Time goes by!

As the year 2011 comes to a close, and the year 2012 begins it's journey, I can't help but reminisce on this past year and realize how much God has truly blessed me! There are so many things I've accomplished this year, There are so many things God has provided, There are so many things God has worked out in a way that I would've never planned, It just reminds me once again how great God really is!
Psalm 40:5 says,
"Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare."
And that's exactly how I feel, God has done so many amazing things, and I wouldn't have enough time in the world to tell about them, what more can I say than GOD IS GOOD!!!!!
This year, I have fullfilled a few dreams of mine, I've not only been involved in one musical, but two, one of which I had the wonderful opportunity to be on stage with. I have gotten several different theatre offers, from stage managing, assistant stage managing, directing, acting, assisting backstage, writing, dancing, singing......Well, you get the point, I haven't had the opportunity to do too many shows, but God has blessed me with so many more opportunities. I have made several friends, whether it was through Peter Pan, or Singing in the Rain, or spending a little time at Jr. Camp with a few great kids. Whether it was learning how to juggle, and having the chance to meet an amazingly talented, and wonderful family, or getting to know local homeschoolers through them. God has seemed to continually bless! I got to write and direct my first project this year, I learned how to tap dance, I learned how to juggle, I got to be a counselor at Jr. Camp for the first time, and I look forward to it again next year, I was allowed to go to the Northwest Youth Conference one more year and see a whole different side of it. I, only by a miracle, graduated and received my high school diploma, and I have recently been accepted to the college I believe God wants me to go. As I said I could go on and on and on, but this past year God has blessed me so much!
That's not to say the year has been perfect, I have gone through my share of trials, temptations, and rough patches in life, and I know there will be more in the future, but there is one thing I know I can always remember. "All things work together for good" God never said times would be peachy keen, He never said it would be a piece of cake, but I just always have to remember "Trust in the Lord with all your hear and lean not unto your own understand, In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths."
So, I would like to dedicate this post to all the amazing people in my life, whether it's my mom, dad, brother, or sister, my best friends, my aquaintances, or my great church family; You all have been an amazing blessing in my life, and I thank you!
As we go into the year 2012, I look forward to all that God has in store! I know there's gonna be some big steps for me to take, but I hope and pray I will always trust in God. I pray for you all every morning, I thank God every day for the blessings he has given me, and I hope that I am as much of a blessing to you all as you are to me! May God's blessings shine on you in the year 2012, and for many many many years to come! Have a Happy New Year!

The greatest gift of all

As I have Christmas music stuck in my head, My parents are wrapping presents, and I am sucking on a candy cane, I am reminded it is that time of year again. It is the most wonderful time of the year! Boys and Girls all over the world write letters to a jolly old man from the North Pole. Families gather together once again around the table for a dinner of ham and pecan pie. People dress up warm and goes from house to house, nursing home to nursing home singing carols of Santa, Reindeer, Snowmen, and Partridges in a Pear Tree. Houses are all lit up with flashing lights and inflatable characters, and movies are shown about miracles that happen on Christmas Eve. Sure, it may give you that warm, fuzzy, holiday cheer feeling, but is this really what Christmas is all about? It's one of the biggest, most expensive, most popular, and most widely known birthday parties in the whole world! People prepare for it for months upon months, and it's not just celebrating birth, it is celebrating the greatest gift ever given. God gave his one and only son Jesus to me so I could be saved. Not only that, but Jesus humbly gave of himself! Jesus gave up his place of royalty in Heaven, He came down from a perfect sinless place to a dirty sinful place and become a lowly servant. He came not for his own benefit, but He came so we could be called the sons of God! You could never have enough money in the world to afford something so special! We didn't deserve this gift and we never will, but God gave of his Son, so that we could have the gift of eternal life! So three perfect gifts, God giving of His son, Jesus giving of Himself, and the irreplaceable gift of eternal life! Christmas cookies, presents, carols and family are always fun, but I hope this season, and always we will remember the greatest gift that was ever given, and that is Jesus Christ our Lord! Merry Christmas, Have a great night, God Bless!

Luke 2:11 "Today in the town of David a saviour has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord."

