Making a Difference

When I was young, I used to watch the Halo Awards on Nickelodeon.  I watched all of these kids do these amazing things.  Kids of all ages doing these huge things like a park cleanup that inspired other kids to do other cleanups, leading to a clean town, kids raising money for animals, hospitals, the homeless.  Projects being started and created, leading to money being raised for something big.  All from kids that were even younger than me at the time. It empowered me, made me feel like I could do anything. I tried to come up with ideas, but at that time and situation in life, I thought there was nothing I could do.  I thought that in order to help others, I needed more resources than I had. In my situation, that was partially true, but there were always little things that I did that could have been making a bigger difference than I knew. I remember being on different websites and spamming them with scripture and getting blocked.  I was mad for getting blocked, but proud to be a Christian and to spread that around.

Things have changed now.  A lot.  There is so much we can do to help others, yet no one ever wants to do it.  Everyone is always hustling and bustling towards their self drawn goals.  Work, go home, eat, sleep, repeat.  Over and over again.  Socialize on the weekends, connect with your friends.  Maybe go to church on Sundays.  It's the same thing week after week, month after month, and year after year.  But what are you aiming towards? A happy life?

For me personally, I don't feel like I can live a happy life unless I do something meaningful.  Do something that makes my being alive worth something.  Doing the same thing over and over again, nothing ever changing, living selfishly, I don't feel like my existence would mean anything. Again, that's just me, what I am about to speak about is what I have been called to do.  My only hope is that it encourages you in some way.

This month, I have participated in something far bigger than even I imagined.  Dressember.  An amazing lady by the name of Blythe Hill had wanted to do something about human trafficking, but had never thought she could.  She created a style challenge for herself to wear a dress every day for the month of December, hence the name, Dressember.  The next year, others wanted to participated, and then it led to something bigger.  She realized that maybe, just maybe she could raise money while doing Dressember.  Boy was she right.  Just in 2013, she thought a goal of $25,000 was huge.  They made over $125,000 with over 1,200 people! The next year, 2,600 women participated and over $465,000 was raised! Last year, 4,600 women and $924,000! This is getting bigger and bigger every single year.  This year, on the last day of Dressember, right now over $1.3mil has been raised!

Human trafficking has become a terrible thing all over the world.  Globally, the average cost of a slave is $90.  Approximately 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and only 19% involves labor exploitation. There are approximately 20-30 MILLION slaves in the world today. The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the US is 12-14 years old.  It's crazy.  Recently, an 18 month old BABY was rescued.  The baby was in the hospital for 2 months, being treated from the physical trauma.

You would think there is nothing you could do, but there is.  For one thing, donations are key.  Thanks to donations, women can be rescued, treated, and given a new life.  All of the money being raised goes straight towards that.  Not only are they rescued, but they are medically and mentally treated, and given a whole new life.  They are not just rescued and then thrown onto the streets.

Another thing is to raise the money.  I always thought that I would never get support, but surprisingly, I did.  I raised over $200! That's double my goal, but triple my expectations!

Dressember has taught me that anyone can make a difference if they stand up for what they believe.  Make yourself uncomfortable for a short while to make a big difference.  People see you doing something different, unusual, and they as why, they get interested, and then they support you.  Whether that be by donating or through emotional support.  All of which is key to helping others.

I wore a dress through December to stand up for what I believed in, and for that, I helped raise money to rescue women from an awful, awful situation.  I am forever grateful for the opportunity to do this, the support I have received, and ultimately God for giving me the heart to want this.

You can make a difference!  Whether it be setting aside a small portion of money to donate, or standing up for what you believe, or even opening the door for someone.  There is always a way to do something! Don't think about changing the world, think about helping one person at a time.  That is the true way to change the world.

If you are interested in donating on our last day of Dressember, here is the link! https://support.dressemberfoundation.org/fundraiser/857682

Looking Back

It's been a while, I know.  A lot has happened, but at the same time, nothing much has happened. I've stayed busy with the normal mundane things of life, and just haven't had time.  I was going to post on Facebook using the "On This Day", but when I looked, I realized I had a lot to look back on and a lot to actually say, so I thought, why not just post it on here instead? So here goes...

