•365• (3/23-3/29)

So today is Monday the 23'rd of March. I have decided to do the "365 project" 

Simply put, the 365 project is where you take a picture and journal everyday, from whenever you start the project for 365 days. I'll be posting my pictures and writings from the previous week on Sundays. 

Monday, 3/23/15 

Today was such a lovely day. I posted this picture on my Instagram with the caption as "It is up to you to see the joy of everyday things" 

I've mentioned quite a few times now that dandelions are one of the tiny things I find joy in. 

Today, after the usual Monday routine, I found some dandelions in my yard following a beautiful sunset. 

Since today is "day one" I thought I'd share a song that is currently stuck in my head called Day One by Matthew West. 

"Wherever my yesterday may find me, I don't have to stay there. 

...Every morning Your mercies new.

Every morning, I will fix my eyes on you.

It's day one of the rest of my life."

Besides the little bit of joy from the everyday dandelions and sunset, He brought joy to me today in reminding me that every morning His mercies are new. As I was looking at the beautiful sunset, I was reminded that when it comes up, a new day will have begun. A new day with new mercies, new opportunities, and another day to fall more in love with my Jesus. I'm thankful for the joy He continues to show me.

3/24/15 Tuesday

Another beautiful, beautiful day. Spring makes me sooooo happy. :D I love days where I somehow find myself outside almost all day long. 

A few minutes before the above photo was taken, I found a nice little spot in my yard to have my bible and journaling time. Today I read Romans 12. Verse 21 has always been one of my favorites. 

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Underneath that verse in my bible I have "The chain reaction of evil must be broken" 

One of my most favorite quotes ever I heard while hearing "Rachel's Challenge" with my youth group. 

Just spend some time thinking about that. Challenge yourself to break the chain reaction of evil. Overcome evil with good. 

3/25/15 Wednesday

Today's picture is a line from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love"  that really stood out to me. As my Junior year is soon to come to end, I keep getting asked all the usual questions. "Where do you want to go to college?" and "what are you going to do?"

(You've probably asked or been asked similar questions yourself) 

Right now, my answer is always "I'm not sure." I feel embarrassed with that answer. Especially hearing people my age talk with such confidence about their future's when I feel as if I have no idea about my own. 

But the chapter in Crazy Love that I read today went straight to my heart. 

It was all about praising God where we are. In the known, and the unknown. Trusting God and letting go of all our stress and worry. Oh how easily we forget just how small and insignificant we are. 

Thank God we are weak, fragile, and not in control. Because that's when we realize we need Him. 

I may not know exactly what to do, but I know He'll put me right where He wants me. I can have confidence in the unknown, daily trusting and allowing Him to shape my life. 

My God's got me, yo. 

2/26/15 Thursday

I love quiet time with my Jesus. The sun shine filling my room. I feel so at peace. 

Today I read Psalm 121: 

"I lift my eyes to the mountains- 

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from The Lord

the maker of heaven and earth." 

Is that not just super encouraging? I love His constant reminders of His help and His strength. 

I had a lovely day with my family, filled with quality time and laughter. Days like today remind me how wonderful the gift of life is. 

Have you thanked God for waking you up today? 

3/27/15 Friday

This is Cailey Lyné. My beautiful little sister. My goodness, she is growing up so fast.

 It took me too long to realize just how big of a blessing sisters are. We've had our many, many quarrels. But we've also had our many, many smiles, laughs, and "sister moments."

In the car today, she caught my eye while she was fixing her hair in the front seat. Right then it hit me just how fast the time passes by. 

Along with a little guilt for not always being the best sister, and a realization of just how much I have learned through her. She is so kind, gentle, loving, caring all things sweet. 

My baby sister will be a teenager this year, and I can't wait to see the beautiful flower of a lady she blossoms into. :) 

3/28/15 

One reason why I love photography so much is because it captures moments that can never be captured again. 

Sure, I may have lots of pictures of similar things/times. But the exact moment I took the picture will never happen again. But I have that moment saved to return to as many times as I'd like. Pictures can be very special keepsakes if you think about it.