The most important instruction book in the world

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and it always seems to get busier and busier. I apologize for not writing near as much as I would like to, but being an eighteen year old isn't easy work. Anyway, I'll get on with my thought.
It's that time of year where you pull out the old Christmas decorations, put up the Christmas lights, and hang up your stockings, but none of that is finished until the tree is all ready. My dad is however allergic to Christmas trees, and while it would be nice to have a real tree, I've always grown up with a store-bought one, so I don't really miss the real ones, but maybe someday. Last week we pulled out our Christmas tree from the shop and put it together. To our dismay we found out half the lights weren't working, and nobody could find the ones that were broken, so we decided after ten years, we should let our family tree retire and move on to a new tree. With that we went to Wal-Mart and bought a new beautiful Christmas tree. We got home, opened up the box, and put it together lickity-split, that was the easy part. However being a pre-lit tree we had to figure how to plug it all in. We tried and tried and tried to figure it all out, and it turned out I had unplugged something that should've never been unplugged. It took us quite some time to figure out the lights, but my dad got the great idea of looking at the instruction manual. Once we knew what I did wrong, we got it right away, it was a lot simpler than we thought, and I had messed it all up. We got it all figured out in the end, and the tree is now sitting in our room looking pretty. You may be saying what does this have to do with anything. Simple! That's just like our life, God has given us a great instruction book. He has inspired it, Provided several men to write it, and He's Preserved it for thousands of years. In our life, we should pay close attention to our instruction book. Life will be so much easier if we do. We should consistently and carefully read the Bible  because God has blessed us with it. We should not just read it for the sake of reading it, but we should read it to get something out of it. We should want to read it, so we can get something from God. If we do that, it will save us a lot of trouble, a lot of problems, and a lot of work. Sure we will make some mistakes, but we should first off want to read it to prevent future mistakes, and even if we do make mistakes, we should read it to know best how to fix it. I'm so glad that God has blessed me with a Bible. There are a lot of people who don't have that privelege, and I am so blessed to own one. It contains so much wisdom, and God has given us so much to learn from in it.
I think of 2 Timothy 3:16 when it says,
"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness"
So, I want to be more careful in my life to set aside some time each day to carefull read the instruction book God has given me. Have a great night, God Bless!

Be Happy with what you have

As the holidays are coming and going, I am reminded of how blessed we are, and yet at the same time, how selfish and greedy of a world we live in. As we all have a sinful nature, we are always wanting more. In fact, I see it as if we are little children. We are never happy with what we have, we are never satisfied. I know I've heard several times "Be happy and thankful for what you have" In fact, I've said it myself, but how often do we live what we teach? Are we happy and thankful with what we have. In my life, I have had several thoughts like that. For instance recently I have been invited to a few birthday parties, which I am very appreciative of! I hardly ever get invited to birthday parties, so I appreciate being included in them, however the next day, I see on facebook people saying that they are out doing things with their friends, having a good time, and doing stuff together, and I got jealous. I thought, why can't I be included? Why can't I be the one out doing things with my friends, and yet I forget about all the things that God truly has blessed me with. I forget about the night I had before, celebrating wit friends,, playing games and having a good time. I WAS INCLUDED!!!!!!!!! Why am I not satisfied with what I have. I have also been working on being satisfied and thankful in the theatre as well.. So many times I have auditioned for a show and been turned down. I have been put back stage, or put in the audience, or not even a part of the show at all, and I think, "Why am I not the one in the spotlight, Why can't I be the one taking a bow and have people clap for me?" I never seem to be happy with what God has blessed me with. It's not about popularity and fame, and while that's nice, It's all about glorifying God, being a blessing to others, meeting other people, and making memories that will last forever. God has blessed me by allowing me to be backstage on so many shows. Sure I've only been on stage in the spotlight for a handful of shows, but He has blessed me more than I can ever express. He is sooooooooo good! I've heard stories of children going in stores the day after Christmas and having a tantrum because they can't get a toy, while they have hundreds of dollars worth of toys at home from the day before. Am I really any better than that child? I'm not! I know being a Christian is a privelege enough, and I have been so blessed over and beyond that. So why am I not thankful for what I have. The biggest thing I have to remember is it's my sinful nature trying to get a hold of me again. I have to remember again 1 Thessalonians 5:18 when it says "In all things give thanks" So, should we get upset when we don't have everything we want? Sure, we aren't in the spotlight with everyone clapping for us, Sure we don't have a million dollar lambourghini in our driveway, but here I am on a laptop, with a roof above my head, clothes on my back, and a nice warm bed to sleep in while it's freezing cold outside. It doesn't even matter if we do have everything money can buy, we will always want more! Think of Donald Trump, does he ever seem happy? Sure, he can buy anything he ever wanted, including several marriages, but I have more than money can buy, I have eternal life! So, I have been reminded recently that I am so blessed and I should be happy, satisfied, and thankful for everything I have. Have a great night, God bless!

Is it really too early for Christmas?

Hello! I was reading on of my friends blogs the other day and she brought up a good reminder for me. I decided I would use that idea for my blog as well, and spread the reminder around. As Thanksiving is now over, all the stores go straight from one holiday to another. They hardly ever bother with Thanksgiving, they go straight from Halloween to Christmas. They start playing Christmas carols, they put up Christmas trees and wreaths, they start selling Christmas lights and Christmas clothes, and what do so many people, including myself think? It's too early for Christmas! They don't want to hear the carols until they are ready, they don't want to think about Christmas trees, and of course you never hear anyone say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays until a few days before. Anyway, as I was reading my friends blog and thinking, I was reminded, is it ever really too early for Christmas? Christmas isn't about presents, or carols, or trees! It's not about family, or friends, or even that warm fuzzy feeling of holiday cheer! It's about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. As I'm sure I'll write about Christmas at least once more this year, I will try and stay on point, but It's kinda like Thanksgiving. Should we only be thankful on Thanksgiving Day? Of course not, so why should we only celebrate Christmas one day a year? We should always be praising God for sending His son to this world. Without Him, we wouldn't be the same. Who knows where we would be today if He didn't. If you're like me, and Thanksgiving comes and goes around, and you begin to say, It's too early for Christmas!!!!!!!! I know I'm working on thinking again. We should celebrate Christmas all year through. So Merry Christmas, Have a Great Night, and God Bless!