Reformation Day

October 31 is a widely known holiday called "Halloween". I won't go into the history of Halloween here; suffice it to say that the original intent has changed over the years. But did you know that October 31 is also the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg? This event was a catalyst that prompted the Protestant Reformation.
Instead of dressing up as a witch or vampire and having a night of revelry, consider instead finding a way to celebrate the reformers and what they did to change the dynamics of church history.
The reformers encouraged things that Christians often take for granted today- reading the Bible, and an understanding of salvation by the grace of God through faith, not the works of man.
Maybe you could have a party with your church or friends. There are many possibilities for such a party:
*choose a reformer (Martin Luther, William Tyndale, John Calvin, etc) and watch a movie about his life.
* dress up in period-style costumes
* have a teacher explain some of the teachings of the reformers in a simple, fun way
* have food from that time period, or food of the country of the reformer you choose
* learn a dance from the time period
* have a long strip of paper for younger children to decorate with events from the Reformation.

One Reformation Day party I attended included a mini golf course made just for the occasion, each hole representing something from the Reformer's life. As you can see, there are many, many possibilities.
Have a wonderful Reformation Day!

Life Purpose Planning

As part of my CollegePlus! studies, I am going through a little workbook called 'Life Purpose Planning'. It has been very helpful (much more so than I originally thought) The price of the book is very reasonable- $7- and I recommend it highly to any student. :) Check it out here: http://lifepurposeplanning.org/index.html

Throughout the book there are various questions to answer, which all lead up to discovering your God given life purpose. They emphasize very strongly the need for prayer and collaboration with parents/mentors throughout the process. I just finished my life purpose statement and will share it here as an example of what the book helps you to discover. They help you to personalize it so that each line, even each word, is just exactly 'you'. This is a very important project, since if you aim high, you will end high, but if you don't have any target, guess what- you probably won't hit one.

"My passion is to live a life that is inwardly and outwardly beautiful in the eyes of God and man. I want my relationship with God to be foremost in my thoughts at all times, so that I will live out a joy-filled and powerful testimony to the existence of an amazing God.

My hearts desire is to grow every day in the knowledge of and love for God. I purpose to glorify Him in every moment and circumstance of my life, communicating the truth effectively in love and with wisdom. My life purpose can be summed up in one sentence- I will spend my days pointing others to God. These others include children and teenagers. I will reach them by sharing the best biblically based resources I can find and creating others. Whatever place I am in life I will seek to bless people with an attitude of love, generosity, humility, compassion, and peace. I will seek out opportunities to share with others through writing, speaking, hospitality, and music, and to rescue those lost in the bondage of modern slavery. Whatever I do, I will do all to the glory of God, remaining ever ready to give an answer to every man who asks the reason for the hope that is in me."

I encourage you to check out the website!
God bless and have a beautiful day. :)

I loved this...
"Live every day so that when people speak evil of you no one will believe it."

Jonny Diaz 'A More Beautiful You'

This is such an important song for both guys and girls to hear.

Girls... we often feel so overwhelmed by the desire to be beautiful, that we don't realize that in God's eyes we already are! Even if you are very secure in yourself and are resting in God's love for you, this is a beautiful song. (thank you to my friend for passing it along to me!)

Guys... For the most part you can't begin to understand the struggles that girls go through... even the most self-assured, beautiful girl you know will have tons of days of looking into the mirror feeling that she doesn't measure up. Please.. tell the girls in your life that they are pretty and worth so much in God's sight. If you don't want to do this for reasons of not wanting to seem like you 'like' that girl, at the very least... don't tease her about her appearance. That can be so devastating, though she will probably never let you know.

For the girls...

Over on the Rebelution forums there has been a very hot discussion topic among the girls. In fact, it has become over 30 pages!! The subject? Quotes for girls. Now, I know... guys are just as capable of enjoying quotations as girls are. But in many ways, and for many topics, it is a 'girl thing'. So, I have started a blog just for the purpose of sharing encouraging quotes for girls. Right now I have mostly added quotes gathered from the Rebelution forum, but I have plenty more of my own to add and will soon do so. Check it out!
http://quotes4christiangirls.blogspot.com/
The title of the blog is Inspiring God's Girls, and that is exactly what I hope it will do. :-)

one of those 'God thoughts'

Have you ever had God hit you over the head with a thought? He just did that to me recently. It isn't fun, but it is quite revealing.

I was innocently reading through a really good apologetics (defense of the Christian faith) book yesterday. This particular one happened to be an analysis of the ideas and books of some of the 'New Atheists', namely, Richard Dawkins, Sam Haris, and a few others. I was in my very Christian mindset, cheering the author on for every particularly choice arrow shot through the ideas of these men. Then, without any advance warning, God grabbed my heart. (Don't you hate it when you're so right about something and suddenly He shows up??)

