It is Finished

For anyone who has read the story of Jesus' crucifixion, we know those famous last words in the book of John.  We know that, in that moment, God bought our salvation and redeemed us.

I don't think, however, we realize the impact of those words.

When Jesus stated those words, "It is finished," He wasn't just talking about our salvation.  He was also talking about every single battle we will ever face in our entire.  Every addiction, every hurt, everything that we will ever struggle with was covered in that moment.  Those words mean that we don't have to worry about our struggles because Jesus has already taken care of them for us.  Your battle is over.  It's been won by the God of the universe.

So, what are you facing today?  Are you struggling to overcome an addiction?  Or perhaps there's a situation in your life that seems hopeless.  I want to encourage you to keep on going.  Don't give up.  It's only a matter of time before you see the manifestation of the victory He has won for you.

In the meantime, praise God for that victory.  Your battle?  It is finished!!!

A Difficult Decision...College!

Okay, in case you haven't guessed it already, I'm a teenager.  In fact, I'm a high school senior right now.  A very, very stressed out high school senior.

You see, I applied to seven different universities and colleges.  At first, I was only going to apply to four and then the number grew as I was filling out applications (it doesn't help when every college offers you a "preferred student" application).  So then I ended up with seven.  After getting accepted into all seven of them, the narrowing process finally began.

Every week, I get asked twice, give or take a few times, if I know where I'm going to college.  Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate everyone taking an interest in my life, but it does kind of stress me out.  I think it's because I feel pressured to figure everything out right now and everyone is pulling me in a different direction.  I have my mom pushing me to stay close at home, my dad thinks it would be go for me to live on campus, and then there are all of the other people in my life who say what they think I should do (ironically, those people tell my parents instead of me).  Honestly, I really, really, REALLY don't want to be rude, but they make me want to scream and cry at the same time.

Then, comes the most important part.  Above all, I want to please God.  Yes, I do care what other people think, but He comes above everyone else.  So, I am learning to shut the voices out and listen to what He is trying to tell me.  This is very difficult for me, considering I'm a people pleaser (not to an extreme, but you know what I mean).

Logically, it probably be best for me to go to USI and live with my grandparents and only pay a few thousand per year.  But I'm not sure if that God's will for me and quite frankly, I'm not sure that it's His will for me to stay at home, where I would live comfortably at my home and never have to venture out of my comfort zone.  I went to visit a college today, which is a little over an hour from home.  While it is expensive and I would have to live on campus in a town where I don't know anyone, I did feel at home there.  In fact, it was my absolute favorite out of all of the colleges I've visited, despite the price.  Unfortunately, I will probably get a lot of resistance from some people if I choose to go there.

Why am I telling you all of this?  I honestly don't know...maybe just to vent or something.  Either way, I could really use your prayers as this is a very, very difficult decision to make!

The Skin I'm In

About a month ago, I was diagnosed with a rare skin disorder called dermographic uticaria.  It's not a serious disorder (just really, really irritating!!) and only 2-5% of the population have been diagnosed with it.  There is no known cause and there isn't a cure for it either.  So I was stuck with taking two antihistamine medicines to relieve the irritation and told to avoid triggers (which is hard to do when you don't know what those triggers are).

In case you are wondering what dermographic uticaria is, let me explain it to you a little bit.  Huge, red welts or hives will appear on a random spot on my body for no apparent reason.  They are massively itchy, but when I scratch it causes the rash to worsen.  If you're still wondering, yes, it is so annoying and sometimes even painful (try scratching until you bleed).

The weird (and kind of cool!) thing about this disorder is that you can write on your skin.  Yeah, you can write on your skin!  See, dermographism (another name for the disorder) causes a rash to appear on places that you have touched.  So if I gently run my fingernail across my arm and write my initials, within a few minutes it looks a tattoo stamped on my arm.

Now, I don't tell you all of this so you can feel sorry for me or thing I'm proud of this crazy skin disorder.  I tell you this because I want you to be a witness.  A witness to what?  I want you to be a witness of this...

As I told you earlier, this disorder is hugely irritating.  From what I've read, it usually goes away in 5-10 years.  But I don't plan on living with it that long.  I am believing that God is going to heal me of dermographic uticaria.  It doesn't matter if it's in 1 month or 1 year, I have full faith that God is going to use this for His glory.  This is what I want you to be a witness to.  I want everyone of you who reads this to know that, when this disorder goes away, it will be by God's healing hand alone.

