So Many Blessings

I have been so blessed over the past month! I have so much exciting news and updates to share!

First of all I had an opportunity to go up to northern California at the beginning of December for a week and a half. I went to visit my Uncle and his new wife and help them move. Their new house was very nice and I really enjoyed visiting with them! However Northern Cali is very cold compared to Central Cali! As fun as it was visiting and helping, I was ready to come home to my family after about a week ;) I missed them very much! I think being away helped me to appreciate them a bit more.

Well when I got home I was informed of the sneaky dealings that went on while I was gone ;) First of all, my grandmother, who lives in a trailer right next to our house, got a new Dachshund puppy. He is quite adorable!

The other bit of news that I was told when I got home, is that my family is moving! Not far, just to another house in the same area, but it's a bigger house and better suited to our needs. So we have a month in which to pack up five people who have lived in the same place for the last five years! Oh joy :P But I am very excited about the new house :)

Also, the Lord provided all of my tuition money for Ellerslie! So I will be going to Colorado in February! I can't wait to see what the Lord will do with me while I'm there! He has already done so much even just in providing all the money I needed in the short amount of time I had!

We had a wonderful, yet simple Christmas this year and are planning the same for New Years :)

As busy and crazy as my life is right now, it's a really beautiful time for me. I'm just learning so much! And the Lord has really been reassuring me of His love! Thank you all for your prayers! I hope you all have a lovely New Year! Blessings in Christ!

Snow!

Here are some pictures of the snow we've already had this year. It's so Beautiful! An today we finally get to listen to Christmas music! I was pleasantly woken up hearing my favorite Christmas music this morning!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's finally time for one of my favorite holidays! Thanksgiving! We are having family and friends over to our house to spend the day and have Thanksgiving dinner with us! I so much enjoy filling our house with people I love! I made apple pie today and mom and the littles made pumpkin pies.

Okay so what am I thankful for? Well the Lord has richly blessed me and my family! It would take so much space to tell of all the things I'm thankful for. But here are a few:

• My Savior Jesus Christ
• My wonderful loving family
• My dear friends
• My animals
• My imagination
• Cameras
• Pencils and paper ;)
• Warm fires to sit by
• The ocean
• Books
• Music
• Sisters
• Love

Just to name a few! Here is a song by Josh Groban called Thankful. It's on his Christmas album but I think it's a great Thanksgiving song.

Music

Okay, well in case you all haven't noticed I am one of those people who loves music. The one who couldn't do Algebra without listening to music, the one who works way better with music. And when the room is quiet, I turn on the music.

Music is a really wonderful gift that the Lord has given us. He created it in nature in the trickling of a stream, in the lilting songs of the birds, the whistling of the wind, the rushing of a river. . .
Music is beautiful, relaxing, fun, inspiring, invigorating etc.

I will start out by saying that my absolute favorite singer is definitely Josh Groban ;) I'm very excited about his new CD Illuminations and can't wait to get it!

It would take a lot of space and you would be really bored if I listed all my favorite bands and told you about each one. So I'm not going to do that, but I will list a few :)

Though Josh Groban is my favorite, a majority of the music I listen to is Christian. Some of my favorites are;

Derek Webb
Caedmon's Call
Britt Nicole
Tenth Avenue North
Down Here
Brandon Heath
Chris and Conrad
Newsboys

Non Christian artists that I like are;

Owl City
Enya
Michael Buble
Josh Turner
Celtic Thunder
Celtic Woman

I also really enjoy listening to soundtracks.

Titanic
A Beautiful Mind
Narnia the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion King Broadway version


Now, in case you're wondering, yes, there is music that I really don't care to listen to. Rap and Screamo music are two things I really dislike. I don't think they really qualify as music anyway, just so much noise. Rhythmic noise maybe, but noise just the same :P

So there's a peek into my love of music :)

Writing

Sometimes I have no idea what to write, but I really want to write! So I grab a note book, turn to a blank page and just start putting down words. Something about words on a blank page is so appealing sometimes. I don't consider myself a great writer, but I have been able to get my feelings on paper a few times.
Words are such amazing things! The fact that you can get a feeling to come out of your heart and soul, then translate that feeling to words so that others can understand your heart, is fascinating! It's the only way you can let someone into your inner soul so that they can feel what you're feeling, like you're feeling it. In a way, words are a miracle! They are full of power!