Three years ago today, we received a lot of snow in Hinsdale, MT. Northeastern Montana where the temperatures easily drop -30% F.  For the first time ever, I really felt like I lived.  There was so much to do, so many people to be with, I was the happiest I had ever been.  I was able to enjoy tons of snow for the first time.  Later on, I would enjoy the summer on a four-wheeler, bike, or just running, seeing the prairie and all it's beauty. I'd see moose, freakish looking deer, swans, pheasant, ferrets/weasels, porcupines, big coyotes, and much more and probably nothing compared to what all is actually there.  I got to drive through gorgeous canyons, help at a cow branding... So much happened in my year and a couple of months in Hinsdale, Montana.  I made friends, I lost some and kept some that even now I consider my brothers.

Two years ago today, we had just moved to Drummond, Montana.  More in the south western part of the state.  It was beautiful.  There was snow, mountains, and bald eagles all over.  A rushing river ran behind our house.  It was all beautiful but on this day, I drove back to Hinsdale with my dad to drop off my two closest friends I had met in Hinsdale.  We kidnapped them and took them with us to help us move, but now it was time to take them back and say our goodbyes.  This made me sad, but later on I will meet new people and do new things.  Three months after my move to Drummond, I would be joining AmeriCorps FEMA Corps and leave for ten months to do disaster relief.

One year ago today I graduated FEMA Corps.  I met so many people in this time in AmeriCorps, I have many blog posts about my time in AmeriCorps.  Especially in the last days of my service, I met and grew closer to some incredible people.  Some of them I keep up with even now, and others I do not.  My year in AmeriCorps changed me so much.  I grew up, I left home and served my country through disaster management and relief.  I helped others and in that, I helped myself.  I learned to work with others, I learned to love others, and I also learned how to handle those I hated as well.  I went from church to church, meeting new people and they helped me to hang on to God when things were the hardest for me.  So much happened in that time, there are not enough words to describe that year, that incredible year.

Today: After returning home from AmeriCorps, in March I got a job at a Clinic doing reception and regular secretary work.  In October, I left this job to pursue college in Missoula, Montana. I've also put a lot of focus and time into my health, hoping that I will be well enough for my future plans. I am currently working with a temp agency as I get things sorted for college to hopefully start in January. My plan is to major in ... something, still working on what it will be, to eventually join the Peace Corps or a missions work team for a couple of years if not more.  I've met a few amazing friends, I've found a good church.  I've been on many adventures since last year.  I was in a car accident involving the car falling off a mountain, where I was stranded with my friend for twelve hours in elevation of 7,000 feet in freezing temperatures. Since then, she and I have become the closest of friends, an event like that bands you together.

It's amazing how things change.  Ever since I knew what animals were, I wanted to work with them.  I wanted to be a zoologist.  Now, I'm off trying to find new ways to help people. I have felt the call to "take up my cross" in a big way.  I want to help others in other countries, praising God all the while.  I want to show as many people as I can the love God gives, the unconditional love.  I am excited for my upcoming adventures, whatever God decides those adventures to be.  I miss a lot of places I've been, a lot of people I've met, but thanks to social media, it's never truly a goodbye.  Goodbyes have become much easier for me, I know that one goodbye will lead to a new hello.

I think I will try to blog again, it's nice to write out my thoughts and post pictures with it.  I have a lot planned and I think it would be nice to record it all.

PS: These photos are not in chronological order, I just chose my favorites from around that time.

Adventurous, Fun Weekend!

 Hi guys! I had a three day weekend this week! It was absolutely amazing and I had a blast!

 Friday night I went straight to Missoula to meet up with some friends and go to a homeschool Christian choir concert! It was absolutely amazing! The voices were amazing! There was so much talent in the room that night! Also, it was neat to see so many homeschoolers here! I had no idea!

 The next day I visited a spring right beside the interstate near where we live.  It was gorgeous there and the waterfall- things were breathtaking!  The water was so clear, blue and clean! It was so refreshing visiting there! Later that night, I went out to Starbucks with some friends, went to Kohls, and climbed the Big M! I managed to hit up some awesome clearance sales at Kohls, which I was happy about! As for the Big M, it was incredible! The hike was really rough for me, though! The elevation somehow got to me and made it really hard to breath! Besides that, it was awesome climbing my way up to the top! The trail is steep and goes up in zig zags with a lot of stairs, quite a workout, but a lot of fun!  At the very top, we climbed up to the top of the M itself, where I shot this neat pic of the city and my feet on the M!  After that, we got some ice cream and then headed back to the rest of our vehicles so we could leave for the night! Of course, I stopped at Wendy's to get my favorite green tea to get me home since it was midnight when I left for home!

