Today, We Live

Today I woke up, the sun was shining through my window, the sky was blue, and even though it was cold outside, there was a warm feeling in the air.
Oh, do we know how blessed we are to live in such a world where we can witness theses things? Do we see the many small blessings that surround us?
This world that we live in is so beautiful, even on it's bad days. Yet, we go around ignoring it. We chose to put screens in front of our faces and wires in our ears as a way of coping with our lives. We think that if we block out the world enough that it will eventually disappear and leave us with the universe that we've created in our minds- our imaginary world. We cover the sounds of the world with music, and live our lives locked up in a room away from family. We chose to read about our friends' latest Facebook drama rather than picking up a book, and for what? We as a people have been desensitized by modern day technology, and maybe we don't mean to, but we are slowly drawing ourselves away from the beauties of the world.
With all these distraction, we miss so much.

And then, even without the distractions, we take it all for granite.

We take the little blessings and cast them aside as if they are nothing. We bring upon ourselves bad days, because we refuse to see what good has been placed in front of us. We look over the fact that today we are alive, that we are able to get out of bed and breathe. We look over the fact that we have the chance to do something with our lives, and maybe even make a difference.

Three years ago, I didn't understand this. In a way, I was the one that put myself into that hole. I couldn't look past the hitting, the yelling, the criticizing, and the rumors long enough to see the world. I bottled up all the emotions and eventually led myself to a costly decision.
The world that I had made myself live in wasn't real, it was the world of my own making. There would be times when I would lock myself in my room and not come out for days, all because I didn't want to face what was real. I thought I could cope better by myself.
The things I missed while hiding behind those walls were innumerable, and I don't want to miss a second more.
I'm storing away the earphones, and putting the phone on silent. I am going to live.

I thank you all for the parts you play in my life, I know that if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be who I am today.

Stay strong out there.

"In the beginning..."

Today I am going to write something a little different. This week I will be finishing a college class I am taking on science, and as part of the finals I wanted to write a little bit of what I learned. I know that some of my friends reading this are probably rolling their eyes, because they've heard it a million times, but I promise I'll shut up after this. :)

Let me just start this off by saying that when I first started this class I wasn't as open minded as I should have been, and so when it came to things such as the big bang theory, it took me longer to grasp what they were saying. My original thought was that there was no way for science and religion to exist on the same plane, that they can't compliment each other. My thought was that science was something people believed when they couldn't except that there is a God. And you know what? That's what it has been made to be believed as. The human society has been made to believe that science has created its own world, that it is a way to strip the Bible of it's real meaning. Well here I am to tell you: we've got it wrong.
Science, my friends, isn't suppose to take away the idea of a God, but instead be used to prove the idea that He exists.
In science we have our laws and our theories. The laws are what we see (apple dropping, etc.), the theory is our explanation for why it's happening (the wind blew it over, etc.). All that science is, is just a bunch of theories to why we think stuff exists. Now, I think we sometimes forget this part and that is where we get science and religion on two different planes. Some people just start teaching their theory (or their explanation for something) so strongly that they might even start believing that it's a law. In reality, there is no way to prove a theory as a law, because theories are just our way of explaining something, and they will always be changing.

But, one of the parts in science that I personally think proves there is a God, is the big bang theory. I know what you're thinking; that had to be the last on my list, but it's true. In the theory it states that earth was created by chemicals and matter combusting, and then there was a cooling stage, after which, we can start seeing water and plant life emerging.
 Well, who said that the earth wasn't created in that way? If you read in Genesis it talks a lot about the same things, with the cooling, then plant life, then animals... etc.
 Another thing, in the Bible it talks about the earth being created in 6 days. Here's a question, were those counted in earth days, or were they counted in God's time? Because one day for God is about 1,000 years for us, matching up to how long scientists think it took the earth to form.

What I am trying to say isn't that the big bang is true, but rather that science doesn't have to go against the idea of there being a God. You don't have to agree with me, but I hope that you won't push the ideas out completely.
Keep an open mind, because there is a whole world to learn about, and science is just another way of looking at it.

Have a beautiful Sunday. :)

"I Will Lead"

