sweet serenity.

[taken december 25, 2007 at my house, its my moms piano.]

this is my moms favorite instrument, a baby grand piano.

every time i see and hear my mom playing the piano i feel like everything is right with the world because i can tell she is totally worshiping God with all that she has when she is playing and beautiful music comes from this simple yet complex instrument.

but most of us think that singing is the only way possible to worship.

why is that?

is it because we are able to tell that person is truly worshiping by the way they express their emotions when they sing?

worshiping is not just about singing.

it is about doing what God placed in you to be passionate about.

God wants us to worship him with the gift that he placed in us.

God gave some people the gift of musical ability, some the gift of teaching, some with the gift of acting, and there are so many other talents that are out there that God gave to us.

God wants to be glorified by them.

but we have to be careful.

we can sometimes get caught up in knowing that we are good at what we do and end up glorifying ourselves instead of giving the glory to God.

when we are giving the glory to God nothing else matters, we become unaware of our selfish desires and actually praise God for all he has done for us.

i get goosebumps when i am truly worshiping and i know that i am because i can not fake the goosebumps and i can not deny the presence of God surrounding me.

do not be afraid to truly worship.

allow the holy spirit to fill you up.

praise the one who as made you.

God made us to worship him with the talents he placed in us.

what will you do?

will you give yourself all the glory?

or

will you praise God with your whole heart like my mom does when playing the piano?

i can not decide for you.

only you can.

God is so awesome!

[taken october 8, 2006]

look how beautiful and amazing the sunset is!

God is just totally awesome like it blows my mind!

God forgives sin and loves and cares deeply for his children and grants news mercies every single day!

how can someone not believe in God when this photo shows the awesomeness of God!?

who else can take the sun and as it sets to change it different colors and reflect it off of the lake? NO ONE!

God is just so awesome! not only did he send his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save us from our sins and give us eternal life in heaven with him for all who believe, he also gave us another day to live. another chance at redemption. another day to glorify him. another day to accept and listen to his awesome and mighty word. another day to grow closer to him. another day to see what he has created. another day to realize how awesome and powerful he is.

God is so awesome i cannot even begin to explain.

God is my Heavenly Father and i love him with all my heart mind and soul.

do you?

do you even believe?

if not, why not?

if you would like to know more read the book or rent the video called "The Case for Christ" by lee strobel, you will not regret it!

shadows of light.

[taken january 1,2008 at my house]

notice the shadow from the ball it is there because of the way that the sun hit the ball.

i know that everyone knows that and it is simple first grade stuff but please stay with me here.

if the sun had not been shining on the ball then there would have been no shadow and of course no photo either.

lets compare the shadow of the ball to our walk with God.

if we do not get into God's word and do not spend time with him then how can people tell that we believe in the Son of God?

they cant.

but if we stay in God's word and dig deeper into it and allow God to use it in our lives; people can tell that we have something so amazing that they would want to know more.

we do not actually cast a shadow so that people can tell that we are christians. its through our attitudes and actions.

i love being able to allow God to shine through me and use me for his glory.

God does not want us to sit around and wait. he wants us to get into his word and go out and make disciples of all nations! and the only way that we can do that is by learning and having a close relationship with God. if we do not have that then no one can tell that you believe in the one who came to save us by sending his only son Jesus to die upon a cross and raise to life again so that we may live eternally in heaven.

would you rather be like a basketball with no light shining on it?

or

would you rather be like the basketball and give off the shadow showing the world that you are in love with the one and only Savior Jesus Christ.

you choose.

heavenly father.

[this was taken in mexico on a mission trip in june]

there is something very special about this picture that i took. as you can tell theres a dad and his daughter standing together.

it seems like a normal picture right?

wrong.

this little girl is mentally challenged and does not have that much longer to live.

as i looked up and towards the father when taking the pic he had so much pride and joy in his eyes that it just broke my heart. even though his daughter is special needs, he doesnt have any money to help her, and they live in poverty that still doesnt stop his love for his daughter.