On Sunday, I was feeling a bit under the weather so I couldn't go to church.  Later in the day, when I was feeling better my mom and I headed out to check out a mountain.  We drove up into the mountains and saw the most... amazing, unexplainable, unimaginable stuff ever! It was so, so gorgeous! Everything was green, and the plants all foreign to us southerners, making it almost seem like a jungle! Wicked-cool moss grew on the trees and the branches.  We saw some really cool wildlife, too! We saw a freaky bird that we're still trying to figure out what it is! Along with a chipmunk, a groundhog, deer, and some other neat birds. Also... the best of all... bear poop! No, we didn't see the bear, but we totally saw what it left behind!

After that I spent the rest of the day resting and trying to feel a bit better.

 Monday, I spent the day helping with grocery shopping and getting a few more things I needed, including some awesome summer outfits that I am super excited about!

 All in all, an awesome weekend! I can't wait for more like this!

Accepting and Fulfilling Life

  A man sits by his phone and prays to God, "God, I need a job and in the Bible You said You'd take care of me, and I believe it! So I know that my phone will ring and You'll bring me that job! 

  Another man prays to God, and even fasts, saying to God, "I know you'll provide for me!"  and he sits by his empty field, waiting for plants to grow that haven't even been planted.

  Praying and trusting in God is great, and what you should do, but that doesn't mean you just sit and wait.   "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them." Matthew 6:26  You don't see birds sitting on branches, looking up at the sky with their mouths hanging open, do you?  Waiting for worms to fall into their mouth? Of course not! They go out and search for their food, and they find food by the grace of God.  Such is the same with us.  You're looking for a job?  You go out and search for that job, praying for God to give you that job, trusting that He will provide.  Do you want corn in your field? Plant the seeds and pray and wait for God to make them grow.  Think of it like evangelizing; you plant the seeds, and God makes them grow.  No, not every seed will grow, but it's the same as God closing one door to open another.  

  Don't wait on God when God is waiting on YOU! All of the blessings that you will get in life have been predetermined by God.  God already knows what He wants to give you, but you have to do your work in getting them! You can't lay around waiting for a blessing! Knowing this honestly changed a lot for me.  

  So to live a fulfilling life, serve your purpose, do what God has called you to do.  Everyone on this planet has a purpose to serve, but whether we serve that purpose or not is up to us.  To get the blessings God has in store for us, we need to follow Him, not ourselves.  The blessings are there, we just have to give our lives to Him and do His will! Don't be like Jonah who ran away from his calling.  Jonah was told to go to Nineveh and preach, to which he ran away.  After being swallowed by the whale and all that jazz, he finally did what he was told, and guess what?  It worked out splendidly!  The entire city listened and went above and beyond to please God! (Of course, Jonah wasn't happy about that, but that's beside the point.) If we follow God's will, we will be blessed and good things will come! Now that doesn't mean hardship won't be around, that will always be there, but that's not to be our goal.  Our goal should be heaven.  We are only here for a short while, heaven is where we will be forever.  Shouldn't we focus more on what we will get when we get to heaven than what we will get here on earth?  

  It's so easy to forget, but earth is just temporary, and far more temporary than we think.  Heaven is forever.  Heaven is our real home.  We should focus that, and not earth.  We should focus on pleasing God, and making Him happy, instead of ourselves. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions;[a] if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” John 14:2-4  

Now I will talk about accepting your life.  With this, I would like to focus on the past, but this can also be used for the future as well.  To learn how to take the bad things, and make them good.  To make them just a little bit more bearable. 

 We've all been through things that we wish we hadn't.  Some, we realized later on in life why we had to go through what we went through and we become grateful for what happened to us.  Other things, not so much.  One comfort we can take, is that ALL things that happen is in God's control.  ALL things that happen, happen for a reason! Just this in general can provide a great amount of comfort! Knowing God from the Bible, we can see some reasons why God does what He does.

• Often, we go through trials and tribulations so that He can mold us, and change us into who He wants us to be.  Perfecting us. Through our hardest times, we grow and change. 

