HAPPY EASTER!!!

Jesus has risen!! How wonderful it is! 

 
I love this song and it is such a great one for today! ENJOY!

 
Have a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Peace and Love

Exhaustion, Stress/Nerves and Summer

I am so tired today. I didn't go to sleep until after 4_AM last night… That just shouldn't be humanly possible. But I could not for the love of goodness stop thinking about different things going on in my life. My future, my friends and family, my relationship with the Lord, school currently and school in the future aka college and many other things that just came to mind. I was so frustrated which didn't help anything and I was so tired, I became an emotional mess. This might sound weird to some people but I love the feeling after a good long cry, especially if I cry at night. The only thing is I like to sleep a long time after the waterworks and this didn't get to happen. I only got 2 ½ hours of sleep……… not enough! But I feel somewhat better today and I hope that all my stress for things going on starts to dwindle soon.

I am so excited about college but like I said before it completely freaks me out. I know I will be successful but the thought of failing does pop into my head. I am so nervous about meeting new people (because I tend to judge way too quickly. I have high standards for people, which is terrible and wrong but I am working on it) and building lasting relationships with others. I am also starting freak out about finding a church home and a Sunday school class to join. I've been thinking about how I have gone to the same church that I am going to now since we moved here 12 years ago. I have been with the same group of girls (which I have never been super close with) for that time period too so I'm ready to go find my own church home but thinking about it makes me scared and nervous but also o so excited.

Did I say that I was tired? Because I am. Really tired.

So that is what is going on with me emotionally since I know everyone in the blog world wants to know about it. And right now in my "what people see on the outside" life, there is really nothing abnormal going on. I wake up, go to school, come home, eat lunch (sometimes, sometimes I forget), go to work, leave work and on Mondays go to class, Tuesdays go home and eat dinner, Wednesday go to church, Thursdays go home and eat dinner, and Fridays come home and eat dinner. I do other things on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but it always varies. I have a pretty exciting life, right?

Graduation is almost here! We just started our sixth 6^th weeks of the school year and I'm so ready to be done. I am ready for some change in my life. As scary as it is, it so very exciting. (Can you tell I have very mixed emotions about this?)

And this summer is going to be SUPER busy! I graduate May 28^th and then the craziness begins:

    June 8-9 I have orientation at Texas State. This isn't Fish Camp. Just orientation.

    June 13-17 is Vacation Bible School (I am so pumped I get to do it this year because the last 4 years I have had cheer camp the same exact week)

    July 1-9 Babysitting Beach Trip (I go as the nanny)

    July 10-15 High School Camp for church

    July 17-21 Middle School Camp for church (I'm still not sure if I'll go as a youth leader yet)

    July 26-31 Mission Trip to St. Louis

And I'll also be working when I'm home and I'll also have fish camp during the summer sometime, I just hope it's not during High School Camp or Mission Trip. It can run over any of the other things. So I'll be crazy busy… But I'll have lots of pictures.

 

Hope all of you are having a wonderful Wednesday!

Peace and Love!

Just Missing Jesus

This was the title of the sermon today. To say that Sundays always fill my heart and make me happy would be an understatement. I love Sundays. Although it's hard to wake up "early" and get ready, once I'm at church (if I go in with a happy, joyful and positive attitude, and even when I don't), I seem to get something fantastic brought to my attention or I get questions I've been asking answered. And today was no different.

For those of you who do not go to church, today (Sunday, April 17) is Palm Sunday. This is the Sunday that comes before Easter. And today, in my opinion, was just what I needed before this next week. The sermon was titled "Faces in the Crowd: Just Missing Jesus" and the main verse was John 13:21-30. It says:

21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me."

 22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means."

 25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

 26 Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

   So Jesus told him, "What you are about to do, do quickly." 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor.30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

After reading through these verses, we did this outline. And the way my pastor presented this was awesome. I'll attach the sermon below the outline so if you want to listen you are more than welcome to. *I'm uploading this blog on Sunday so the online sermon won't be online for a day or two*

This is the outline:

Sermon Notes        Sunday, April 17, 2011

"Faces in the Crowd: Just Missing Jesus"

(John 13:21-30)

The story of Judas Iscariot is the story of a wasted life. He had every opportunity to choose well and yet, rejected Jesus Christ. How is it possible to be so close and still miss relationship to Jesus and eternity in heaven? It happens all the time. Pray for today as we celebrate the Lord's Supper and focus our hearts on the Savior.

