Learning....

this past week in my devotions i was reading in Jonah 3&4. the overall subject was "God loves People", and that is most definitely what i learned! I mean, we all know that "Jesus loves me", but this kind of love, one that gives and gives when we deserve nothing at all, is completely incomprehensible...
 the ninevites were horrible people....they stole, lied, murdered and committed sins we would find utterly disgusting and terrible.

but God loved them anyway.

doesn't that amaze you? that one can sin and sin over and over and over again, but as long as he is God's child, God will never, ever stop forgiving! i mean, i think about myself then....the way there are so many things that overtake what i could do for God, but go and do something else instead. over and over.

but God loves me anyway.

His love is so much, that He gave His Son, His only Son, to come down to this wicked earth and be condemned and tormented to death, so we could live. it's overwhelming! He gave His life, yet we refuse to give Him the smallest things. friends...music...purity...books. so much that could be given to Him, our lives!! but we tend not to, because we are human, and selfish.

but God loves you anyway.

i, myself, cannot understand just why, other than the fact that...Jesus loves me....

The Garden of My Heart

okay, so here is a quote/poem from a book series that i've been reading for a long time; Christy Miller. I really really really really love these books! they have taught me so much about God's timing in my life and just about growing up.
 this poem is actually a letter one girl had written for a guy in the very last book of the series, and she was trying to figure out what God wanted for her life. i really like this because it's not all about, well, a guy. it's including God in the areas of this girl's life, and not just rushing into a relationship. but praying it over, and realizing that God's timing is not our own; that we need to wait for God to tell us what to do...

 "Within my heart a garden grows,
wild with violets and fragrant rose.
bright daffodils line the narrow path,
my footsteps silent as i pass.
sweet tulips nod their heads in rest;
i kneel in prayer to seek God's best.
for round my garden a fence stands firm
to guard my heart so i can learn
who should enter, and who should wait
on the other side of my locked gate.
i clasp the key around my neck
and wonder if the time is yet.
if i unlocked the gate today,
would you come in? or run away?" 
                                          (Robin Jones Gunn)

 we all have a key that decides who comes in, and who stays out. i know i, for a long time, have been holding on to my key myself and not realizing that God should be the one to open the doors. but in the very end of this book, the main character (Christy) realized that she needed to giver her heart's key to her Father God. that in every aspect, God should be the One helping her figure things out. and wow, i was brought to tears. i had been holding on to my own key! i know now, that if my God is holding my key, and holding my hand, and i have the patience to wait for His Will, it will most definitely change my life.

 so what i really have to say is to pray for me! i really am just a girl, but i am God's princess and daughter. i'm learning day by day that no matter what, He is always caring and never forsaking....

it's warm!!

I'm in texas!! i miss my friends and family very much, but this weather is amazing.....next weeks forecast? 89. :D wow!
 i haven't really been up to much...just soaking up the sun and hanging around. the flight in was extremely bumpy. (which was NOT good at all considering my airplane phobia already planted in my mind that we were going to crash to our deaths...) there was this family that told their 5 year old son that it was all a roller coaster, so all the way up he was screaming and flailing his arms! he told me to "relax" when i almost tore the arm-rest off...
 but i got there in one piece...i actually had a connnecting flight from houston to dallas, so we were on the ground for about a half hour before we took off again for our 40 minute flight. it was kind of funny watching the stewardesses run around trying to hand out all those pretzels before we landed again!
 for my birthday (woohoo!!) i had some amazing food at a little "French" bistro called la Madeleine....i only got a turkey blt, but it was wonderful! they make their own bread and i do think it was the best i've ever had. then we got dessert to go. 3 little parfaits; tiramisu, fruit, and triple chocolate. they were so cute i almost didn't want to eat them! then we had little lemon pastries. now i dont normally like lemon in desserts, but this was really, really good! it was glazed over with a really hard glaze that wasn't nessecarily sweet, jest a little lemony. and last was a Strawberry Napoleon. it was, as well, very delicious!

i'm pretty sure i dont have anything else interesting to say, but i shall share some pictures when i get some good ones! i have had zero Kodak moments. (which, being a picture crazy maniac, really bugs me...) but when i do, i will share!

texas....

hmmm....haven't posted for quite a while! well, here i am to say that i'm going away....

 i'm headed of to fort worth, texas to visit with my dad for my birthday...i'm pretty sure i wont be there for longer than 3 weeks, but it is a long time since i'm away from my dear friends!

 please keep me in your prayers as i head off tomorrow morning (10:20) from Philadelphia, as i have a complete fear of airplanes, and saying goodbye! thank you!!!

i am not afraid!

okay, so maybe you guys have noticed that i am really big on sharing lyrics. it's just something i like to do, find songs, listen to them over and over again and then share the words with people who might get something out of it. anyhoo, this is a song that we're singing tomorrow morning in choir and i absolutely love it! it's so very uplifting and i think many people can relate to it. it's titled "I Am Not Afraid".....

 I Am Not Afraid
 In the emptiness of silence
 when the world has turned away;
 beneath the weight of sorrow
 when I can no longer pray;
 in the wilderness of worry,
 in the desert of despair;
 in the never ending darkness
 when it seems that no one cares,

 I am not afraid, I am not alone
 You hold me in Your hands and will not let me go.
 Though the waters rise, and though the wind may blow,
 I will not be afraid, for I am not alone.

 When there are no words of comfort
 that can stem the flow of tears;
 when I'm stranded at the center
 of a rising tide of fear;
 when there is no path before me,
 when my feet have lost their way,
 I remember you are with me
 and I am not afraid!

  I am not afraid, I am not alone
 You hold me in Your hands and will not let me go.
 Though the waters rise, and though the wind may blow,
 I will not be afraid, for I am not alone.

 I will not be afraid....I am not alone.

An Image After His....

"Many women have done excellently,
   but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
   and let her works praise her in the gates.
                 Proverbs 31:29-31

A humble, lowly contrite heart, believing, true, and clean.
which neither life nor death can part from Christ who dwells within.
A heart in every though renewed and full of love divine,
perfect and right and pure and good, a copy, Lord, of thine.
Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart; come quickly from above;
write thy new name upon my heart, they new, best name of Love.
                              
                                                             Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
 -C.S. Lewis