• Perhaps we have fled from God, maybe without even knowing it, perhaps He has been calling out to us to come back and we just refused to hear, so He had no choice but to bring us back Himself, a much harder way.  Perhaps we are just going down the wrong path and He needs to direct us back. 

• A sad reason to go through bad things would be that we have sinned.  God is merciful and a loving father, but He does have to punish us when we sin.   

      And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for[a] you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality. Colossians 3:23-25   My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:11-12

  

Those are just a few reasons that perhaps these things happen to us, but whatever the reason, at least we can have trust and faith that God knows what He is doing, and that one day we will find out why bad things happened to us!  But by that point, we won't even care anymore!  What joy we will have then! 

  

The Importance of Kindness

  So I'm a week late with my post, I've been working on it throughout the week but things have been crazy! I moved positions at my job and I will now be a full time receptionist, the original job I had wanted! Woohoo!! Which leads into my blog topic:

 Kindness has become a big thing to me.  Everywhere I go, I try my best to carry it around with me. To me, kindness is the best way to evangelize and to shine God's light.  I also think that kindness reflects Christ.  Kindness is the greatest gift you can gift to a stranger; and it's a simple as you want it to be! It can be as simple as holding a door open for someone or as complex as starting a charity.

 At work, I try to be as kind as I can be to everyone-Even if they are rude.  Honestly, for me, I see it go 2 ways with rude people.  If you continue to be kind despite their attitude, often they lighten up and start to be friendlier towards you.  That, or often they just get angrier, which honestly kinda feels good to me in a terrible way.  It feels sort of triumphant, like they didn't win at bringing you down to their level and negativity.

 Another thing about kindness is that it honestly creates positivity within yourself.  When you're kind to everyone all day long, it really does do something inside you.   I can't fully explain it, but something about being kind, caring for others, and treating them like you would want to be treated, is highly satisfying to me.  It makes me feel happy when I can make someone's day just a small bit better.  Often the people who come across rude are actually just having a bad day, and maybe an act of kindness can make a big difference.

 So that covers the acting kind part, now let's talk about doing kind things. Honestly, you can get so creative with being kind.  You can do anything from bringing cookies to some co-workers, helping with a task, or anything.  When I was younger I really thought I couldn't serve or volunteer in any way.  Now that I am older, I've realized that that's not true! You can do anything to help other people- it doesn't have to just be volunteering, though that is great too!

 With volunteer work, there are a ton of opportunities out there o meet what you specifically like to do! Do you like animals? Volunteer at a pet shelter! Do you like the elderly or caring for others? Nursing homes and hospice centers are great places to go! There are also churches, Red Cross, Salvation Army, local places, the world is open to ya! Are you interested in something more long term? Try going for AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps!

 As for easy kind deeds; hold a door open for someone, help someone you see trying to reach something or has dropped something, help someone carry things, anything of the sort!

Now, being kind isn't always easy, don't get me wrong.  When you're not feeling well or having a rough time, being kind can be really hard and often very tiring, but it really does make a big difference in your life and others! You can't always be kind, you'll mess up, but trying a bit more can really make an impact!

Kindness really can make a huge difference in your life and other's lives! More so than you can ever know! And God really does love it too! Let me leave you with this:

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’  Matthew 25:34-40

kind·ness

ˈkīn(d)nəs/

noun

1. the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

   synonyms:

   kindliness, kindheartedness, warmheartedness, affection, warmth,  gentleness, concern,care

Why We Pray

  I have always struggled with prayer.  I could never understand why we would make requests to God when He already knows them. Why would I tell Him what He already knows?  It didn't make sense.  I knew that you were supposed to pray, I wanted to pray, but I just couldn't understand praying.

  With these recent changes God has made in me, He has taught me different things. First, He taught me how to utilize things we have been given, things we can achieve, etc.  Things that I will be talking about in the future.  Then, He began teaching me about prayer- He still is.  As I learn the key to prayer, why we pray, and how to pray, I want to share it with you all, for any of those who struggle as I have.

  So far, Dr. Tony Evans' sermons have been amazing in helping me with this.  I went through a sermon series on prayer, then a series on making God first in your life.