The picture above is of my two younger siblings, one of my cousins, and a friend all laughing together while watching a video. I love the sweet, silly, child like joy this picture displays. A moment I'm glad I not only got to experience, but capture to keep.

Today we had a nice dinner at our grandma's house. Her beautiful newly remodeled house, I must add. My grandpa spent lots of time working on their house before he passed away this past November, so once he passed away a lot of work was put in to finish the house in honor of him. 

Now it's close to being finished and we all had a lovely time celebrating it together. 

I missed him a lot today, but thankful for the smiles that family brings. 

3/29/15 Sunday

Today was a "meh" day. I know you know the type of day I'm referring to.

Ya know, the ones that aren't necessarily bad but aren't just all that grand either. I was only home for a total of 20 minutes almost all day, and I forgot my camera anywhere I went. But this evening I looked outside at the perfect time to see a lovely sunset that made all of today worth it. I love the soft colors peeking through the leafless trees.

To quote one of my favorite twentyonepilots song: "The sun will rise and we will start again" 

Tomorrow will be a whole new day of a whole week full of new mercies, opportunities, and falling more in love with my Jesus.

I'm ready for ya, Monday.

May you all have a blessed week and never forget to smile. :-) 

Soul Link '15

This past weekend I attended a retreat in Houston with my youth group called Soul Link. 

We were supposed to leave right after lunch on Friday, but Friday morning we woke up to a lovely white blanket of snow and ice causing our trip to be delayed until 3. 

(Nothing really changed but we were all determined to make it)

Because of our delay we missed all of the activities on Friday night. But our day began early Saturday morning.

The main theme of the weekend was centered around John 15

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even  more fruitful.  

...Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself: It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 

I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.."

I forget the man's name that did the lesson (whoops) but looking back through my notes from this weekend, one thing he said really stood out to me.

He said "bearing fruit is not something we do, it's something we ARE. The command is not to bear fruit, it's to abide in Him."

When he said this, I immediately thought of when Jesus says the whole law can be summed up in one command, love.

We aren't commanded to bear fruit, we are commanded to LOVE.

 When we love others and Jesus with all we have, it's going to show through our actions even without us trying. 

The command is not to bear fruit, it's to abide in Him. 

Another thing he said that really stuck out to me was "you will spill what you're full of" 

If his words are in us, we will bear good fruit. 

He also quoted the verse from Romans 15:13 

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope."

What we fill up with is what will overflow from us. 

What are you filling up with? 

••••

Aside from the lessons, I loved the worship. 

I always love praising Him through song, but there's just something about hearing close to 1,000 teens singing out to Him together that I don't think I can even say with words. 

(Imagine 1,000 teens singing this together. All that we are is His.)

All that I am is His. 

HE is the true vine.

Apart from Him, I.can.do.nothing.

As Far As It Depends On Me

Rained in most of the day today so I decided to write down some thoughts that have been swirling around my head. I've been so busy lately and haven't had much time at all to keep up with blogging. But the weather today gave me a perfect opportunity. 

Getting along with people is a topic I know we could all use more work in. Some have mastered it more than others, but when it comes down to it we all have one, two, or maybe multiple people in our lives that we constantly seem to have trouble "putting up" with. (I know I do) 

I really love people and I really love being around people. 

But I, like anybody, often find myself complaining about the ones around me and their behavior. Sometimes because of character flaws and sometimes for things they do that aren't always "bad" but traits or tiny things that simply annoy me. (For some reason I ridiculously think everyone's personalities have to please me 24/7)

I saw a quote on Pinterest (Yes, I'm aware I mention at least one quote from Pinterest in most of my blog posts..) 

that said "When you're about to lose patience with someone, remember how patient God has been with you all this time." 

*shots fired*

"If you forgive others when they sin against you, so your Heavenly Father will forgive you." (Matthew 6:14) 

Forgiveness is a huge part in every friendship, relationship, and any kind of dealing with people. From the tiniest things to the biggest mistakes. Most friendships/relationships with people wouldn't last but a few weeks if forgiveness wasn't involved. We're human and we let people down. It's just what we do. 

