Happy Birthday to Me!!!

March 08, 2008

So today is my birthday, and I turned fifteen. I guess it's pretty cool that it snowed on my birthday except it messed things up a little bit. It was fifteen years ago today that I was born...and it was snowing really heavy. I think that's pretty cool. Other than that it just seems like any other day. I don't feel any older. I don't get any presents today. My did get me a brownie cake though which was really tasty. Oh, and Keri and Batey called me and sang Happy Birthday to me which made me happy. I thought everyone had forgot it was birthday today. I remember in sixth grade I did forget it was birthday. I was at Leslie Littleton's birthday party, and I just totally forgot. Sad, I know. Overall, I guess I've had an OK birthday this year. At least I'm here to 'celebrate' it.

 Prayer Requests

1. My dad
2. My cousin
3. My youth group
4. The guy I wrote about in an earlier thought
5. All my friends traveling while on Spring Break
6. Unspoken
7. That my birthday party works out

 

Can't I just have one day?

March 07, 2008So right now I'm extremely frustrated. There is not one day that I can have my birthday party where everyone can be there. And even though I know I can't control the weather or other things, I feel like it's my fault. My mom told me that I can't please everyone, but she failed to mention that the birthday girl is not pleased right now. I just wanted one day where all my friends could be there, but that just seems impossible to do. So I don't know what to do. I guess I'll just have my party next week and whoever comes comes. Hopefully things will be fun, but I don't know. :-(

so amazing

March 02, 2008

Our youth conference this weekend was so amazing. Probably one of the best ever. During our sermon yesterday, the preacher talked about what has really bothering me the past year. He talked about how so many Christians, me being one of them, are 'empty suits'. We have the appearance of a Chritian, but we aren't living it outside of church.

having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from those people turn away!

2 Timonthy 3:5

 

Last night and well into the early hours of this morning, our room talked about what the sermon meant to us. Two of the guys came to say goodnight and ended up staying in our room until about one in the morning. What started out almost getting us in to trouble, ended up being one of the revivals ever. One of the guys paticular, I really honestly feel like God spoke to him last night, and is going to continue to work on him. We aren't really best friends, but I've known him for a pretty long time. As we were talking about things he's done wrong, he actually began to cry. I felt bad at first because I was practically yelling at him, but now I feel like it made him realize he needs to really surrender his life to the Lord. I just want to ask everyone to pray for him and the rest of my youth group. Last night we found out a lot about some of the people in our youth group, and we really need some help. Just pray that we will all stop being 'empty suits' and really do something. 

 

i need a chill pill

February 26, 2008So something has to be seriously wrong with me. I'm already stressing about next school year. I'm already worried about failing algebra II honors. The only thing is I know as I hadn't taken it that I would have regretted it. I'm still waiting for the regret of taking it. Sometimes I just wish I could be a stupid person and not care about my grades, but then I wouldn't get anywhere life which is definately not good. At this point in time I plan on relearning everything from eighth grade in algebra I this summer to get ready for algebra II, and I'm most likely going to have my head in a book twenty-four seven next year studying. My friends tried to get my to take regular algebra, but my mom really wanted to take honors. She also said the ultimate decision was up to me, but I just didn't want to let her down. Sometimes it feels like its more stressful coming from a dumb family then a long line of super geniuses because I'm the first person to come along that even has a chance of being something important. So if I mess this up, everyone's going to be really dissapointed. Other times though it seems like my parents don't really care how well I do in school. I mean they do, but I guess it feels like they just assume I'm going to make good grades. Which most of the time I usually do, but when I don't do so well I don't know how to tell them. I just wish I could be smart. I mean I know I'm smart, but I mean really smart so I wouldn't have to worry about my grades, but unfortunately I'm not so I have to turn to writing about on here which you guys probably really don't care. So yeah, how has your day been?

Would You Improv for God?

February 25, 2008

Would You Improv for God?

Are you one of the 5 Million + viewers who have checked out the 'Frozen Grand Central Station' You Tube video? If you haven't checked it out- here's the link.

If you have seen it, you probably had some of the same reactions as I did. It's both fascinating and freaky weird as you see 200 improv actors simultaneously freeze in place at one of the busiest places on planet earth. They are 'frozen' in mid-step, picking up papers, and all of them have obviously been trained well to stay as motionless as possible.

I'm sure the stunt brought mixed reviews. You could see that some were annoyed (i.e., those with little to no sense of humor) - and others were probably convinced the aliens had finally landed and commenced with their global body snatching plan (i.e., those with way too much free time).

Would you ever do something like that? I think I might enjoy being part of a harmless public stunt - except of course in Grand Central Station, where I'm pretty sure you'd get your wallet or purse stolen if you froze for even 5 seconds.

It seems to me that most people just go about the daily grind with little outside thought until something creative and radical happens. It also seems to me that this is true in a spiritual sense with your friends who don't know Christ as well. Sure, maybe you've had a few 'talks' about God, but after a while it gets in a rut, and you never seem to get beyond a certain point - right?

Ah - but this video gives me an idea that just might help you in this area. No, freezing in place in a crowded public area is not what I had in mind, but doing something creative and radical for God publicly in front of your friends is one of the best 'rut killers' around. For most people these days, the God talk tends to remain just that...talk...that is until it's backed up with radical action.

And it's not like this is a new plan or anything. It's actually one of the primary strategies that people in the Bible have used for centuries. Here's a short list:

Noah - built a gihugical boat. How is that radical? Well, since it had probably never rained or flooded before, the entire population of the world thought Noah was one French fry short of a Happy Meal. But aren't you glad he went ahead with his public project? Yep, he saved civilization.

Joseph - dared to tell the Pharaoh of Egypt that he could interpret dreams. If he blew it, he'd be toast inside a few seconds. But he went ahead with the triple dog dare, and - oh yes, saved civilization.

Daniel - threw open the shutters of his home and prayed to the God that was despised by the all his neighbors - even though it could bring him the death penalty. And it did. Only instead of death, he gained some new furry friends in the lion's den.

I could go on and on - but do you know who completed the most radical and life changing public act of all time? You guessed it - God Himself. He was so desperate and crazy in love with the people of planet earth that He came down here wrapped in flesh. He lived a perfect public (and private) life, led a miraculous public ministry (can you say feeding 5000 folks from 5 loaves of bread and two sardines?), and of course, He died one of the most cruel - and public- deaths that you could ever imagine. Oh yeah, then He came back from the grave and appeared in public to over 500 people in 40 days.

Talk about a radical and creative way to get people's attention for God!

And it worked. Now it's your turn. Auction off your iPod to give money to the poor, skip a movie and volunteer at a homeless shelter. Start a public blog that does nothing but investigate the claims of Jesus. Pass out pro-life flyers near an abortion clinic. Use your imagination - but keep it completely motivated by this message:

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Freezing in Grand Central Station is cool - but even cooler would be to do something that caught the attention of people around you and turned it - not to You Tube...but to the God who wants an eternal relationship with them.

Head: What you need to know about this truth

People who don't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ need to see radical and creative evidence of vital and authentic Christianity.

Heart: What you need to feel about this truth

Simple question: If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough physical evidence to convict you? If not - perhaps it's time for a heart check and a lifestyle shift.

Hands: What you need to do about this truth

Write down a few ideas you have about radical and creative ways to show the world that you are a Christian, then get together with your youth leader and youth group to discuss how you could put those ideas into action.