Is September already gone?!

Hey y’all! Wow!! I have not blogged in the LONGEST time! School is in FULL swing! It is definitely busy! Today I took my first biology test- wow. Biology is NOT my specialty. But oh well, I guess God didn’t call me to be a biologist- and if He did- I have a LOT of learning to do! (: Then I had a study hall today and it was so nice- because I didn’t have to sit there and do anything, because I don’t have school tomorrow or Friday! Teachers have to go to convention! So I have OFF! I have a test on Monday, and one on Tuesday- but I have Sunday afternoon for those!

I have done so much in the first month of school. We had this day called Camp Day, where we go to a camp and play games, go have amazing chapels, eat, do cheers, skits and so on! OH! And we finish it off with an amazing campfire and testimony time (It is like the best time of the day!) Although two of my favorite games are:
1.) Senior Soak- the seniors just have to sit there while we come and pour water on them-it’s great- until you’re the senior!
2.) Someone leads you while you are blindfolded through cones, go to the end, pick up a bat, and spin with it ten times. It’s a classic and I love it!
And there are some other fun games like egg volley-ball and those kind!
But it wasn’t my favorite year because it rained and was cold- so it kind of put a damper on the day. But it was still very, very memorable!

Then that Saturday we went up to West Point to see a football game and hang out with my brother! It was a lot of fun. We went to this park and played games and ate food! Another great day! And it didn’t rain!

Yup and the weekends go on- this past weekend I went out for a great dinner with my friends and one of my friends families. It was an amazing dinner!! (Yeah…!) Then the next day, I went with my friend to get her senior pictures done- she is so beautiful so it was a lot of fun!

Well now I am out for the weekend! I am going to my second home for two days to hang out and have fun! It is going to be great! I can’t wait. We are packed and all!

Until next time (which might be another month…)

~*~Live with the wonder of a child
Pray with your arms thrown open wide
Love with a love that has no end
Until I see you again~*~

Today was the first day of school!

Hey y'all!
Today was the first official day of school! It was wonderful..(: It's weird though, my one good friend said it feels like we were just gone a bit on vacation, it's true. It doesn't feel like a new school year. Although instead of being with the class ahead of me, I am with the class behind me. So I guess that will be a bit different. I am looking forward to the different classes that I am taking, but also being able to make enough time for my friends and sports. It is a few of my good friends senior years. So I want to have time for them. It will be a challenge to balance home, school, and friends. I know that I will want to put all my time in friends and school. But I really can't do that this year with mom going back to teach. She had a good first day, because I know that you are wondering. She has a nice size class. Not too big, not too small. We only have tomorrow, and then we have a break for Labor Day, very nice.
I was thinking, I need to think of others more. For example, if someone asks me about what I am doing for Labor Day, I would tell them. But then would I remember to ask them what they are doing? I realized I do this, and I don't like it at all. I'm not trying to be rude, but I guess I just get caught up in their question. We all do that I am sure, but I just don't like it!
Teachers gave me some homework. But would it be school if they didn't? It's not too horrible. I only have a little. But as you see, I am procrastinating. Not for long. I covered my books, all except for one because the paper I want is at school. So all I have left is to look over some notes I took (Yes, I took notes on the FIRST day of school!) and do some Math problems.
This morning I read in a book I have (97 Random Thoughts about Life, Love and Relationships by Justin Lookado) and he was saying how would you like it if you were your teacher? Okay, so said my teacher's name was Mr. Simon. And I was a total cut up in his class, how would I like to be in HIS shoes? WOW! And then he gave some other examples. It was just interesting. I liked it!
This year, with mom going back to school, and with my little brother going every day, I am not able to play soccer. It's okay though, because I know it would not be good for me to put my family through all that, as basketball is probably MORE than enough. But if you could pray for me just to be content. It's hard not to be involved. Last year with Dad, I gave it up to help the family, but I was able to be a part of the team by doing book and such. This year, I don't even get to do that, so it's hard. Your prayers would be appreciated!
I suppose that I should really go and do my Math homework. (I'm taking Algebra 2) So until next time...I don't know if you are in school, but I hope that you are being a testimony to everyone you meet. You NEVER know whose life you are affecting. Whether good or bad. So make it a GOOD day for everyone you meet.

