one moment

have you ever had that one moment that you want to keep forever? that one moment where the world freezes and everything is perfect. it could be a single moment or a series of moments. no matter how long it is, this moment makes everything wrong in the world just disappear. this moment could be with your mom, your dad, a sibling, a best friend, or any one. no matter who the person is, when you remember this moment your heart melts just a little. moments like that are what get you through the rough times. moments like this are so small yet so completely perfect.

if we are the body?

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

Chorus (2x)
If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus is the way
~
this is such a true song about how we all act. we are suppose to be the body of Christ, yet we are too selfish to change the world. we won't tell someone about Christ because "it's out of our comfort zone." we don't show Christ's love to someone because "they annoy us" or "they will think we are weird." that's the thing though, it's Christ's love, not ours. Christ's love is selfless, not selfish. Christ's love saved people from sin, people who hated him. Who are we to say that someone is too difficult to receive his love. We are just as difficult, just as sinful. We need to reach more, heal more, teach more, love more. not because of us, but because of Christ.

why i am in love with november...

-i've hung out with MOLLLLYYYY wayy too much. we are almost like normal friends right now
-i've listened to the new Taylor Swift CD like 30000 times! it's like being in heaven.
-i've gone to dewars so many times i'm almost sick of it(but not quite)
-i've hung out with my biggest inspiration two whole times!! in the last week
-i'm realizing more and more every day how magnificent God is
-i got a car
-i saw Jennifer last weekend for the first time since July. some people really should move to Bakersfield.
-i proved Steve wrong! well molly did, but it was my argument.
-everyone comes home tomorrow
-everyone comes home tomorrow
-oh yea, and everyone comes home tomorrow!!!
those are some of the big reasons. don't worry, there are many more!

JoyRiden

it's funny how one person, without even trying, can inspire you to go back to God with everything. this is something that i have been struggling with this for a while now. i was completely dry with my relationship. i tried every other way to be happy, and when it didn't work i tried it again. i knew that this wouldn't help but i was afraid to go back to where i needed to be. i feared talking to God after the dry spell. but i talked to this person, and everything about her, you know that she loves God with all her heart. you can see it in her smile, you can see it in the joy she has for everything she does. after watching this incredible person for the short time i did, i knew that i couldn't live without the joy any longer. finally. i talked to God about all my struggles and all my happiness. i told him about my life. i remembered what life was like when i stay close with him. i hope i one day will get to tell her how much she helped me, i hope that i can one day repay her in some way. i just want to someday see her again and say thankyou.

dryy

something is missing. something isn't right. i'm constantly happy but i've lost the joy. i know what it is but it's so hard to change to make it right. i want this joy back but i don't know how hard i am willing to work for it. i want it to just be better. i want to feel His presence in every moment of the day. i want to turn to Him with everything good or bad in my life. i want my every breath to be worshiping Him.
i am so dry. this has been a very dry school year so far. it's 1/4 over and all i'm doing is back tracking in this process. i need to move forward. i want to no longer be dry. i need You to be my complete reason for living. You are my everything. You are my worth. You are my God.

who i am

i sat there wednesday morning looking at my notebook, bible, and red pen. i sat there in a state of confusion. i sat there facing my biggest dream and worst nightmare. i sat there feeling as if i had lost. i just wanted to call it quits. so i went and i wrote down a prayer. i prayed for God to take control because i felt hopeless. i really wanted a sign that everything would be okay, i really wanted the person who inspired this dream. i wanted her there to just make me feel like i would be okay, to bad that i was two hours away from anywhere she would currently be. well to bad that God doesn't believe in impossible, half way through the day she comes walking down the beach to where we were staying. it was just enough. just the miracle i needed. shes the one person that can make me believe that it is possible to not screw this whole thing up. the funny thing is, we didn't even talk about how i was struggling, we just had fun.
now you would think i would take that situation and be okay, but no i make things too complicated for that. that night we went to a youth group called "reality" and it was a prayer night. so during the worship i just laid down my worries and concerns to God. something happened later that night. for the first time in my life i'm satisfied. i know that God has a purpose for everything but for the first time i have hope in that. i am where i am in life for a reason. i am facing this dream/nightmare for a reason. i made an amazing friend because God has a plan. i have the family i have because God has a plan. i am this age for a purpose. i am here right now for a purpose. i am who i am because God is good.

community

so today i was asked to state the biggest things that hit me when it came to community. i thought for a second, it didn't take long because community has changed my life. this is what i came up with for the two things that hit me most:
1) everyone has crap in their lives. it doesn't matter how big or small it really is because to them it sucks. this helped me realize that we are all kind of equal. no one is perfect and no ones life is perfect. we all struggle, though our struggles might not be the same they are all changing us, growing us, and bringing us to our knees. i was thinking about this tonight at the remedy welcome freshman bbq. i was looking at everyone, watching them worship, watching them come to God with their problems because we all suck. i was thinking about how life would be so much better if we were always little becase when we are little our biggest problem is what color we need for our coloring book. then i realized, i'm glad i'm not little anymore. if i were little i wouldn't be the person i am now, wouldn't have the friends i have now, i wouldn't love God like i do now. see, some people might look at their problems and hate every minute of it but i see who i have become through them and what God has done for me through them and i am thankful for my problems.
2)if you open up to people, they will open up to you. this is a big part to building community. if you don't trust people with things that go on in your life how do you expect them to trust you? if you don't have trust how do you have community? and isn't our goal to have community? this made me think about my best friend, what would our friendship be like if we couldn't tell each other things. what if we never opened up to each other, well for one thing we wouldn't be what we are now. then i was thinking, what if i hadn't opened up to laura or steve or delani or anyone. i would be one screwed up person. we aren't meant to keep things bottled in. God gives us people to share community with and to go to when things seem to tough. God is a good God. he gives us the opportunity to have community, so don't waist it.