Truth.Keeper

how can I get to heaven?

So it has been a pretty tough week so far. Something sad happened that kind of crushed me, and I have three exams in a row. One was a little... surprise... But God did something awesome and I had two friends over this last weekend. We actually had a blast and it was tons of fun fellowship for us. We went hiking at the state park a mile away from my house, and it was so funny! We had a picnic of chinese food on the beach... yes, it was like 40 degrees outside and the water was still frozen... oops! But it was still funny. The docks had been taken out of the lake and sat on the sand like a stage, so we had a dance off right there and then while some geese watched us (they probably thought it was some freaky mating dance...haha). We then slid down a very long railing to get to a waterfall. It was all wonderful! One of the girls and I stayed up super late both nights talking to each other. We then ran YG together. How awesome to see God work like this! I will share some photos from the last couple weeks and then I am out!




I did my nails back in the days that I had extra time




Charlie just looked so adorable that I had to ignore Kelly's ugly feet and take a picture of him




My niece baby!




Daylight!




SPRING!!!!!




The crew being a bit dorky




Just think... this view is better than their faces.





Bri and I

I am so very excited for this upcoming weekend. NO SCHOOOOOOOOOL!!!!! UNTIL TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay so I was freaking out a little too much. But still. I am very excited to be a bad person and go to Chicago for 4 days as well. It will be a fun trip with many learning experiences.
YAY!!!

Just to open, a lovely picture of my brother... haha




Isnt my neice beautiful?





Spending time with my neice over break reminded me of new life in Christ. She is just a baby; totally dependent on her father and mother for every bit of her needs. When we are born again, we really are babies. We think like them, we have totally child-like trust in our Maker. As we grow we begin to eat solid foods and start to think for ourselves, but even then heed our parent's direction. We carry the choice to disobey or obey. I want to grow spiritually, but I want--no, need-- that childlike faith that trusts in God to provide every need. I want the Lord to guide me and for me to not stray from the path. Every once in a while, remember back to an infant who trusts in their creators to take care of everything.

SHA!!! CLEAN THAT ROOOOOM!!

My super awesome Christmas Tree.

The weekend was wonderful. I spent good time with a sweet friend. We ice skated on the lake, shopped in a really cheap way, and had many good laughs. It was refreshing to break free from the bonds of monotony.

Something I have been mulling over lately is thinking critically. I feel that when I think of something--a problem or a decision, my final choice or set of mind is an apathetic one. "That'll do." "God might approve of this." "I don't care anymore." We touched on some of the matters and importance of critical thinking in one of my classes a couple weeks ago. I guess I had never really understood what critical thinking truly was. It is analyzing, observing and reasoning your beliefs and actions. How can I be a defender of my faith and the truth if I have not truly reasoned what I believe? Have I backed my beliefs with the Bible lately? What about my morals or my values? I, for one, need to put an honest effort into what I think about and how I think about it.

...Standing in the middle of a frozen lake...


So I really feel like something good is going to happen. God is putting me through a lot of trials lately, whether over my faith or how long I can keep my head above water. Certain things are finally turning and this could be a new dawn! Yay!

You know, people place so much importance on what their external images are. They stand in their well-used closet and look through their selection of masks to fit wherever they are. They go to church with their "more humble than thou" mask; they go to classes in their "I'm your beautiful peppy best friend" mask when they really are in a dangerous struggle with depression. There is the anorexic girl who hastily hides her disorder behind an "i'm okay" mask. They then congregate into groups with others who like that mask. Who cares about the timid little people who try to be themselves?

People, I am so tired of this. So tired. You, with the church mask: everyone makes mistakes! Let someone in to help you! You, with annoying peppy thing going on: Chill. Focus on your issues. And you, with the eating problem: although most girls end up envying your miniscule body, you are not being healthy. Go eat some protein.

At the end of the day we all lie in our beds, no matter how pretty or how deformed we perceive ourselves to be, we all wonder if we performed a good enough act in front of our peers. This place would be so much better if we were ourselves.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? NO. God molded each and every one of us into his idea of beautiful. If God is perfect, there are no mistakes. We should love the people who are too short or too tall. We should love those with too-big noses. We should love those with funny voices. So what if you can sing? I can sing joyful praises to my creator. That's what counts. Let's get together and bring glory to God instead of glory to ourselves.



*Edit* This was a finger-pointing at some of the immature students at my school.