Family

I was out with friends for some half off appetizers at Applebees when the “girlfriend” of one of the guys got brought up.  He claimed that she “wasn’t his girlfriend” and after that comment, the typical “oh yeah, sure she’s not” conversation proceeded. When someone asked when she was coming in to town to visit, I was quick point out that no one brings a girl home without dating her.  I teased him about it a little bit but then his response stopped me. He said “Actually, I really want to know what my family has to say before we start dating.” Stop. Take a note. This rocks!

If your family is even slightly close to each other, they know you better than anybody. They can usually tell right away if she, or in my case he, isn’t good for you. Take their advice and listen to what they have to say!

It’s respectful and shows the character of the guy when he wants to know what the people closest to him have to say. It means he’s not blindly getting into anything based only on emotions; he’s taking it seriously. I feel like that is something a lot of people miss; the aspect of seriousness that dating should have. It should be the time you use to find out whether you are going to marry the person; not just play around with them.

Through the comment that “Steven” made, he gained my respect. I think the way he is handling the relationship is awesome and very encouraging! I also felt bad about teasing him because my thought was “oh, he’s just another guy afraid of commitment and doesn’t know what he thinks about it all.” When the reality was the exact opposite! So, “Steven”, if you read this…Sorry about that! :)

Who Am I?

Have you ever asked yourself that question? If you haven’t, ask yourself the question right now “Who Am I?” Right off the bat I think of the obvious things such as name, age, job, school, people I hang out with, ect. But these things don’t define who you are. They show aspects about you.

So, who am I?

Am I the same person at church, work, school, or even when I’m alone?

This is a very big question that we should all answer. If we can’t answer it, it’s something we need to struggle through.

I start wondering who I am as soon as I start to drift from God. Without Him, my life doesn’t make sense and I don’t know what my purpose is. I struggle with the question “Who Am I?” just as much as the next person, but the difference might be that I know I am a daughter of Christ and through Him I can be who He created me to be! I just have allow Him to shape me. WAY easier said then done.

It’s kind of scary when you step back and take a look at your life, isn’t it? A lot of the time, we don’t like what we see. A bad thing? I don’t think so. When we see the bad, it’s easier to fix instead of not recognizing it’s there. The hard part is changing.

-Kelly

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

In honor of Fathers Day, here is a funny video…

Sexual Healing

This guy did an awesome job! I love it! He is deep in a very tangible and understandable way.

 

Check this out! I think this is really cool. A highschool wrestler defaults because he doesn’t think it’s right to go up against a girl. He even gives up a chance at the state title! Woah! He says it’s because he respects her and it goes against his religious views. This guy is hardcore.

Patience

There are those people who have always told me “God is the only man you’ll ever need.” And while there is complete truth in that statement, God is also the man who created marriage. He gave us a longing for another person to share our lives with. So is it wrong to want a girlfriend/boyfriend? I don’t think so. It’s what we do with that wanting that makes it right or wrong.

Sometimes we run out and start dating to fill a void. That’s when the wanting turns wrong, that’s when we get hurt.

Be patient. It is hard, but it is necessary. Be patient when it’s hard and be consistent in prayer (Romans 12:12). Pray for the person you will marry. Pray that both of you will make good decisions in the relationships you have before and after you meet. Pray that they will make God their number one and you their number two. Pray that they love you enough to wait for you.

The older we get, the harder it is to wait for that person. As high school students (especially seniors), we are starting to reach that point in life where marriage isn’t an outrageously far off event. So waiting on God’s timing becomes harder, but maybe this is a time that God can teach us, mold us, and make us into the people He wants us to be!

Devo 19

This life will be hard. It will not always be easy, but you were made for it! So glorify GOD in everything you do! Trust in Him and keep you eyes focused on Jesus!

-His love is unfailing and everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3; Isaiah 54:10).