But for right now, I will wait on Him and live in this crazy skin I'm in.  Peace out! :)

We Need to Talk About...Sex?

Okay, so I just finish Dannah Gresh's What Are You Waiting For: The One Thing About Sex No One Ever Tells You About Sex.  It was incredible!  My whole perspective about sex and marriage has been changed forever.  And I thought I'd share some of what I learned with you.

For those of you that know me, your mouth has probably dropped to the floor by now.  I've always been the type of girl who couldn't even say the word sex aloud, much less talk about the subject.  Now I'm the type of girl that thinks every teenager should hear about sex...from a biblical perspective.  After all, parents, pastors and youth pastors, if you don't tell them, who will?  The world will, that's who.  And their perspective on this precious gift is a bit...well, screwed up.

So, here I go.

The first thing I learned (and probably the most powerful) is that sex is not just about a husband and wife coming together.  Sex was designed as a representative of the intimacy God desires for us.  Some of you are probably like "I knew that!" while some of you are saying "What?!"  Well, just to give you an example...

Did you know that the Hebrew word for sex is yada?  Yeah, the word we use when something is boring or dull is actually talking about intimacy.  However, did you also know that that same word is used when talking about knowing God?  Take these two verses for instance:

Adam knew [yada] his wife; and she conceived...Genesis 4:1

Be still and know [yada] that I am God...Psalm 46:10

Yada is actually translated as: to know, to be known, to be deeply respected.  So, in the same way that a husband and wife "know" each in their marriage bed, that's the same way we should be with God.  Completely transparent and open before Him.  Receiving a love that totally trumps human love any day. 

Next, I learned exactly why sex before marriage is a bad idea.  I mean, we all (by "we" I mean those who have grown up in a Christian home) have been told that we can't have sex before marriage.  When we asked why, the answer was most likely something like "Because the Bible says so" or "God wants you to save yourself for your husband".  But have you ever wondered why?  Why the Bible tells us it's wrong?  Why God wants us to wait for our husbands?  Well, this book gave me the a-ha! moment I needed to answer that one pesky little W-word.

Did you know that you can actually get addicted to a person?  Yep!  There is a chemical that washes over your brain called dopamine, which is responsible for giving you a feeling of pleasure.  Whether it's from chocolate, meth or sex, that chemical washes over your brain and makes you want more.  So, when you have sex with a person, that feeling washes over you and you become attached to that person whether you intend to or not.  So how do you think it feels when this relationship ends or when that person no longer wants to have relations with you?  It hurts.  A lot.

This kind of sex is shakab, meaning a counterfeit.  It's something we pursue to fill an emptiness (which can be filled with the divine love of our Savior) Just to give you an idea of what kind of sex this is, you should know that the word shakab is used in the passage where Lot's daughters have sex with him to preserve seed (Can you say gross?!).  Now that you know that, does having shakab sound appealing at all?

Finally (and you're probably thinking "Thank God!"), I learned that you can start over.  Unfortunately, many people are going into marriage nowadays with shame or ties to other people because of sexual sins in their past.  But just because you go into it with shame doesn't mean it has to stay that way.  God offers forgiveness and healing in ways that may seem impossible to you.

If you or someone you know if struggling with the past, know that there is hope.  Find an older, godly woman (or man, if you're a guy) and confess the past.  It's going to be painful, yes, but it will be worth it.  After that, fast and pray that God will release you from your shame and break the ties you have to the people from your past.  It will be a process, but you will be free.  You don't have to live bound with shame and regrets.

Okay, so that's a lot of information (and that was just scratching the surface!).  I wish I could tell you everything that I learned, but that would be a much, much longer blog post.  You'll just have to read the book yourself. :-)

Breaking Stereotypes.

I spent last week at Harvard University (no, I didn't get accepted or anything...I'd have to be crazy smart for that!) for a People to People Leadership Summit.  Honestly, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, especially because there would be people from all around the world there.  My crazy fear was that we wouldn't have anything in common or that they wouldn't be able to speak English (which is a stupid thought, now that I look back on it).

