thats a harsh reality.

we are all liars. interesting. we all desire for people to be honest with us. we want to trust and have faith that they will not only do what they say but that their words will not cause harm.

…and yet… we all do the very thing that hurts us the most. why?

because we are human. made of flesh. we allow the world to entangle us with the thought that lying is not as hurtful as the truth. hmm…

sometimes our lies seem so insignificant…so small. but our small lies can become so big that they suck the life right out of who we are and who we strive to become.

how could we possibly stop the world from all the lies that surround it…cutting off the very air we breathe?

contentment is intriguing.

are we ever really content? it seems that as humans… we seek after want our hearts desire… that we are never happy until we have exactly what we believe we want.

but then again —> once we get what we want… it is not at all what we wanted.  and it leaves our heart aching for more.

i know that complete fulfillment is found in God. but where is your contentment found?

some people do not believe that there is a h.e.l.l. —> i heard today that it was because God is merciful and would not throw someone into hell. however, that is a choice made by men. we are given a choice to follow Jesus… the question is whether we will do so. human beings make the choice to go to heaven or to hell. and who are we to question the all Powerful God?

an arguementcould be raised against me as well. i have a tattoo and plan to get more. in Leviticus 19:28 it says, ”do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.”

with that said… i can see where people would think that having a tattoo is wrong. however —- i have an arguement —> of course. (: though there are times that i question myself and wonder if i take that scripture out of context to fit my life. …so then i would not feel convicted…. i also realize that my tattoo is used for good. when people see it or ask what it means… i get to explain to them the joy that i feel in knowing that God has set me free —> i can fly and s.a.t.a.n. has no bondage over me. (i have a sparrow on my left wrist)

who are we to say that one person will or will not go to heaven? that is for God to decide. but, i think its ok to continue raising arguements FOR the Kingdom. —>to keep fighting for rightegousness and justice.

[God is not found in a box... let's stop putting Him in one]

How do you embrace change when you are comfortable where you are? or too scared to take a risk on something new and unknown? … whether the change is good or bad.

Life is full of change (because)  time never stops m.o.v.i.n.g.

Try to think about everything in your life that has happened up to this very moment that you are reading this… what comes to mind?

i remember learning how to tie my shoe for the first time. i remember my brother and two little sisters being born. i remember my step-dad yelling for some unknown reason…as usual. i remember picking on my siblings. i remember loving my siblings. i remember wishing i had someone to understand me. i remember friendships that have long since disappeared. i remember feeling like i was important because a ‘boy’ said he loved me. i remember the mistakes that i have made in my life. i remember pain and tears. i remember feeling the presence of Jesus for the first time in my life. i remember joy. i remember happiness. i remember a boldness that escaped from me … and that shy little girl was gone. i remember my insecurities. i remember thinking i was right.. and also knowing when i was right. i remember the smiles and voices of those that i loved.. and still do. i remember countless memories that would take far too long to write down.

the picture of life is messy. it is not perfect.

but between the lines of brokeness and pain —> there is hope.

.: [with that hope... we see change... and we begin to grow] :.

These words were found scrawled on the wall of a concentration camp:

I beileve in the sun, even though it doesn’t shine,
I believe in love, even when it isn’t shown,
I believe in God, even when he doesn’t speak.

God’s silence offers us the choice – faith or sight. We can either abandon our faith or learn to trust in the dark. God leaves that choice up to us. And all the while he’s more interested in our faith in him than our ability to decipher his silences. The poet Coleman Barks wrote, “The only way we know the play of destiny and free will is to dance the mystery and die inside it.”

Jesus, Job, David, and that man in the concentration camp danced the mystery.

I can’t think of a single place in the whole Bible where God actually explained his silence. I can think of lots of times when people asked him to, but I’m not sure he ever did. I dont know why God is so silent. I really don’t know. I do know that none of those men – David, Jesus, or Job – gave up on God. And God never gave up on them.

When you listen to a song, you only hear the harmony because of the emptiness between the notes. If the song is too full of notes, it becomes nothing but noise. To hear the harmony you have to let the silences have their place in the song. It’s like each note is a pearl upon a necklace and the silences are what strings them all together.

Maybe God knows that without his silences in our lives, we will never hear the melody of faith.

I think in every person’s life a day comes when faith becomes a choice. You can either give up on the silence of God or choose to trust him in the dark as Jesus did while he was dying on the cross.

In the end, most of the Israelites gave up on God.

And at last, God stopped sending his prophets. He stopped speaking to his people. The Old Testament ends with the word ‘curse’. And that terrible word echoed in the hearts of his people for four more centuries.

While God remained silent. As silent as the sky.

Every choice we make forges another invisible link on yet another internal chain that leads either toward freedom or death, toward heaven or hell.

….

I want to write a novel. I want my thoughts to escape me and fall onto the pages of a story waiting to be unraveled.

I want to be a photographer. I want to find little moments in time. I want to capture happiness, joy, pain, hunger, tears, hurt, & love in the face of people. I want time to stand still.

I want my family to know Jesus. I want them to know His love for them. I want them to know that though life can be hard, it could be forever beautiful and lovely if they know Jesus Christ.

I want to marry someone one day and have beautiful children. I want to share my life with my husband. I want to dream with him. I want to raise children who will know about God, so that they may spread His word.

I want happiness. I want joy. I want adventure. I want love. & I will forever want Jesus.

That’s life. We drive. We hit potholes. Then we decide what to do with each pothole in our lives. Fall in and let the darkness consume you or realize it’s there and figure out how to stop driving over it.

What if every person in the world, gave up everything they had to follow Jesus? What if we spend our lives loving on the broken, and hurting, and lost? What would our world look like?

I believe that if we all truly lived for Jesus, there would be a movement of LOVE so incredibly unstoppable!!

So, I am not sure about the rest of you, but…

I am blessed. Truly.