Ellerslie

Recently I went to a conference called Set Apart Girl by Erick and Leslie Ludy. I was so blessed by the message and I learned a lot about being a girl set apart for the Lord! Also while I was there they shared a video about the ministry the Ludys do in Colorado. It's called Ellerslie. I was very blessed by the video and the Lord has shown me that this is where He wants me to be. So I'm going to the Spring semester. I don't know how I'm going to afford it or what God's gonna do, but I trust that He's leading me down this path and He will provide! I would appreciate your prayers as I prepare for this adventure in the Kingdom! Instead of trying to explain what it is or tell you about it, here is a link to the video they have on their website.

New Things

Well several things have happened since I last posted anything. First of all, I'm no longer a teenager! Yes, I turned twenty this month. I can't believe it! I have to say I still feel like a teenager though :) The only way to help me to believe I'm actually twenty is to look back at all the things that have happened in my life. I'll spare you from having to hear all about it as it would take a great deal of time ;) But I'll say this, I have learned so much from my loving Savior! I've been through valley's , and been on the peaks of the mountains, been in storms, and been by the quiet waters. I've wandered away and gotten lost and He has always been there to show me the way back. I've shed many tears, and I have had many times of laughter. I've felt, joyful, confused, angry, prideful, peaceful, bashful, pain, sadness, hurt, loneliness, love, happy, discouraged. . . So many things! And there's still a long way to go! But with Jesus leading I know I'll get through.

I've also recently returned with my family from a two week vacation. One week visiting my Grandpa, and the other week visiting my uncle and his new wife. It was a fun relaxing time! I took so many pictures but here are some of my favorites. They're not all in order :P

Heidi

Tabitha

Creek rocks are so amazing!

L to R; Me, Heidi, Tabitha, Priscilla

S'mores!

Me and my aunts Labrador Retriever

Another new thing is that I got a puppy! I named her Autumn. She is so smart and is learning super fast!




And last but definitely not least, My favorite guy on America's Got Talent won the 2010 competition! Michael Grimm! I've been following his progress on the show all season and I was so impressed by his first audition that I was hoping even then that he would win. And I'm so elated that he did!

Got to Have Water!

You know it's a scary thing when you wake up in the morning and try to turn on the faucet and nothing comes out! You try to flush the toilet and it just kinda burbles. You run up to check you water tanks and find something that shocks you. . . they're empty! An awful sinking feeling comes over you as you realize that your reserve tanks are also empty. Absolutely no water. Zero, nil, zilch, nothing. Well as you've probably already gathered, that happened to my family. It was last week on Friday. The one puzzling thing is that we had checked the water tanks the night before and they were full, next morning, empty, no holes in either tank. Where did all that water go overnight. Well we got a water truck to come deliver us some water because we knew that our well, being shallow, would never recover itself. Well, he came out and got our tanks filled. Strangely enough though, it seemed to be taking way more water than the tanks were capable of holding. We actually used up the entire water truck full! Well mom went to the house and after some investigating she checked the water heater. It was absolutely gushing water! We turned off the valve and are now happy to at least have water. Though I'm realizing how inconvenient it is to have no hot water. But it won't be for long and at least we found the problem before our tanks emptied a second time!

One fun thing was having a huge water truck in our driveway :) My sisters especially enjoyed it. So I took out my camera and decided to get some fun photos.

Yeah that's me ;)

The truck driver let the girls get in the cab and poke around.
Priscilla (left) was honking the horn, of course startling everyone;)

Let No One Despise Your Youth

Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
I Timothy 4:12

Here Paul is speaking specifically to the youth. He is encouraging them to be an example. Most of the time when we think of being an example to others we automatically think of showing Christ to non believers. While this is good and right, I think we tend to forget about our fellow believers and the fact that we, as youths, are exhorted to be an example to the believers as well. We all have our struggles and areas in our hearts that are less than desirable, even as Christians. In Proverbs we are told;

As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Proverbs 27:17

We are to be an example to our fellow believers. We are to sharpen their countenance, sharpen the example they set. Just as they are to help sharpen our countenance and our example.

Paul gives us a list of areas that we are to focus on being an example in;

Word
When you speak to others, family friends etc. here are some things to think about.
First of all, How am I speaking? What you are saying may be needed but are you saying it in a kind and loving way?
What am I saying? Here is an acronym to help you think;
Is what I'm saying,
True
Helpful
Inspiring
Necessary
Kind

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Ephesians 4:29

Conduct
Are my actions displaying a love for Christ?