When I first arrived at the summit, I was overwhelmed by the different countries represented.  For the first time ever, I was in the minority.  After a while, I was assigned to my group which included 5 teenagers from Kenya, one from Brazil, one from South Korea, one from China, and four from the USA.  At this point, the cultural barriers I had set up in my head were beginning to break.

By the time, we had reached dinner that night, I realized that they weren't so different from me.  My motto began to be the same as the summit's: We are different.  We are the same.

Throughout the week, I learned so much about the world and made so many friends from different cultures.  A realization came upon me that our way of life is not the only way...people don't have to eat the things we do or speak English as a primary language for us to be friends.  By the end of the week, I had befriended people on five different continents.  And there were absolutely no barriers between us.

Stereotypes often keep us from reaching out to those in other nations.  I think we make up a number of excuses to keep us in our own little world, never allowing it to expand.  But what happened if we broke stereotypes?  If we allowed ourselves to befriend those that are a little different than us?

The truth is...we could change the world.

Who God is to Me

Lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed by God's goodness and mercy.  So, I thought I would make a quick post about who God is to me.

God is my...

Healer, because He's healed all of my illnesses, no matter how bad they were or how horrible I felt

Deliverer, because He delivered me from addictions, depression, a bad self-image...this list could go on and on

Savior, because He died on the cross to save me from myself and my sins; He could have sent anyone else, but He came Himself

Peace, because His Spirit floods my mind, heart and soul when I feel panicked and everything is out of control

Joy, because He restored it when I was so depressed that I couldn't even smile

Provider, because He always makes sure I have what I need (and not just what I think I need)

Best Friend, because He was there for me when no one else was

Everything, because, even though there are billions of people in this world, He cares specifically about me and loves me for who I am

Now you know who God is to me.  Who is He to you?

Good Luck at the Grammys

I remember a time where I could watch my favorite TV shows without having to worry about the things the television network would put in there.  Yes, there once was a time where I could watch Disney freely or see an awards show without seeing things that would scar my mind.

Everything has changed.

In case you're wondering, no, I'm not in favor of homosexuality.  That being said, I have no problem loving them, talking to them, etc.  I just don't agree with that aspect of their lives.  If you're sitting there calling me an ignorant bigot or hypocrite or some other insulting name right now, you may as well click exit...I'm not finished.

This whole Disney thing infuriated me.  Their defense is that they are trying to make it equal for children all across the United States.  Well, if that were true, we'd see shows about Christians or Amish or some other religion...but we don't.  No, the truth of the matter is that Disney is using their channel, a children's channel, to make a political statement.  Congratulations, Disney, you have officially stated that you support gay marriage...like we didn't know that already.

But this isn't where it stops.

Then, I read a post about one of my favorite singers who was criticized for leaving the Grammys early.  She never said why, never told anyone that it was because they were performing wedding ceremonies for gay couples along with straight couples.  She never said why she left.  Yet, every liberal for gay marriage who read that must have decided that the marriages were her reasoning.  So they went off on a long tangent about how she's a hater, needs to change her opinion, blah blah blah (we've heard it all before).

Oh, I'm loving their maturity on the matter.

The truth is that we are called haters for disagreeing with homosexuality.  It seems as though we have been called every name in the book because of our beliefs.  We choose to love homosexuals as we love straight people, and we are called the haters.  But liberals and other sorts of people can bash us and make fun of Christians for believing in Jesus Christ...oh, but they're stating their opinion, right?  Do you see what I mean?

Quite frankly, I don't care what you believe.  I know that I'm not going to change your opinion by doing the things that I do.  I just do those things for my sake.  What I do care about, however, is you throwing this "popular" (not really) opinion in my face, telling me I should agree with it.  Just like I may never be able to convince you to become a pro-life activist (another post for another time), you will never be able to convince me to be a gay rights activist.

So stop trying.

In conclusion, I just want to say congratulations to Disney...you have lost at least one viewer (judging by posts on FB, I'd say there's a lot more).  I might rent some of the old shows I used to watch from the library or maybe some Austin and Ally when it comes out, but as of right now, I will no longer watch your station like I used to.

Haters, say what you have to say, but just remember who the real hater is when you're calling me nasty names for my beliefs.  We'll see who seems more mature then.