1. We miss Jesus when we think we are
   fooling Him .
   
2. We miss Jesus when we want Him to
   fit our mold .
   
3. We miss Jesus when we allow
   closeness to breed familiarity .
   
4. We miss Jesus when we partner with
   the wrong people .
   
5. We miss Jesus when we
   ignore His invitations .
   
6. We miss Jesus when we
   reject His love .
   
7. We miss Jesus when we know
   guilt without repentance .
   

"A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment himself" (1 Corinthians 11:28-29 NIV)

 

ONLINE SERMON:
http://www.fbcallen.org/pages/page.asp?page_id=124704 (Just scroll to the bottom and click the last one)

 

This sermon made me think about how sometimes I am not always joyful with the things I do. I don't always thank my Heavenly Father for giving me a roof over my head, food on the table, parents and family members that love me, and all the other little things in life that add up to be very big things. I also thought about the main question which is "Am I missing Jesus?" For me, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior BUT just because I have done that, does not mean that my journey is done. I have to live my ENTIRE life, not just parts of my life, for him. And sometimes that is tough and hard. But I have to remember that not everything is going to be easy with my walk with Christ. I'm going to have days that test my patience, my strength and my will-power. I have to remember that my life is because of Christ love for me. He died on the cross for my sins, paying the highest sacrifice. I don't know what your answer is to that question above but I hope that if you don't already believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he died on the cross for your sins to make a way for you to go to heaven, that you would accept this amazing gift that has been given to you because you never know when your last breath will be.

 

Hoping everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!

Peace and Love!

 

Saturdays

I don't know about anybody else, but I love Saturdays when I don't have anything planned and I get to sleep in. Even better when I have nothing planned all day and I get to sleep till whenever I get up and I get to do whatever I feel like doing. Like today. I was completely lazy and I didn't want to do anything so I stayed in bed until way to late but I'm a teenager so that's acceptable.. right? But I was slightly productive today and I cleaned my room! WOOHOO! I was productive! And when I say clean, I don't mean I just picked the dirty clothes up off the floor and threw anyway the junk mail in the corners. I mean I vacuumed the edges of my room, moved my furniture around, threw away things that I will probably need later and then after all that even changed the sheets on my bed. So I say today was pretty productive. I still haven't taken a shower. But it's not like I'm leaving the house. Its 11o'clock at night. Then after all of that, I made chocolate cake balls! Well, I started them. And so far they look pretty good, even though they are chocolate and not white cake. Here is the recipe I used. It's a Paula Deen recipe, so it has to be good right?!?

Paula's Cake Balls

Paula's own version of this trendy sweet!

Serves: 36
Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Smithfield Product: None

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package cake mix
  
• 1 (16 ounce) container prepared cake frosting
  
• 6 ounces of chocolate flavored confectioners coating disks or bar (available in white chocolate, dark or milk)
  
• Food Coloring (optional)
  

• Paula's Favorite Combinations:
  
  • *Red Velvet Cake/Cream Cheese Frosting and dipped in white chocolate coating
    
  • *Strawberry Supreme Cake/Strawberries and Cream Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
    
  • *White Cake/Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
    
  • *Caramel Cake/Chocolate Mocha Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
    
  • *White Cake/Wild Cherry Vanilla Frosting - Dipped in Dark Chocolate Coating
    
  • *French Vanilla Cake/White Chocolate Almond Frosting - Dipped in Chocolate Coating
    
  • *Dark Chocolate Cake/Cream Cheese Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating
    
  • *Spice Cake/Cream Cheese Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating
    
  • *Lemon Cake/Lemon Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating
    
  • *Confetti Cake/Vanilla Frosting - Dipped in White Chocolate Coating
    

    Steps
    

    Prepare the cake mix according to the directions on the box. When cake is finished baking allow to cool for 30 minutes. Crumble the cake into a large bowl using a stand mixer or a hand mixer. Add the frosting and mix until well combined. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. 
    
    Line a baking tray with wax paper. Use a melon baller as a scooper to form balls with the cake mixture. Place on wax paper. Once you have used all of the cake mixture, place the baking tray in the freezer for 1 hour. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl of the microwave, stirring every 5-10 seconds until smooth. At this point you can add a bit of food coloring if you are using white chocolate. 
    
    Remove the balls from the freezer. Using one toothpick, pick up the balls one at a time and dip in the chocolate. Use a second toothpick to slide the ball off the first toothpick onto the wax paper lined baking tray. 
    
