Awhile back I suggested to Val that he shouldn't take his laptop to Guatemala just because of the WiFi, so that he doesn't get all distracted because of it, because I know I would. He's taking it anyways. Yesterday I was talking to Erin and I told her that now I was thinking about borrowing his computer just for Word, to type up my blogs, but I knew he'd give me a hard time about it after what I told him. Sure enough, I mentioned that to him last night, and he was like "NO. You're not touching my computer! You're the one that said I shouldn't take it..."
I'm so used to typing my blogs now...How will I ever find the time to hand-write EVERYTHING I want to say?!
I Guess I Had Spoken Too Soon...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
I was reading this great blog earlier, and in it I came across a link to The Modesty Survey. This survey was conducted in 2007, as a project of The Rebelution. Over 200 Christian girls submitted questions concerning modesty, and over 1,600 Christian guys ages 12 and up responded by rating each question from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree", and also left text comments to voice their opinion. It was veryyyy interesting to see just what guys struggle with the most when it comes to guarding their eyes, even as a girl who tries to be conscientious about that.
I've always considered myself to be modest, and for a long time I've understood that guys are wired WAY differently than girls, and are distracted by things that may seem completely retarded to us girls. However, as I was reading through the results of the survey, I was blown away by the little things the guys said are a stumbling block. A lot of what the guys were saying, too, related to how modesty is more than just how a girl dresses. It also has a lot to do with attitude and how a girl holds herself. Reading all the messages Christian guys typed out to their Christian sisters was such an encouraging reminder of why I try so hard. It was so cool to read through them all and see that there REALLY are guys out there who notice when girls cover themselves and are thankful for it, not just guys who think it's weird.
Girls, I strongly encourage you to check this survey out, and that other blog too. And before I go, one of my favorite proverbs:
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
PROVERBS 31
I've always considered myself to be modest, and for a long time I've understood that guys are wired WAY differently than girls, and are distracted by things that may seem completely retarded to us girls. However, as I was reading through the results of the survey, I was blown away by the little things the guys said are a stumbling block. A lot of what the guys were saying, too, related to how modesty is more than just how a girl dresses. It also has a lot to do with attitude and how a girl holds herself. Reading all the messages Christian guys typed out to their Christian sisters was such an encouraging reminder of why I try so hard. It was so cool to read through them all and see that there REALLY are guys out there who notice when girls cover themselves and are thankful for it, not just guys who think it's weird.
Girls, I strongly encourage you to check this survey out, and that other blog too. And before I go, one of my favorite proverbs:
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
PROVERBS 31
Today is a great day.
As I sit here watching The Incredibles and hating the pile of clean laundry sitting in front of me, I've got Guatemala consuming my thoughts. Today at church, the service was mainly dedicated to hearing the stories of the adults who just returned from their trip, and viewing a video of pictures. One of the things they talked a lot about was The Oasis, a ministry that reaches out to women who are stuck in the prostitution industry. They described the "line"--an old railway where the women rent the rooms that they use, and along which men from all over walk to choose the woman. They told detailed stories of two different women they met who are trapped in the cycle, but want to get out.
I truly do not like being emotional, but I couldn't help it...I wanted to cry. Sex trafficking and prostitution is something that tugs at my heart a lot--probably more like yanks at it. Lol. So, for me to hear those stories and even to hear that there was a 16 year old involved...it was really hard. Before the ushers collected this week's offerings, Pastor Stephen explained that it costs approximately twenty U.S. dollars a day for the women to survive, between paying rent for the room, paying the gangs that "own" them, and providing for their families. So, he called all the men to step forward and give $2.50 each week to get those women out from underneath the weight of all of that. It was beautiful, really. To watch all those men stand up, walk to the alter, and put money in that basket for those women was truly AWESOME. Whether it meant anything to them or not, it meant a lot to me, and believe me when I say that it could be the difference between life and death for those women.
Now that the day of our own departure is coming up, I'm feeling more and more desperate to pray for the Guatemalan people that we'll be visiting, and the ones that our adults got to meet last week. I can't wait to see what God has in store for US when we go!