5 days till School. (not that anyone's counting!)

“Men who face eternity with their eyes opened wide…”

I heard something like that in a song, and it talked about men not being afraid to die. You know who I thought of when I heard that? My daddy. The song was talking about how “God just needs a few good men.” God doesn’t call us to be anyone special. He just wants us to come to him, and he will give us the strength for the tasks that He sends our way.

I went to go get my blood test done the other day. It was horrible. I had the nicest ladies. Yes ladies…3 of them. I didn’t go in there thinking that I was going to be a hard patient, but I think I turned out to be one. (: Accidentally, of course. I had never had it done before, and boy oh boy…not something I want to have done anytime soon! I had the nicest people working on me. But they said that I had tiny veins, so that was making things a bit difficult. They put a hot pack on my arm to try to make my vein come out, and then poked. Then she told me that it moved…): So then they had me put two more hot packs on. Meanwhile, I started not to feel well. They had told me not to eat, and I didn’t feel to well! I was starting to see black spots, and yeah…I told the lady I wanted my mom, but she couldn’t leave me, in case I fainted so she yells that she needs help, and they finally get me to a chair thing that I can lay down in, and my mommy came, and another lady came and used something called a butterfly instead of the needle to stick me, and took the blood out of my hand. After all that they gave me orange juice. They were really nice people! I ate as soon as I was in the car pretty much! (:

Summer is practically gone! School starts on the 2nd of September! Today I cleaned, and tomorrow we are going to our friends house! It is going to be a ton of fun! Can’t wait!!
So long till next time…

The Way We Dress

Before I write this blog, I just wanted to say, that I didn't write that last blog about the cell phone...it was in an e-mail!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*What I want to know is how a culture that was SO demanding of girls wearing long skirts and dresses and NEVER acceptably wearing pants now wears the shortest, tightest, lowest, articles of clothing possible. WHY?! Where or when did everything in our society get so crazy that it has reached this point? *

As a girl, it’s HARD to find MODEST clothing to wear. But don’t give up hope, girls, it’s not impossible to dress modestly. But then, when we dress modestly, we don’t want to have the collar all the way up our necks, the skirts long below our ankles…we can still be in style, without having to wear clothes that are too tight, too low, too short.

In the book, DO HARD THINGS it says, “Isn’t something wrong when girls are constantly judged on their physical appearance and pressed to become more and more sexually provocative, yet are so rarely expected to develop qualities of character and intellect beneath the surface?”


So every single girl struggles with being modest. But let’s step up, and be modest instead of following the crowd..

Cell phone vs. Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.

Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities? Trust in the Lord and *ASAP (Always Say A Prayer)Have a blessed and wonderful day! 'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'

School starts in two weeks! AH! I am actually excited...(: It will be good to have a routine, and not to be able to go into the kitchen and eat ALL the time...(not good.)


I was saying how I was reading the book "Do Hard Things" and I actually finished it this morning. The two Christian guys who wrote it have a blog that is called The Rebelution. Anyway, I just want to share some of the things that I read in this book.

Did you know that there used to be NO teenage years? You were a kid or an adult. So really, I am capable of much more than I do, and so are other teens, we just aren't pushed as hard to do the things and some people don't have any reason to have that many responsibilities. But as I was reading this book, I realize that I want to be involved in something BIG. Not just minding my own business, but helping. I can stay in my own comfort zone, but really, what fun is that? When there are SO many opportunities out there for me? Want to know what some author said is expected of me at my age?
*do a daily chore [just one], like taking out the trash
*make sure the gas gauge stays above a quarter of a tank (HELLO!, a 3 year old can do that!) *clean your room every week (with no help from Mom and Dad) not sure who the author was.
PATHETIC! If that is what is expected of me and that's it then...I'm not really sure.

In the book they also made a really good point, that I like, it says, "Isn't something wrong when girls are constantly judged on their physical appearance and pressed to become more and more sexually provocative, yet are so rarely expected to develop qualities of character and intellect beneath the surface?" That's true. Because is some movies today, the lead role of the girl will be some stupid girl- but she's "beautiful" and that makes it all.

1Timothy 4:12 says,"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and purity" (NIV)

When you are a teen and in your young adult life, they say it's the best years of your life. This book said, "We waste some of the best years of our lives and never reach our full God-give potential." So, if I just am looking out for me, and not others, when I look back at my life in fifteen years, what will it look like? Wouldn't I rather spend it serving others and making a difference? My answer is I would definitely rather be making a difference.

