Another Christmas Post!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

©Isaiah 9:6©

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

©Isaiah 7:14©

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

©Luke 2:10-14©

Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Seeing as this is most likely the last time I'll be blessed to be able to use the Internet until after Christmas :( I want to wish all of my precious readers a very                        Merry Christmas!!
Right now I'm spending time with one of my SUPER SPECIAL VERY BESTEST FRIEND in the world :) :) My special sister Gabrielle Allen! Her family (which is even larger than mine! 10!) are Southern Gospel singers (to learn more about them click here!!) so I rarely get to see her which makes these two days even more special!! I don't know how many times the Lord has used her voice, texts, or simply prayers to comfort and encourage me!
But anyhoo... :)
    Merry Christmas my precious sisters in Christ!
Fight hard for Him this Christmas season as His warrior, but take time to remember that you are His precious princess, and that he came as a child to die as a man because He LOVES YOU SO MUCH!! Take a little extra time on your knees this Christmas to thank Him for His wonderous love!

My Awesome Siblings

Last night my family put up our Christmas tree!! (okay, my brother put it up and then sparadically it got decorated lol) The front room is now littlered tastefully with Christmas knicknacks and just makes everything more Christmassy!! :) so happy! Now if we could only get rid of those few remaining pumpkins and gourds sitting on each end of the mantle... lol

I've been meaning for a while to post some pix of my awesome family!!

This is my younger (I can no longer say "little" :( and be truthful!!) brother Joseph and his first deer!!! I was SO proud of him!! And happy too! I've got a freezer full of venison to cook all winter! lol

These are my little sisters Bethie (who just turned 9 this week!!) and Hannah (who is ten). Hannah's the one in curlers! lol As you can tell, this was a lazy day at home! Hannah usually runs around the house in an ancient, worn out, and really whacky skirt on, and Bethie's gonna pass her up in height any day now :(

This is my best friend and room mate Heidi on her 13th birthday (just 10 days before my 18th!!) We gave daddy a hard time by reminding him that he had two milestone bdays that month :) (mom would normally groan from somewhere in the background lol) Apparently us being so old makes them old as well lol.

This is my perky little (at this blessed point in time he still is my "little" brother!!) brother Nathan, who is also the youngest!! Isn't he just hysterically adorable?!

So these are my awesome siblings!! Now, this may not be my mindset every moment of the day (lol) but it always is in the long run!! They are such a blessing when I just stop to think about it-- even in the little things! Joseph put up the tree and strung the lights last night, and only last week he just randomly suprised my dad at hanging some drywall he (my dad) had been meaning to get around to for heaven knows how long! lol He'd never done it before and did an AMAZING job! (he and dad both said there was a small gap, but to my untrained eye, they could've fooled me!) And just look at that deer!

Then last night after the frontroom was all decked out, I made everyone hot chocolate and they plopped down and popped in a Christmas movie. I went to go back to my room (which is in the basement) and lost traction on the first step with my houseshoes and ended up falling down the stairs (owie!!) Heidi, Hannah, and Bethie were at my side, crowding me out on the steps within seconds, bombarding me with "Are you okay?" "What'd you hurt?" "Did you slip?" (Nooo!! lol) "Did you hurt anything?" "Are you alright?" "Need help?" It struck me how sweet it was that they all came rushing to make sure I was okay. :)

And then little Nathan... omysoul is that little buddy a bundle of energy!!!!! Yesterday I was juicing apples for breakfast and he (being the only one up and at the table at that point) begged me to let him put a few apples in the shooty thing and push them down. So I let him. :) It was super cute how excited he got over putting three apples in and juicing them! As everyone else came to the table, he let them know how HE made apple juice with Katie. It was so precious. He begged me to get him up this morning so we could do it again, and I planned on it, but I got up too late and was doing my devotions when he wanted to this morning, so he did it with mommy. He told me later, "Me and momma made juice!" Mom had already told me (she told me they had added a few carrots, despite his plea not to, and then he was pleasently suprised when it was really yummy lol) "I heard!" I told him. "I heard you added a special ingredient this morning and it was really yummy!" "Yeah!" He said, but there was no more left, so he added, "We can make you some later." It was so precious!

As "big sister", who is often "in charge", I need to remember these precious moments and focus on the special and promising talent with and belonging to my siblings whenever they start to argue or rough house or tattle and I begin to feel agrivated and lose my meek and quiet spirit and joy in the LORD.

