A delicious blog post! :)

So tonight, my best bud and I decided to bake a cherry pie from scratch! It was quite the adventure, but it turned out absolutely delicious. :)

Enjoy the pics!

Our ingredients!

"What's bigger, this or my brain?"

You'd never think we're 16 and 17... :P

Hehehe :)

Hahaha :) Let the good times roll! (Notice the pun?)

:) Haha, it's love!

Yep, I got her good!



The bottom, done by me... :)

The yummeh cherries, and the top :)

Hahaha! A picture is worth a thousand words.. "I wonder what those words are..."

Hehehehe

ALL DONE!



PIE! YUMMEH!

We were very proud of our pie making skills. :)

THE END!

For Those of You Tempted to Read the "Last Chapter"...

Have you ever read a REALLY good book? One that either has you completely intrigued or engrossed in its pages? ...Ever been tempted to flip the pages to the end and read what happens?

Me too! :) It's hard not to isn't it?

Sometimes I wish I could see what is coming in my life--to "flip the pages" to the end to see what happens. Sometimes I wish God would answer my questions about my life and what is going to happen... just so I could know and then not have to be concerned or anxious. 

Nevertheless, God doesn't tell us directly or fully what is going to happen in the future of our lives. In fact, it's rather like a book, where there may be foreshadowing or hints of what is to come. Our lives are the same, we may receive some guidance from God as to what direction to head that could "hint" as to where we are going to end up. Even then, they can be very subtle and sometimes you really can't make anything of them... just like with reading a book. You have to wait. 

And why do you wait when it comes to reading a book? Because if you didn't, it would ruin the story. You wouldn't be able to appreciate all the chapters that lead up to it--the struggle to reach the success, the happy ending, the coming together of the plot, etc.

And it's the same with God. If God were going to tell us what the outcome of a certain situation was, it would not only ruin the surprise of the ending (which we know with God, it HAS to and WILL be amazing!), but it would also lead you to not appreciate what good ending you received from God. You wouldn't appreciate it because you didn't have to go through the previous stages (chapters) of trusting in God and having faith in Him that He will bring you through that circumstance/uncertainty/etc.

My challenge for you is: Be patient! If perhaps, right now, you have some questions for God or you wish you could know what was going to happen in a particular area of your life, my advice is to simply be patient and to trust in God. Trust me, I know that's easy to say in those simple seven words and a lot harder to do in reality, but it's the best thing you can do (along with prayer)! Just keep progressing through each "chapter" while waiting for God to do His good and perfect will, and I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised! :)

Psalm 27: 13-14

"I remain confident of this:
   I will see the goodness of the LORD
   in the land of the living. 

 Wait for the LORD;
   be strong and take heart
   and wait for the LORD."

Just for Laura..

 

:) <3

Hey! Would you cut it out?!

Have you ever done something and someone else tries to tell you to do it another way, because it's apparently "better"? Isn't that a little annoying sometimes? As if your way isn't good enough or something?
 

Yeah. That can be a bit frustrating. 

Now you know how God feels!

Okay, now you may be thinking.. "Wait what? How God feels? What are you talking about?"
 

As followers of Christ, God has a perfect plan for each of our lives. So often, we try planning our own steps, or the way WE want to go, rather than letting it be up to God. We think that we know better, you know, because we're somehow smarter than God, and know ourselves better than God does even though He created us, riiiight? WRONG! Is it coming together now?
 

I bet you can think of a time when you tried to plan things yourself, or figure out a way to force things together rather than letting God do His thing. I know I can!
 

So here's my challenge to you: Stop trying to metal with God's plans! Trust Him because He loves you more than you know, so much that He sent His only son to die for you! Have faith in Him because He is faithful to those who love Him. And be excited, for the Creator of the universe is working in YOUR life, and you never know what amazing things may happen when you leave it up to Him! :)
 

Proverbs 16:9"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."
 

Proverbs 19:21"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."   

Jeremiah 19:11"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."

Beautifully Selfless

Beautifully selfless is the main theme of this blog. Being selfless completely for Jesus Christ. Why? Because He gave himself up for me, He died for me, and now it's my turn to live for Him. 

Dying to self is probably one of the hardest things any of us could do. It goes against every part of our hearts and minds, which is telling us to do the opposite. It's letting go of all we ever wanted, of all we ever dreamed for. It's letting go of all that our heart cries out for and rather, crying out to God for what HE wants. 