More later.
=]
As I sit here watching The Incredibles and hating the pile of clean laundry sitting in front of me, I've got Guatemala consuming my thoughts. Today at church, the service was mainly dedicated to hearing the stories of the adults who just returned from their trip, and viewing a video of pictures. One of the things they talked a lot about was The Oasis, a ministry that reaches out to women who are stuck in the prostitution industry. They described the "line"--an old railway where the women rent the rooms that they use, and along which men from all over walk to choose the woman. They told detailed stories of two different women they met who are trapped in the cycle, but want to get out.
I truly do not like being emotional, but I couldn't help it...I wanted to cry. Sex trafficking and prostitution is something that tugs at my heart a lot--probably more like yanks at it. Lol. So, for me to hear those stories and even to hear that there was a 16 year old involved...it was really hard. Before the ushers collected this week's offerings, Pastor Stephen explained that it costs approximately twenty U.S. dollars a day for the women to survive, between paying rent for the room, paying the gangs that "own" them, and providing for their families. So, he called all the men to step forward and give $2.50 each week to get those women out from underneath the weight of all of that. It was beautiful, really. To watch all those men stand up, walk to the alter, and put money in that basket for those women was truly AWESOME. Whether it meant anything to them or not, it meant a lot to me, and believe me when I say that it could be the difference between life and death for those women.
Now that the day of our own departure is coming up, I'm feeling more and more desperate to pray for the Guatemalan people that we'll be visiting, and the ones that our adults got to meet last week. I can't wait to see what God has in store for US when we go!
More later.
=]
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Last night Val and I got to talking about whether or not Christians should only date Christians. Actually, the conversation started as a joke about me cheating on him, and he mentioned that if I ever did, it would just prove to him that Christian girls are no different than non-Christians. It is because of the fact that he sees Christians all over the place that do the same things as non-Christians that he thinks it doesn't really matter then. At this point in the conversation I told him I wasn't going to say anything, because I disagree wholeheartedly, and it was not worth getting into an argument about (I was trying the whole pick-your-battles concept, haha). However, I could not hold my tongue, and I quickly erupted into an extensive monologue explaining why I feel so strongly about this topic.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 has become a verse that means so much in my life.
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.
I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Towards the end of my freshman year of high school, I started going out with a guy that I had liked for literally three and a half years beforehand. At the time, I considered myself a Christian, but in reality it meant nothing to me. It was just a reason to keep going to what constituted youth group every week. Shortly after the two of us started going out, David joined our church as the new youth pastor, and we started going through this discipleship workbook called Equipping the Saints. I learned SO MUCH about what being a Christian means, and I believe that is the time that I truly became saved. From that point on, I experienced incredible growth as a Christian. I felt like I had rocketed away from everything I knew to be "normal".
At the same time, my relationship with that guy was going well, except for the fact that all we seemed to do was fight about church. I was constantly inviting him to come to youth group, and when he didn't want to come, I tried to convince him to join in on a party or a skating trip, but nope. I began to pray that he would come, that God would do something miraculous in his heart. He swore up and down that he loved me, but I couldn't understand why he didn't want anything to do with something that was such a huge part of my life.
I was scheduled to be baptized with a group of other kids on August 13th of 2006. I invited my boyfriend to come, but he refused. That Sunday evening came and went, and although it was an incredibly happy moment for me, I was devastated--I wanted him to share this with me so bad, but he wouldn't. After that, I began talking to David online about what I'd been thinking and feeling, and he told me about the verses posted above. As I read them and thought about the advice he had given me, I decided that from that point on I would continue to pray about the situation and what exactly the passage meant. I'd heard some people say that it only applies to marriage, while others throw dating in there too, and really, I wanted to know what GOD thought. So, I continued to pray, and often I would cry over my boyfriend and those verses. Yes, I wanted him to come to know Christ, but I think I was just mostly scared that I would have to break up with him in the end. As I talked to God about it time and time again, and began to see that God was telling me that the verses do indeed apply to dating, I freaked out because I knew that God was asking me to break up with this guy. I did NOT want to do that, so in desperation I thought well if I could just get him to come to church ONCE that would be good enough. Obviously, that way of thinking did not work out, and eventually I broke up with him.