God is like that.

God doesnt care if you are special needs, black, white, red, brown, yellow, fat, skinny, tall, short, smart, stupid, ugly, even beautiful. God has so much joy for you as His child.

just like that father has that pride and joy with his daughter, God is so proud of you that He only made one of you that is unique and beautiful.

God is like a father who just saw his son or daughter for the first time and is too happy for words.

God loves you and wants to be close to you and be your father.

will you let Him be your heavenly father?

God is waiting for you, his child, to come running back into His loving and caring arms.

pro-life.

[this was taken 10-23-07 for the national pro-life silence day]

pro-life silence day is a day where people choose to give up their voices for all of the 4,000 babies that die each day from abortion.

i chose to be silent because i believe that abortion is murder.

for 24 hours my mouth was duct taped shut and my heart and mind were open to listen to what God was telling me. during the 24 hours there were emotions that i have not felt in a very long time. at first i felt persecuted and mocked by the strangers who did not know what was going on. i began having doubts about this whole thing and wondered if it was the right thing to do. i prayed and meditated on Gods word to regain affirmation that this was Gods will and not mine.

that was only the morning.

as the morning turned into afternoon, God began revealing His plan to me little by little. people came up to me and encouraged me by telling me that they support the cause. i felt in touch with God then satan came and started bringing me down again. there was so much frustration in me that i just wanted to yell and just talk. for a split moment i almost gave up. then i remembered that God is on my side and so are the people that i love. i kept praying and meditating.

that was only the afternoon.

as the sun started going down my heart and mind started relaxing. because i knew that there were only a few more hours left until the day was done. i went to go worship with a group of people and i knew it was alright for me to sing praises to the one who had created me. when i started singing my heart filled with joy and peace allowing me to fully worship God thanking Him for laying on my heart this issue. people knew that i was passionate about life and they began saying to others how i spoke to them by being silent. i felt satisfied that i fulfilled Gods plan for me that day. right as midnight hit the first thing i said was "that was intense". because i wrestled all day long with my emotions and physical wants and desires but God in the end won.

that was the end of the day.

God gives hope, courage, healing, peace, forgiveness, and life to those who seek Him and want a change.

babies are a gift from God.

abortion is murder and murder is a sin and against the law.

do you agree or not?

worry.

[i took this three weeks ago]

how angelic she looks sleeping.

she doesnt have to worry about tomorrow.

she knows that someone is going to be there when she wakes up.

as adults we dont look very angelic when we are sleeping.

we always worry about tomorrow and the future.

sometimes we have that fear that no one is going to be there when we wake up, but for some of us its true.

how cool would it be to just give everything up to God and not have to have a care in the world? that would be so amazing! but its hard to give everything up and rely on God fully. its like i would give something up to Him but later on take it back as though i cant live without it.

the truth is that God is bigger than any of us and our problems. He can take care of whatever worries that we have. but as humans we think we can handle things on our own. and that God doesnt need to worry about us when there are starving people out there.

i want to be like that baby sleeping safe and sound without worries. but i know that i have to spiritually work on that to even get close to being like a baby.

Matthew 6:25-34 NIV

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

this is the verse we all should take in and run with it.

will you read the verse and not understand it or will you read it and live it?

your choice.

storms of life.

[taken like a month ago]

have you ever witnessed a huge storm ahead of you when you are driving and you can see the pouring down of the rain?

it kind of scares me to know that in less than 5 minutes i would be driving through the storm. so i start planning precautions and i know exactly what to do when something like that happens. but what happens when a spiritual storm hits? what do i do? do i know exactly what to do as if i were driving in the rain? the answers are i have no clue and i dont know what to do.

although spiritual storms are not physically seen but is emotionally damaging. this is the time when you wrestle with God and end up in a valley of desperation.

i have heard ways to get through the storm over and over again i hear what they say but i dont act upon it.

here are some of the things that i have been told to do:

1. pray.
-excuse: "sometimes i just dont feel like praying because it takes to long and i just dont want to wait."
-the truth: prayer works even though it may take a while. and patience is a virtue.