    NOTE: We found that an old Easter egg dipper works as well. If the balls fall off the toothpick into the chocolate, they are not firm enough to work with and you'll need to place them back in the freezer for additional time 
    
    Once you have covered all the balls in chocolate coating place the tray in the refrigerator until the chocolate coating is set. At this point you can drizzle other chocolate on the balls for decoration.
    

    Serving Suggestions
    

    Serve with a cold glass of milk!
    

    From:
    http://www.smithfield.com/recipes/recipe/paulas-cake-balls
    

    
     

    Hope everyone has had a great Saturday and received lots of rest and relaxation.
    

    Peace and Love!
    

    
     

Show Us Your Life- Book List

I really hate when you write a whole long blog and then Microsoft Word stops working… That really bugs me. Maybe because it just happened. Let's see if I can rewrite this.

I don't really read. I'm not a big reader. I don't like reading. Maybe because I'm dyslexic (and yes I had to use spell check on that) or maybe because I think it's boring or maybe because I have ADHD and I can't focus when I read. But those are all excuses. Don't get me wrong I do read. I like books. Its fun to have a good book to read and you don't want to put it down. But that is really hard for me to find. I hope that as I get older I can start to enjoy reading. I don't really know what will happen. Without further ado I am going to share with you my favorite books because I am not currently reading any:


 
Redeeming Love

 
Between Sundays

 
A Walk to Remember

 
The Doll People (and the second book The Meanest Doll in the World)

 
To Kill A Mockingbird

 
The Boxcar Children Series

 
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

These are just a few. My mom introduced me to Karen Kingsbury and Nicholas Sparks and I love their books. I also am forced to read some of these books because of school. And at the time I hate them but then after school ends I normally really enjoy some of them. And some of these I learned about when I was a kid. I love children's chapter books for many reasons. 1. They are easy to read. 2. There isn't any bad language. 3. They are normally really good stories. But that's all I can think of for now. Hope everyone is having a fabulous Friday!!!


 
Peace and Love!

 

Current thoughts

As I am reflecting on an unusual day, I think about how people can have so many emotions. It's crazy; I have laughed, cried, been angry, upset, confused, frustrated, annoyed, and content; and that has been just today and it is only the afternoon…. But I think that is normally for a girl. Right?

This morning, when I was getting dressed, I didn't think anything was wrong with my t-shirt, black Nike shorts, and my tennis shoes. Let me remind you two things: First- I am 4'10". I'm short, yes, I know. So pants, skirts, dresses, and shorts are all longer on me. Seconded- I go to a high school with 4,000 kids. That is a lot of students. Just keep that in mind when you read my story. So when I got into school that last thing I thought was going to happen was me getting in trouble for my outfit choice. The "normal" rule for shorts is finger-tip length or mid-thigh, correct? WRONG O JELLY O!!! We aren't allowed to wear athletic shorts to my school…. WHAT?!?! When did this rule happen? We are allowed to be on our phones in the hall and have facial hair, but we can't wear athletic shorts. I think that is dumb! But I understand that some people wear their shorts SUPER short but if you know me at all you know that I am super conservative so ME being out of dress code is just hilarious. Anyway, I cried because I don't like getting in trouble and because I was frustrated and because the lady that told me to change was EXTREMELLY! rude about it. I think I was just taken back by it. And her lack of caring about another person's feelings. Or maybe she was just doing her job. But my amazing mother brought me some pants up to the school. And I am so thankful for that so I didn't have to wear their uncomfortable sweatpants all day.

On to something else, I think so.

Today in my Teen Leadership class, that I really do not like going to, we had a really great discussion about our values. Many of the people in our class are disrespectful and do not care about anyone but themselves. So I thought it was very interesting when many people said that they valued respect. How can you value something if you don't do it yourself? So when the teacher asked if any of us had any questions, I popped my hand up and asked (and I quote myself) "People say they value respect but do they value getting respect or getting respect?" My teacher asked me if that was a rhetorical question and I told him yes, I knew my answer but I wanted everyone else's answer too. And it was very interesting to see people's reactions and comments to it.

Here is something to leave you guys with:

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

"He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress and I will not be shaken." Psalm 62:6

That's all I have today. Hope everyone is have a fantabulous day! And even though my day started rocky, my foundation is strong and today has been wonderful!

Peace and Love!

 

Thank you Jesus for giving me a heart for people. Thank you Jesus for allowing me to understand. Thank you Jesus for being a wonderful and mighty foundation!