In all, this is the story behind how I came to find this passage so important. It was during this time that I realized that I, as a Christian, was headed in a total opposite direction from him. We failed to have in common the most important thing in life, as evidenced by all of our arguments about church. Even if we had been able to quench them then, there would have come a time when I could no longer stand by his side and still truly follow God. I so completely believe that a Christian should strive to date and marry other Christians only, not just "good people". Yes, there will be Christians who make mistakes, and people who claim to be Christians but don't live that way. But honestly, that is for you as an individual to judge for yourself. You don't HAVE to date the Christian that cheats on her boyfriends. Find someone who is more trustworthy and has more integrity than that, but let the person you choose be someone who is after the heart of God, not just someone who sticks the title "Christian" on them.
That's just what I think. When I finished explaining this last part to Val, I couldn't help but laugh. I had gotten so worked up over this, and I apologized because he was kind of speechless after that. Haha. So yeah...that's what I think, and I'd REALLY like to know your opinion. Do share! =]
I'm out for the night. Peace!
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 has become a verse that means so much in my life.
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."
"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.
I will be a Father to you,
and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
Towards the end of my freshman year of high school, I started going out with a guy that I had liked for literally three and a half years beforehand. At the time, I considered myself a Christian, but in reality it meant nothing to me. It was just a reason to keep going to what constituted youth group every week. Shortly after the two of us started going out, David joined our church as the new youth pastor, and we started going through this discipleship workbook called Equipping the Saints. I learned SO MUCH about what being a Christian means, and I believe that is the time that I truly became saved. From that point on, I experienced incredible growth as a Christian. I felt like I had rocketed away from everything I knew to be "normal".
At the same time, my relationship with that guy was going well, except for the fact that all we seemed to do was fight about church. I was constantly inviting him to come to youth group, and when he didn't want to come, I tried to convince him to join in on a party or a skating trip, but nope. I began to pray that he would come, that God would do something miraculous in his heart. He swore up and down that he loved me, but I couldn't understand why he didn't want anything to do with something that was such a huge part of my life.
I was scheduled to be baptized with a group of other kids on August 13th of 2006. I invited my boyfriend to come, but he refused. That Sunday evening came and went, and although it was an incredibly happy moment for me, I was devastated--I wanted him to share this with me so bad, but he wouldn't. After that, I began talking to David online about what I'd been thinking and feeling, and he told me about the verses posted above. As I read them and thought about the advice he had given me, I decided that from that point on I would continue to pray about the situation and what exactly the passage meant. I'd heard some people say that it only applies to marriage, while others throw dating in there too, and really, I wanted to know what GOD thought. So, I continued to pray, and often I would cry over my boyfriend and those verses. Yes, I wanted him to come to know Christ, but I think I was just mostly scared that I would have to break up with him in the end. As I talked to God about it time and time again, and began to see that God was telling me that the verses do indeed apply to dating, I freaked out because I knew that God was asking me to break up with this guy. I did NOT want to do that, so in desperation I thought well if I could just get him to come to church ONCE that would be good enough. Obviously, that way of thinking did not work out, and eventually I broke up with him.
In all, this is the story behind how I came to find this passage so important. It was during this time that I realized that I, as a Christian, was headed in a total opposite direction from him. We failed to have in common the most important thing in life, as evidenced by all of our arguments about church. Even if we had been able to quench them then, there would have come a time when I could no longer stand by his side and still truly follow God. I so completely believe that a Christian should strive to date and marry other Christians only, not just "good people". Yes, there will be Christians who make mistakes, and people who claim to be Christians but don't live that way. But honestly, that is for you as an individual to judge for yourself. You don't HAVE to date the Christian that cheats on her boyfriends. Find someone who is more trustworthy and has more integrity than that, but let the person you choose be someone who is after the heart of God, not just someone who sticks the title "Christian" on them.