-If we seek Him we will find Him! (Jeremiah 29:13)

-He is the source of our strength. (Psalm 28:7)

-He is our safe place (Psalm 91:2)

In life, “There may be temporary strayings and backslidings. There may be great soul-conflict. But once the soul has truly tasted the water of life and the bread of Heaven, it will never forsake the Lord.” – John Piper

“We are so preciously loved by God that we cannot even comprehend it. No created being can ever know how much and how sweetly and tenderly God loves them.” – Julian of Norwich

-Kelly

Singleness

A lot of times we feel like we need a relationship. But we tend to lose sight of the fact that, it’s okay to be single. In fact, God may use you in a special way that He couldn’t if you were in a relationship.  There is a time and place for everything; God has orchestrated, literally every aspect of our lives. Why do we not let Him have control of

our relationships as well? Maybe it’s because we think it’s too hard to wait, and we know that if it’s in His timing, it might take awhile? That’s me sometimes.

Think about it, most of us will get married. So why not use this time to do things that are more easily done, single? Go on a longish short-term mission trip this summer, use the time to bond with people without the distraction, dive into God’s word and focus on becoming the man of God He created you to be, get involved in something (like hardcore!). You can do these things when you are in a relationship, but sometimes it’s easier in highschool to just take a break from the dating scene and use the time of being single for good. It’s not the end of the world to be single, in fact, God uses itto prepare us for life!

Lead Me

Leadership. It’s your role, take it.

I once wrote a post about nice guys. But guys should not simply be “nice guys.” Yes, you should be gentlemen and be kind to people, but the words “nice guy” tends to carry the connotation of  weakness. Men of God are not weak, they fight, they lead, and they take risks. They also love, care, and do what’s right. They realize they are frail human beings. They realize they make mistakes, but they also know that Christ is their strength. They do not accept the lie that they can’t be a strong man and a leader because they are a young (1 Timothy 4:12).

Tonight I was very proud of a friend of mine. He lead, not because he had to and not because he was made to, but because he he chose to. This friend has never been one to volunteer to lead. We’ve always had to push him some, but tonight he wanted to. It wasn’t anything huge, but leadership is leadership no matter how big or small.

Christian women want Christian men to be leaders. So many times I think that when the men don’t lead, the women feel the need to step in. I know I do. This isn’t good. Things go much better when men are in charge. (gasp! A girl just said that?! Yes, I did because it’s true.)

I (as well as other Christian girls) long for strong, young, leaders. We want guys around who will lead us in life and in our spiritual walks. Sure, we can get that from our youth pastor or other male leaders in the church, but there is something incredibly encouraging about a young man taking his God-given position of leadership…and leading.

When guys lead I feel safe, I feel respected, and I feel like things are how God created them to be. When you lead, you gain my respect.

 

All My Life.

I have grown up in a Christian home and what I’ve been told all my life, by pastors, youth leaders, speakers, books, etc.  is that I’m beautiful in God’s eyes; I have worth and there are solid Christian guys out there and I have to wait for the right one. Even though all of these things are true, it’s sometimes hard to believe. Christian girls lose hope in you. We don’t see the good guys.  We tend to see the “girl crazy” guys, and the ones who make perverse jokes. Our standards go down because we don’t think there are guys who live up to those standards, so we give up.

When I was about 15 I was quite dramatic on this subject and had almost come to the conclusion that I was never going to get married. To me, there weren’t any guys who were worth it. That’s a 15-year-old girl for you, right? But in reality, I didn’t have any reason not to think that. I didn’t know any solid guys who would live up to my standards as a Christian girl. Fortunately, I had men in my life, like my dad and brothers, who always showed me that solid Christian guys were not as extinct as I thought. Then slowly I started meeting guys who respected girls, and in turn, gained the respect of girls; the ones who can be friends with girls without strings attached; where you don’t have to worry about the awkward drama that some people bring into friendships. Then this summer when I went to the Summit, I realized there are, without a doubt, awesome Christian guys out there! It’s refreshing to know that you have peers with the same standards. What set these guys apart is that they know how to respect girls. They don’t make perverse jokes, there are no string attached to the friendships, and they genuinely respect girls. Once you respect girls, the rest of these things go away because if you respect us, you won’t make perverse jokes and friendships will be insanely important.

If you are a Christian guy and you want a solid Christian girl, you must be the type of person that you are attracted to. I know guys who say they want a girl who is strong in the Lord, one that respects men, and a bunch of other things, but they are not striving toward the Lord, don’t respect girls, and aren’t working at being men of God. Well, that’s not going to work now is it? A girl who was just described is going to have higher standards than that. Think about it.