I have pink hair!

Okay maybe not completely pink hair, but a few days ago my Mom told me that the hair salon we go to was doing pink hair extension for Breast Cancer Awareness. My first thought: "PINK HAIR?!? YES!!!" Yeah, totally me. Breaking out that rebellious side, a GOOD rebellious side... haha. :) But hey, I think it's pretty cool anyway, raising awareness in a fun way too! :)

What went wrong?

Earlier today I heard the sad news, that a girl (who we'll call Elizabeth) I knew back in my childhood had been found dead this morning by her mother. When I was told, my heart instantly broke. There are questions about possible drug overdoses in relation to suicide or perhaps that it was an accident - no one is sure just yet.

Before I was homeschooled, I attended a public elementary school from K-5th, and for some period of that time, she and I had been close friends. It probably has been a good six years since I've seen or spoken with her. To hear that someone I once knew had died, it made me wonder what went wrong. If it was a drug overdose, if it was suicide, what went wrong? Why was she aching so much that she went to such lengths as death? Even though I don't really know her now, I wonder what could have been done differently, so that the outcome wouldn't have been what it is now.

Honestly, hearing of what happened to her, scared me. It threw reality upon me. I mean, we all know that everyone dies, we all know that people are dying everyday. Or do we?
Do we really understand and appreciate the fact that people are constantly dying?
150,000 people die every single day... and to think that most of those people don't even know Jesus, well that makes me want to cry.

I think the reason her death was such an impact to me is because was so young, only 17. In my eyes, she really hadn't even begun life yet. She was just starting out, and to think now she's gone and probably not in Heaven, that hurts. After thinking through this a bit, there's a few things it reminded me of:

LIFE IS VALUABLE
Often, we live everyday as if we know there will be a tomorrow. We live as if it's just another day and we forget the significance that is found within each day we are given. We take each day for granted, rather than in thankfulness and gratefulness towards God. How many days do we wake up cranky and complain about SOMETHING, rather than being so thankful that God has a reason that we are still living, that His plan for us is not fulfilled yet and so we must keep working hard by serving Him? I can say that some days, when I'm getting up at 6am for work, that's definitely not my attitude... but how I wish it was! Life is valuable, and God gives it to us for a reason, for a purpose, not to squander it or waste it.

LIFE IS SHORT
We will never know what day is our last, until that day comes. Often times I think we have an attitude that in our youth, we have so long to go, and because of this, we forget that our days are numbered, that there really is an end. Consequently, we waste our days. We treat our minutes of life as nearly valueless, rather than priceless.

THE GOOD NEWS
Something that really struck me is that I wonder if Elizabeth knew the good news of Jesus. Had she heard? Did she care? Would it have made a difference? Everyone needs to hear about Jesus. How often do we slack off on sharing, or because we're too afraid and honestly, don't really trust God for the powerful and mighty God that He is, we back down and keep our mouths shut about Jesus. Who needs to hear his Gospel? How many people today are feeling hopeless, how many peoples hearts are broken and they are lonely? How many of those people could I be sharing with? How many of those people could you be sharing with? 

We only have one life, and only so much time and limited opportunity to share about Jesus.
Why are we so selfish to not share with people who desperately need to hear this truth? It makes me angry, and even angry at myself for being selfish and not sharing sometimes.
Who could you share with today? Who needs to hear the good news of Jesus, about His love, about what He did for us, and why living this life for Him is more than worth it?

Modesty from the Mind of a Guy

How ironic that I just wrote recently a blog about modesty, and to think now the blog for Lies Young Women Believe is doing several posts on it!

Today they posted a video, which includes several letters written from Jesus loving guys and their experience on a college campus, going in between classes and time at church. They share their experience and struggle in regards to young ladies and what an incredible impact modesty really does make.

It really ached my heart a bit to hear from the guys who are struggling so much. I think we really do forget what a struggle it truly is. So, listen up, pay attention to the video and let the Spirit work in your heart and life in areas that need it in regards to modesty!

P.S. Quiz time... anyone know what movie the music in the video is from!?

Be Still

I've desired to blog recently but just haven't had time or the energy! In the past two weeks I've worked a total of 67 hours and on top of that I have school everyday, including an AP Exam tomorrow morning (yay English and potential college credits) as well as church related responsibilities and activities (which I do love)!

Let me tell you, it's tiring. My weeks have been flying by. I see gaps in my spiritual life that really need worked on, but I feel so suffocated by activities and work that I don't have time. A few things that have been on my mind have been my prayer life and what I'm going to do after I graduate in a month. Life is just flying by and I'm standing here pretty clueless. "God, what are you doing!?"

I think sometimes I forget that God is... well, God!
I really have enjoyed this well known Bible verse lately:

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10

With a combination of work, school and my future, stepping back and remembering that God is God, is really comforting. It reminds me that God has got this whole thing called 'Rachel's life and situation' under control after all! It warms my little and weak heart that God is big, strong, powerful and in control. I just need to trust Him and remember that His love and faithfulness endure forever!

So take heart, fellow followers, no matter your situation in life, or how crazy things may be.... God's got it under control. I believe that sometimes we need crazy times to make us depend on God and realize our deep and truly desperate need for Him.

Nevertheless, I think it's time to finish up this blog post... gotta be up at 6:45am sharp for my test! Pray that I do well. :)

P.S. I think next week I'll be able to make a few blog posts, as my schedule isn't as busy. Yay for blogging! :)

What is He to you?

Defender.

Loves unconditionally.

Faithful.

Forgiving.

Carries our burdens.

Gives hope.

Just.

Shepard.

Servant.

The Way, Truth, Light.

Tonight after youth group, we watched a short clip on YouTube with a preacher saying what Jesus is to us, kind of like the phrases I listed above. Afterward, we spent a few minutes praying, but those prayers were only prayers of adoration and praise to God for what He is... and I loved it! All I could do was smile during the entire prayer time, because God is so good!

Often in prayer we focus on OUR problems and even more often, we forget to give God the praise He deserves. I'm sure you've struggled with this... haven't we all!

This is a short (but sweet!) little blog post where I just want to remind you that God is more than someone who hears all your problems, issues and prayer requests. YES, God does want to be your comforter and give you strength BUT, think of it this way: You have a good friend and all he/she does is talk about their problems or concerns. That gets a little tiring after a while, now doesn't it? It's the same with God, so stop dwelling on all those problems or issues or whatever the case, and just devote some prayer time adoring God. You'd be surprised how many things you can praise God for, and how many things you can find about God that are worth praising. :)