My heart aches in certain places. Places that I have yet to completely die to self. I bet you know what I mean. Sometimes it's hard to understand why we must do this. Let's see what God's word says....

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

This verse describes the exact truth of how we must be. When we come to know Christ, we are saying "Yes Jesus, I am giving up myself to You. It is no longer I that lives, but I am dying to my sinful nature, to my selfish wants, and living for Your glory and Your will." Now, we can't always be this way, simply because we are bound to stumble at times. But, ultimately, when Jesus comes into our lives, we are commanded and called to release all that we are to Him.

Sometimes we think it would just be much easier to have what we want and NOT die to self. And hey, it IS easy! But is that really the life we're called to live? 

One thing I've learned is that being a follower of Jesus means having a life of sacrifice. 

I can tell you, 100% assurance and in complete honesty, it is worth it.

Yes, it is ridiculously hard. It's a constant battle.

But it is so worth it. Jesus is worth it!

I may try to plan the steps I will take or the things I want to do. But do I have any assurance or certainty of those working out? No.

With Jesus, I may not have any planned steps, truthfully, I may actually have no idea where I am going. I may have no certain direction. But, what I do know, is that Jesus knows where I am going. He has planned steps, he has my direction. While I may have to rely completely on Him with all the faith and trust in me, I also can know that Jesus is doing something amazing, something I cannot fully see. And the best part is, I do have assurance and I do know that the way I'm headed is one that is blessed with joy and meaning. One that is full of surprises... things I could have never dreamed of! 

What could be of any greater worth than dying to self and living for Jesus?

Luke 9: 23-25

"Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?"

Nobody's Perfect - Hannah Montana Style

Tonight while my family was over to celebrate the day (Happy Thanksgiving ;)), my niece and I decided to listen to her little iPod Shuffle through her little mini iPod docking station.

As I was flipping through her songs I came across a very well known young singer, Hannah Montana AKA  Miley Cyrus. The song was "Nobody's Perfect", one that I was already familiar with (No.. I do not listen to Hannah Montana on the regular basis.. well, maybe sometimes.. JK!). I was paying close attention to the lyrics and then wahbam! God laid something on my heart to share... This song perfectly describes how as humans we act without God's guidance and wisdom.

She starts off the song by saying...

"Sometimes I'm in a jam
I've gotta make a plan
It might be crazy
I do it anyway
No way to know for sure
I'll figure out a cure
I'm patchin' up the holes
But then it overflows"

When things happen in our lives, things that cause an unfortunate circumstance or one that leads us to be uneasy and in want of a quick fix, we tend to automatically rely on our own knowledge. We see the problem and usually automatically begin thinking of a way that we can solve it, without the grace and wisdom of God. Notice how she says, "It might be crazy, I do it anyway". Honestly, this line right here just shows how ignorant and foolish we can be. Rather than trusting in a God who knows all things and loves us, we trust in our deceitful human nature and sinfulness to lead us out of trouble and into better places. Silly us! She then goes on to sing "No way to know for sure ... but then it overflows". You know, I almost LOVE the ignorance in this song as it leads me to appreciate and value the wisdom I have in Jesus. Hannah Montana is wrong, there IS a way to know for sure. As followers of Christ, we shouldn't be led by our own ideas as to what decision(s) we should make.  We are unable to fix things, and maybe we can "patch up the holes" but eventually it will "overflow".

"Sometimes I work a scheme
But then it flips on me
Doesn't turn out how I planned
get stuck in quick sand
No problem, can be solved
Once I get involved
I try to be delicate
Then crash right into it
My intentions are good
Sometimes just misunderstood"

If Miss Montana gets anything right, it's knowing exactly how us humans act. Isn't it sad how true this song is? How we make up all these ideas before consulting God, which can merely lead us into deeper issues... rather than being patient and waiting on God, we "then crash right into it". And perhaps we do have good intentions, but are they wise? I'm starting to wonder...

"Sometimes I fix things up
And they fall apart again"

Now ain't that the truth! We always do that! Us humans, always holding the assumption that we are capable of solving our own problems, that we are in no need of God's perfect wisdom and guidance. That's like me saying I'd rather do my math problem out on scratch paper instead of a calculator. NOW WHO DOES THAT! (Unless you really like Math.. well then you don't count)! :P

Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, 

but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

So hey, next time you're "in a jam", how about you stop and reflect on the power of Jesus and of what you could ever possibly do in comparison to what the Creator can do!

That concludes my summary of Nobody's Perfect.. perhaps Hannah Montana can take a tip or two from this. ;)