Favorite Four Letter Word

Psalm 33:22 "May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,

even as we put our hope in you."

Hope:

–verb

to look forward to with desirable and reasonable confidence

I heard on the radio this morning that God didn't make us for the valleys. We don't belong there, so we can have hope that He won't keep us there! Isn't He great?

Through the years...

Mya's Past Halloweens!

First Halloween

Ladybugs!

Second Halloween

Bunny Rabbit

Third Halloween

Cinderella

Fourth Halloween

Dancer

(My favorite!)

If I could...

...go back, this is what I would do differently.

-Enjoy every minute that I have to myself.

-Not take for granted a good nights sleep.

-Save more money.

-Do lots of adventurous things!

-Develop a time-consuming hobby

These are the things I am limited to by having a kiddo.

So all you out there who aren't parents quite yet, enjoy it.

There is TONS of joy, but there is no more "you."

You become your children!

Pursued.

This here is a picture of my journals from middle and high school. Isn't that crazy?! I didn't realize I had so much! These past few days, I have been reading up on them and wow! It's actually depressing. I'm sure that there have been tons of good things happen in my life, but it seems like the only things that get written down are the bad ones. 97% of what I write about is... guys.

And now I understand where my bitterness for the male gene comes from! Reading up on my journals, I have noticed that through middle and high school, my whole self-worth revolved around what a certain guy/ guys thought of me. If a certain guy would look at me or talk to me, I had the BEST day but if I saw him talking to another girl and he just happened to walk right past me without smiling, it was just "the worst day of my life." And then just when I was about to give up and not worry about him anymore, he would do something to spark my fancy again and just keep me right where he wanted me! Although, I would love to blame most of my "male problems" on the male himself... I have to point the finger at yours truly. Without a doubt, I have let guys trample all over me. They can humiliate me, cheat on me, not smile at me etc. and I still hold out for those smooth words he sometimes says.

Looking back and reading my journals, I keep thinking to myself, "gosh I was so DUMB! I just let these guys hurt me and kept coming back to them, kept liking them and kept waiting around for them to 'come around' What is wrong with me!?" But the sad thing is, I still do it. It's like I STAY in denial. I don't realize it at the time, but when I look back, I totally see so many things that say "RUN NOW! He doesn't love you!" In every single one of my relationships, friendships, etc. I see a handful of times I should've thrown in the cards.

So... my goal now is to NOT do that! I have faith that I will find a guy one day who will never make me feel the way any other guy has, and I know that he will chase me and that I won't have to wonder if he likes me, because he will let me know in a million ways. I believe it's God's design for the girl to be pursued and the guy to pursue. From now on, I will NOT PURSUE!! :) I am waiting for my special guy!

Inspirational

Our youth pastor recently shared this video with our group and

I thought it was SO powerful so I will share :)

The First Part

The Second Part

Kinda Silly But...

I have found a way to make my morning devotions more spunky! I put my creativity and love for Jesus together in this little notebook :)

It's my "Devotions Etc." notebook!

But even cooler than that, I'm so proud of my "Prayer Request List."

I totally recommend this for everyone!

My Prayer Request List is a long list of requests that I have, along with the date and a note section beside it to make notes about how God is working in those situations.

(Ex: on Sept. 20th I put down for my mom to get a job and on Sept. 27th I wrote down that she got a job!)

I know a lot of times I will pray for things, and they get answered but I don't even realize it because I'm not really keeping track of it. I just kinda say "Here God, take care of this."

But I want to appreciate everything that He does for me! This helps SO much!

An Answered Prayer

Having grown up around church my whole life, getting pregnant seemed like the worst thing I could possibly do. I remember feeling like God was punishing me and that Mya would be this awful kid who was sent to give me what I deserved. I pleaded with God to not let that be true and that instead Mya would be an angel for me. And that she has been!

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good..." Genesis 50:20