Where ARE You God???

     In reality, He's right next to you.  But it's so hard to feel that; something, you can hardly tell He's there at all.  Why can't He always show Himself, why does He feel so distant, so uncaring?  I know that's nowhere near a Sunday school question, but it's certainly an honest one; and I know I'm not the only one asking it.
     Maybe, in connection to that question, you also ask 'what am I doing wrong?' or 'what do I have to do, Lord, to feel Your love again?'.  I do that too.  Thanks be to the Lord that He provides us this answer, in His word, and is just waiting for us to read and obey Him.  In James 4:7-10, it says:

⁷ So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you.⁸ Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You sinners, clean sin out of your lives. You who are trying to follow God and the world at the same time, make your thinking pure.⁹ Be sad, cry, and weep! Change your laughter into crying and your joy into sadness. ¹⁰Humble yourself in the Lord's presence, and he will honor you.

     I don't accept the Message translation as an actual translation of God's Word, but it's helpful to read it beside the Bible passage, so I'll put it here.

^7-10So let God work His will in you. Yell a loud 'no' to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet 'yes' to God and He'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.

     Why is it so hard to humble ourselves before God?  Perhaps for the same reason it's hard to humble ourselves before anyone - we don't want to give up our pride.  Similarly, we don't let God come near us because we are so intent on hiding but still keeping our sin.  A few months ago, I did a Beth Moore study(Beth Moore: Breaking Free) with my mom, and I think Mrs. Moore phrased these actions really well.  She said that it's as if we're begging God to take away our hurt, our sin, our hate, our guilt, and at the same time, we're holding it behind our back, clutching it to ourself, and refusing to really let God take it.  We don't want to give it up to Him, so the first thing we need to ask Him is to help us 'change our want to'.  

     We relish in our sin because it gives us physical, temporary satisfaction.  Whatever it is: porn, stealing, or even something as seemingly small as lying, we grab ahold of it and don't give it up to God; and He won't force it from us.  To be truly free, we have to be willing to sacrifice temporary pleasures, and then we can find eternal life, love, pleasure, happiness, and freedom in God, in Jesus' sacrifice.  

    In order to have God come to us, we need to go to Him.  That requires 1) giving yourself to God, 2) standing against the devil, 3) cleaning the sin our of your life and making yourself pure for God, with the help of God, because no sin is too great for Him to clean, if you really give it up to Him, 4) crying out to God, mourning for the wrongs you have done, and 5) humbling yourself before God, giving everything up to Him.  

     'God's peace consist[s] of an absolute resignation to His will' (Dr. Petti Wagner, Murdered Heiress... Living Witness, page 154).  When we submit ourself to God and His ultimate, all knowing plan, we will find peace.  And joy.  And every other good thing.  God loves us and wants to be near to us, but how badly do we want to be near to Him?

Starstruck

Have you ever gone outside on a clear summer night, lain down on the grass or on your porch, and just looked at the stars?  This is one of my favorite things to do.  Outside in the clear air (I lived in a relatively remote spot, on four acres of land), looking up at the brilliant stars, and, sometimes, the Milky Way, I feel so close to God.  And yet, so small.  The stars up in the night sky looking down where I lay remind me of how beautiful God is, and they show me that I’m not the center of the universe, I’m tiny compared to the world God has created and compared to Him.

            I also love looking at the Hubble photographs.  The beauty of the galaxies simply astounds me.  Sometimes, I’ll imagine myself up in the night sky, holding Jesus’ hand, and He’s showing me the galaxies; when I picture that, I about start crying for joy.  Our Lord created those things for us, because He could.  For us, He wanted to.  Imagine that!  God, so big, who was able to create the millions of galaxies, did it for us, because He loves us that much.

            Another of my favorite songs is ‘Light Up the Sky’ by the Afters.  The chorus reads

You light light light up the sky, You light up the sky to show me You are with me.  I I I can’t deny, no I can’t deny that You are right here with me.  You open my eyes so I can see You all around me.  You light light light up the sky, you light up the sky to show me you are with me.