  Communication with God is extremely important.  Often, one problem we have can be causing a ton of other problems.  Example 1:  Your power goes off and you try to flip different switches on and off, then you realize a flip has switched in your breaker box.  That one switch caused everything to shut off. Example 2: A medication reaction is causing you to have ten different side effects.  You have all of these problems, and you don't know why.  You think you're sick, you think you're depressed, when all along it was just that medication.  One problem can cause so many other problems.  With that, lack of communication with God can cause a million other problems in your life and your walk with Christ. Isaiah 65:24 "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear."  Before you prayed it, God already answered it. So you're not praying for God to do something that He hasn't already done.  You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, and you will pay your vows.  You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So light will shine on your way.  Job 22:27-28

  A good example of explaining prayer is this; Imagine your netflix, itunes, or whatever you use to access your movies.  They all have a set amount of movies that you can access.  The movies already exist, but they don't just show up on your screen.  You have to order it. Now, you can pull up your netflix without ordering anything, but you can't watch anything or use anything.  You don't create a movie when you order one.  You are taking what was already there for you to use. Technology is so advanced that thousands of people can all use netflix at the same time.  They can all order and watch movies at the same time without overwhelming the system or causing it to not work.

  Praying to God and making your requests known, is pulling down what God already had planned.

 When there is something wrong in your life, pray to God, access what God is so ready to give you.  Call to Him.

  Also, God wants your attention.  He wants you to talk to Him, make Him first.  When something goes wrong, He wants you to go to Him first and find out what He thinks of the situation.  Not your best friend, special someone, or mom or dad.  He wants you to go to Him first and find out what He thinks first.  Doing this saves you from all of the drama, and who knows, by going to Him first, maybe He'll make it go away so quick that you won't even need to go to your family or friends about it.  God has the power to make it go away while your friends and family do not.

 So, we have learned that by praying, you are accessing what God is ready to give and that by praying, you can go to God with your problems and find out what He thinks about it, instead of what everyone else thinks about.  From just those two things, (I'm sure there's far more) I think that praying is pretty important!

 I feel like all my life as a Christian, I've been running in circles.  Up a hill, then down a hill.  Up a hill, then down a hill.  I feel like God has picked me up like a mother would pick up her baby who has wandered away, and has placed me back where I am supposed to be.  Not only that, but He has given me the tools I need, the pack I will need, and has told me that I will not be traveling alone.  He will travel with me, He will come with me on this journey, and help me through it.  How amazing is that?  God is so, so amazing!

Deuteronomy 1:30-31

30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

Isaiah 46:4

Even to your old age, I am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

I can't walk this road without you, you cannot go it alone
We were never meant to make it on our own
And when the load becomes too heavy and your feet to tired to walk
I will carry you and we'll be carried on   Rebecca St. James - I'll Carry You

The Truth About Depression

I've been thinking all week about what I wanted to post next on my blog, I wanted it to be something uplifting and encouraging, but I wound up really struggling this week and it made me wonder if maybe that would be a good thing to talk about.  What I am about to talk about is very raw for me and, honestly, this isn't the sort of thing I talk about, but if it helps even one person out there, then it's worth it.

Disclaimer: I do not want pity, "I'm so sorry"s, or anything of the sort for what I am about to confess, the only reason I am confessing these things is to show how amazing God is and to help others who may have these problems and have never talked to anyone.

I've struggled with depression for a long time now.  Depression can be caused by many different things; health problems, medications, trauma, loss, your brain not producing enough of a chemical called serotonin.  All of these follow under the categories Chemical Depression and Environmental Depression.   For me, mine probably comes from many different things dealing with chemical depression; my health, my medications, etc.  The current cause is a medication interaction, which I am thankful for because at least I know it will go away.

 The more scientists study on depression, the more that is being revealed about just how physical of a condition it is.  It was something I never could understand for the longest time.  How could you just not want to get up?  How could you just lay around and do nothing all day and be okay with it?  But then, next thing I know, I'm in the exact same boat.

Depression has many symptoms.  For me, I no longer want to do anything, I feel hopeless, stop eating, and sleep all of the time.  When I don't have depression, I have an extreme drive, I'm a work-a-holic, I always have to be doing something, and I have a lot of energy.  I spend my time working, studying, working out, healthy/productive things.  But when my depression flares up, that all goes away.