But outside of friendships, what about in our dealings with people we don't consider our friends? Or people that we once called friends but no longer do for various reasons? 

A LOT of people after friendships or relationships that go down in flames, continue to talk about the faults in that other person, and due to lack of forgiveness, continue to reopen past wounds. 

A couple days ago in my alone bible study time, I came across Romans 12:18. If you aren't familiar with the verse, it says 

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

Just think about that verse for a minute. As far as it depends on you.

Meaning, of course people don't always come around. Some people live to cause trouble, and sometimes it is necessary to cut people out of our lives. But that does not by any means give us the right to hold anger against them and make them look bad to others. They may not do their part correctly, but that doesn't dismiss us from our part whatsoever. 

We are called to "love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us." (See Matthew 5:44) 

Not hate our enemies and talk about those who persecute us. ;-) 

I've been thinking a lot lately about what exactly it means for me to "love" my enemies. Because frankly, there's some people that I don't think I could ever think to myself "Wow, I love ____" 

As I was thinking about this, I remembered the passage from 1 John 3:18 where John says "Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

Actions. No, I don't have to be in love with or even enjoy someone's company. But as far as it depends on me, I must try my hardest to do my part and live at peace with them, forgive them, and to pray for them. Regardless of how they act towards me. Easier said than done. 

Whenever I've been in sticky situations, my mom has done a good job of reminding me of the verse from Romans. Reminding me to always do my part. This verse has been a very helpful reminder to me during difficult tiffs with people. 

So try to remember that next time someone is failing to do their part and mistreating you. 

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with them. 

Forgive them. Pray for them. Love them.

A closing quote (one of my favorites) from Martin Luther King. 

"Let no man pull you low enough to hate him."

How does that help anything anyways?

Don't forget to do your part. 

Promises

Wait a minute? A rainbow? I entitled this post "promises" so you might be wondering why I started this post with that picture of a rainbow. But if you're familiar with Old Testament stories then you know why. 

Even if you aren't, most of us have heard at least once in our lives the story of Noah and the Ark and how God set the rainbow in the sky as a symbol of His promise to Noah and all mankind. Check it! (It's long, but it's God's word so read it.

"I am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who will live after you. This includes the birds and the animals that came out of the boat. I promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood.

The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures. Never again will I let floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the sky, I will always remember the promise that I have made to every living creature. The rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise." (Genesis 9:9-17) 

I really love that passage. To think how many, many years ago it was that God made that promise and yet His promise still stands today. With the millions and millions of things that go on in this world and all the reasons we give him to break His promise to us, He still keeps it. This promise and every other one. He is a God of His word.

So, do you believe in the story of Noah, one of the most well known bible stories? Do you believe in God's promise to Noah that He's kept for all this time, and continues to show us the symbol of His promise?

If you do, what's stopping you from trusting His other promises?

We don't wake up everyday, leaving our house dreading that God is going to flood the earth again. 

We easily, without thought even, trust that promise. 

But yet we allow our minds to be filled with doubt and fear, tormenting ourselves  and relying on what little control of our own lives we have, instead of fully trusting Him. He is the one who has not once let us down in all of history.

I mentioned God's other promises. What exactly has He promised us? 

I picked out three promises that I found to share with you all.

The first, and I'd say the biggest for believers is the promise of new life. New chances and do overs every single day. (See Lamentations 2:22-23)

We're all familiar with John 3:16. In that verse believers are promised that we will not perish, but have eternal life. 

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

The second promise that I found is from John 14:27. Peace. 

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."

He promises us peace. Peace that the world cannot give us. Assurance and stability in Him, even when the earth shakes us up. 

The third promise I found is from Matthew 11:28-29

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

The part from that that really catches my eye is towards the end where it says "...and you will find rest for your souls."

Obviously, putting our trust in God doesn't mean life is always going to be great. We're going to have numerous times through life that we feel mentally and physically exhausted. But He promises "rest for our souls" We can rest in the first promise. Because we know that no matter what happens to us here, we belong to Him. Our souls can rest.

