Day 35

Ladies, this one is for us. I'm not going to reflect on this at all, just read it and smile, because it's the truth.

"Little girl fourteen flipping through a magazine
Says she wants to look that way
But her hair isn't straight her body isn't fake
And she's always felt overweight

Well little girl fourteen I wish that you could see
That beauty is within your heart
And you were made with such care your skin your body and your hair
Are perfect just the way they are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Little girl twenty-one the things that you've already done
Anything to get ahead
And you say you've got a man but he's got another plan
Only wants what you will do instead

Well little girl twenty-one you never thought that this would come
You starve yourself to play the part
But I can promise you there's a man whose love is true
And he'll treat you like the jewel you are

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

So turn around you're not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It's not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who's strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl

There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you"

More Beautiful You by Johnny Diaz

Mel

Day 34

Happy Palm Sunday (:

I'm stealing this from my pastor's sermon this morning, because I really liked it.

Try to step outside of yourself and see things, step out of your perspective that is naturally self centered. I don't mean this in a cruel way, because we are all self centered by nature. If we weren't how could we survive? Don't look at your needs, look at those around you, look at how you can be of assistance to them. You'll be amazed at how much people will appreciate it!

Mel

Day 33

This is more of an observation, but have you noticed that when you listen to Christian music, you can apply half of the songs to any of your truly strong friendships? I've been noting that lately and it makes me smile, because they are all for the best friend that anyone could ever have.

Mel

Day 32

"Every time I breathe you seem a little bit closer"

Every Time I Breathe by Daddy Weave

All I have to say is do you feel this way? Sometimes I do, and sometimes every breathe makes me feel a million miles further from him.

Mel

Day 31

Well, I'm just not doing too well at keeping up this week am I?? But my topic is a good lesson for everyone to work, especially me with the week I had!

Patience

You can't always thrust things upon people and expect them to understand, let along accept the concept or idea. The same is true with Christianity. I know that it took me years to realize it, because if there is one thing that I believe to the core about accepting God it's that you have to do it for yourself. You can't truly accept him just because your friends want you to, or because it's the cool thing to do. Maybe there is someone who you've been a bit frustrated with, be it religiously or otherwise, and you just can't understand why they don't get it. Take a step back, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and realize that you're only stressing the person out more. Try to be a friend to them, and go from there, it will work wonders.

Mel

Day 30

Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
from Four Souls by Mike Peterson, Matt Kronberg, Jedd Medefind, and Trey Sklar.

Always make your peace with God before you close your eyes.

Mel

Day 29

My other point that I've been thinking about a lot lately is this: it doesn't matter what profession you're in, or what you're doing, if you do it with your whole heart, and let God shine through you, then whether you're a janitor or the president, you're just as important to God. If you're a gas station clerk who truly enjoys their work, and talks a bit with each customer, and cares about each customer, and makes them feel loved, then you are just as awesome in the eyes of God as the pastor who has devoted his every waking minute to God.

Mel

Day 28

Well, I'm not on a good streak lately am I? Anyways, I'd like to ask you to do something in the rest of the time we have today, it's nothing big, but just a little something to brighten someone's day. Maybe get some ice cream on the way home, or maybe let them pick the tv show to watch tonight. Let them see God's light shining through you.

Mel

Day 27

One thing I've learned through my youth group is that people put restrictions on God. Somewhat like 'hey God, can you help me do this? and then saying WAIT what do you mean I'm in trouble for using your name in vain?! I don't care what it means to you, I'm gunna do it!!!' To dumb it down incredibly, you can't just follow half the rules in the game. Anyways, why would you only want God to touch certain aspects of your life? He can help you do everything, he can give you the power to move mountains, the strength to run a million miles, and the love to get you through the hardest of days. So maybe if you're setting these boundaries, you should try letting God consume your whole life, you'll be amazed what it does.

Mel

Day 26

Well, again I'm a bit late, forgive me, I ended up being gone most of last night. But I wanted to use this day to tell you what my answer to the question I asked was. It's fairly simple, but the words mean a lot to me.

Unending love, amazing grace.

These are lyrics from Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin, but they are my what kind of God my God is. Now one thing I was wondering was what is grace actually defined as, and one of the definitions is 'good will' or good intentions. If that's not the truth about our God, then I don't know what is.