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1:27

Love
Am I showing the Love of Christ, full of grace and mercy? Or am I showing the love of the world? I love you but. . .

Spirit
Is my heart full and pouring over with the Holy Spirit of the Lord? Do the fellow believers see His Spirit in me? Am I allowing the Spirit to guide me in everything I do?

Faith
Am I showing that I fully trust the Lord with my doubts, my what if's and if only's. Do I have the peace that comes with putting all my faith in the living God? Am I showing what it means to have true faith?

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Purity
In all that I say, do, and think, am I being pure in mind, body, heart, and soul?

Let's rise up to our responsibility as youths for our Lord. Let's help advance His Kingdom in the ways He has called us to. And let us be and example to the believers.

Is Worry a Symptom of Pride?

I would venture to say most of us worry about one thing or another at some point in our lives. Of course some people worry a lot more than others. I tend to be one of those that worry comes easily to. After all there is a substantial amount of things to worry about, finances, loved ones, health, and dangers that could come upon our children, siblings, parents, friends, animals etc.

In all my worrying I've had to ask myself this question, is worry a sin? Well lets turn to the scriptures and see what the Lord has to say about it;

~ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ Matthew 6:31

~ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

~ “Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. Luke 12:11

In each of these passages the word worry is preceded by the words, do not. We are told not just once but several times, do not worry. If we love God we will obey Him and if we are to obey Him then we are to do as we are told here, do not worry. So yes when we worry we are disobeying God because He clearly tells us not to.

Now that we have decided that worry is a sin I want to go a step further and say that not only is it a sin but it stems from that horrible thing called Pride. Now, before you tell me I'm carrying it too far (I know some of you are already reeling because I called worry a sin ;) just listen to this for a minute. When you worry, it is a total absence of faith in God. You are saying "I don't trust that God can take care of this". If your worried your not trusting God. There is compleete rest in trusting and if your worrying there is no rest, no trust. So if we are not trusting God what are we trusting? Not usually someone else. When we worry, we tend think that there is some way we can prevent something from happening, or make something happen that won't happen with out our help. This is not trust and faith in God to be in control of all things, this is trust and faith in ourselves to fix things. And if you just think about that for a minute you'll see that we are believing that we can control something that God can't. That is pride! Thinking you have it all together and that you can fix something and not trusting in God is Pride.

We need to stop worrying and start Trusting God's sovereignty. Keep the Faith Brethren!

Back Again

Well it's been forever since I've payed any attention to my poor little blog! So here I am :) I' guess I'll just fill you all in with what I've been doing.

Books

Well I just discovered a book series call Zion Covenant by Bodie and Brock Thoene. It's set in the WWII era. They are one of my favorite finds so far!

Also I'm doing two different bible study's right now. One is with my mom and sister and a friend. It's called Calm My Anxious Heart. The other one is with a friend and her sister and it's called Knowing God. They are both great!

Music

Well we were blessed to be able to go to the Rock and Worship Roadshow when they came through! It was absolutely awesome!!! Live music is the absolute best! I'm a huge lover of music but you really can't beat live music. I was able to take one of my awesome pals with me and she loved it too. We had Sidewalk Prophets, Remedy Drive, Fee, Francesca Battistelli, David Crowder Band, and Mercy Me. I think I had the most fun with David Crowder. Mercy Me is my moms favorite so she was blessed by that. My favorites out of the opening bands were Remedy Drive and Fee.

Outdoor Activity

Well we have all our seedlings sprouting now and we are very excited about that. There is just something so exciting about watching little plants push their way up out of the ground! God is just amazing! Our baby apple trees are full of beautiful little leaves, our iris's and tulips are budding, the wild flowers are covering the hills and meadows in splashes of color. Our mountain grass is still a vibrant green though the grass in the Valley is already turning golden. Our trade mark, the California Golden Poppy's, are absolutely everywhere!

Animals

One of our cats had a litter of kittens last week! We've had many cats in all my growing up years and we've never had one give birth so it's a fun experience. I got a new baby goat this year from a friend. She is absolutely beautiful! Her name is Dahlia Darling.

Random Pictures

Me and Ashley

I love mushrooms! They look so amazing!