When I see the rainbow, I not only see it as a symbol of His promise to Noah, but also as a reminder that He is faithful. 

He keeps His promises to us. From the bery beginning of time, till now. 

He.Never.Let's.Us.Down.

So why is it so hard to trust him? 

Think about that. 

God bless :)

Lessons From Children

For the last few weeks during my family's evening devotional time we've been studying Luke together.

Tonight's reading was Luke chapter 18. Every time I read chapter 18, the verse that always sticks out to me is verse 17 where Jesus says 

"Surely, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." 

Now before I jump right into what that verse means to me, in case you aren't familiar with the context, let me fill you in. 

In this chapter, Jesus' disciples see people bringing their babies to Jesus for him to lay his hands on. They see him surrounded by children and it says they rebuked them. 

To which Jesus replies with the above verse. 

All through my early years of bible class and reading in children's bible story picture books, I've heard this story told many times. But usually it was told along the lines of "Jesus loves the little children"  and a picture of Jesus with children on his lap and his disciples looking angry. 

Which yes, Jesus does love the little children. Very much so.

But I've kept this idea/image of this story in my mind for a long time. Taking it as simply as "Yeah, Jesus loves children."
 But it wasn't till recently the meaning of the verse has really changed to me. 

Of all the things Jesus calls His people to be, isn't it crazy that becoming like a little child is one of them? 

I've been thinking a lot about what exactly it means to "become like children" and why He would call us to.

While I was thinking about this, I made a list of some qualities that little children have that I think we often lose as we grow up.  

The first thing that immediately came to my mind was simple minded.

For the most part, children are very simple minded. Taking whatever they're told as truth without hardly questioning it. (No, I'm not saying we're called to be gullible) But maybe we don't always need to read into it all. 

Not that there is anything wrong with studying deep into his word and contemplating all the different meanings something can have.

But I think we sometimes lose the simplicity of His word. We get so caught up in religion and the things that have always been taught to us, that we forget to simply read what He says and just take Him for His word. 

Another quality we all would recognize in children is how accepting of others they are. The world and all of society's ideas of "perfect people" have yet to enter their pure minds. They befriend people without reason and they love without condition. I think we all could learn a lesson from that. Once we are exposed to society's standards we start to pick and choose who we want to love and serve. We put conditions on our friendships and relationships. We control them ourselves, instead of allowing Him to have full control. 

Innocence. Sweet, sweet innocence. 

Various times in the New Testament Jesus commands us to be born again. Of all the ways He could have told us that our sins must be washed away, I've always wondered why He used the term "born again" 

(Taken out of context)

 I started thinking about the verses Luke 18:18 and John 3:3 together.

"Surely, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." 

(Luke)

"Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.'"

(John)

We are called to be born again. Christ washes away all of our sins and we have a new life in Him. 

We are His children, and we are called to be like children. 

Simple minded. Taking His word for what it is. 

Accepting. Refusing to see people the way society pressures us to. Giving Him control and allowing Him to use us in all the lives our paths cross.

Innocent. His blood continually making us new, killing all our sin and making us alive in Him as a new creation. A new child. Pure and innocent.

Honestly, I have no idea just what Jesus meant by saying we must become like children.

But this is what I've taken out of it and even if I'm wrong, I still think they're good lessons we can learn from children. 

God bless :)

Dandelions

My goodness, it was lovely outside today. Considering the last week or so has been very grey and gloomy, the upper 50's temperature and sunshine was extra nice today. 

But what made it all the nicer for me was I found an area at the park today that was FULL of dandelions!!!! I've mentioned before that I LOVE dandelions. So seeing those today in the middle of the winter made me extremely happy.

 I've been thinking about why they're so intriguing to me but I really couldn't come up with an answer. 

While I was thinking on this the quote by Marc Jacobs came to mind: 

"I always find beauty in things that are odd and imperfect. To me, they are much more interesting." 

I like things and people that stand out. Not the ones that are bright, shining, and capture everyone's attention immediately.

But the ones that are often overlooked and trampled on. 

The ones that are odd & imperfect. 

