YouTube video I came across... worth the watch!

I came across this YouTube video, a Q&A on dating and relationships, done by a young newly married couple who love the Lord. There are so many perfectly made points. Definitely worth a watch! Some of these questions aren't even one's I'd ever thought of, and some of them are questions that I ask myself often..

In the video Jeff uses the metaphor of a triangle, it reminded me of another metaphor I've heard like that. Here it is, picture it with me.

There are two baseball players in the field. The ball is hit. Both baseball players see the ball and start running. Their mind is on the ball. Their eyes are focused on the ball and nothing else. They aren't looking around, they're only looking at the ball. All of a sudden "SMACK!" the guys hit each other... 

In the same way, if we focus on God, not letting anything draw us away from Him, He will bring us to the right person. We have to first focus on God before we can focus on the guys around us(speaking from a girl's point of view.) 

Here is the link to the video, really worth the watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ww0ho3VUmM 

My Testimony :)

Hello Everyone!

    Wow, I can't believe we haven't posted since June! Time's just flying. My sister's getting married in a couple of weeks so I've been busy with all that joyous wedding stuff! I also just haven't really had anything to share lately. Until now! There's this song that I hear on the radio pretty often, it's called "All This Time" by Britt Nicole. In the first part of the song she says :

"I remember the moment, I remember the pain. I was only a girl, but I grew up that day. Tears were falling, I know you saw me hiding there in my bedroom, so alone. I was doing my best, trying to be strong. No one to turn to, that's when I met you." I love this song, and the more I hear it the more it reminds me of how I really came to know God. So I thought I would share my testimony with you guys! That first part of the song, as cliche as it might sound, perfectly describes the moment I truly discovered the Lord.

   I grew up going to church and learning about Jesus, but I never fully understood it. The best way to describe how my relationship was with the Lord at the time would be to say that I had my "fire insurance." You may have heard this term before, but if you haven't, what it means is that I believed in God and I had asked Him to forgive me of my sins, and I knew I would be saved from going to Hell. But it was just a surface relationship, I didn't really get it yet. So when I was about fourteen I had been going through some difficult stuff, and the best way I knew how to deal with it was to shut down. Slowly I began to shut out my friends and my family, I didn't want to do anything or see anyone. I just wanted to sit in my room alone and wallow in my own self pity. I didn't understand life, I didn't want to live it anymore. What was the point? All life gives us is a bunch of pain and suffering, and then we die anyway. I had been having suicidal thoughts for a while, but I couldn't bring myself to actually do anything. So I prayed to God to take me away, I just wanted to be with Him, life on earth was pointless. Then one day when I was about sixteen my Dad had enough, so he started yelling at me about how I need to snap out of it and change my attitude. Although this only sent me to my room hating life even more, this time I decided to grab my Bible. I just sat on my bed for a while, looking at it and asking God to guide me to the right page. When I opened my Bible it was the book of Philippians, and the first verse I saw was Philippians 1:21, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." So I thought about it for a while. I understood the second part, it's what I'd been wanting for the past couple years. But the first part is what I needed to focus on. "To live is Christ." Then it came to me, like God was speaking to me Himself (which He was.) My whole purpose as a Christian while on this earth is to share the Lord with others. Christ died to save us, and when we accept Him as our savior His Spirit lives in us. Therefore, to live is Christ. At that moment all my confusion, my fear, and especially my anger was gone. God had revealed His purpose for my life to me, and for the first time I truly understood what being a Christian was all about. 

   So now here we are, two years later, I've finished high school and have now applied to YWAM to attend DTS next spring! Looking back now I feel so ashamed of the way I had been acting, but I also know that God used that time in my life to reveal Himself to me, and I couldn't be more grateful. Near the end of the song Britt says "I hear these people asking me, how do I know what I believe? Well I'm not the same me, and that's all the proof I need. I felt your love, I felt your grace, You stole my heart that day." I think that's the best proof of Christ we could ever share. People are always looking for "facts" because they need proof before they believe anything. But we have proof - our personal experience of God's love and grace towards us. Whether they believe it or not is up to them, but we're supposed to share it anyway. 

  I haven't really shared this much before, but I hope it's helpful. If any of you are going through a hard time and just don't see the point in going on anymore, don't let Satan trick you into thinking life is pointless. We're supposed to live our lives to honor the Lord and bring others to Him, but that's exactly what the enemy is trying to prevent. He's going to lose in the end, don't let him get the best of you. Stay strong in the Lord. :)

God's Timing

Hey Guys! This conversation I once had crossed my mind a couple weeks ago, and I thought I would share it with you. I hope this is helpful to you in some way or another! :)

One day I was having a conversation with a couple of my friends (maybe more of a debate), and the topic was about sex. (Yes, sorry for the uncomfortable topic..) Now don't worry, this isn't a conversation about anything weird, or even specific. Just the topic in general. So the conversation took a turn to whether or not we were waiting for marriage, and when I said that I was going to, one of my friends asked why. So I talked about how it's what God told us to do, and about my personal reasons for doing it, and when I was done my friend started doing what anyone does when you talk about God or the Bible - start bringing up "the facts." They started telling me that the reason God told us to wait was because back then girls got married so much younger than they do these days so it was ok, but if a woman waits too long now it could lead to health problems and whatnot. 

