~ What is Life? ~

A chat with a friend on gmail gave me an idea for a blog post. :)

Life is good.
Life is...great!
Life is.....amazing!
Life is not the result of an explosion in outer space.
Life is not a series of chemical reactions happening in a certain order.
Life is something consciously and carefully created by a divine Creator.
Life is something we experience when Jesus enters our lives and takes our hands and holds us up for everyone to see that we are His and not our own.
Life is when we are plundered from the strong man.
Life is being alone with God on the ocean.
Life is being in a sailboat under a starry sky.
Life is feeling the breeze while sitting out on the water.
Life is studying the word of God in a lawn chair by the lake.
Life is the rest of your testimony.
Life is swinging on the swings at the park even though we're to old.
Life is loving our neighbors as ourselves.


Life is only worth living when we are in Christ Jesus.

~ From Retreat to Advance ~

So, I thought I'd do a post about Advance, because it was so different this year.

Undeniably, Advance 2012 was the greatest Advance I’ve ever experienced. It started out just like any other Advance: we were just a youth group going to the mountains for fun, and maybe some learning along the way. Little did we know, God was going to work a miracle in each and every one of our hearts over the course of this weekend. As we started going through the motions of meals, messages, and many, many games, I started to desire something more. The games were super fun and exciting, but it felt just like the things Relay always does. It felt empty. One of my friends in particular agreed with me, and wanted to have conversations with other people about God, and what He’s doing in our lives, not just playing games and talking about silly, pointless things. Obviously, God had those plans exactly, and put it on other’s hearts as well. Suddenly, on the second day of the retreat (or at least I think it was the second day), one of my other friends started a prayer group, just out of the blue, and as I and lots of others joined, it hit every single one of us that this is what we want to do every time we see each other. After the message on the third night, three of the girls in my cabin were greatly filled with the Holy Spirit, and were beaming with joy when we got back from the impromptu prayer-groups, which continued through the rest of the trip. Heading home on the last day, my brother and I thanked God for everything that He’d done on this trip. I believe that God turned this trip from a Retreat, to an Advance for His Gospel.

When we got back and went to church that same day, God worked amazingly again. My brother was moved and went to be prayed for after the sermon, and was saved! He prayed the Sinner's prayer and asked forgiveness for his sins!! Immediately when we got home I began to see a stark difference in his life, and for the first time I got to see first-hand the change that happens. I get so happy every time I think about it! Praise God.


~ Kendall

~ Little Purple iPod Chronicles

I did a guest post for Bailey Henson on Little Purple Ipod Chronicles this week. Check it out!

Click here!

~ Kendall

~ Free Writing ~

Today for school, we had to "free write".Write for 5 minutes non-stop. You cannot stop writing, the pen must never rest! As Mrs. Stewart puts it, a "thought dump", or "thinking on paper". Neeley and I both agreed, it was like journaling. Like rambling for school. It was honestly the most amazing 5 minutes of school I did today. We had to write about the church building, and I didn't quite know where to start.

This is what I wrote: "The church is a big building. I love it. It's like my second home. This place fills me with joy every time I see it. The church is more than just a building to me, it's a home. A sanctuary, a safe place, a hangout, a worship hall...a basketball court. A lovely place to pour my soul into. Sitting here in this chair, learning about how to 'free write', right here in this building is beautiful. This truly is my favorite place on earth. Not because of the size, or color, or temperature, but because I know that the Lord is present in this place. I feel the Holy Spirit all around me every time."

It's choppy, I know. I could do better. But I don't want to improve my thoughts, because that's just the way I think. Maybe I think in short sentences, who knows. thinking on paper, huh? I can do that. I enjoyed it extremely. Its the way I journal. Just, pour it out. All of it! Onto a once blank page in the book, that's now filled up with pretty little letters that might not make any sense to anyone but you. Maybe that's how love works. You can't really explain it and have it make perfect sense, you just feel it. It's just...there. I think the Psalmist decides to free write about God for a good 10 minutes or so in Psalm 134 and 135:
"Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made the heaven and earth! (135) Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes the lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. (Psalm 134-135:7)

I love this. He just cannot explain, even in so many different ways, how vastly the Lord deserves praise. in heaven and on earth. in the seas and all deeps.

thanks for listening to (or in this case reading) my thought dump.:)
~Kendall

~ Perfection - A Guest Post by Neeley ~

Perfection, where are you? Why do I ache for something more than who I am? I want to be perfect. Instead I am ruined by the smallest storms. Tossed aside by small words. My weakness is unbearable. I barely breathe. I barely see. And I am not worthy of anything. I am imperfect in every way. Yet so is my whole world. Even the sunset is ruined by the smallest storms. Millions die in starvation every moment. People are hurt, people die, and people forget what honor and bravery are. I ache; knowing perfect is so far away I could never reach it.