I took about 100 pictures (literally) but I'll share some of my favorites with you. :) Enjoy! 

Thriving or Simply Surviving?

On my daily drive home back from basketball practice this morning I was listening to the radio when the song "Thrive" by Casting Crowns came on the radio. From the very first time I heard this song, the lyrics really stuck out to me.

But today as I was listening to it, it was different. The words seemed to hit me a lot harder. Repeating them over and over in my head. Even after the song ended and other songs continued playing, my mind kept repeating "it's time for us to more than just survive, we were made to thrive."

Thrive.... Thrive...

As I thought about that line, one of the things I asked myself is "Am I really thriving?" 

I started thinking about my life. My weekly routines, my habits, the people I see regularly, all the tiny things that make up my little life. I couldn't stop thinking of that one question..

"Am I really thriving?"

When I wake up in the morning, am I nonchalantly getting out of bed, and moving on with life like it's just another normal day? 

Or am I thriving? Am I constantly looking for ways to help people? To encourage, to love? 

No. I'm really not. I fall into the comfortable routines and go through my days, weeks, months, and years like I'll always have more. 

I simply survive. Instead of thriving.

Once I realized this, my new 2015 resolution became "to thrive, not simply survive."

So what exactly does it mean to "thrive"?

"To develop well or to grow vigorously" is how the dictionary defines the word.  

To grow vigorously. 

Next I wrote down three ways I want to grow vigorously this year. 

Number 1. For His Kingdom.

I started to type here, "I want to step out of my comfort zone for Him" But that's not what I want to do. No, I want to completely demolish it. Not only stepping out, but leaving it far behind.
Last year I wrote a speech for class centered around the quote by Neale Walsch.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" 

After I recited that quote to the class, I followed it with: "Whenever I'm trying to talk myself out of talking to someone about my faith or doing something I know I need to do, I take this into depth a little more.
ETERNAL life for someone else, may begin at the end of MY comfort zone."

Second Peter 3:9 says "God is not really slow in keeping His promises, as some think, instead He is waiting patiently, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to repent."

He's waiting on us to do our job. Statistics say that in the United States 246,780,000 people are "Christians".
That's 75.9% of our population. Imagine if every single one of us decided to bring just ONE person to Christ. That would be all of the United States plus more. If we claim to love God, and claim to follow Him, then we can't get comfortable. We need to step out of our comfort zones and DO what He has commanded us to do. A famous missionary in England C.T. Studd said "If Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."

I want to leave my comfort zone, and all my human characteristics behind, fixing my eyes on Jesus.

Thriving for Him and His Kingdom.

Number 2. For Others.

This one hardly needs to be it's own resolution because when we do for others we are planting seeds of His kingdom inside of them. When we truly love God, we love His people.
But adding to the first, I want to thrive for others this year. Seeing the needs that I am capable of meeting and meeting them with a smile.

"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." (Hebrews 13:16)

Another popular song whose lyrics always touch me is Do Something by Matthew West.
It starts with him talking about seeing the world and being disgusted with how broken it is, then asking "God, why don't you do something?" and God answers "I did, I created you." 

Yet another song that touches me (If you haven't noticed by now, lyrics really speak to me) is With Every Act of Love by Jason Gray. Towards the end of the song he says "God put a million doors in the world for His love to walk through. One of those doors is you. 
...we bring the kingdom come, with every act of love."

Number 3. In myself:

I want to thrive in every little thing I do.

In my walk with Christ, friendships, schoolwork, chores, extra curricular activities. 
Everything I do. 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for The LORD and not for men." (Colossians 3:23) 

I want to be constantly thriving for my very best. Becoming like clay and allowing Him to mold me into all He has created me to be. (See Isaiah 64:8)

Knowing how easy it is to get caught up and slip into our comfortable ways, I'm sure you've had your share of "simply surviving" as well.

Ask your self the same question about how you're living right now. Are YOU thriving? Or are you simply surviving? Are you giving only part of yourself to Him, or allowing Him to have every aspect of your life? 

I hope you decide this year and every year to thrive. 

God bless. :)