Word of God Speak

We had our first thunderstorm of our spring of two-thousand and eleven. It was ah-mazing.  I have always loved storms, for as long as I can remember.  I like to open up my bedroom window so that I can smell the storm coming and so that I can hear the rain and the thunder.  Every single thing about a thunderstorm makes me smile, makes me relax, and makes me just want to cuddle up with a book and a cup of steamy hot tea or cocoa. 

I have never undersood, though, how one could have any doubt that works of nature (thunderstorms, sunsets or sunrises, rives, oceans, rainforests,  everything)  come from our all mighty God.  When I'm driving and I see the sun rising or setting and the fantastic, undeniably gorgeous colors...I cannot help but see it as God sending a message to us. "Hey guys, just a reminder that I love you and I want to make everything in you lives beautiful, Love your Father."  Its just really a beautiful thing to think about.

Life is like...

easy as 1, 2, 3

Lately, it has really hit me that I have been procrastinating...a lot.  I always start things with good intentions of getting things done, but I always get side-tracked by other things. I have to do research for a paper? I get distracted by Facebook, or emails, or blogs, or college stuff.  I have to practice my speech?  I have to catch  up on my shows.  I want to pack a lunch for the next day? I take a nap instead.
Does anybody else run into this problem?  
A good friend once told me her pastor told her that procrastination was a sin for him. I've never thought of it that way...but really it is.  In the pastor's life, procrastination had him scrambling to get his sermon's written on Saturday night and he didn't have time to really listen to what God was telling him to  preach.  In my life, I get so busy with nonessential and trivial things that I put of schoolwork, practice, and planning to the point that I can't get it done.  So what are we supposed to do?
Eliminate all distractions: turn off the T.V., shut down the computer, remove Facebook as the homepage on our computer, and put the phone in a different room.  Having less stimulus around while trying to finish a paper, project, or study helps people focus in most situations.
Give yourself a goal/reward: tell yourself that after you finish one scholarship application you can spend fifteen minutes on facebook before working on the next one.  Or...after I complete the worksheet for English, I can spend a half an hour reading the new romance novel I checked out of the library.  You get the point.
Make a list AND check it off:  this will give you a confidence boost and a little push to finish the next task on the list.
So...stop making excuses, getting distracted, and wasting time and just get things done. I know I'm going to.

Where is the Love?

Before I truly became a Christian, I was a really messed up person truth be told.  My saving grace during that time however, were my two best friends.  They were both Christians and they both wanted to see me get better. Long story really short, they basically told me they wouldn't be in my life until I changed.  So, a while after that I did change, I found my faith and I got better....but when I turned around to tell my two friends, they had lost their faith. The two best people in my life are no longer even a part of my life, and they are just falling deeper into their personal sins.
I am so afraid of becoming like them, of being so strong in my faith and then just losing it and reverting to everything I've worked so hard to get away from.  Tonight I texted one of those girls, and it resulted in a fight.  She told me that she lost her faith because Christians are "closed-mined, hypocritical a-holes" then continued to say things like this.. She ended in telling me that we aren't friends anymore because she's gay and because I'm a Christian I obviously can't like her anymore.
Some days, it is really hard to hold the title of "Christian".  When people hear the "C" word they automatically associate us with a million negative things, and only a handful of positive.  We are kind of like pitbulls: because the light only gets shown on those of us that mess up, we are all given a negative reputation.

                                                              So, how do we fix it?

Embarking on a Journey...

I decided tonight, after doing much research and listening to a sermon, that I really need to fast.  I found a twenty-one day fast geared towards youth which I am going to follow, and I would love it if you followed it with me both for the encouragement and for the accountability it will give me.  The days are listed below with a daily verse to study. Of course if one of the days doesn't apply to you (no meat doesn't apply to me because I'm a vegetarian) feel free to mix it up. 
Day 1: video games  Matthew 12:9-13
Day 2: television Genesis 24:11-8
Day 3: junk food/fast food Philippians 2:1-4
Day 4: Daniel Fast (eat only fruits and veggies today)  Luke 10:19
Day 5: facebook/twitter/myspace/blogger  Romans 8:37
Day 6: video games 1Samuel 17:34-35
Day 7: television Exodus 20:1-7
Day 8: sweets Joshua 1:9, Romans 8:35-39
Day 9: facebook/etc. Mark 12:30-31
Day 10: texting with friends  Proverbs 13:20
Day 11: No Meats  Proverbs 29:15
Day 12:  television Matthew 7:24-27
Day 13: facebook/etc. James 4:5-17
Day 14:  fast food/junk food 1 Corinthians 4:10-13,20
Day 15: sweets Matthew 25: 14-29
Day 16: Daniel fast 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Day 17: television Proverbs 18:21
Day 18:  liquids only (water, juice, smoothie) Matthew 26:41
Day 19: facebook/etc. Galatians 6:7-9
Day 20: video games  Galations 5:22-23
Day 21:  T.V. and all social networking sites  James 1:19