Mel

Day 25

Today is extremely short, but I like it. I'm just going to pose a question that I was asked at my youth group a few weeks ago. Chew it over, it's a really good one.

What kind of God is your God???

Mel

Day 24

I'll be by your side, where ever you fall,
In the dead of night, whenever you call,
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you,
My hands are holding you.
By Your Side (chorus) by Tenth Avenue North

I heard this song for the first time at Winter Jam on friday night, and I am head over heels for it. I can picture a scene so easily to this chorus. It's a dark, thunder-stormy night, and you're walking alone across a bridge because you got stood up by the person you've had a crush on forever. You haven't got a clue where you are, and you end up just sitting on the side of the road, crying your eyes out, when out of no where your best friend pulls up, parks, and climbs out to sit next to you. That magic 'best friend connection' gave them the feeling something was wrong, and so they'd been searching all over for you. Now you'll have to make up your own mental image, because that's my what my high school girl head has come up with. But magnify that times a million and you'll have an inkling of how much of a friend and father God is. Wonderful, isn't it?

Mel

Day 23

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Proverbs 20:1

I'll be quite honest, I go to high school, I'm surround by drinkers, alcoholics, and druggies, and I know this isn't how it's supposed to be, but it's the way it is. I myself do not drink, nor do I do drugs, but I can't say that I've never been tempted to. My decision to skip the whole high school 'dude I got sooooooo smashed this weekend' party scene has not been without consequences. I've been made fun of and laughed at, even worse lost friends. I don't even think I could give you a reason why I don't want to drink, because I don't have one, and I'm not really against teen drinking (so long as you aren't getting hammered), so it's been hard for me to say no sometimes. Some of my friends would invite me to the parties, but I would decline because I didn't want to be around it because I knew they were drinking to get drunk and that's just ridiculous. With some of them, I began to realize that the partying was becoming far more important than our friendship, so we parted ways. It is relieving to see that the Lord also feels this way, and things like drinking should never take president over your relationship with him. This makes me feel more....comfortable I suppose, in my relationship with him because he knows what I've been through, and like a the true friend he is, he's always got my back.

Mel

Day 22

Today is more of a topic than a specific verse or chorus.

Prayer (:

I am always forgetting to pray, and I feel terrible about it, but I know I am not alone. Life kind of sweeps you away and it's hard to remember to get everything done in a day, so things must become expendable. One thing I keep trying to work on is making prayer one of the inelastic ones, but it's been pretty difficult. I do love praying, it's a good thing for me. It's calming, I can get things off my chest, kind of review my day, figure out what I like and don't like about what I'm doing, what I want to be doing, as well as sort out my feelings about everything under the sun. I know for a rather long time, I prayed that the snow would melt and the sun would shine, and I now find myself praying for a thunderstorm because I love them so much. Prays can be that simple. Sometimes, I find my prays ramble on and on about one particular topic, and can get rather emotional about it. But guess what-I know that God is listening to those prayers just as much as my simple ones. I also like to pray for people who I myself cannot help, like the Haitians and the Chileans. One thing that I've noticed about myself, and more prevalently in my prayers, is that I feel more pain for the people who I cannot physically help. Another thing that I like to do is pray in a group, just going around in a circle. It has brought me a lot closer to some people, and openned new friendships up to me that I never thought would exist. But the best thing of all about praying is getting to talk to the greatest father ever (:

Mel

Day 21

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins and he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
Luke 21:1-4

This verse made me smile because it is the honest truth. If the Lord lays it on your heart to give something, then do not be afraid to, even if the amount seems too immense. He will always find a way to pull you through!!!

Mel

Day 20

Last night I went to the Winter Jam tour, and it was AMAZING! Previously, I mentioned how you don't have to be a superstar at anything for God to love you, and Tony Nolan said this in the best way possible last night as he was speaking.

"You don't have to be better for him because he was better for you."
Tony Nolan

Mel

Day 19

Another quick one today! A really cool way (for me atleast) to connect with God is through music. Music has always been really important to me, and now more than ever because it has a lot more meaning. So while you're driving in your car or getting ready in the morning, maybe you should flip on the radio to the Christian station and listen, or even sing a long! God would love to hear you sing about him!

Mel

Day 18

"God, You know where I've been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You'll be faithful again
I'm holding Your hand"
Let The Waters Rise by Mikeschair

I was asked the question 'what's the best thing he (God) has ever done for you?' Things started flying through my mind and at first I settled on the fact that he re-accepted me after I rejected and even hated him for years, but that got me thinking. I decided that his re-accepting me was more of a result, but the truly wonderful thing was that even when I was running away from him in every direction as fast as I could, he still loved me. Here today, looking back, especially at the beginning, even I don't love that me. Still, God persisted after me, and continued to love me, blessing me with friends who would eventually lead me back to him, after 4 years of what probably seemed like hopeless efforts. He loved me so much when I deserved nothing but the worst, that is how beautiful our God is.

Mel

Day 17

Never be afraid to talk to God about anything.

I'm keeping it reallllly short today. Talking to God about whatever is on your mind is like talking to the best friend in the entire universe. He won't judge you, or treat you wrong, or anything like that because of what you tell him because he loves you far too much.

Mel

Day 16

"Forget the fear it's just a crutch
That tries to hold you back
And turn your dreams to dust
All you need to do is just trust"
Unbreakable by Fireflight

The realization that finals were today hit me like a brick wall yesterday (side note, sorry this is a few hours late, I was rather frazzled yesterday). I have 3 A's and a C right now, in fact, I could just not take 3 of those finals, and I'd still end up with 2 A's and a B. Either way, those aren't really the class I'm worried about. The other one is pre-calculus and my mom told me last night that if I don't get a B in the class, I might not be allowed to go to youth group, and all I could say was 'thanks for the added stress and pressure'. I would have to get a B+ on the final...this is a very intimidating thought since I haven't even gotten a B+ on a regular test in the class! But after cramming last night, like I will again this afternoon, I took a few minutes to read my bible, and all of my tension just faded away. It was good to know that God was with me, and that he would help me through this because I am certainly all too nervous to do it by myself.

Mel

Day 15

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:44-45

In my sociology class we are wrapping up with the steps of prejudice, the last of which is genocide. Of course there is one example with ample information and teaching material, the Holocaust, so we talked about it in detail, as well as other lesser known genocides. Talking about the Holocaust not only fires me up, but it gets me quite a bit depressed because I always feel like I should have done something. Naturally, this is a silly thing to feel because I wasn't even a whim of thought at the time it was occurring, but none the less I feel guilty. I'm incapable, as I always have been, of understanding how there could be so much hatred to kill so many innocent people. It got me thinking about how I had previously talked about persecution, how I had said that we would be persecuted by those around us, but I realized that I failed to see the other half of the story. In our efforts to spread God's light, we cannot persecute those around us. Now obviously that includes a genocide, but also the small things, like a person to person level,. We can't see those who we are reaching out to as inferior no matter how hard it is. The first verse I memorized helps me a lot when I start to think that way:

Blessed are the poor in spirits, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:2

Mel

Day 14

"Savior I come, quiet my soul."

Lead Me To The Cross by Hillsong United

I have a rather tough time sleeping, staying a sleep, or getting 'good' sleep at night, usually in 2 or 3 month stretches. This is naturally frustrating, let alone tiring and boring. But a week or so ago, I woke up from a terrible nightmare and was far too afraid to go back to sleep. I was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling like I usually do, but an idea popped into my head. Why not spread some quality time with God? It was extremely refreshing, laying there in a silent house, my fear slowly slipped away so I was completely calm and relaxed. I loved the good time we spent, it felt like I was the only one in the entire world and that it was just me and him talking like the oldest of friends. It's comforting to be reminded that no matter what time of day he will always be there to listen. Even more so, I learned that we will communicate best if I can just calm my soul and focus solely on God. Maybe those stretches of sleepless nights aren't such a nuisance, but rather a blessing in disguise, a good time to talk to God.

Mel

Day 13

Today I don't have any verses, stories, or lyrics that I've selected. Just a simple saying:

Be yourself.

God has made you that way for a reason, don't change yourself to make other people like you because none of them matter nearly as much as Jesus, God, or the plan he has for us. Embrace yourself so you can make the most of your time here.

Mel

Day 12

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27:6

I suppose that this has 2 sides to it, both rather short, but important all the same. The first- God never intended for us to make this journey alone, and no I'm not pointing out again that he is walking along with us (though he is!), but rather that we have our friends to lean on. It is so helpful to have at least some friends that are strong Christians so that they can reign you back in if you start to slip, or just answer/deliberate questions that you have. God wants us to not only help the others come to know him, but also keep each other in his grace.

Secondly, and this is more of a personal decision, but the moment I accepted God, I stopped hating. I don't mean to say that I was an extremely hateful person, because I wasn't, but there were just a few people who I refused to talk to, or even acknowledge. How could I hate them? I don't know why they are the way they are. How can I ever expect to draw people closer to God with malice in my heart? I don't think I could, so I had to change, and I think that is one thing you should never be afraid of doing, changing for God.

Mel

Day 11

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10

It is a given that as a true Christian, we have faith in God, but at my youth group tonight, we touched on how God also has faith in us, and I would like to share that a bit because the thought made me smile quite a bit. Every person on this earth was born through God, each of us with a specific plan in his mind. We were created, each different, to help us fulfill these plans, which is all amazing and wonderful on it's own. But to step back now, and know that God is walking with me, by my side through my life, helping me to continue on this journey. To know that he believes in me, and loves me, and wants only what is best for me, that he has faith in me is such a catalyst in my desire to use my life to serve him.

Mel

Day 10

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we are being killed all the day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For i am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39

Persecution is a day to day battle for people of faith, I know that it was one that was pretty quick to find me in my faith. The first person I told about re-accepting Christ into my life laughed in my face and told me to have fun with my invisible friend, and call me when I came back to reality. Naturally, this was a bit of a shocker to me, I had known this guy for quite some time and he was willing to brush me off so quickly. In fact, I have since been a bit shy about telling anyone that I've re-accepted God. I immediately started to question by decision, but realized that it was silly to because the rest of my friends have accepted my choice with warmth and support. It became clear to me quickly that people will always try to bring you down, but you have to stand tall, and be unbreakable in your faith. Something that helped me was hope, and the thought that one day the world will come to realize that there is only one God, and he is the true king.

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all"
Hope by Emily Dickinson (just the first stanza)

Mel

Day 9

But you, oh Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord and he answered me from his holy hill.
Psalm 3:3-4

I spent a good chunk of my evening hunkered in with my Bible because, well...it just sounded like a wonderful plan. Usually I'll be reading along and a verse or two in particular will just stand out to me, but today it seems I was a bit harder to please. Now, that is something that I try to do each day, find a verse that speaks to me because not only does it makes me smile, and I love smiling, but it gives me something to chew over during the next day or so. In my efforts, I decided to flip to Psalm, and I love Psalm, because it's filled with little to-go sized tidbits of prayers and knowledge.

This spoke to me because I think that no matter how young or old you are in your faith it never hurts to have someone remind you that God is always listening to you, and he will answer. It may not always be the answer you desired, but he will never leave you high and dry. I hope that in the worst of my days, someone would remind me of this because it is such a blessing to know that even when you feel like the whole world around you doesn't care, God will always be listening. You can ramble for hours and days about the most petty things or the silliest of thoughts, and yet he will listen attentively, but why? Because he loves you.

Mel

Day 8

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:32-33

I started reading a book during my first class today because I have to write a paper on a biography. The one I picked was (unintentionally) the shortest book, but it sounded fairly interesting all the same. Boy was I ever surprised, I couldn't put the thing down all day. Some of the verse above is quoted in the book, and I thought that it fit well for what I'd learned today. The book is called She Said Yes by Misty Bernall, it is a a true story about a mother recollections of her what lead her daughter (Cassie) to finding Christ, and how she was fatally persecuted for her faith. Cassie Bernall was one of the students killed in the tragic accident at Columbine High School in 1999. Within a few years prior to her death, Cassie went through a dramatic, life altering encounter with Christ, and her life was salvaged because of it. She became a bright light in her school and church because she always put her relationship with God first, not matter how much of a struggle it was. I know that this is something that I certainly need to remind myself of occasionally, because it is hard to do, but it is so rewarding to be that close to him, and I pray that we all start putting God first in our lives, because he can and will truly work miracles in our lives.

I would recommend that anyone struggling in their faith read the book She Said Yes by Misty Bernall, it won't take more than a few days on the busiest of schedules, but the lesson is well worth it.

Mel