The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. -Psalms 18:2
Some days are harder than others.
But its in those days when I know that I must fully rely on God and turn to him, because the things that I see as weaknesses and the things that are getting me down, that is just how the Devil is trying to tempt me.
Lately, school and life has been rough. I feel emotionally beaten down, and there have been times where I wonder what I'm doing with my life and why I could be feeling like this.
This is Amos. He was the little boy that lived in the house next door to the church in Lodge Grass this summer. I remember the day that we met Amos, and I couldn't help but think he was just the cutest little thing. Amos has a stutter, one that I've never heard worse in a kid. Some days it was worse than others, but then there were times where it wasn't even there at all. He would get picked on by other kids for not being able to express himself in a timely manner, or he would get frustrated with himself when he wasn't able to say what he wanted to. His crocodile tears would break your heart and bring you to tears, but his laugh was the sound of pure happiness. At the end of the summer, Amos' mom came to us and told us that she's never seen him happier; that he would come home every night grinning from ear to ear with story after story about everything the YouthWorks staff had done for him. Amos' mom told us that we changed his life, and she couldn't thank us enough for being so kind to him and loving him in the way that we did.
When I'm having a bad day, and struggling with everything going on in life and with school, I just have to remember Amos. Kids like him are the reason I"m in my major, because they don't see it as a job, but as as act of love; they see it as someone who cares enough about them to help them get better. Amos is one of the strongest kids I know. He was truly a blessing to our staff team this summer and I believe that God sent him as an angel to us, to touch our lives and help each and every one of us in some different way. Even if everything else this summer had gone to crap, it wouldn't matter because knowing that we changed Amos' life is enough.
Blessings come in all sizes, you just have to remember who they are and remember what they've done for you.
The world sucks. What is considered beautiful? Am I beautiful? Are you?
One of THE biggest issues any person can deal with in their life is their self image. We either believe that we are good looking, handsome or beautiful, or we aren't. We are surrounded of images of how we should look: flat stomachs, flawless face with no wrinkles or blemishes, a gap between your thighs and definitely no stretch marks. The model, actors and actresses give us this "ideal image" that we need to aim for and eventually need to look like. And we believe them. We LET them tell us if we are beautiful or not. We judge ourselves, pointing out every imperfection and focusing so hard on it that it becomes a bigger thing than it actually is. Only 4% of women around the whole entire world consider themselves beautiful.
For years, Dove has had a Real Beauty Campaign going on to help tell women that they are beautiful just the way that they are. Their most recent addition, Real Beauty Sketches, touched me and really gave me a whole new perspective on what beauty really is.
My respects go out to Dove for the making of such a touching video. It literally brought me to tears.
These women described themselves so harshly, noticing every detail they thought to be negative. They described themselves as tired, fat, and worn out in almost an angry way. But when someone else was asked to describe them, none of those words or thoughts were said.
Look at the differences between how the women saw themselves and how someone they had just met saw them:
These women were seen as beautiful. They ARE beautiful. The images described by strangers are so much lighter, happier, younger, softer than the images described by the women themselves. It's all about perception.
How you see yourself is completely different from how people around you see you. You are beautiful. When you see yourself are ugly, tired or worn down, we believe that's what others see of us as well. But it's not.
We as people need to work on our self images. We need to see ourselves as others see us. We need to know that we are beautiful. Tall, short, fat, skinny, blemishes or not, we are beautiful.
So why let the world tell us if we're beautiful or not? Who gives them that right? You are more beautiful than you think
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." -Psalm 139:14 "Your beauty should not come form outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." -1 Peter 3: 3-4
Hello!
Well, I've created a new blog.
That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop using this one though! This new blog is for this summer with my new job at YouthWorks!. I'm very excited about it, and hopefully it will keep all of you updated on my exciting adventure this summer!
2013.
We are now half way through the first month of January in this new year of 2013. Despite the rumors, the world didn't end in December and we were given yet another chance to ring in the new year with our friends and family and the people we love the most.
With this new year upon us, I've been doing a lot of thinking about, well, life. I celebrated another birthday with the people who mean the most to me (Yes, I made it through the teenage years. There is hope!!) and have started my fourth and final semester in Pullman. Looking over my calender, I began to think of all the different opportunities that I may be given throughout this next year, and I could only begin to imagine what God has in store for me.
With all of this in mind, I decided to do something I say I'm going to do every year, but never really do. I've written myself goals for the year. Things that I want to accomplish, things I want to see myself change or continue in my every day life. I've thought long and hard about the things on my list, and I've decided that I need to try my hardest to stick to them, because like I've said, this is a new year.
Goals:
Read my Bible every day. Stay connected in the word.
Pray continually.
Go to church every week.
Go to class every day.
Read all the readings for class, no matter how boring.
Work out more. Keep myself healthy.
Get a summer job that will allow me to help others in some way and show them God's love. (YouthWorks, camp counselor, etc.)
Be happier, and have an open mind about everyone and everything. Don't get stuck on the little things.
Make new friends. Branch out.
Drink less to no more soda.
Eat less to no more fast food.
Find my place in my community. Get involved as a youth group leader at a church, or help kids. Make a difference.
I guess at the end of the year, we'll see how well I did. And then, we'll start over, with another new year.