2. get in the word of God.
-excuse: "im to lazy and just dont want to because i happen to find something better to do."
-the truth: God can reveal himself by digging in to the word of God. it may not be the first thing on your mind to do but He will show the way to living a pure life.

if we get into a habit of doing this it should be easier to get through the storm. it will become a routine when we see that a storm is approaching we can automatically switch into the gear of prayer and quiet time.

i am learning this as well.

so what will you do when a storm comes your way? will you take this advice and run with it or just be stuck in a rut till the storm passes?

hbu.

[taken like a few hours ago in the dorm!]

-i did not take this pic, because i am in the pic!-

anyway these are my suite mates and my roomate!

from left to right starting from the top!

amna, erica, sheena, me, raquel, sarah, and molly!

amna and erica are roomates, sheena and i roomates we hosted raquel for the week, then sarah and molly are roomates!

God has blessed me with amazing girls to live with. God is an awesome God. i cant wait till what the school year brings for us and our relationship. i love them all!

hbu is amazing. God is doing amazing things in my life. thank you all for those who prayed for me!

caution.

[taken last week at the beach]

as i watched him walk on the beach he was so careful about where he stepped. normally little kids would just run or step on anything. but he was being very cautious and safe. how many of us walk keeping in mind that we could step on something that could hurt us? i am guessing not very many of us do.

those of us who dont watch where we are going we become disoriented a little because we thought nothing would be in our way. but then again those of us who watch where we walk just feel stupid by the fact we just tripped over something that we just saw.

isnt that what its like in our walk with christ?

if we follow where God is leading us we will be cautious in what we do we will end up safe and sound. although we may mess up and feel stupid because we knew what was going to happen even before we did it. but if we do not follow Gods way then we will end up angry at ourselves because nothing went right and is still not going right. nothing will get fixed unless you fix your eyes on God. you will keep going in the same pattern of the life you live until you want what God wants.

just think about it.

thank you.

[as you can tell i did not take these but this is something special i am going to do, so please be patient with me.]

i want to thank my family for giving me a new life. the first pictures are of my siblings and i and the second on is the one of my parents and i.

chris, thank you so much for being my big brother and for actually caring so much about me that you wanted me in the family. thank you so much for everything you have ever done for me. thank you for all the times i have spent with you. i love you so much!

brian, thank you for always spending time with me. thank you for being my brother and for loving me. thank you for everything. thank you for all the wonderful times i had losing at monopoly! (for 10 years!) i love you!

jojo, thank you so much for being like my second mom. thank you for always taking care of me and spending time with me. thank you for getting away all the bad thoughts in my head when i was little. thank you for being someone i can look up to. thank you for loving me. i love you jojo!!

robbie, thank you for being my brother who had the courage to pick on me! thank you for not getting jealous when you were no longer the baby! thank you most of all for caring for me and allowing me to be your little sister. thank you for letting me spend time with you. i love you!


the next picture is where the emotions are gonna come flowing out!

dad, thank you for being the best dad in the world. i know at times you cant tell that i love you but i really do! thank you for wanting me and for taking care of me. thank you for taking me fishing and on daddy daughter dates. those were always so important to me. thank you so much for all that you have done for me! i love you daddy!

mom, thank you for being the best mom in the world. thank you for adopting me. thank you for giving me a new life. thank you for all the time of snuggling with you. thank you for loving me. you saved me from hell. thank you. thank you for not giving up on me when times got rough. thank you so much for giving me hope. i love you mommy!

harley, thank you for being the best dog ever and my best friend!

sorry i had to add the last one in!

there is so much for to say but at this moment i really cant get them out in words.

my family, i want to thank every single one of you for getting me ready for this time in my life. thank you for all of your support and prayers. i love you all!

jessica.

"Love Heals" off of the movie "Rent"

-press play-