Though I take medication for my depression, this week some stress came up at work, my health spiraled, and Satan attacked me the best he could, so I fell back into a depression.  Later, I realized a lot of the depression came from a temporary medication.  I didn't want to do anything or go to work, I had lost my appetite, but what bothered me the most, was it was all physical.  Inside my head, I was with God, praying, studying His word, and trusting in Him.  Sure, I was upset having my health spiral and stress at work, but I knew it was Satan attacking and I knew that with God, I would be protected and would be able to win this spiritual battle.  Inside, I was content, yet these feelings and these physical symptoms wouldn't go away.

I feel as if I've always come out of battles with Satan broken, battered, and often beaten.  This time, I wanted it to be different.  I wanted to take up arms, take up the armor of God, and fight.  I'm fighting hard, and I will continue to fight.

Now I will speak about the spiritual aspects of depression.  Many Christians do not believe that depression is a real, physical thing.  Often Christians think that it is a spiritual war.  I believe that it is, just like how any other illness can be turned into a spiritual battle.  Imagine when you get sick, you're feeling down and yucky.  Wouldn't Satan use that?  Wouldn't that be the prefect time for him to try and trip you up?  That's exactly what he does.  Mental illnesses are a very real thing, and Satan loves to jump on the opportunity.

Now, this leads to the big question; how do you fight depression?

Disclaimer: I am not a mental professional by any means, these are just things that help me and have helped me spiritually, physically, and mentally.

1.  Take care of yourself physically.
Taking care of yourself, physically, something that has really helped me.  If I make myself eat healthier, work out, and stay hydrated, I feel so, so much better.  If I eat a ton of junk food, it makes me feel yucky, and that's the last thing anyone needs when feeling depressed.
Also, try to dress nice, don't let your depression sink into the way you dress.  Put on a little bit of makeup, do your nails, dress pretty.  Little things like that can really help.  Try to pamper yourself a bit.  Take a hot bubble bath, give yourself a mani and pedi, put on a face mask.  Anything that makes you feel good. Drink a hot up of tea, or some hot cocoa.

2. Take care yourself mentally.
Don't let other people bring you down.  Surround yourself with good people who will bring you up.  Try not to scroll through and read the dramatic posts on social media, stick with uplifting things.  All together, try to stay off of social media as much as possible unless you are seeking out uplifting posts.  That being said, read a book, listen to music, go outside.  Sunshine and fresh air helps so much! Don't be afraid to loosen up and have fun, goof off, be silly! Hang out with friends.  The biggest key is that you have to make yourself do these things, because you're certainly not going to want to.  If you actually get out there and make yourself do things, for me at least, it makes a big, big difference. Also, try to keep your room/house clean.  Lack of clutter really helps with stress.

3.  Take care of yourself spiritually.
Another major thing is taking care of yourself spiritually.  Stay in the word of God.  So often when I feel depressed, I won't want to go to God.  I'll feel too down to talk to God about it.  Listen to sermons, read the Bible, pray.  Keep God as much into your life as you possibly can.  Use Him as a blanket! "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."  Psalms 91 This is one of my absolute favorite verses and it is so, so true.  I imagine a mother hen covering her chicks with her wings.  By keeping God in my life though my struggles, it has made the biggest of changes.  Something my favorite pastor Dr. Tony Evans says, we need to stay full in God.  We go to church on Sunday and get filled up, but then we usually don't eat again until the next Sunday.  Imagine that you are a car, we go to the gas station every Sunday and fill up, but then we don't go back for a week, so when we do go back, we are running on empty.  Don't deprive yourself of something that can help you so much!  

To help fight depression, I listen to 2 Tony Evans sermons a day, I try to pray as often as I can, I keep God in my mind throughout the day, I listen to Christian music during work, and I watch Christian youtuber girls, and I communicate with Christian friends throughout the day.  It's amazing how much it helps to surround yourself with Christ!  Lately, just praying has helped a ton with fighting these emotions.

My mom always tells me to "tap on the glass".  What she means by this is that there is something far bigger going on than what you see in front of you.  There is a purpose for everything and God has it all.  It's hard to remember, especially when you're feeling down, but it's so so true! 


Don't handle depression by denying it's there, or by covering it up.  That doesn't mean you have to announce it, or anything of that sort.  Come to terms with it so you can begin to heal.  If you bury it, you can't heal.