             

Whenever you’re feeling down, look at the stars, and remember just how big God’s love is for you.  God, who created the stars, and dresses the lilies of the field, know the number of hairs on your head and loves you for who you are.

I'm giving my life to the only One who makes the moon reflect the sun.

Every starry night, that was His design.

I'm giving my life to the only Son, who was and is and yet to come

Let the praises ring, 'cause He is everything

'Cause He is everything

Cranberry Muffin Recipe

One thing that I really enjoy is baking. I love to make cookies, muffins, cake, brownies - anything easy and delicious! Today I am going to share one of my favorite recipes. It's for extra yummy cranberry muffins. Muffins can be a great breakfast and snack food, no matter what kind. Normally I would make these with the left-over cranberry sauce from thanksgiving but they taste great any time of year.


Before making, make sure you have all of the necessary ingredients. 

Ingredients needed:
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Oil
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup (about 1/2 can) Whole Cranberry Sauce

Directions:
Preheat  oven to 400 degrees.
Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.
Beat together eggs, oil, milk, and cranberries in another bowl.
Poor wet ingredients into the well made by the dry ingredients and stir until moistened.
Batter will be  lumpy.
Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 of the way full.
Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. (check at 18 minutes)
EAT!

Five Ways to Have Fun With Friends: Spring

In February we wrote a post about having fun with friends on those dreary winter days when you really have no idea what to do. This post is about fun Spring things to do!

1. Photoshoot!
This is an activity I absolutely love to do with my girlfriends. Dress up (or down) in your favorite clothes, do your hair and makeup a little differently and take the girls to a park to take lots of pictures! Try out odd angles and different backgrounds like hanging upside-down on the monkey bars or sitting on a fallen tree. Make sure everyone gets a chance to get their pictures taken and do the picture taking.  It’s also really interesting if you focus on a part of the person’s face, especially eyes, and then get a blurred out background behind them. If you have an SLR camera (or one of your parents has one that you can borrow) switch the focus to manual and focus on something unusual that the auto-focus would normally not.

2. Paintball
If you and your friends are feeling adventurous (or just really bored) paint balling can be a great solution. Find the nearest paint balling place and a good time for all of your friends to get together. Find out how much it’s going to cost and dress in thick clothing. You’re probably going to get hit with a paintball, and it can sometimes hurt.

3. Bike Rides
This is something fun you can do by yourself or with a group of friends. Find  a place you would like to bike to and do it!  Oh... check to make sure your bikes are in working condition first, and that there are enough bikes for your whole group.  It’s no fun if someone has to walk. But other than that, there’s not much planning needed for a bike ride.

4. Sew a new summer skirt
If you are crafty and like to sew (or have a friend who does) look online for a good tutorial  and some fabric on a good sale. Sometimes you can even find an old curtain or  table cloth at Goodwill. Maybe you have some fabric laying around the house somewhere. Besides that, all you need is a sewing machine,  a pair of scissors, some thread, and elastic or hooks and eyes to keep the skirt on.

5. Sports
It doesn’t matter if you are an athlete or even into sports; there are many ways to use sports as a form of entertainment. If you play a certain sport you probably spend a lot your time at practice or a game but if you don’t, there are still ways to have fun with sports. Most people have access to a soccer ball or beach ball. Just kicking the ball around or throwing a frisbee can be a blast. But if you have access to things like tennis courts and equipment, a baseball and bat, or soccer goals you can set up an organized game or match. Maybe play a game of ultimate frisbee or capture the flag. But if you and your friends aren’t the athletic type, there are other ways to have a good time with sports. Go cheer on your little brother at his little-league baseball game. Support your school team at the soccer game. Or just get a bunch of friends together, buy a lot of snacks, and watch tennis matches on TV. Whatever you choose to do, there will be lots of fun involved!

The World's Projections

Last week, Malea wrote about the self image we should have of ourselves.  Of how we are ‘made in the image of God’ and are thus beautiful, because God is beautiful.  She’s right.  We are beautiful creatures, beautiful humans, because God made us so, but the world likes to tell us differently.