But all this isn't to say that I am still a very selfish person. That I still have problems with my attitude at home and helping without complaining. I know that before God is going to allow me to be faithful in the big things, I have to be faithful in the little things, like helping at home.

I guess that I know where I have to start on this whole thing...at home. But I still want to know what God is going to allow me to do that is BIG. I know what I want to do to serve him in the big area ahead, it's just getting there is going to take some work. But I want God to grow me, make me useful, and help me to do something BIG for his name.

I have two more books I want to write about that I have been reading. But I want to share with you why I have been reading so much! A very dear friend of mine gave me a challenge to read helpful guiding books (i.e. the Bible, Do Hard Things, etc.) as much as I read the other fictional kind. Let me tell you, their challenge is probably the only reason I finished reading Do Hard Things and now I have more books to read. So it's exciting to be getting into other things. I will Lord-willing be more well read on important life changing books rather than the fictional storied that I don't need. So thank you dear friend!

Next, I read the book of Joshua in the Bible. Here are some verses that I liked that well, read them for yourself.

Joshua 22:5 "Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."
Joshua 23:11-13 "Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that your associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you."
Joshua 23:14 ". . . and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed all of the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you . . ." What an incredibly awesome promise! He is always going to keep the promises He has made!

And finally,
One of the other books I am reading is 97 Random Thoughts about Life, Love & Relationships written by Justin Lookadoo. (He wrote Dateable.)
He said, "Hey, if you just live your life, you go to church and play it safe, you don't really risk anything, the you have no faith. It's dead. You have to get out of your comfort zone. You've gotta try things that are going to totally freak you out at first. God wants you to go big. . ."

James 2:17 says, "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

Oh! I forgot... I saw this awesome quote in "Do Hard Things" it says... "If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music. . . Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well." -Martin Luther King Jr. **No matter what job God gives me, whether it be cleaning toilets in the church, or running the kid's Christmas program... I can do the job to the best of my ability, because if someone didn't do the dirty, little behind-the-scene-jobs...where would we all be?**

It’s finally hot! Now I have to go back to school and be enduring the heat, when it has been cold here for most of the summer. Weird…!
Yesterday was my younger brother’s birthday! We celebrated and had a fun day. It was sad though, because James wasn’t here, and neither was dad. So we were a little lonely. But we had fun in the end!
Today, we woke up early and got to go to the doctor’s office for appointments. I had to get a sport’s physical. What fun! I like the person I see, she is really nice. I just don’t like the whole idea of going to the doctors. Never thrills me. I like the dentist better. Even after having many teeth pulled, cavities, braces, and all that- I still like the dentist. When I would get my teeth pulled out, I usually went with dad, and he would stand at the end of the chair and rub my leg. (: Good memories. So anyway, at the doctors, they decided to give me a shot. What fun. Although, I did get a really cool crayon band-aid for what it was worth. Also, sometime I have to get blood-work done. I was saying how that I was extremely tired this summer, and we didn’t know why, so she is going to have one done. Great! In January they had a blood drive in honor of my dad, I didn’t give, but I was there and saw it. Now I have to have something done like that. I am not looking forward to it. I am going to go have it done sometime later this week, so please pray for me!
After the doctors, we made 2 stops, and then went on to school to work on mom’s classroom. We got a lot of work done! It’s really exciting! We painted it, and all that the painting needs now is some touch-ups. Then just little stuff here and there that adds up to a good deal. Also, my mom has to start her lesson plans. I am helping her with a lot, but sadly that is one thing I can’t do.
I am reading the book “Do Hard Things” it was written by two teenagers. I really like it. It’s about stepping out there. It is pathetic what is expected of teens these days. I mean, my younger brother can do what is expected of a younger teen. The twin teens who wrote it have done a lot of things that are helping to make a difference. It has made me want to be doing things that are “hard”.
Now, it’s around dinner time, but Isaac is at karate. So I won’t eat for a while yet. But there are some dishes and laundry to be folded. So I suppose that I should get up and do that stuff. I guess that I have to start with the little stuff before I do the “hard things”.

I’m learning already. (: