My Goals, Hopes, and Inspiration for 2019

At just two weeks into the year twenty-nineteen, I've already  had the feeling that this is going to be a good year. I don't think I really had much for goals right as the year started...

But then there's been these things. Small things, good things. I feel like God is maybe working in my life. :) There was the sermon at our church a couple Sundays ago that I think hit home with some of us. It was about drifting. You know how the Israelites, after being brought up out of Egypt, wandered in the desert for 40 years? Turns out they could have made it to the Promised Land in about 11 days. Like, what??! 
Well, that's kinda how I've been. Just drifting through life. Not really changing much. Going in circles. And goodness, I don't want it to take ME 40 years to get where I want to be. I want to live an abundant and joyful life. :)

So I have goals now, guys. *winks* Just things I want to strive toward. I don't have to do everything perfectly, and always feel fired up and ready to conquer the world; but I think persevering after these goals will help me be more intentional in life. :)

So here are a few goals of mine for the year 2019!

MY GOALS FOR 2019

\\ Read my Bible and pray daily

\\ Grow in my faith and as a person in general

\\ Work out\excerise three times a week

\\ Buy a car

\\ Be more involved in my church

\\ Grow as a photographer

\\ Read at least 10 books

\\ Journal more

\\ Don't let myself drift from day to day, but to be intentional about life and accomplishing things, connecting with people, etc. (kinda sums everything up).

So, some ways these goals have already started showing promise, and why this year is looking like it may be different... in a good way. ;)

I got a free membership for the place I work (the YMCA), so I've worked out there 3 times so far. Me and exercise have never really gotten along that well, but this is something I may be able to be consistent with! I actually enjoy walking on the treadmill and listening to music. ^__^ 
It's so cool how God works... I get this job that is like perfect for me (as far as any old regular job goes), and with it comes the easiest way ever to get my exercise in. I'm so blessed.

Another cool thing that has happened is that we've started getting more involved in our church (it's a big church). Some of us went to Wednesday night activities last week, and my mom and I went to Sunday small groups this past Sunday. I'm looking forward to finally getting to know more people! It's so impersonal to just simply go to the service on Sunday when your church is as big as ours is. I'm excited!

I've started praying on my way to work these days. It just may be the best way I've found so far. The easiest, at least. I keep the music off, and I can talk out loud if I want. 'Cause there's nobody there to listen except God. *winks*

2019 BUCKET LIST\WISH LIST

\\ Go on 1 or 2 vacations

\\ Go to the beach!

\\ Buy a laptop

\\ Buy a new phone

\\ Go exploring for a day in the city

\\ See cousins and friends who live in other states

\\ Have many, many adventures!


Just a few things that I would like (not in order)! ^__^ 

MY WORDS AND PHRASES FOR 2019

Fear GOD, not man.

This one is HUGE HUGE for me. It's not so much fearing man, as in evil people. It's fearing what people think of me. Fearing man's opinion... when God's opinion of me and what I do is the only one that matters. Like I said, this is a reminder I need. Like, bad.

When I am weak, HE is strong.

Unless the LORD builds the house, the  builders labor in vain.

-Psalm 127:1

If you try to "build" your heart and character without God's help, you labor in vain!

FREEDOM

JOY

Two absolutely beautiful words. These I want in my life. Like an eagle soaring above mountain peaks. Like millions of twinkling, shining stars.

This year, I just want to know I'm growing. I want to learn more of who God is, I want to be less afraid, and I want to overflow with JOY. 
<33

WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE FOR YOURSELF THIS YEAR?

ANYTHING ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?

DO YOU HAVE A WORD OR PHRASE YOU'D LIKE TO SET AS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR 2019?

Let's chat!!

Isaiah 40:31

(edited)

 WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE VERSES?

The Love Chapter

image from pexels.com

This is probably one of my favorite passages! Lot's of beautiful truth and guidance.

ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING THIS VALENTINE'S DAY? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE VERSE IN THE "LOVE CHAPTER"?

LIFE + Thoughts I Wrote about Awe \\ Oh Beautiful Fall

Just a quick Tuesday post, way late, though I have an excuse. My sister and I babysat cousins overnight, then my mom picked us up to sing at an assisted living with friends and family from Bible study, then we came home... and headed out to the "big city". We went to the mall, and my older sister and I got some nice country boots to share. *grins* It's about time I got some real country-girl boots.