Me and my favorite baby goat born this year. His name is Beemer ;)

Spring is Coming!

The Power of Your Love

This song has really spoken to my heart lately. The power of His love is so great! I hope it speaks to your heart too.

P.s. You may want some tissue, it's a song that pulls on your heartstrings)

Being a Joyful Daughter

There is a difference between being a loving daughter and being a joyful daughter. You can love your mom, dad, and siblings, but are you joyful being with them? Usually, due to the fact that we have spent all of our lives with the people who make up our families, and due to the fact that we've seen all their down falls and short comings, we tend to dislike being with them. Instead of taking joy in the people the Lord has given us as our family, and appreciating the protection of our parents, and the friendship of our siblings, we tend to do all we can to be away from them. Preferring instead, to be with the friends we have outside our families. To be off doing what we want to do. "Living our own life" so to speak. Sisters, this is not what God had planned when He gave us our families. Our families should be the ones we go to in our joy and in our sadness, in our frustration and in our contentment. But we have lost the desire to share with our parents and our siblings because, "my parents don't understand me. They're so strict! They don't care how I feel. They never let me do anything." or "my sisters/brothers are SO irritating! I can't stand being with them all day!".

After we've spent our whole life with our family, we start to see only the ways in which they fall short. We cease to notice all the wonderful gifts and sacrifices your parents make for us. We brush our brothers and sisters aside when they want to be with us or play with us because "I have other things I want to do with my time. Quit being a pest. Stop following me around."

Now, quite naturally, we don't want anything to happen to any of the members of our family. We comfort and help them when they're sick or hurt. We would be devastated to loose any of them. You probably love each member of your family with your whole heart. So, if we love them, why don't we take joy in spending time with them?

We need to turn our hearts back to our families. Not just loving them, but taking joy in beiong with them, loving them for who they are, and loving to be with them. I'm not saying to stop spending time with your friends out side your family. I'm saying, make your family your best friends. Take joy in being with them. Be a joyful daughter as well as a loving daughter!

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! ~Psalm 133:1

Random Tid-Bits

Exciting events

First of all I've joined a choir! I love singing so I'm having a great time. I know a few of the people there and so I don't feel uncomfortable, we all just have a great time! We're working on three songs and another will be added next week. It's so funny, all the different genres; we have Southern Gospel, Mexican, Hymn, and our song we'll be starting next week is in Hebrew! My favorite one right now is our Mexican one. It's called Chili Con Carne. Here it is so you can hear it. We're having a blast singing it!



My whole family does choir so we are there from 9:20a.m. till 8:30p.m. with a half hour break for lunch at 12:30p.m. and a break between 3:00p.m. till 6:30p.m. during which we go to my Aunt Carie's house to visit and she makes dinner for us. My cousin Cali also comes over to her house to visit with us while we're there. It's great fun!

Our other exciting event was that we got to go skiing with some friends on Monday! I haven't been skiing in three or four years but awesomely, I hadn't forgotten how! I helped my two youngest sisters learn to ski for the first half of the day, and the second half of the day I was able to take a bunch of runs with my sister Heidi, and a bunch of our friends! We went to Badger Pass, and while I really enjoyed it, I'm more of a Sierra Summit snob. I'd love to go to Sierra again sometime. It's just so much bigger, at forty ski runs, as opposed to Badgers ten runs. But I have to say I did have lots of fun! though I must admit, I was sore on Tuesday (which is choir day and we were there all day so today I feel like a vegetable)

Books

Well I just finished a series called the Singing River Series by Gilbert Morris. It was a great book series and I enjoyed it a lot. Now I'm reading a great big, fat book called Christ in the Camp by J. William Jones. I haven't gotten very far but what I've read is good. It's about the American Civil War, and army chaplains who brought the gospel to many of the soldiers of both Northern and Southern camps. I'm guessing it should be a great book.

Music

Well I have been listening to a lot of stuff lately but I'd like to share the lyrics to a couple songs that have spoken to my heart.