It wasn't audible. I've never been one of those people who hears a big voice booming out of heaven. That would be cool... but, no. Instead, it was a nagging little voice that sounded an awful lot like an annoying mosquito, buzzing merrily away just out of reach. Some people may call it a conscience, I call it God.

It said: "okay miss smarty-pants. What would you do if given the opportunity to spend a day with, say, Richard Dawkins?" Me: "well, if given enough warning, I would spend lots of time preparing all sorts of good arguments as to why he is basically an idiot. Based on the biblical understanding of course, I don't mean that in a nasty way, I'm just getting all this from Proverbs and Romans..." It said: "do you think that perhaps those men have heard enough arguments from Christians? Do you think that perhaps they would respond to truth more if they had someone show the caring side of a Christian? I said: "Go away." It said: "Not until you think this through some more."

(SIGH)So, I thought. And wondered. I wondered if Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris have any Christian friends. I wondered if anyone who is a biblical Christian has taken the time to get to know them as people, or if they all avoid them as they would the Swine Flu. I wondered if any Christians took the time to pray for them to come to know God, or if they prayed for them to fall off of a cliff.

I wondered, did I ever think about them as people, or did I merely see them as wrong philosophies to be shot down?

I wondered how God saw my hypocrisy of claiming to care about people and then turning around and tearing down, in my mind, those I saw as worldly smart but not wise.

I've got a long way to go. For the record, I still believe they are wrong, and I want to learn all I can to be able to defend truth against their attacks. At the same time though, I am asking God, in the words of Brandon Heath, to give me His eyes. I want to see them as people, not just as the personification of their ideas.

Yep. God hit me with something just as hard as a two by four this time. I think that is His specialty- adjusting thinking little by little so that it turns more towards Him.

an inspirational writing

Thank you to Bridget from the Rebelution forums for letting me post this. :-)

Now be honest girls-- how many of us could relate to something like this?

He likes me, better like him back.
Wear my nicest clothes, be sure to impress.
Each step I take opens my heart another crack
Till it is open and pouring out.
Then comes the bad news
-He likes someone else.
Now my heart is badly cracked.
Can I ever heal it?
I cry and wipe my tears till they're all dried up.
I grab a few strings and bind my heart up quick
Before anyone sees that I am hurting
And points, and laughs.
Now my heart has cracks, its seeping out all over
It drops on clothes and attitudes
And shows up on my face.
I laugh and flirt some more
So my broken heart won't kill me.
But it's not working, that last fling broke my heart in two.
My life has been ruined
All hope has left.
The darkness surrounds me, suffocating me
Life is empty
No meaning at all
I've tried to ignore it
But now it has caught up with me
I don't know why I was even born
Nothing matters, no one seems to care.
Life is like a vacuum, Sucking me up till I'm at the bottom
The force is strong, no one else seems to resist.
Why should I?
I cry and wish to die
To curl up in a ball
And never stand again.
But then I hear a voice
Whispering softly, gently to me
''Give it all up, my dear, I know how you feel,''
''I died for you, and I'm here to tell you that I love you.''
I sob as I listen to the voice of GOD
Then with a 'yes' and an uplifted hand
I give up all my dreams
All my hopes, all my life
All my fears and all my hurts
I give up everything that I once longed for
And realize I need something more.
I surrender my life and let HIM take control.
Then, his arms surround me so tenderly
My tears stop, replaced with joy.
I feel His love within me, so strong, it heals my heart.
My heart is better now, with only scars to remind me
Of the time when I was alone, looking in the wrong place for love.
But now I'm not alone, I've got a King for a daddy
And a Prince for a big brother.
I'll never forget how my new family rescued me
It cost so much, that GOD had to give up HIS only SON
Jesus died-for me!
I was an orphan, alone and dirty
I was dying in the gutter, until HE rescued me.
HE didn't care that I had given my heart away.
All HE asked for was my heart, my life, and my love.
I've given my heart to HIM, He'll keep it, and nourish it
Until the perfect time.
And then, with joy in HIS voice and love in HIS eyes
He'll say; ''Well done, daughter.''
And I will be able to turn and say to the love of my life
''Here, I give me heart to you, my daddy kept it until now.''
''I know you won't break it, I trust you with my life.''
''And since my daddy had my heart, I couldn't just give it away.''
''You had to ask HIM for it, and because you proved yourself worthy,''
''Here's my heart.''

But until then, O GOD
I give YOU my heart.
I surrender all to YOU.
Keep me enthralled in YOUR love
So that none other can distract.
Pick me up and twirl me around.
Give me faith to not fear.
Set my feet on higher ground
I want to reach new heights and never look back.
I want to praise YOU for who YOU are
And I will give glory to YOUR name.

I give YOU the key to my heart, and control of my thoughts.
Show me the way of purity.
I will trust YOU-
With my life, with my future
With my love, and with my heart.