The thought I had as my friend was saying all this was "do you really think God didn't know what marriage would be like today?" God knows everything, He can see fifty years into our futures as if it is already happening to us today! He already knew that things would be done differently today than they were done when He wrote the Bible. God's Word is infinite; just because the times change doesn't mean we don't have to listen to the Bible anymore. God wrote it for a reason, and that was so we would always have a way to learn about Him and follow His plans for us. 

God's Word doesn't have an expiration date. So if anyone tries to tell you about how things are "different now," don't let them shake you. God already knew they would be, just trust Him and keep following His plan.

Matthew Parker's Powerful Song About Abortion

Out of school for the summer and bored out of my mind.. All I've done the past 3 weeks is sit around in my pjs watching Netflix, with the semi occasional going to work and making money, of course! But why didn't I think of this sooner? I should write on the Blog more often now that I have time! So here goes, folks!

If you haven't noticed, Kaitlyn and I are pretty big on pro-life stuff. A friend of mine knew that and he shared this link with me, https://soundcloud.com/eyesontheking/this-is-madness-the-american-holocaust. It's a song that Matthew Parker wrote about abortion. Though I haven't been listening to very much rap lately this really grabbed my attention because of it's powerful lyrics. This guy has the right idea, there's a line in the song that says "We call it a decision, a choice but it's a life! Little girl, little boy but now they are destroyed. Who will speak for those without a voice?" Like I said previously, powerful lyrics!

Just thought I would share that song with ya'll. The download is totally free! Whoop whoop! Yay for free music!

Pro Life

      One of my friends posted the link to this website on Facebook, and I thought I would share it with you guys! I love what they had to say about abortion. I hope you guys will too! 

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-truth-about-abortion-will-set-you-free

God Help Our Country..

      While I was on Facebook, I came across a post one of my friends had shared. It was a news article talking about what may start being done to people in the military who share their religious views. I will add the link to this article at the bottom of this post.

      In this article, it's said that "Christians-- including chaplains--sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in the military are guilty of 'treason'." They go on to say how it is considered "spiritual rape" and that Christians in the military who share their faith are "enemies of the Constitution." This is ridiculous! "Spiritual rape?" Seriously?! This is upsetting on so many levels. It literally makes my stomach turn the more I think about it. What happened to freedom of speech? What ever happened to the separation of church and state? The idea that the church should be free from government control, not that religion and morality should be separate from public life; although many people now-a-days get it confused. And I may not be an expert or anything, but "enemies of the Constitution?" I'm pretty positive that our Founding Fathers, the men who WROTE that Constitution, had talked about God just a few times themselves... 
    Another thing - remember how it said it includes chaplains? Well, these are ordained military officers, whose very job is to teach their faith and help others spiritually who come to them for "counsel, instruction, or comfort." Sharing the gospel is their military duty! The article states how it has been this way since the U.S. military was founded under George Washington! Why are we going to punish these people for doing their job?? My final point (for now, anyways.) is that this is scary. When a man/woman can't even serve his/her own country and express their ideas of faith --any display of Christianity, even just praying in front of others-- without being thrown into jail or being "dishonorably discharged" from the military, it's pretty sad. I didn't realize that honoring the God who created the very earth and country these men and women are fighting for would be considered as bad as going AWAL. I honestly wonder what has happened to our freedom. Our country needs so much prayer...

    I hope you all will join me in praying for this issue, and many others involving our country. Right now it's the military being persecuted, tomorrow it could be the rest of us. Scary thought, I know; but it honestly would not be surprising at this point. Reminds me of the story of Daniel. No matter what may come, I'd rather be thrown into a lion's den than stop praising my God. 

   Here's that article!  http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/05/01/Breaking-Pentagon-Confirms-Will-Court-Martial-Soldiers-Who-Share-Christian-Faith

You can also find an interview on the Fox News, Fox & Friends Website. It's a great video, I encourage you all to check it out! http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/index.html#http://video.foxnews.com/v/2342660060001/will-us-military-court-martial-christians/?playlist_id=86912

Torie Time!!

Hey Guys!!

      So, I just got back a few days ago from visiting Torie! And as if that's not cool enough in itself, I got to be there for her birthday too! It was such a blast, I'm so glad I got to go! 


     Anyway, we have some more of those random videos for you guys, so here ya go! 

     These are from Torie's last day of school! We made a tire swing with her friend Max, and we got a little distracted when it came time to take it down...haha. :) 

We have some more stuff coming later!