I challenge you, dear sisters, to do the same thing this week! Every time you begin to feel aggrivated and are tempted to be greived with your siblings, pause and thank God for them and then ask Him to show you something good about them you can focuse on and even praise them for! Remember, even though "all those brothers and sisters'' can drive you crazy, there are girls out there who would do almost anything to just have ONE.

Our siblings are blessings- gifts!- from God!!!!

What are you thankful for about your siblings today?

Dear Readers...

Dear sisters and fellow Warriors...
I realize there's been little activity on my blog lately! :( This is to my shame (and an appalling lack of transportation!! :D)
I promise there will be another real post soon! Until then, BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN THE POWER OF HIS MIGHT!!! And for the love of Peter Cartwright-- DO STAY WARM!!!
I'm praying for you all!
LOVE AND PRAYERS
His prudent princess Katie

Lessons from a Disobedient Daughter

~Genesis 19: 30-38~

-         Read Genesis 19:30-38

-         Whew! Examples of disobedient daughterhood are all over this passage! *Now obviously, this family is way off kilter because of Lot’s lack of leadership in the home L I will add this as a disclaimer. It seems as though Lot’s daughter were responding to their father’s wicked and lustful example and lack of Godly vision. L So, although I enumerate and expound upon the disobedience of the daughters so I may learn from it, I acknowledge most of the reason they behaved thus is because of their father, Lot. And technically, although we all wish these eight or nine verses were not in the Bible (L) Lot was actually kind of reaping the consequences for bringing up his daughters in such a promiscuous environment!! This little detail cleared up, let us commence on what we as daughters can glean from this passage!! J

1.     As firstborn (or older sister—I happen to be both J) be a Godly example! Don’t use my special, God-given position as a means of leading my younger sisters (siblings) astray!!

-(verses 31, 32, &34) this elder sister had such a wonderful opportunity to be a Godly influence in her younger sisters life! (and actually in the life of her entire family, what was left of it; See Genesis 19:15-17, 24-26). She could’ve said, “Hey, dad’s old and we don’t have any kids. Seeing as God has just delivered us from such destruction, let’s pray and ask Him for some (kids) and trust that He’ll give them to us! Perhaps this way, we can even be a light and encouragement to our father as well!” –but no!! L Sadly, this oldest sister/firstborn of the two of them not only gave wicked counsel to her younger sister, but she also led the way and was a bad example with and by her actions!! L (see verse 33)

-nowhere do we see the younger sister verbally responding; she didn’t’ ask for this advice, but she did take it. (Random side note: our little sisters take much more stock in what we say than we may ever realize!!!)

Lesson #1: Part of my Biblical role as a sister is (unless it’s some dastard sin in need of reproof) not to give or force my opinion or advice on my younger sisters unless they ask for it! (Literally not figuratively J) because it could lead them astray and cause much more harm than it does good, even though we intend it in that way.

2.     Her/their priorities were out of whack. (Oh, this one’s gonna hurt!!L)

-Look at her/ their motivation behind this dishonorable and shameful action—(verses 31 & 32) They/she wanted a man and children. Ouch.

 Yes it was a social stigma not to have children in that time (as in the cases of Sarah and Rebekah—but in each of these instances, the woman trusted God to provide…and He did! Of course, they both already had the husband, and Lot’s daughters did not, but that just mean that Lot’s daughters had an even greater opportunity to prove God’s power!!L)

Lesson #2: Biblical lesson for daughters here is to keep our priorities straight and in line with the will of God.

“I’m God’s daughter and therefore His Princess and I’m privileged to be enlisted in His service as His warrior. I’m a daughter to my father and mother. I’m an older sister to my two younger brothers and three younger sisters. Those things I am. What I am not, however, are these: I am not a wife. I am not a mother. At present (and perhaps never!) this is not my Heavenly Father’s will for me.” 

As daughters we must not long to be something we’re not (wives and mothers) when God has so clearly given us the precious role of daughter and sister! We must be content! God’s chosen to entrust us with these roles!