Decisions, Life Happenings, and the Future

Life as I know it is about to completely change and there is nothing I can do but go with it. As I am wrapping up my Senior year of high school and deciding on colleges and what I want to do with my life and other "adult" things I am having to choose, I'm learning I need to take in every moment. Even though I am so excited about going to college and starting a new chapter in my life, I am scared out of my mind. I have no idea what is in store for me. I don't know if I am going to mess up or fail. I will probably meet my husband. I will meet amazing friends that will turn into lifelong friends. But I need to remember that everything happens for a reason and to appreciate every moment that I am given. This past year I have been so busy that I have not always lived in the moment but thought about how awesome the future is going to be. I hope that I can remember while I am in college (which that is so weird to say) to live in the moment and be thankful for everything that happens, the good, the bad, and the ugly.


 
BUT! Let's get caught up what has happened this past year…. (Since it's been that long, sorry about that!)


 
Senior year has been so much fun and I can't believe that I only have 45 days left at the high school… that just seems so weird. I started the school year out being the mascot (like I had been since my freshman year) and was in the cheerleading class again which I have really missed this semester because cheer class, I literally had to do nothing. Which I enjoyed. Some days, the boy mascots who drive me nuts but I miss that. I enjoyed it. 

Senior girls in cheerleading

Football games were always fun and I loved being able to mascot this year. Although it was really hot and sometimes miserable, I enjoyed being the mascot for all 4 years that I did it. Even though I complained about mascoting (a lot, SORRY MOM!), I will miss it but not enough to do it again.

My mom was honored to get to participate in being at the Senior Pep-Rally during the fall. She got to dress up in the mascot and mascot with me during the pep-rally. She refused to create a skit with me which I was perfectly alright with. She was a great sport and did a fantastic job!

Me and Mom before

Mom and me during the pep-rally

Mom, Crystal, Me, and Crystal's Mom during the pep-rally

We had to learn a dance, this was during that

Me and Mom after the pep-rally

That night at the football game we also had Senior night and my awesome parents came (like they always do) and participated in all the things that they had to do. (Take pictures with me, give me flower, and stand and cheer on the football players as they came through the tunnel)

Mom, me and Dad at Senior night

My Sunday school class (also known as BFG- Bible Fellowship Group) had many hangouts during this year. We went to lunch multiple times after church, did angel trees, had fellowships, had D-NOW, and many other random things.

Back Row: Trystan, Haley, Addie, Morgan, Erin, Ashley, Emily, and Krista
Front Row: Kristi, Me, Abby, Natalie, Elizabeth

Christmas Musical came and went. I got to be an angel during a couple of performances which was fun but I just loved getting to hang out with everyone backstage.

Jeremy and Heidi were able to come to town for Thanksgiving and Christmas which was so exciting! They got to bring their puppy dog, Bruiser, and they got another dog when they were here. (Long story made short- Lost Bruiser, Heidi's parents started searching for another dog and found one, found Bruiser, still had dog they had found.) So we got to meet both Bruiser and Brittany. They were great dogs!

  
I also got my wisdom teeth taken out during Christmas break, 3 or 4 days before Christmas. But I was so glad that they were able to take them out and they didn't mess up my teeth like they do to some peoples.

We had so much snow this year. We even missed 4 days of school, FOUR people! That is a ton of snow (which was really ice for the first 3 days) but it was so much fun to not have to go to school those days and get to hang out with my mom and Leslie and Josh those days. And I even made a to-do list and did most of the things on it.

I went on my last Revolve tour with our girl's ministry. And I had so much fun! I definitely was in need of that weekend when I went and I am so glad that I decided to go because I got to meet some great girls and learned so much about how awesome my Jesus is!

  
I finally went to a Cheer Banquet. The last one but I went. And I had a good time. My parents went with me and it was the Thursday night before D-NOW so I wasn't super excited about it but I knew I needed to go. When I went up to get my certificate, rose, and trophy (yes, I got an awesome trophy for being the mascot), the cheer captain, Taryn, had wrote a small thank you to me for being a great mascot the past 4 years, which I thought was really nice.

D-NOW=AMAZING… enough said

  
I was so blessed to get to go to Tegucigalpa, Honduras during my spring break this year. I had the most amazing time of my life and I will never look at some things the same way. I would love to be able to go back some day. I will hopefully make another post about the trip.

I miss him...

My last thing I wanted to talk about is that I will be going to TEXAS STATEin the fall for college!!!! I finally made the decision. I told my parents on Friday by buying them shirts and car decals. I came to my decision on Wednesday night when I just had an overwhelming peace about going there and I am so excited about what my future holds!