Standing in line at any checkout counter in any grocery store, there are magazines with models on them, posing.  Thin waists, long legs, large busts, and narrow faces, we are led to believe they are the image of beauty, and something we should strive for. You’ve probably heard this before, but it won’t hurt anyone to hear it again.  The models on the covers of the magazines don’t look anything like themselves, they are airbrushed and photo shopped to what lots of people consider near perfection.

In fact, what they look like is impossible for almost all women – the world wide!  One major issue is waist size.  It seems like every girl today is obsessed with the desire to be thinner, and they will go to major lengths to attain it.  The waist size of the magazine models, or what seem to be the models, is totally unattainable for the majority of girls in the United States.  Anorexia is the leading psychiatric cause of death in the United States, including depression.  This is one of the trends that needs to stop before it can cause more damage than it already has.

Another thing I notice every day is the amount of makeup teen girls wear.  It’s ridiculous!  Honestly, I think the girls just look uncomfortable.  Why wear so much makeup?  Is it because we feel self conscious without it?  Is it because we feel the world won’t accept us if we aren’t coated in color?  Or are we hiding behind a mask?

One of my favorite songs is Identity, by Lecrae.  The third verse in this song says

Got her hair done, toes, nails

is that Her? well it's hard to tell

 Identity is found in the God we trust
Any other identity will self destruct.

I love this song for the message it carries.  It reassures us that no matter what we do, nothing we have on this earth will account to anything.  It’s only in Christ that anything can give us Identity.  We don’t need to hide behind layers of makeup, behind immodest clothes, or behind our put-on personality, because God loves us for who we are, and no matter what the world says, God’s love is all that matters.

The world will tell us we are ugly and unloved, but God says that’s not true. He says ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’  (Jeremiah 31:3).  No matter what the world tells us, we can rest in the fact that God loves us; so much that He would send His only Son (my parents say I won’t understand the true sacrifice of this until I have my first child) to die for us!  How awesome is that?

Don’t listen to what the world says anymore.  Listen to what your creator, the lover of your soul says.  Listen to Jesus

I am a sixteen year old daughter

Lost in the mirror, no self esteem

But God made me in His image

And that makes me a beauty queen

Mandisa, Freedom Song, 2009

cause she's so caked up in all that make up

It's like she's tryna make up for what she ain't got 

she's a saint but so confused

cause she's been rejected by all these dudes

they tell her on a scale of 10 she's a two

but that ain't true, if she only knew

In Christ she is loved she secure and accepted

never be rejected by God who's elected her 

Her beauty is her Godliness

And she ain't gotta flaunt it cause it's obvious

Embracing Who We Are

Self-worth. This combination of two words is something I believe everyone (myself included) struggle with. When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see all your faults, all of the mistakes you’ve made, everything you wish you could take back, or do you see the beautiful person that you are and are becoming? At this moment, you’re probably thinking something along the lines of;

   

“Hey, hold up there. You don’t know me, you don’t know how ugly I am or all of the bad things I’ve done.”

If this is running through your head right now, you’re absolutely right. I don’t know what you look like and I have no idea what you have done in your life.

So how can I do something so bold as to tell you that you’re beautiful? The answer to this is simple, you were created in the image of God. Genesis 1:27 says “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female  he created them.” (NLT)

Are you a human being? Yeah, that’s what I thought. That means you were created in His image. It’s so easy to let ourselves believe what the world tries to tell us. That we’re not tall enough, skinny enough, pretty enough, strong enough, whatever the case may be. Instead of listening to these hurtful lies, next time you look in the mirror remember that God made you in His own image - no matter what the world says, you are BEAUTIFUL, you are LOVED, and you don’t have to change who you are to be accepted. This does not mean you can’t want to look nice or want to better yourself …Those things are important, too. The point is that you need to love yourself just the way you are. Jesus loves us just the way we are, which I think is pretty amazing considering that he knows everything about us ...Even the stuff we don’t want anyone to know about.

Likewise, we should try to love others just the way they are and not make fun of them for being different. The people we laugh at because they don’t live up to what the world thinks is important in a person are made in His image just as much as you are or I am. It is crucial that we remember this. I know it’s something I struggle with.