That's just what I think. When I finished explaining this last part to Val, I couldn't help but laugh. I had gotten so worked up over this, and I apologized because he was kind of speechless after that. Haha. So yeah...that's what I think, and I'd REALLY like to know your opinion. Do share! =]
I'm out for the night. Peace!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The word "excited" really doesn't even cover how I'm feeling about the upcoming mission trip to Guatemala.
For those of you who don't know, a group of us from my youth group (along with some adults) are going on a mission trip to Guatemala in August. We are headed to Antigua, and will be working with kids 4 years old and under at a malnutrition center, as well as fixing up the facility and bringing as many supplies as we can.
Last night David let youth group out a little early, and those of us going on the trip met with a man named Ron Gunter, who is putting our trip together. He is the Vice President for International Childcare at Florida Baptist Children's Homes, and has made this trip a million times! (Okay, not literally, but still...)
Before, I was excited and everything, as we worked to raise money for the trip, but now that we have details of exactly what we'll be doing, I'm ecstatic! Ron gave us a little packet that had our itinerary in it, as well as other information that we need to know about. He also gave us all a really nice "travel journal" to use for the duration of the trip. That's really cool, although even if he hadn't given them to us, I would still journal everything I could.
I simply cannot wait to go and pitch in. Ron described what the children will look like, seeing as how malnourished they are, and it scares me...I'm nervous that when I get there and see those kids I won't be able to stand it. We'll see.
Also, I'm SO excited that we're going to a spanish-speaking country this year. I don't know how much I'll be able to understand and say, but I am certainly planning on pushing myself to try the entire time...I want to be fluent, and both years I've taken spanish with Mrs. Hernandez, she's told me I will be. Lol, I can't let her down.
;]
Well, I'll be back soon with more details. Summer camp in Daytona Beach is next Monday through Friday, so I might not be back until after then.
Oh, and before I go...I still need almost $300 for Guatemala. Would you join me in praying that God will provide that? For the rest of the group as well...
Thanks so much!
Goodnight.
=]
CHECK THESE LINKS OUT:
Florida Baptist Children's Homes site: http://fbchomes.org/index.html
Florida Baptist Children's Homes blog: http://fbchinternationalchildcare.blogspot.com/
For those of you who don't know, a group of us from my youth group (along with some adults) are going on a mission trip to Guatemala in August. We are headed to Antigua, and will be working with kids 4 years old and under at a malnutrition center, as well as fixing up the facility and bringing as many supplies as we can.
Last night David let youth group out a little early, and those of us going on the trip met with a man named Ron Gunter, who is putting our trip together. He is the Vice President for International Childcare at Florida Baptist Children's Homes, and has made this trip a million times! (Okay, not literally, but still...)
Before, I was excited and everything, as we worked to raise money for the trip, but now that we have details of exactly what we'll be doing, I'm ecstatic! Ron gave us a little packet that had our itinerary in it, as well as other information that we need to know about. He also gave us all a really nice "travel journal" to use for the duration of the trip. That's really cool, although even if he hadn't given them to us, I would still journal everything I could.
I simply cannot wait to go and pitch in. Ron described what the children will look like, seeing as how malnourished they are, and it scares me...I'm nervous that when I get there and see those kids I won't be able to stand it. We'll see.
Also, I'm SO excited that we're going to a spanish-speaking country this year. I don't know how much I'll be able to understand and say, but I am certainly planning on pushing myself to try the entire time...I want to be fluent, and both years I've taken spanish with Mrs. Hernandez, she's told me I will be. Lol, I can't let her down.
;]
Well, I'll be back soon with more details. Summer camp in Daytona Beach is next Monday through Friday, so I might not be back until after then.
Oh, and before I go...I still need almost $300 for Guatemala. Would you join me in praying that God will provide that? For the rest of the group as well...
Thanks so much!
Goodnight.
=]
CHECK THESE LINKS OUT:
Florida Baptist Children's Homes site: http://fbchomes.org/index.html
Florida Baptist Children's Homes blog: http://fbchinternationalchildcare.blogspot.com/
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