On Sunday before church, my little siblings and I had some fun with the leaves. Me and my three-year-old brother were gathering leaves. We actually have a lot- and a lot of pretty ones. ;) Of course, with all the fall beauty around me, I had to grab my camera... and a rake. *winks* We made a leaf pile, and if there's one thing about leaf piles and kids, it really draws out real smiles. :) I'd love to show some of the pics I got of the kids, but my mom doesn't really like me sharing those on here anymore. *sad face*

And now, just a few thoughts I wrote down a couple nights ago, in closing...

Sometimes we seem to forget WHO God is. Then there's that moment of awe when we remember. The sound of pouring rain and rumbling thunder- that is God's power. That storm is of His creation. Wow.

Or when you look at, or feel, your hand in the night, and that thought comes: God MADE this hand. Awe. It's so amazing when we truly think about this. I mean, we all know that God made us and everything else. But there are those moments when it actually hits you... and you glimpse His power, or His intimate connection to us.

WHAT DID YOU DO TODAY? EVER HAD SIMILAR AWE-MOMENTS? FAVORITE PICTURE?

\\ simple words \\

i want to live

without life feeling meaningless

life i'm not afraid

where i can love freely

how people will see the real me

with total abandon

like there's a burning purpose

where i'm a free spirit

and can laugh with joy

with undoubting assurance

like i'm a princess

where human opinion doesn't matter 

without regrets holding me back 

like i'm overflowing

how God intended

Just some words I wrote down a few nights ago. Well, most of it's the same as it first was. *smiles* 

Wouldn't our lives be so much more amazing and meaningful if we could just live like this? :)

A Great Experience

I just got back from that mission event for young people, late Thursday night. It was a great experience! I went with some of our friends from here, and a few people I didn't know well. The drive was around 2-3 hours, so not bad. We stayed at a high school- my room was a Chemistry lab. ;D 

The first night I didn't get to sleep well at all, but that was just the first night, thankfully. *winks* I slept good the rest of the time.

The second day was Sunday, so we all went to local churches for worship, ate lunch, and went to the place where we'd be working. My group was going to do work on an older man's house. He has breathing problems, so he couldn't do it himself- plus he wouldn't have been able to afford it. His house was in rough shape. We replaced some of the boards on the side of the house, gave it a fresh coat of paint, replaced most of the metal under-trimming (which I painted most of it black myself *winks*), painted the front porch, and fixed up the back porch. Me and my friend helped a lot with the back porch. We screwed most of the "floor" boards on ourselves. *is proud of myself* ;P But it was cool to see how much our work meant to the man. He just kept on thanking us- and he might even start going to church now. It's so awesome to make a difference in someone's life! :)

Okay, so I kinda jumped to the end of the story there. That's the working part. 

In between working, worship, devotions, and meals we just had a good time hanging out. I got to know the people I came with better during these times (and devotions, I suppose), which was awesome. ;) 

The book I occasionally read during free time 

Sometimes we'd play games, eat snacks, or just hang out in the cafeteria. And of course, we ate here too. I love that cafeteria. ;D

Worship was sometime after supper, in the gym. We sat in the bleachers, and let me tell you, sitting on the benches isn't very comfortable. ;P The chairs are way better. That's obvious.

We got up around 5-something to 6 in the morning to get ready to work and eat breakfast. I am NOT used to getting up that early! I probably looked half-dead some of the times walking in for breakfast. ;P The worst part was probably getting out of bed- after that, you're pretty much good. It wasn't that hard though.

The hallway in the girl's area. Sleeping in a school was a cool experience. *winks* I kinda miss this week...   

After work, there was bound to be a giant line for the showers. That's a shower trailer right there- there was five showers in it, for all the girls\ladies to use. The best thing to do was change and hang out until the line went way down. :P Maybe I'm weird, but the shower trailer was a fun experience too. xP Especially racing down the hall to get your things and going out there bare-foot so you can get in before other people. ;D

Sorry about the bad pictures- they WEREN'T taken with my good camera, plus a lot are probably quick snapshots. I think I edited all of them a little. ;P 

It rained quite a bit while we were there. This picture was from the evening we left for home. 

So all in all, it was a really great time, and I'd definitely think about going again next year! =D



DOES THIS SOUND FUN? WOULD YOU GO IF YOU HAD THE CHANCE?

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

   I'm just going to go ahead and say: 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!

   I know it's only Christmas Eve, but since I will not be posting on Christmas, I might as well say it now. It's very close anyhow. ;)

   After all the other things I've posted about during this 12 days of Christmas blog series, let's look at the REAL reason for the season. Because desipite all the other things- the songs, the Christmas-y treats, the warm Christmas feeling- the true purpose of celebrating Christmas is Jesus, and we ought to remember that. :)

Go and enjoy the holidays, rejoicing in God's love and grace for you! =D 

            

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! 

  The true reason for Christmas seems to kind of fade into the background as we have all of our holiday activities. 

  

  The Christmas story is a miracle that we should remember in awe and thanks to God. :) Mary was like, the most privileged mother in history, and present! Her little baby boy was GOD Himself! When she kissed her baby's soft little face, she was kissing the face of God! It's really, quite amazing! 

    The Christmas story is also an amazing picture of God's fierce love for us. He sent His son to rescue a bunch of dirty sinners, many who didn't even know him, their own creator, many who would reject His free, priceless gift. A gift that saves us from the fear of hell, that insures a home in a perfect, joyous place filled with God, where no darkness can ever enter. 

   And Jesus came, He who made the universe, humbly and as a servant, and died a terrible death because he loves us. 

  How it must hurt him when we brush aside His amazing entry into the world, when we take HIS gift for granted that He gave us the very first Christmas! 

  So, let's not take it for granted!  

                              Our God is our King who was born to die.

      So let us celebrate God's Christmas gift to us today!

                

                                 A peek into my families Christmas season

     One fun thing me and my family did this Christmas season, is make a homemade gingerbread house. It's quite cute. :)

              

The house features pretzel siding, jolly rancher windows, nerd mulch... 

I made a wreath with green nerds and a strip of... unicorn bacon! Uh, yea, that's not really what its called, but there was some picture that called it that, so... why not? It's a better name. :D

The roof is made of square cereal pieces and starbursts! :)

     Here is out little scrubby Christmas tree. :) (sorry, the picture isn't very good.) The kid's cut it down from the woods, so we got to have a tree this year. Underneath are the presents me and my siblings got for each other, and some from grandparents. :) We opened them yesterday. 

And one of our few ornaments... this one is pretty, but we also used other trinkets (cookie cutters, necklaces... Someone even put some deer antlers in there. Uh, you can see we're a bit lacking in Christmas decoration!)

It was nice to take some pictures with smartphones! I NEED TO BUY A CAMERA! 

  Though we don't have many decorations, our nativity scene is really nice. :)

And here are the stockings we opened today! :)