Lastly, we should ask Jesus to help us to be worthy of being made in His image. Yes, it is impossible but through what Jesus did on the cross, it doesn’t matter if we’re worthy. Then what’s the point of trying? So people who don’t know Jesus can see him through us because we are really trying to do what he wants with our lives.

Mexico Once - My Testimony Afterwards

    A couple of weeks ago, I (Sara) posted asking for prayers for a Mexico mission trip I was going on with my church, Chapel Hill Presbyterian.  I’ve been back for a week now, and so am now doing the follow up post.  
    In September, I learned the cost of the trip for both me and my dad - over 1700 dollars.  By January, we’d raised just over 600.  Not good odds.  I never actually talked to my parents, but I was considering telling them it would be okay if I didn’t go; $1100 was a lot of money that I knew we probably didn’t have.  Then, God totally paid for the whole trip through some unexpected refunds we got.  What a blessing!  God is so good.
    Sunday morning, February 20th came, and I had to be at the airport at 6am.  Everyone met and checked in and got to the gate.  Security, take off, flight, and landing were all very smooth.  Another blessing.  That afternoon, we met with the Penske trucks that were carrying all of our stuff and headed for the border.  Most years, it can take close to a half an hour to be allowed through border crossing, but this year, we got through in under 10 minutes.  We drove to the camp ground through the rutted, muddy roads, and got camp set up.  No one had forgotten a tent or something major like that, and all went smoothly.

The next day, work day one, we headed for our sites.  I was building a double house with my team, Las Guerreros Fieles, the Faithful Warriors, led by Tom Renner, and another team led by Bart.  Wegot our concrete slab down, got to know the family, and framed a good portion of the walls.
Throughout the week, the house came together with good, sound, insulated walls, a water proof roof, and doors and windows.  My favorite project was working on the roof of the house.
    As freshmen on the team, most of my similar-aged classmates had one disadvantage - pranks.  I, unfortunately, had heard some sophomores talking earlier in the year, so I was pre-warned, but I took part in the pranking.  We had my friend Stephanie looking for the left-handed hoe, and a couple other people looking for doorbells (why we would be putting doorbells in, I have no idea).  
    Every day without fail, the vendors would stop by with ponchos, hats, bags, jewelry, and other local Mexican-made goods. Most of the people on the trip, including me and my dad, bought a poncho.
    The most touching part of working was the key ceremony, where we gave the keys to the family.  We stood in a circle around the inside of the house and prayed over the keys, said words of blessing, or spoke encouragement to the family. Then, they were handed to the mom along with a Bible.  On our way out, she was crying and hugged and kissed each one of us.
    During the workday, we didn’t always have a job that needed to be completed, and that was when we played with the neighborhood kids.  There were five or so regular kids that came around.  One little girl, about 8 years of age, was named Josalina.  She had only known us a day and a half, but when she learned that we were leaving for good, not coming back, she was sobbing.  Through her tears, she prayed for us.  That was touching.  

Another thing that struck me was that these kids never complained.  They weren’t extremely well off, not by Mexican standards, no where near American standards, but I didn’t hear any “Quiero...”s (I want...).  These kids had learned what contentedness was, in ways most Americans never touched.

I told you that the theme was Ebenezer:Stone of Remembrance.  One of our assignments over the trip was to find our EBENEZER.  The ebenezer I chose was a scrap block of wood with two pesos (Mexican money, coins) nailed to it.  To me, this represents the fact that God PROVIDES.  Always, what we need - truly need, not just want - He will give it to us.  I am reminded of this in the pesos (God provided money) and in the nails.  I went to the trip 9 times out of 10 missing the actual nail.  I nailed those in smoothly and cleanly, because God gave me the strength and skills to do what was needed, whether it was nail, mix concrete, or saw wood.

All in all the two main things I learned are that GOD PROVIDES and BE CONTENT.  And the trip’s not over yet - as I reflect on what happened, God will reveal more to me, if I listen to Him, just as He will reveal to anyone who will listen and have faith.