Humbled

so today was fun…you know its like your a  five year old again on christmas morining. you know you wake up and all the thrills of ripping open presents and seeing the gifts we got and playing with new toys…i just love christmas….but you know you hear all the time “remember the reason for the season” and i think about it i mean what a incredibly awesome gift…and i don’t want to be kind of  cliche with this blog….but really think about the gift that God sent to us in the most humble form… a baby could you imagine 400 years of not hearing from God 400 years of uncertainty and then the messiah finally being sent…in the form of a babe. it amazes me. all i can say is im simply in awe i mean god could have sent Jesus down raining fire or in a chariot, i mean he could have done anything, but he didn’t he sent him down in the purest form simply…a baby to be born in a stable…not in a palace not any place extravagant but in a manger… i kind of think this is a sign of how Jesus’ life was going to be. Jesus didn’t have the fanciest clothes or sit on a throne that is tangible to us.  Jesus is simply amazing….he is so many things i can’t put in to words, but one that sticks out is HUMBLE. think about it how often do we truly give of ourselves like truly give of ourselves give to where it hurts us. because thats what Jesus did when he died on the cross he humbled himself and gave his life and suffered through the pain and the suffering of being beaten and nailed to a cross to die because he loves us that much. But how often do we give, give 100% because we want to because its our hearts desire and not what we are “supposed to do” i pray that you embark on this journey with me of giving…giving to where it hurts…giving to where we may have to go without something to give to others…i mean think about it do you have to go out to eat or do you need that new shirt or those new shoes….a lot of little things add up…and even if its not something tangible….like giving of our time or our services…. i ask that you will join me in the effort to be more humble and give a little more….because quite frankly its what this world needs.

The best gift ever

I’m sitting here reading my sisters blog and its about family ( so kali im stealing your idea). I love my family every single one of them. i wish i could put into words how awesome my family is and how crazy and dysfunctional and insane they are but it simply can’t be done….but im gonna try….my family in order isMom and Dad, Blaine, Kenzie, Shelley,Abby, Kali, Myself, and Logan. All seven of us. I love my family more than anything on the face of this planet they are absolutely crazy… Its christmas time which means…all of us will be in the same place (which doesn’t happen often since there are nine of us) all at once. I love the holidays for many reasons, family being one of the biggest. I think if a “average family” came and stayed in our house for a day with all of us they just wouldn’t understand. I have had people tell me “shay i wish i could just be a fly on your wall ” and i think to myself you would be in for a treat. I know and understand that everybody’s family has thier own level of  “craziness” but my family just does things that nobody understands except for us….I love my family which brings me to another point…how sad is it that some families don’t have the same “dysfunctional crazy love” that we do. I consider myself to be so blessed to be a part of a family so great and so awesome. I mean some families don’t even want to be in the same town much less in the same house for a little while. While my family is nowhere near perfect, we still have our arguments and fights, but at the end of the day we are a family who loves each other and will always be there for each other.

I have to put a special part in here for my mom…she is my hero…she is the ultimate mom….literally i’ve never met a better mother EVER! she is so strong and always is looking out for others before herself no matter who it is…if you haven’t met her you’re missing out on one of the best people you will ever meet…she is absolutely crazy…no doubt but i wouldn’t have it any other way…she is my hero and i love her!

so i guess i’m gonna wrap this up by saying this…while friends may turn away your family will always remain. Family is a gift as i get older i start to understand that more and more everyday…i feel blessed and i thank God for the family i have. are we dysfunctional, yes, are we perfect, no. but i love them i wouldn’t change anything about my family not anything we have ever gone through or ever will…we are a family..and we love each other….Thank you God for my family!

Music…

So i thought i would write about music…think about it…without music how quiet would the world be…think about it when you are driving in the car…and  all you hear is commercials do you not automatically want to turn it to a channel that has a song playing…music amazes me….it can make us feel so many things it can make us happy it can make us sad it can take us 30 years back it can do so much…seeing as its christmas season i mean what if we didn’t have christmas music all of christmas would be different…i mean think aobut it why do we have such an attatchment to the music we listen to…why do we get offended when people say ” this song sucks” when we love it….its because its a part of us..its like taking a part of us and saying it sucks….music is part of who we are. I love music all of it i don’t know what i would do without music in my life for me one major major way i worship is through music (not to say thats the only way) i feel closest to God when im worshiping throught music… i love it so think about it the next time you listen to a song…what if you could never hear music again….and be thankful.

Christmas

I know its been a while since i have been on here…so its getting to be that time of the year when all the lights and christmas trees go up and people are sitting around the fireplace drinking hot coco and cider, and everybody is laughing and so cheerful and filled with the christmas spirit and we get to see family and we are so filled with joy…but heres the sad truth….not everybody gets to do those things…infact a lot of people don’t even know what that looks like. I was sitting in my chemistry class and all of these kids from beta club were bringing in shoeboxes filled with presents a.k.a. operation christmas child…and some of the kids in my class were saying things like “oh you bought me a present” or “who wants toothpaste and a toothbrush for christmas” and this frustrated the life out of me…and it made me realize how much we take for granted…these kids who are getting these shoeboxes that will be the only thing they get for christmas…not the newest car…or maybe complaining because they didn’t get what they wanted….or the newest ipod…what they simply want the most…is LOVE….and they are sooo grateful for what they get in that shoebox…. so i challenge you…take a little less this christmas, so you can give a little more. Just look around…the mission is so great…but with the help of each person…we can accomplish it little by little.

Somedays we forget
To look around us
Somedays we can't see
The joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves
We take when we should give

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for

Look beyond ourselves
There's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say
I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth
It's so long overdue

So for tonight we pray for 
What we know can be
And every day we hope for
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for

Even with our differences 
There is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light

So for tonight we pray for
What we know can be
And on this day we hope for 
What we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change
And even though this world needs so much more

There's so much to be thankful for

-josh groban, thankful

Carpe Diem

so i was told recently that my attitude about school was all wrong and to be quite frank, it was. i was told that school was something that i had to do whether i wanted to or not, and its true, so i might as well make the best of it. a very smart person told me this. and so this got me thinking why not make the best of every situation. if we have to do it and theres nothing we can do about it then why not make the best of it. i like to call this seizing the day or “carpe diem”.  which brings me to another note why don’t we make the best of every opportunity that we are given and be a witness for christ while we are doing that. we need to take every opportunity we can to witness to somebody. you may only get one chance to let christ use you to change that person for Him, but instead we like to think that someone else will get around to it. but the truth is God put you in that situation for a reason and its not to sit there and let the opportunity pass you by. we need to take every chance that is given to us to witness to somebody and not be scared of that because God is there with us through it and will give you the words to say. and if they just ignore you don’t be discouraged. you just might be planting the seed for someone else to come along and water. so carpe diem.

Set Apart

i was thinking today…and my thought was a little like this…who are we?? are we a people set apart from this world or are we just going along with this world just trying to “get by” ? because heres the thing God didn’t call us just to get by infact he called us to be set apart to stand out to be…different. so why do we continue to just get by???…because its, well easy. simple as that. here’s the thing though our lives aren’t going to be easy, being a christian isn’t easy, it never was supposed to be. its going to be difficult, but God is there with us the entire time walking beside us and carrying us when we think we can’t walk. because here’s the plain truth…life is hard and being a christian is hard, but thats where we have to lean on God the most to know that when God sets us  apart that he is there with us throught all the rejection He’s there. think about it what do we really have to lose by taking a chance and not being afraid to step out and be Christ to this world who doesn’t have a whole lot of Him in it. You never know…you may be the only Christ someone ever sees…so what do you really have to lose….nothing, but so much to gain. So i challenge you step out step up…and be like Christ.

Oh how He loves us

so i listened to my youth pastor talk on this last night and i felt like it was something that i should share with the world and its a challenge i want to propose you with. when was the last time you went to God and just talked to Him because you love him, not because you need something or youre having a bad day, but simply because you love him. cause heres the truth God doesn’t need us he WANTS us and he wants to spend time with us not because he needs us but simply because he loves us. I challenge you to embrace the struggle you are facing and just love God simply because you love Him. Think about all the relationships you have are they simply based on love or also because you need something from it. husbands and wives – they need each other. brothers and sisters-they need each other. parents and children-they need each other. so i challenge you to simply just love God….because you love Him.

Witness

so i’ve figured out that people are always watching you. even if you think nobody is watching somebody is and they are trying to find your flaws simply because we carry around this label of “christian” i’ve realized that there is nothing more important than my relationship with christ and my witness. i think we need to realize that people are watching and they are examining everything you do and how you act and what you say and the way you treat others and ect… and since we carry around this sign that says “christian” i think its about time we start acting like it( i include myself in that “we”) its time to not care what anyone thinks about you being a christian and just simply live it out. God sent his only son to die on the cross for our sins and the least we can do to try to repay Him is to simply…be like Him. i know what your thinking…a lot easier said than done…well heres the truth God never promised us that this journey on earth would be easy infact he told us it would be hard, but what he did promise is that he would always be with us there through it. God will not take us throught something we cannot handle, and when we think we can’t do it any longer just remember that He is carrying us when we are to weak to walk on our own.

broken

so i was recently reading a blog on here posted by a friend and it talked about what God was doing in his life, so i thought i would do the same. These past few weeks i was feeling so empty and just like God had completely deserted me.

school had started back (which was depressing enough to make anyone feel bad) and i was really bummed out about going back to school because to be honest with you its not my favotite thing to do. Shortly after school started back i realized how quickly life can change, how fast something can go from being great to being just plain awful. It felt like everything was just changing so fast and everything that happned this summer all the great change that had happened in my life was just drained from me and i felt so empty and broken. I was just wondering what good could possibly come from this brokeness and emptiness. It took me a while to realize that it was God telling me to just let go and let him have all of me not just the parts that i want to give to Him because i just wanted to be selfish and keep some things that i was ashamed of from him and try to deal with it myselft instead of giving it over to him and now that i have given those situations over to Him it has been such a burden lifted off of me. It was this past sunday in church that we were talking about the decisions that we make and is it truly what God wants us to do or is just our own selfishness that makes most of our decisions, even in the little things. Do we pray about it or just go along and not even acknowledge what God wants us to do. Do we think about the opportunities that just pass us by because we were selfish and didnt think about what God wants. I’ve come to realize that not acknowledging God just makes the problem worse or not giving it over to Him also.