Perfection is impossible. Only one was perfect. He was perfect so I would not have to be. He was mighty where I am weak. Yet His power is made perfect in my weakness. He delights when I come, given up, at His feet. He is more than perfect; he is the creator of perfection. He is More than beautiful but the creator of beauty. Every perfect gift is from Him.

Yet when I had run so far away I could no longer live, He transformed me from my deadness and brought me to life in a new way. I was washed in His blood, covered from my nakedness. My sin had brought me to a place where I could no longer even crawl. I WAS DEAD. I thought I really was living and all this was fun. But I was dead. No life was left in me. No one wanted me. That is the moment when God saved me. I was born again.

Suddenly I am innocent, redeemed by the blood of Christ. I realized at that moment it’s not about me being perfect, it’s about Him being perfect. He loves me and that’s all that ever matters. I mean I think we have it all wrong. A big theme in girls’ lives is beauty. People will tell you you’re beautiful and on and on, but our beauty does not matter. His does. Our only true light is Him. Christ is all that matters, all that will ever matter.

Only in Him can we be innocent. Blameless. Beautiful. Redeemed. His. A few months ago being pretty was a struggle for me. Recently God has shown me it’s not important at all. I mean without God we are dead and we care about beauty? I wish I could go back and tell myself that it does not matter. I am not saying you are not pretty, for you are God’s perfect creation. But it does not matter.

The cross is there. God loved me to the point he sent His son. Jesus died that day to save me. All the wrath of God was poured out that day and now it’s gone. GONE! I mean there is none left for those united with Christ, the one and only wonderful, perfect thing. One day I shall be forever on my knees praising Him! With all the nations we shall worship the king of all kings. There we will be perfect. Finally home.

How I long for home! Where every tear will wiped from my eye by my king. I can only start to contemplate the wonderful glory of the feeling of forever yours. Safely home. I will run forever there and just fall to my knees and never want to move. I do all the time and in heaven I know no one will ever make me move. Oh the perfection of Christ! We cannot even start to experience that perfect glory. The perfect glory, that shall never end.
Cause the sunset won’t always raise. People will always let me down. Christ shall never forsake me. We are imperfect. He is perfect.

~Neeley

~ Sigh ~

Seems to be the word recently. Sigh. As Webster's Dictionary puts it: 'To take a brief, audible breath (as in weariness or relief)' ... thats what it is. A breath. To take a breath. Not just any breath, no, a deep, audible breath. As in weariness or relief. What a gift. A small gift, but a gift all the same. A deep breath, fresh air. It's an easy way to let out your weariness. I'm going to ask you right now, to take a nice, deep, fresh breath of air. Inhale all the way. Exhale all the way. A sigh. Feels good, eh? Haha :) I would also like to ask you to pray. Pray for the kids who don't get deep breaths. Who don't get sighs. Who can't. Maybe they smoke, maybe their parents smoke, maybe their lungs are messed up, the list goes on... Perhaps they never got the chance to breathe. Pray for those. They need Him. The Almighty Father. And we can reach them!!! Because we can reach God. ~Kendall

~ Rambling...on...and on...~

I think the stars twinkle of their own accord. I think the clouds move when they get bored. I think the trees sway to the music of the breeze, As it silently runs through their leaves.

Contemplating on my back porch is nice. Silently whispering the gospel to myself. -oh boy here we go- life. love. friends. secrets. hope. help. passions. issues. We all got 'em. This game we play is never ending. I wish I could make it stop. But somehow I end up in the middle. The middle is sad, but someone brought something good about it to my attention: 'All your friends trust you.' That's encouraging. I'm rambling now, not making any sense. But that's alright. Sometimes life doesn't have to make sense. I know I don't half the time anyway, so you're probably used to it by now. All I know for sure is that my Savior loves me and has laid a path before my feet. I have to walk it. I have to live it. I want to hide it in my heart. This road isn't a paved pathway through open land, however. Under the forest of His grace, it's a barely-traveled trail and it's hard to see. Over-growing with blessings and grace, but also trials and hard times. Some would rather walk the cobble-stoned street lined with false promises and broken hearts. It boasts great archways and ornate gates to the houses of the people who build their houses on the sand. The path-less-traveled is the one we are called to walk, and although the things of another world seem more appealing sometimes, those of us who build our houses on the Rock will not be washed out by storms. We won't be blown over by the trials we go through. We'll stand. Strong. Free. But wise, also. Wise in the way that we might not be mentally torn apart. Am I making sense? no. haha whatever. :) I make sense to myself. My examples probly aren't the best, and I'm sure my spelling is awful. hahaha you guys don't mind. I can be talking for hours and only make sense to myself. I feel bad for you though, because you are probably reading this and aren't getting anything out of it, whereas, I've been thinking on this all day. ;) :) ~Kendall