3.     They did not trust (or even acknowledge!!L) God in their seemingly hopeless situation (just as their Aunt Sarah was in the exact process of doing at this very moment with a seemingly hopeless situation of her own) –

Okay—quick bunny trail. This intrigued me! Think how would could have this account ended had Sara reached out to them and done a little “Titus 2-ing” in the area of trusting God when all is humanly hopeless?! Sarah knew all about this! Just as there was no human way that Lot’s two daughters could have married and had children with the absolute lack of men—just as that was impossible—so was Sarah’s situation of waiting for the promised son Isaac when she was over forty years past the age of conceiving, let alone childbearing!! That’s humanly impossible! Yet… didn’t it happen!?!?!?? And during the time her nieces were acting upon a complete lack of faith, Sarah was strengthening hers by trusting in the Almighty God! She could have reached out to these young women. I wonder if perhaps she didn’t because she simply didn’t see the need? I don’t know, and perhaps I’m reading into this a bit, but this one threw me for a loop!

“LORD, make me sensitive to the situation when it is Your will for me to speak up and act out Titus 2!!!”

AnyhooJ…Back to Lot’s disobedient daughters and what we as decided daughters can learn from them and their mistakes!!

They did not trust God to provide for their needs and desires. Now this is (again) largely Lot’s fault, for he most likely never taught them to cry out to God in times of need or to trust Him L but regardless!!

Lesson #3 This still teaches us as daughters the importance of taking my needs and requests before the LORD, giving them to Him, LEAVING them with Him, and then trusting Him to work things out according to His perfect will!!

~~Quick Recap~~

The Lessons for the Obedient, Decided Daughter from the Disobedient Daughters of Lot

1.     Do not give my advice unless it is asked for (within prayerful reason)

2.     Be content to be the best daughter and sister I can be (by God’s grace if this is the role He’s entrusted me with for now)

3.     Trust and rely on the LORD to answer my prayers and to bring me through what seems (to me) to be an impossible situation

Love in Christ, His Princess Warrior

Princess Warrior Passage

Greetings Sisters and fellow warriors!

I realize that it’s been a while since I last posted L

It’s not a good thing either! Lol I keep reading amazing Scripture passages and stories and learning amazing lessons I want to share with you all, but I have yet to have the time to just sit and write them all out. It’s on my TO-DO LIST (oh, and trust me, I usually have several of these!!J). I had a really awesome lesson that we as daughters and young Christian women so badly need (okay, at least this one needed it!), so it is forthcoming!

But for now, here is one of my most favorite “Princess Warrior” passages—I had a bad day in the battle a few days ago and was feeling discouraged, so I grabbed my Bible and curled up with it in bed right before I went to sleep and read this passage. It calmed my soul and helped to give me a sense of peace and even hope! It is truly one of my favorites. I hope and pray that it encourages you as it did/does me!!

I love you all, dear sisters!

Fight strong and remember~~ HE’S ALREADY WON FOR US THE ULTIMATE VICTORY!!!

Psalms 18

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said

1 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

19 He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

24 Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

29 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

31 For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?

32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

33 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

37 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

40 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

41 They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

46 The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47 It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.!!!

18 Years of Blessings!!

Hey dear sisters!!!
Well, it's finally official! I turned 18 last Tuesday! :) My mom still insists I'm a teenager~ my dad will call me an adult~ my little siblings just know that Katie's in charge~~at least when mom & dad are out ~~ so I still feel in the middle :) but it's still an amazing milestone nonetheless!!
While alot, okay most people complain about growing older, I (at least at this point lol) choose to see it as a blessing! God in His infinite grace and wisdom has seen fit to bless me with another year with which to spend in His service! But reflecting on the past is pretty awesome as well. Even the struggles I've been through seem worth it somehow, even if the only thing they brought about was a strengthening of my understanding and a deeper love for my Savior. My God has given me so much to be thankful for!!.... including now another year!!!

18 Special Blessings:

1. My Salvation and personal relationship with my Savior (Ex 15:2, Is 12:2)

2. My Bible~my Love Letter and Battle Plans (Ps 119:9,11,38,87,105)

3. My Family~the BEST parents and awesomest (if not wildest :D) siblings (Mal 4:6a)

4. My church, pastor, and church family (Mt 18:20)

5. My friends and fellow sisters in the faith! (Tit 3:15)

6. My computer (Internet access at home or no! lol) (Ps 68:19)

7. My wonderful bed (Ps 63:6)

8. My coffee maker (and I'm so not lying!) (1st Cor 10:31 LOL)

9. My little tracphone :) (again, I'm thankful I have one!) (Heb 13:16 a LOL)

10. My house (the place of shelter and warmth) (Duet 6:7)

11. My piano (even though my daddy needs to tune it!) (Ps 92:3)

12. Food  (Mt 6:11)

13. My home (the atmospher of my family in our place of shelter) (Ps 127:1)

14. My MP3 player (Eph 5:19)

15. Spiritual leaders in my life (Titus 2:3-5)

16. The opportunity to stay at home, in my father's house, serving my family and helping my mother (Ps 144:12)

17. Health (Ps 42:11)

18. Endless opportuinities to serve my Jesus!! (Mt 20:28, Lk 1:38)

October 14th 2010

Dear Sisters & Fellow Princess Warriors

This has been a truly trying week- one full of battles and lessons from our Captain. I feel as though our Captain would have me share one of these lessons He’s been teaching me with you.

I have been studying the book of Romans for the past few weeks, and earlier this week, I was studying through chapter nine. The Lord took verse fifteen and sixteen and smote me with them.

“For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”

J. Vernon McGee explains and expounds upon these verses this way:

‘Moses, you recall, wanted to see the glory of God. God said in effect, “I’ll show it to you, Moses, but I’ll not show it to you because you are Moses.” Now, Moses was a very important person…God says, “I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. I will do this for you, not because you are Moses, but because I am God!”…Human-willing and working are not motivating causes of God’s actions. Man thinks that his decision and his effort cause God to look with favor upon him. Stifler states it succinctly when he says, “willing and running may indicate the possession of grace, but they are not the originating cause.” God extends mercy”

Or decides to use us

“and He does it because He is God… bow before Him today!”

This is what God showed me through this passage of Scripture and devotional study:

Sometimes, when the Lord, in His infinite goodness, chooses to work through us in some way, without even really doing it or knowing we are, we allow ourselves to be lifted up in/with pride. When the Lord chooses to use us, it’s not because of anything we’ve done. It’s not because of who we are or how good we are. It’s because He’s sovereign and has a purpose He’s accomplishing through us. He doesn’t use me because I’m so spiritual or because I’ve arrived on some high and mighty spiritual plain—oh no. He could totally use somebody else. He uses me to show someone else (even if it’s only me!) how powerful of a God He is if He can take my wicked, sinful self, and my impure, selfish motives, and work through them to do something good! God, through His sovereign will and grace may use a wretched, low-down, selfish sinner like me to accomplish His will or do great things for Him—but only so He will somehow get the glory!! So when I’m am praised for something “good” I’ve done (and the Scripture makes it very clear in Psalms 14:3, Psalms 53:3, and Romans 3:12 that no one can do good. Any “good” we do of ourselves, on our own, in our own sinful flesh, is as filthy rags, Isaiah 64:6) I aught to take that praise and reflect it right back to the One it belongs to- right back to Jesus. When someone tells me that I did a good job singing that solo, or that I did a great job cleaning the church kitchen, or that I was a big help in children’s church, or that I was a blessing, or that I sent that card at the perfect time, my response aught to be “praise God!” (Because it was Him doing the good work through me if I am saved and by that salvation have the Holy Spirit living inside of me- Galatians 5:25 and 1^st Peter 4:6b). At least, this aught to be my response… But how often is it? How often do I take the focus off of myself, where it doesn’t belong, by praising God, as opposed to how often I receive that praise with a “thank you”?

The day before I had these devotions, I had the very humbling experience of going to someone and having to admit my wrong and apologize to them for something. God used that painful but very necessary exercise to show me, as He’s graciously done before, just how sinful I am, and how very, very blessed I am that He even chooses to use me as a vessel for His use in the first place! He used it to say, “See, Katie, you’re not as good as you think you are. So why are you accepting all these accolades, my Child, for things that I have done and simply allowed you to be part of?” I had allowed myself to be lifted up in pride—and not even realized it! L

So instead of accepting praise for things I’ve done or am doing or will do, I need to reflect the praise and glory back to the One to whom it belongs before I’m tempted to glory even the slightest bit in the satisfaction that I did something good!

Praise God, dear sisters! He’s so worthy of it!

Praise God!!!

True Beauty

My dad's job requires him to travel daily all over Michigan and fix and maintain the computer equipment in courtrooms. Every 10,000 miles he does on the van (it's work-issued) he has to go in and get an oil change. That's when he and I get to go on our Daddy/Daughter Dates :)
This last weekend, he finally got to get an oil change!! So we went out to Penara bread as we waited. I realized on the way home what a spiritual energizer these dates are for me! I hope that I am/can be as encouraging to him as he is to me on these dates-- he totally got me pumped for the Lord. Not that I was out of gas, but now I'm revving at full speed! What a blessing is my daddy! lol
Anyway, in the van on the way there, he handed me his IPhone (also work issued !!!!!) and made me read this email. It was such a blessing and totally practical, I had him email it to me so I could post it here.

True Beauty
Devotional thought from the messages of Adrian Rogers
BIBLE MEDITATION:
1 Peter 3:4b - “... even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
Are you a woman struggling with the way you look? We all know that women want to be beautiful, especially to their husbands and boyfriends, but so often women think that beauty is found at a cosmetics counter, on a dress rack, or in a jewelry box. Those things are corruptible, and what’s in vogue today is out of fashion when next year’s supermodels hit the runway. The only thing that will make you more beautiful, day after day, is what you nurture within yourself: serenity. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is worth far more than the most expensive jewel you can wear around your neck.
ACTION POINT:
Stand in front of the mirror today. Imagine Jesus by your side, and ask Him to create in you a gentle and quiet spirit of love.

I hope this is a blessing to you today, dear sisters!
(the content of this post come from Love Worth Finding Ministries)

Monday 10/4/2010 Devotions

This is what I read this morning during my time with my Savior and certain verses that stuck out to me as special.

Psalms 4 (the whole entire thing was simply amazing! God is SO good!)
               ~~ God hears me when i call out to Him
               ~~ God takes perfect care of me
               ~~"Stand in awe and sin not"
               ~~He puts joy in my heart! (verses 7-8)
Psalms 34 (again, the whole thing was so wonderful! Every verse seemed to speak in a certain distinct way)
Psalms 64:1, 9-10
Psalms 94:8-12, 15, 17-19, 22
Psalms 124:8

True Happiness

Hey Dear Sisters!
I'm sorry this post is so long overdue. I've spent the weekend at my grandparents and they are blessed with this lovely thing called an Internet connection at home--something I don't have anymore :( so I've been enjoying myself with that luxury/blessing (and it really is one too! if you're normal and have Internet at your house, no matter how slow, be thankful because some people actually have it!! -- that'd be me lol) but anyway, so here I've been basking in the use of the Internet-- and I was doing good stuff too!!! I was really surfing around other amazing blogs that other sisters have started and do, and i was looking up all this stuff and doing a lot of "research", and i won't lie, i was doing a considerable amount of playing around as well :) . But then in church this morning my grandma's pastor said something that got me thinking-- and it was only vaguely related-- but it was like God said, "Katie, you've had four days of unimpeded Internet service and how much of that have you used to benefit others as opposed to benefiting yourself?" ...
...
...
The ratio was like 95% me, 5% others.
It's funny how we can get so caught up in other things--even good things!-- and miss out on the opportunity to really model Christ and His love and also to be a blessing to others by our service to them.
You'll notice the title of this post is "true happiness"-- I had a happy time tonight as i had the awesome privilege to spend time with my oldest and one of my very best friends--who i never get to see anymore! :( But we had a few hours to spend together tonight. But as we talked, God gave me the inspiration and she gave me the incentive to share with you some passages from a book I've been reading.
The book is entitled God Girl and it's by Hayley DiMarco. It's about how a girl of God aught to behave and the character qualities she should exhibit. One of them is "true happiness". Even though the principles she brings to light are simple, they're totally profound and unique, and are challenging my way of thinking! I just wanted to share a few of them with you!
     "...Happiness is based not on circumstances or success, but on the very nature of God. He promises to be your joy...Happiness is found not in your circumstances, but in your thoughts."
     "A girl who knows true happiness is a girl who knows truth and loves it. Unhappiness comes when you know the truth but you aren't so happy about it and when you do things that disagree with what you know to be right."
     "A God Girl knows true happiness because she isn't lying to herself about what her heart knows, but she puts all her faith on the fact that God is trustworthy...True happiness is within the reach of anyone willing to risk taking God at His Word and refusing to believe anything else, even if she feels it deeply or hears it repeatedly."

                      is this hitting anyone else? or am i the only one wincing here?!

i know i tend to focus WAY to much on my feelings. but it really struck me the way she goes on to state how we can have true happiness. The first point is to "tell yourself the truth"-- or quit lying to ourselves. This is something i never really thought about like this before.
     "The pursuit of truth is the passion of every God Girl."
Right-- got that. I want the truth, to know it, to search for it, to hold to it firmly once I've found it.
     "God offers you...the most that you could ever receive, and all you have to do is to tell yourself the truth. And the only way to know what that truth is, is to look into the Word of God. In every area where she has trouble, the God Girl searches out the truth and then repeats it to herself. She takes those lies she's been believing and edits them out of her vocabulary."
     "Anytime you say "I can't," "it's too hard," "I'm depressed," or "I'm afraid"; anytime you panic or worry; anytime you act in anger, bitterness, or frustration-- you are lying to yourself."
And here's the kicker:
     "God's Word is all true, so if what you say or believe is the opposite of God's Word, it's a lie. Lies make you unhappy. They destroy lives and make things difficult. But the Truth gives you strength, hope, and power."
those are POWERFUL words dear sisters! sometimes we allow ourselves to plummet into unhappiness or depression because we believe the lies that the devil daily spits at us. And he has special, tailor-made ones for each of us. He's not all-knowing like God, but he's not stupid either! He's knows your weak points! He knows mine!
And sometimes too, we allow ourselves to dwell on all the troubles and problems in our lives, instead of counting our blessings and standing on the promises. Instead of thinking, 'you know, it'd really be nice if i had Internet connection at my house', i should be thinking 'you know, i have my own laptop, which many people don't. I have three libraries, however hick-ish and small, that all have (free!!!) Internet access i can use, within six miles, ten minutes, of my house' praise God for it!
So... (i swear i didn't set out to write a book! lol it just was like once i got going, thoughts just kept coming)
Anyway...
I'm making it a point this week to every day try to train my thought into this direction/way of thinking. I challenge you to join me, dear sisters!!!!! Every morning let's set out on the fresh day our Lord has seen fit to bless us with with a prayer to Him to guide us in this decision and to train our thoughts to dwelling on the truth (which He tells us that His "Word is truth" (John 17:17)-- so let's be in it so we know what it is to think on it!!!) and ask Him to help us. Let's purpose each morning/day not to plummet into despair at the very real problems we may be facing, but to dive into the Word for consolation and the truth which brings us true happiness!! (Psalms 119:81,82,83,86,87,88 &92-94 tells us to do just that! verses 81-88 say four times right in a row that even when everything seems to be going wrong, we are to hope, remember, not forsake, and keep God's Word! Verses 92-94 tell us whenever we're afflicted to open God's Word!!!)And be willing to take God at His Word-- I'd say it's a risk worth taking!!!
Let's purpose to open God's Word in moments of discouragement, anger, frustration, hurt, despair, or fear!!! Don't plummet into despair~~~
                                              Dive into the Word!!!
I love you all so very very much!
Love and prayers in Christ!

To My Readers...

Ephesians 1:16  Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;


1 Thessalonians 1:2  We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;


Philemon 1:4  I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,

EPIC FAIL!!

Okay so.........
The Lord used that decision/ experiment to show me something....
not good :( lol
guess who was the one who was doing all the rude comments causing the responses??
oh you'd better believe it was me!
it was AWFUL! And since I was extra aware of it that day, I was noticing it! I was like, "Lord, is it always this bad? Am I always like this?? or is it just because I've been cooped up with these people in this same cell... *clears throat* van for 11 hours!?!?!
Regardless, I ended up apologizing to one of my poor sisters like eight or nine times, poor girl! And here's the thing-- yes, she deserved to be reprimanded, but could I have done so with just a change of expression in my voice, I could have been being a good example, not wounding her! That really humbled me. It was like God was telling me not to forget that I'm not always the victim.
What made the whole thing worse was that I've also made a commitment based on Ephesians 4:29. Yeah.

OUCH

Pray for me with this, dear sisters! ever since the trip, I've been extremely conscience about it, which I know I should always be :) but pray for me to soldier on and to be uplifting to my siblings and all those I come in contact with!
Other Scripture on this topic that comes to mind?? I need it! :)
I hope  you all did better than i did!
love in Christ
Katie

Responding to Hurtful, Rude Comments

This morning in my quiet time with Jesus, He blessed me oh so gracefully with an what one of my favorite Sunday School teachers quite appropriately called an "oucher". I was reading in Psalms 19 then somehow (through cross referencing, which I do in frequent fast mode) ended up in Romans chapter 12. Usually you hear the beginning of the chapter preached on and expounded upon, but verses 9-21 is AMAZING! It's simple yet extremely profound in the principles it lays down for how a young lady striving to serve God with all her heart (and Christians in general!) should conduct herself!
The verse though that slapped me in the face was verse 14.
          "Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not."
...yeah. OUCH! Paul is telling the early church and us as Christian young ladies how to respond when other people (mean girls, rude guys, family members, even sometimes friends) make fun of us, tease us, and in short, just say mean things to us-- rude things, hurtful things.
He tells us that we are to respond to their hurtful/rude comments, their "persecution", not by lashing out or with harsh and hurtful words of our own, but with blessing! We are supposed to bless them! Yeah. And the hard part about this verse is that it isn't a suggestion. It doesn't say "If I want to" or "when I feel like it" or "once in a while"... no no no no. It is a clear cut imperative statement that says "bless them".
Jesus Himself told His followers and disciples this in Matthew 5 in the 'sermon on the mount'. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tells us to "...bless them that curse you..."
This is such a hard concept (especially for me as I am the oldest of 6!! children) for us to grasp, and even harder for us to actually carry out. As I once heard an evangelist say, "this preaches easy, but lives tough!"
oh and boy is he NOT KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but my decision/battle plan for the day is this: when any one (and omisoul I really mean anyone...this is gonna be so hard! lol) says anything even hurtful or mean to me today (accidentally and especially purposefully) I am going to respond (Lord willing and with His help--b/c He's gonna be the One that works this out in me!) by "blessing them"-- which I'm gonna do by saying something kind to them. Responding pleasantly. Even if it's as dorky as "oh i like your bracelet" after I get yelled at for sitting in the wrong seat on the way home from vacation today.
Seriously.
I hope you'll make this decision with me. Just try it out for a day! (our walk with our Lord is a step-by-step daily thing-- which is good, even though we don't always like it-- if He told me everything I think I need to know about His will for my life for even the next 6 weeks I'd probably be scared to death! lol) Try it, dear sisters! and let me know how God works in your life and I will definitely do the same!
Love in Christ
Kate

Obviously a Beginer!!!

Dear Sisters,
I graduated in the spring, and I've been extremely blessed to be able to spend the entire summer basically just getting to know my Lord better and drawing closer to Him. I've gleaned all this fabulous fruit from a summer spent with my Savior, but then it was like...now what?!? Then I read something in a fabulous Bible study for young ladies that hit me square between the eyes. It said something to the effect of: (and I don't have it with me right now otherwise I'd give the direct quote-- I will later) "okay, so God's blessed you with great things from His Word SO SHARE IT!" It said that inspiration not acted on leads to depression. And sadly, by not acting on it, I truly believe I got a little taste of what that meant.
But often, i feel alone on my spiritually journey, on my daily battle as His warrior, with my daily duties as His princess--( that's what we are, you know; if you have trusted Christ as your personal Savior, the Bible calls us His children, which makes you a child of the King, and a female offspring of a King is what?? A princess!! But I'm TOTALLY getting ahead of myself! More on this later!! lol rewind!). Anyway, ofttimes, i feel alone- but i know there are other godly young women devoted to their Savior out there who are serving Him to the best of their ability and seeking Him with their whole heart! But then, I have to wonder... they've (you've!) got to feel the same way as well sometimes.
So this is why I've created this blog-- to knit us together, to hold us accountable! A chance to share our burdens with each other and pray for each other. A place to share a passage of Scripture that really spoke to our hearts, or comforted us in times of trial, that totally pricked our heart, or plain just psyched us out!! A place to uplift each other and to share how God is working in our lives. A place to share devotionals we've read. A place to share answered prayers, miracles, and what I like to call 'mini-miracles' and 'that was such a God thing'. I don't know where God will take this blog, but I pray that it will be a place of encouragement. I'm not the best at expressing myself so if I say something that sounds weird or offhand, or that's (heaven forbid!) offensive in anyway, I apologize ahead of time! (If this does happen please let me know so I can clarify what I was trying to say-- I don't want to be the cause of hurt to any of you!!). Please remember, I'm not perfect! I'm on this journey too! With you! To use the old cliche, we're in this together!!! I just hope this can be a blog that is good for encouragement, spiritual growth, mentoring, and a place where we can just be excited about our Lord Jesus Christ who "daily loadeth us with benefits" together!
But like the title says, I'm SO new at this! So please, any ideas, advice, and ways to get this out there to even more Christian sisters, LET ME KNOW!
Love and prayers
In Christ,
Katie (Ryn) Hamilton