Something Dr. Tony Evans said in his sermon, "Overcoming Emotional Strongholds";  Emotions respond to what we think. Emotions have to come from thoughts. Who controls your thought life controls how you feel.  If the devil is controlling your thinking, then you will feel like how he wants you to feel. If God is controlling your thinking, then you will feel like God wants you to feel. Emotions piggyback off of thoughts.  This is why we surround ourselves with Christ, instead of sins and the world.  

That's all I've got for this. :-) This was a longer post than I meant it to be, but I hope this helps someone out there. ♥ Below are some links with more information on depression including a video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGJzPBjK67w
http://www.webmd.com/depression/

"28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30






  
5 

The Journey of Being Saved by Grace

Hey everyone!  As I've stated before, I really want to start blogging again and put more focus into it.  I have a few of reasons for this;  The first reason being that I love writing and I haven't been able to do it much lately, and through texting and short messages, I worry about my grammar downgrading, so through this I can keep up with my writing "skills" just a small bit.  The second reason is that God has done a lot in my life lately, and I want to be able to share how great our God is.  I don't expect many to read, but anyone who does and is impacted in some small way by what God is teaching me will make it well worth these posts.  A third reason is that through writing these posts, I am able to study on the things I have learned about God and I'm able to get a lot more out of it and really learn these things through sharing it.

In this post, I mainly want to discuss the spiritual journey God has led me through.  I will start from the very beginning: When God saved me at 12.

When I was 12, I began to go through rebellious phases.  Now, rebellious phases for me have never been anything terribly big.  At that age, it just consisted mostly of a negative mindset, listening to very worldly music, among other sins.  Right when it was beginning to sink deeper, I remember some bad things going on, and where I would usually want to go sin, I wanted God, not something I had ever wanted before.  I remember praying to Him and begging Him to forgive me of my sins.  Not a super duper amazing story, or anything like that, but God saved me from a lot then, His timing, as always, was and is perfect!  If He hadn't saved me then, I would have fallen down a very dark path and I probably would not be here today.  

Through my walk with God, I have always struggled, like everyone else, but for me, I always struggled to really feel the need for God.  Whenever things went wrong, I always became angry with God instead of clinging to Him, when things were good was the only time I would really pay God any attention.  Praying was always a struggle for me as well up until recently.  

As I got older, I began to want God more and more, and mostly, I wanted to serve Him.  I still struggled a ton with an actual relationship with God, but I did want to make Him happy and serve him, which led to my year with AmeriCorps.  I wanted to serve, but didn't have the money for a missions trip, then I found AmeriCorps and knew it could also help with my future.  

The first 2 rounds of AmeriCorps, I, on and off, was roughly sticking with God and honoring Him as well as I thought I could, even though there weren't many Christians around me.  I had the mindset, at least, that I was serving for God.  I attended churches in every city I went in and got a lot out of it.  My campus city, Vicksburg, MS, was the main church that helped support me through my time in AmeriCorps.  

When I reached my last round, Satan attacked me, and he attacked hard.  I fell far from God and did a lot of wrong.  By the end of it though, I won the battle, thanks to God.  Looking at it now, God tried so hard to get me to listen to Him, but I just wouldn't and it breaks my heart.

That leads to the present time, I suppose.  After graduating the program, I struggled a lot with God and was just very angry and depressed spiritually.  That's when God changed everything for me.  It started small.  I started to try and listen to sermons a couple of times a week, my heart and mind was focusing on God more, and then He began teaching me Himself.  I began to want to tithe and that led to a whole lesson on tithing and the importance of it.  Next, He had me learn about the armor of God and the importance of it and began showing me just what all is there for me that I just have to reach out and grab.  After that, he taught me prayer in a whole new way that I never knew. Then, an idea started to form as to why God was teaching me all of this.  God doesn't do things without a reason. Yes, these are important things to know, but God has to be glorified, so I wanted to know how to glorify Him.

That led me to the idea of mission work.  I have a goal now to get into mission work, and maybe through that I'll even meet the man God has picked out for me.  I also knew that in the mean time, God can be glorified through the sharing of His amazingness, which led me here as well.

In future posts, I plan to post different things on my beliefs and what God has taught me.  I also plan to post some fun things too, such as just life things, fun moments, recipes, etc.  

I hope you all enjoyed this post, please give it a like and follow! ♥

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.