I had a weird realization, today. It came as our normal devotional in seminary was being set up, and people were being called on to do certain thing, such as a prayer, or sharing a scripture. I raised my hand and for the 3rd time in a row, said that I'd lead the music.
I don't know why I do this, I persoanlly don't think I'm very good at leading music but I guess I can't be judged, so why not? Even though sometimes I volenteer without looking at the music first, and realized that I have no clue what I'm doing... Somehow my failures don't matter when I'm in seminary. Everyone is there to learn, and hey, if you can't do something, then you're in good company.
But it was while I was sitting at my desk, in the back row, on the far right side of the room, that I started to think.
"I Will Lead."
I always heard that as a chance to make a fool of myself and attempt to conduct music, but it was right there, in that small corner, that those three words started to sink in. What I had been saying for the past week and a half was not simply that I would lead music, but they also felt like they had a different meaning to them.
"I Will Lead"
Those words played around in my head for the remaining twenty minutes of class as I half payed attention to what the teacher was saying. Oh, what an amazing feeling they brought, what courage, what strength. It got me to thinking... I know that in school I'm not considered a leader. There are pleanty of people there that put themselves above me, and to tell you the truth, I don't mind. I'm just the small voice in the background that doesn't want to be heard; that doesn't really care to be heard. I have never really thought of myself as a leader, but here I was, the fourth time in two weeks, proclaiming that I'd lead... "But I can't lead..." that voice in my head said, "I'm not someone that people look up to. Why would they want to follow?"
No sooner had the thought come in to my mind, that I remembered something that was said to me a long time ago, that some of the Lords's greatest warriors and leaders were once no bigger than you. By height or any other standard, just remember that if you were meant to lead, The Lord will give you your voice when you are ready.
I hope that none of us will miss out on a chance to lead, even in the smallest of ways, when your time is right, you'll know.
:)

There's No "Win" in "Give Up"

I have a theory. You know that time when you are doing something and you're feeling on top of your game, and then all of a sudden something goes wrong and you end up letting it slip from under you? Your soul is crushed, your heart sinks, and you replay what happened in your mind until you are literally swimming in all the thoughts of "could have done". It eats at you until there is a big part of you that says that you "can't do it", that you should just give up now, and that "it isn't worth it".
Well, my friend, I've decided. For me I believe that God puts these trials in our life to show us just how great we are, that we aren't perfect and we don't need to be. We are all here on this earth to learn and progress so that we will be able to better serve in the Lord's kingdom, and when we think that we know it all we don't see it fit to progress. No learning, no progression, no service. And this applies to everything from sports to homework, to relationships and even sewing (Ha, long story. :P  ). So rather than beating yourselves up for not being perfect, just know that the one who is has a different plan for you, because maybe you weren't mean to accomplish this task, now.
I was thinking about this today and what I came to was that when we fail it is just another change to become better, and we shouldn't take it as a burden. I mean, it might be hard to look at it in a positive way, but there will most likely be a time in the future when you have learned and progressed and are ready to have the blessings of accomplishment. So don't give up, there is a time when you will thank yourself for keeping strong, and maybe one day you'll get what I'm saying.

:)

In The End

Life.

It's so delicate, so fragile. One wrong turn and it is ripped from grasps. You don't have to be doing anything bad, or wrong; it's just when it's your time you can't change it.
With every second of your life you get closer to that point where it will be your turn; for some it may come tomorrow, and for others many years from now. But what if you were one of the few that went tomorrow? What if it was your turn and you didn't even know it?

In the end, what do you want to be remembered for?

The World

The world, it's a cruel place. It's full of pain, discomfort, criticism, judgement, and is just the place that will knock you on your butt if you let it. It's a place where the weak are pushed around and used, and the strong dominate. A place where in order to be noticed you have to be at the top of your game, and be able to step on other and crush dreams.

Right?

Well let me share something that I have learned from this past week.
I have been homeschooled all my life and just this summer I decided to go to public school. When I made the decision to go I had friends tell me that I was crazy, they said that I would get eaten up and spit out like trash. They warned me of all the pain that I would most likely experience in this choice that I made, and how if I was smart that I would drop out before school started and not go.
Well, I wanted to prove them wrong.
Now, when I walked through those school doors for the first time I can honestly say that it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. It was a little overwhelming at first, and I guess you could say that it was like moving form a town of only a hundred people to New York. There were people everywhere.
Hey, give me some slack, I've been at home for my entire life. The only time that I'm in crowded groups in when we take our trips to Wal-Mart. It was strange to see that many teenagers in one place at the same time.
By the time I had gotten though my first week I was tired.
When Monday came around I was finding that I didn't want to go, that I was already sick of it. That was when I stopped myself, why was I thinking this? My classes were easy, no one had been rude to me in fact, they were all really welcoming! The teachers are great, and I suppose the food is acceptable, so why was I not wanting to go?
Then it hit me. And it was sadly the only thing that I could come up with.
I was the reason. I had freaked myself out and I let it all go to my head when, in fact I was fine. I had thought that everyone was right about it being hell, when it was really just me looking at it that way. It made me wonder about how often I don't look fully at a given situation. Have there been other times where I could have made a difference in an outcome just by changing me attitude? That answer, is yes.
So back to the world being a cruel place. Is it? Yeah, to an extent. But in the end it isn't how cruel the world is, but how you look at it. I guess we all have to learn to look at a "bad day" and just laugh at it. Because the only hell that I have been able to find is the one I have made.
Go on, be happy. :)