Prodigal Like Me
~ Jonny Diaz

Joshua blow your trumpets towards the walls around my heart
And you better bring your army come and tear my world apart
Moses help me wander from the desert that I’ve found
Cause it feels like forever since my knees have touched the ground

I never thought I would be this way
To let what we were begin to fade
I never thought I could say goodbye to all we had
I never thought I would come to be
Alone with all my apathy
I never thought You could still love a prodigal like me

David grab a stone and sling it toward my giant pride
Debra call the troops cause I’m ready for a fight
Peter there’s a roaster did you once again deny
Or am I the guilty one who can’t look Him in the eye

(…Prodigal like) me with so much sin and shame
In need of such amazing grace
But still I find I turn away from You

Waiting Room
~Jonny diaz

Here in this waiting room yearning for You to say go
And though I’m convinced that a yes would be best
This time You’re telling me no

It’s not that I don’t have an answer
It’s just not the one that I’d like
But through this time Lord I must keep in mind
You’re always wiser than I

You have a much better purpose
And You have a far greater plan
And You have a bigger perspective
Cause You hold this world in your hands

The things that I seek are from You
Like the strong healing touch of your hand
But when You say no help me trust even though
There’s a reason I can’t understand

When that miracle comes cause Your answer is yes
I will praise you for all of my days
But when Your wisdom declares that a no is best
I will praise You just the same

Jonny Diaz and Chris and Conrad

We were really blessed to get to go to an awesome Jonny Diaz/Chris and Conrad concert last night! Mom and I and Heidi and Tabby went and my Aunt Carie came with us! It was fantastic! I had an awesome time!

First, we went to my aunts house and she made dinner for us. Then we all headed over together. It was at Northside Church in Clovis. We got there really early and had to stand in line for about 45 minutes. We were blessed to get there early though because the line wrapped all the way around the church!

First we listened to Brian Weaver, who was a newer artist. He was kinda the warm up. He sang some really good songs. The one I really liked was called Running. It talked about how were constantly trying to make ourselves look good and we're running from who God made us. Brian told us how he only writes songs that talk about something he's experienced or been through. I really appreciate song writers like that because you know that they know exactly what they're talking about. He came up on stage during an intermission after he sang and showed us a video about Compassion International. Then the ushers came out and Brian told everyone that if they wanted to sponsor a child, then we should raise our hand and the ushers would give us a packet for a child. This is where he said that he didn't want to promote something if he wasn't going to do it, so he said he actually just started sponsoring a child a few days earlier. Our family felt like that was something the Lord would have us do, so we raised our hand. Our little girl is six years old and her birthday is the same as mine! I'm so glad that the Lord is allowing us to take part in this!

After the first intermission, Chris and Conrad came out. They were the loud and active part of the concert. You could really feel the Lord moving in and through them to the people there. Their great love for the Lord was evident in their lyrics and music. They've quickly become one of my favorite artist.

And last but definitely not least, Jonny Diaz. His Song More Beautiful you has really encouraged many girls, me included. He has written a lot of wonderful songs that really speak to your heart and talks about being who God made you, how God still loves us no matter how apathetic we've grown, about how when we ask God things, a lot of the time He gives us our least favorite answer. . . wait. But that we need to trust Him and be patient to wait on Him. He writes some deep songs.

It's really hard to find artists who, both write good lyrics and sing well. But we were able to get both last night at the concert!

After the concert, we stood in a long line to get autographs. Mom and Aunt Carie didn't want to stand in such a long line so they decided to go to Starbucks to get a coffee. On there way out of the church they walked up to the table and asked Jonny, Chris and Conrad if they wanted a Starbucks coffee. The guys were shocked! They loved it! They all ordered, Jonny got a Vanilla Bean Frappaccino, Chris got a White Mocha and Conrad wanted a Blue Monster so they ran to the store and got him one of those. Mom got us three girls a hot chocolate. Then when we got to the table Chris said "Oh, these are the people who got us a Starbucks!" and Conrad said, with a big grin on his face, "Not me. This is what I got!" and he pulled out his Blue Monster. They then proceed to sign all our cd's and we all chatted for a while :) I think that it's important to realize that, even though these artists are famous, a lot of people know about them, and it's really neat to meet them and talk to them, they're still normal people and I know they appreciated it that we treated them like such.

A happy row of people
(Me, Tabby, Heidi, Aunt Carie, Mom took the picture)

Excitedly waiting
(Me, Tabby, Heidi)

Brian Weaver

Chris and Conrad

Chris

Conrad

Jonny Diaz

Heidi, Jonny, Me

Tabby and Jonny

Chris, Heidi, Tabby, Me, Conrad

I got one of these guitar pick necklaces. Jonny's wife makes them!