Well, hope you all have a nice day!

~~~~

                                Merry Christmas!

The Fault in Evolution

                   Hi everyone! Today I'm doing a post on evolution's invalidity. I learned a lot about just how wrong it is when I studied it in my Christian science book. (Being homeschooled, I'm blessed with the privilege of not learning about the theory of evolution as if it were a proven fact- AND IT IS NOT!) So I hope you learn something you didn't know already from this. (:               

                                                

    Evolution is the faulty belief that the universe and everything that is in it was created by natural processes. These natural processes brought into existence the universe, constructed the earth, produced life, and made people, according to evolution. The first question I would like to ask, is HOW DID NATURAL PROCESSES MAKE EVERYTHING IF THERE WAS NOTHING YET? Really, think of there being absolutely nothing: not even some empty space. If God didn't make it, how did it get made if there was nothing?  We don’t see nature doing extreme things like that these days... The only explanation for the universe being formed when there is nothing yet, is for there to be a divine being, or God. But the whole idea of evolution is to attempt to “free” man from God and the responsibility he has to him. So, do or die, God is out of the question, No Matter What. No matter if the theory of evolution starts to sound a bit ridiculous. The invalidity of this theory is what I’m going to bring to the surface in this paper.

                       

                "We do not know how life began." - Ann H. Morgan, evolutionist

                
  The second thing I’ll look at is the geologic column, which is an arrangement, according to evolution, of rock layers that chart the sequence of earth’s history, with its initial history at the bottom. This column supposedly shows an arrangement of increasingly more complex fossils in the rocks. Well, their idea didn’t show to be very valid. The first problem with the geologic column is that the fossil sequence it shows occurs nowhere on earth. A place in this world where you can see the whole geologic column at once is yet to be found. Which, of course, is not going to happen. The "inventor" of evolution wrote himself: 

               The geological record is extremely imperfect and this fact will to a large extent explain why we do not find intermediate varieties, connecting together all the extinct and existing forms of life by the finest gradual steps. He who rejects these views on the nature of the geological record, will rightly reject my whole theory. - Charles Darwin

The second problem with this column is that it basses itself on the exact assumption it is trying to prove. A grand example of circular reasoning. Here it is: The supposition of evolution defines the “age” of fossil bearing rocks, the “age” of the rocks defines the “sequence” of fossils, and the “sequence of fossils is said to prove the supposition of evolution. Well despite this, evidence against the geologic column’s validity get’s worse. In strata that is seemingly undisturbed, fossils are often found in the “wrong” order. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of square miles of apparently undisturbed strata containing highly “evolved” creatures are found beneath their supposed ancestors are found in many places. For example: in the Swiss Alps, the “oldest” strata was on the top, and the “youngest strata was on the bottom. Evolutionists try to settle their beliefs with the record of the rocks by imagining that older strata was really formed first in a distant area. It is said to have been somehow raised and transported overtop the more new strata in a way so that no trace of such enormous movement was left to see. The “younger” rocks that were overlying then eroded, and then left eh “older” rocks on the top. Now the evolutionists make themselves look unintelligent. They so badly want to force their theory into existence that they make up a fantasy conclusion to the obvious problem.

    Next let us look at the fossils themselves. There would be a lot of fossils of in-between forms, such as an ape-human or a fish-amphibian if evolution were true. But despite some evolutionists having thought they found transitional forms, none have truly been discovered.

   One such of these supposed transitional forms would be the coelacanth fish, which is what evolutionists taught for many years was the ancestor of the first amphibian. They should have become extinct about sixty million years ago, according to evolutionists. But a live coelacanth was caught in 1938, and it matched the fossil form of this fish in all details. More than a dozen coelacanths have been captured since then. Coelacanths are deep-sea fish and so are unlikely to ever crawl out onto land. The evolutionists were, of course, surprised to discover this. Another thing to draw against evolution is their faulty horse series. A dog sized mammal called Eohippus evolved through a sequence of steps into the horses we see today, if you go off of evolution. This horse series has some noteworthy errors, though. From Eohippus to Equus (modern- day horse), the amount of ribs change various times, getting more or less. Also, the fossils are not found in a single place. Most of them were found in the United States, but some were found in Europe and one was found in India. So they collected these fossils in various parts of the world and proclaimed them to be the “horse series”. One thing most strange about these fossils is that the first, Eohippus, closely resembles a hyrax, or rock rabbit, which are still alive in Africa today! Is a little rabbit supposed to turn into a mighty horse? It doesn’t really fit together! Finally, modern horse fossils have been found alongside or even underneath their horse “ancestors”. This fact should finalize all belief in the “horse series”. Now let’s see what would happen to an animal in intermediate form. So in evolution, bats are supposed to have evolved from a rodent-like mammal, small, with four legs. For their front paws to have become a bat’s wings, then a long time before they would have actually been able to fly, their “paw-wings” would have become unusable for grasping or running. Instead of becoming “more complex”, (you know, from apes to humans, right?) it would become deformed, and not able to walk, run, hold food to its mouth, or fly, even.

Now about the extremely false theory that man evolved from an ape, or something of that sort. Despite evolutionist’s beliefs, no missing links, or transitional forms, in “human evolution” have been found. The forms that evolutionist have claimed to be ape-man, or something, can be considered either 100% human or 100% ape. Evolutionists have made no progress in tracing our supposed evolution; they are no more near to it than they were a hundred years before today.

          (Most facts attained from Science of the Physical Creation in Christian Perspective by A beka books) 

    And so we see no proof of evolution. It has never been proven. And everyone should be told of the fault in the theory of evolution’s, because it is clearly seen. Those who choose to believe it must be naïve or trying to deceive themselves so they won’t have to be responsible to God. They simply are trying to make another way of origin so they don’t have to believe in God, and creationism.

  The truth is, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" Genesis 1:1. Not natural processes and all that stuff that doesn't make sense. In the Bible, it is all layed out before us. In evolution, there is confusion and unanswered questions.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

                                       Romans 1:20

                       Yes, man is without excuse. (:

Well, I hope this was interesting. I don't know when I'll post next, but you can be on the lookout.(: