tahkodah) I just wanted to tell you my H.U.T story.

I got up around 5:10 which was wayyy to early to go to church, but I had to catch the bus. We took an hour and a half drive to Camp Tahkodah. When we got there we piled off the bus and went into a big warehouse looking building. In the building we sat on some couches and sang many devo songs until it was time for our tour of the H.U.T grounds to start.

When the time came we went outside into some frigid cold weather and took a tour of the grounds. First we took a hike down to a place called the slums, just like all the slums  of the world. Then we carried on to some Japanese houses that were built high above the ground they were made mostly out of bamboo and were pretty cool! Next we headed off to the American houses, they were nasty there was trash and nasty grime everywhere, I was looking forward to not getting this hut. We then headed up to the second part of the American homes, it was a RV and there was a snake skin in there and possibly a raccoon. YUCK! We took a running hike up a very large hill and went to a I think a house that was supposed to be a house in the poorer part of Spain. It was neat. We next went to Bolivia and they had a different kind of toilet; it had a vent and the entire Bolivian ground stunk! We learned we would be paid for our later work here. Off to Africa we go! Their huts are nicer than most that were on the H.U.T grounds. Hopefully I will stay in there. It will be tons of fun. 

We finally came to an end to our tour. There about 30 feet from where we finished is a playground merry-go-round that makes energy as you turn it, haha we played on that for about an hour! It was so much fun! The hour was up so we joined the other church that had come to spend time with us. We played a game together were we had to carry water back and forth about 30 meters, not far, but boy howdy it sure hurt. God bless those who have to go miles and miles with even more water on their shoulders. 

Notice Jesus Today?

An average friend will come and go, but true friends will stay through it all. I'm a little high school kid but I do know what true friendships are. Jesus is the one that will always be by your side through the thick and thin.
Jesus is that one true friend that stays forever. He will never give up on you and will never forsake you. You might not see now how he is working in your life, but as you look back you will see his good works. Friends are so hard to deal with but Jesus is the one that you will never tire of and will never talk about you and will be by your side. Just a little reminder.

Making Memories

I had the amazing opportunity to see Adam Cappa and Jeremy Camp in concert! I just had my birthday and this was my biggest present, I was so excited when I figured out! I still am, I really can't believe I had the awesome privilege of being there! 

I felt a closeness to GOD that I haven't felt in awhile, and it felt amazing. I love the LORD so much! The concert was in Little Rock Arkansas, it took my mom and I about an hour and a half to get to the big church the concert was in. Let me clear this up first, this concert was a benefit concert to raise money for cancer treatments for Alan Dickson. This was why the concert was held in a church's building. 

When we got there I was so excited I jumped the entire way in. *Hitting forehead because I was ridiculous* Adam Cappa sang all his songs first, he also introduced us to two new songs he has written, both beautiful heart melting for GOD songs. I was moved to tears because I was seeing the beauty of GOD all over again. 

Then when Adam Cappa left we had to wait about 15 minutes until Jeremy Camp came out. Just saying, he's a pretty handsome fellow. He sang many many beautiful songs. I was raising my hands again all over in surrender. Isn't it beautiful that we can surrender to GOD over and over again yet he never stops loving us. He doesn't trust us whatsoever, we need only trust him. 

In the middle of the concert I saw my friend Alex, she is one of the most Christlike people I know, we sang together for a little while. 

Then I sang with my mom the rest of the time. It was wonderfully amazing being able to rebuild my bonds with Christ and super cool being able to rebuild bonds with my mom. 

I'll never get tired of singing to GOD. On the way back home my mom and I were talking about how it must be so hard for Christian bands and singers to give all the glory to GOD. This is because they have written the music and sang it, then we clap for them or GOD. At first at this concert we were clapping for the singers, then as we paid more attention to the words and praised GOD for them we clapped because we were on fire for the LORD. So don't you think it would be hard not to take all the credit for the work and think everyone is clapping or "praising" you. It is hard for everyone to give all glory for GOD. But it might be especially hard for those who are in a famous position to give all the glory to GOD. Let us pray for those people. 

I love you all dearly even though I don't know you. GOD bless. 

-Emma

Little Rock

I went to Little Rock Arkansas with my class. We were learning about the Little Rock nine it was so cool it
was! We went to the Clinton Library in the river, it was amazing! I absolutely loved seeing all of President Clinton's memorials. We toured and saw the "Oval Office", and the medallion President Clinton gave the Little Rock Nine. 

We also got to go to a national park thing, I'm sorry I can't remember what it's called but I do know it is the only national park that's a high school in America (link right here). The high school was Central High. It was huge! We had a lot of wind when we were there and it was pretty cold in the morning.

After touring the Clinton Library and Central High we went to the River Market Cafe. If you ever visit the River Market Cafe plan on staying for about an hour to two hours. There are so many different cultural foods you can choose from, some are the same kind. For instance there were two Thai and two Mexican cafes. Ask others for their opinion on whose food is better, because you probably don't want to waste money on food when you could get the same type of food somewhere else with more food and better quality taste. I would suggest getting a salad and water, there is a delicious salad, bakery cafe near the right end side of the market. 

I learned a many things about human equality. All men and women are created to fulfill the same purpose, and that is to serve God. Though many don't think so. We all have free will and that is a huge privilege! Everyone no matter skin, sex, religion, or any beliefs should be treated with equality.

This past weekend I stood up to someone. The felt that mine and others feelings didactic  matter as much as theirs. (Infuriating!!) Sorry, but we were made to treat others with all fairness and love no matter what others beliefs, religion, gender, of skin color. We were made to love all. 

Please always consider others feelings as yours, and maybe their problems are just as big as yours are in your head. Help them, encourage them. 

My teacher was telling us that one of her friends, a tour guide of Central High, was taking a large group of people around the high school and they came to the bathroom. In this bathroom one of the nine had to use the toilet, she had paper balls of fire thrown at her from over the stall doors and glass. Now in this group of people on the tour there was an older woman, and she knelt on the ground and sobbed. She was crying because she had to live with the shame of being in that bathroom at the same time this was happening and watch it all happen. She lived with the shame of not standing up for that poor girl. 

I know I don't want to live with the shame of something like that happening. Stand up for others, and always treat them with fairness.

-Emma

I am wearing a cropped shirt with a tank top under it; the shirt is from Forever 21, my sneakers are from All Star Converse, and my KAVU bag by KAVU.

Kay, so Being Yourself?

                                    

      

Being yourself. What is it? Recently I was writing in a journal on how to behave so I could be better friends with those I had people crushes* on. What I was writing... well it wasn't me. 

So what is being yourself? It isn't what society says. There are many teenage, girly magazines tell you the steps to being yourself. If this is the way you want to be yourself that is completely up to you, this
might be the way you express yourself. This might be how you show others who you are. 

 I find that being yourself is the you that is the best you. Man, that is one confusing way of putting it! I'm saying; be the person you really wish you could see in others. This makes it sound like I'm asking you to be like the others around you; not what I'm saying. What I want to get across is, be the best you you can be. Lift others up and help encourage them be themselves. 

There are always people who won't like you. This is truthful. And it hurts. I learned this past month and a half that friends/acquaintances find me pretty annoying. But it was just me being myself, so I didn't understand. I'm probably more annoying than I think, but I'm myself. That is enough for me, this is how I will make my real friends. 

Also in being yourself don't go against God's will. We have had to change for God because our human natures and sins fog up our attitudes. We will always be changing for God. God made you in his image and we should strive to be like him. Being yourself for God is what he loves. That is enough for God. This probably doesn't make sense to you, it sounded a lot better in my head. 

*people crushes- at camp my friends and I had crushes on boys and people crushes on the people we wanted to be friends with. People crushes are those who make you really want to be their friend and inspire you. 

-Emma

Sorry

I'm sorry I haven't been posting, there are a few pictures I am hoping to upload and I can't get ahold of them at the moment. -Emma

Journaling

Journaling. Where do to begin? 

I love journaling, it creates a safe environment and a place where others can't tear you down. It's feelings on paper, but really it's your life on paper. Journaling has a sort of therapeutic sense. It helps calm nerves. I started journaling in fourth grade and I haven't been able to go a full month without it, up until now. 

Having not journaled for about two months there has been a change in my attitude, I'm angrier. Normally I would write all my anger out in one of my little books, but I just don't have the fuel too.

My grandmother and I both keep journals. She has around 200 and they all have a different purpose. For instance one might be about funny things she has seen, and another may be about one Christmas she can remember from when she was a child. I always have trouble deciding what my each of my journals topics might be. Because of my troubles here is a list of topics to get you out of your "stump". 

Little rules of life

A detailed monthly journal

Question and Answer booklet

Things you remember from before kindergarten

Jokes you've heard

A food journal

Make a recipe book

Write down 10,000 things you should be thankful for

A journal about your anger. Then burn it

Do not make a burn book, only burn your books if they're really bad

Ideas you've had

A prayer journal

Books and their reviews

A quote/poetry/lyrics journal

A how/wow/pow journal- this is how God has blessed you, something amazing that has happened to you, and a negative part of your day

Have fun with your journals, write whatever you want to in them! It's your thinking pad. 

-Emma