Lessons to be learned that are Lifeshaping!!

I have learned alot this past semester in Lifeshaping at my church. I have an amazing woman who leads class who will be called AC in this blog. We went through the book respectiable sins. In the class we did alot of wworksheets and some fun game analigies to go along with them. I had been getting a lot out of this class but i was extreemly quiet during the class answering questions only when i had to. I was struggling with a lot while in this class. It brought back this i didnt want to remember and other things that have torn me down. I got to the point one week during class that i wanted to thank AC for all that she had done and we all seem to leave the class room with a bit of a mess so me deciding to be who i am cleaned up. AC and i had a good convo for awhile that day while i was in there and i left chruch feeling different in some way. Later that night i went to Latte and heard amazing testamonies by 2 wonderful women from our church one who i grow closer to everytime i see her. That night i was struggling with alot of emotions of things in my life and pressures i have. I had got a phone call from a friend of my that added to my stress as it was. When all of a sudden i hear my name called. I turn around with my eyes watering and all the pain of everything i had been dealing with and there was AC. She came over and gave me one of the biggest hugs ever and it made my night. She had asked how i was and for once i couldnt hide how i was feeling at all(even if i wanted to). So we talked for a bit then decided we would get together sometime to talk. I had recived a call from her but i told her i was unable to talk about it over the phone. We got together last wed for coffee. I had told her why i was so quiet in class and that it was not like me at all to be a quiet person. If you know me i always like to answer any question i can. Well a lot of you don't know a lot of the stuff i have been struggling with. So i am going to be extremely vulnerable right now. This is hard for me to do but i need to. I try to live up to some high standards i have set for myself. I have received these "standards" from what i have heard from: family, friends, t.v, magazines,and the world around me. I have major issues with how i see myself. I always found myself to be ugly,fat,not worth anything, and unloved. Its hard living a life to unrealistic standards. I am the "goody two shoes" in the family so i cant make a mistake or the world will come to an end and I would love to hear i am loved and that i am beautiful from my dad for once again in my life. I am slowly overcoming this area of struggle and i found good things to focus on about me. Thanks to AC! I love my smile and i am starting to love my eyes,along with my unique since of style. A huge thing that has been hard for me is Trust. It is extremely hard for me to trust anyone especially guys. My dad stopped coming to my special things i would do no matter how many times i asked and if he did he would leave before they started. I can remember being at my volleyball game like 10mins before it started and it was a tournament and dad came over to me and said he was going to leave to go visit my cousin vs stay for my game. This has continued still to this day. I cant even get him to do anything with me. I just want my dad who use to love me and find me good enough to hangout with back. Due to this trust with my dad it has carried over into my relationship with God my Father. I can trust everything He says but only in my head and not in my heart. This is a huge thing that i am trying to work through and if anyone has advice or some good bible verses to help that would be great! I am so grateful that I have grown so much in that class and that AC is one of those teachers/friends that is there to help us teens! Cant wait to continue class this summer who knows what else God has in-store for all us teens in that class!

I have a few verses i read right away when i wake up and i meditate on them through out the day and i love these verses cause they are sooo true!

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, what ever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

1 Peter 5:8-9
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.


Thats all i have to say for today. God bless!

Why does this always happen to me!

I am tired of the comments flying around this house about me. Yes i have reached the point where i constantly feel like i have to defend myself against what is being said. I don't care if i am not up to their standards i just want to be up to the standards God has on my heart and we all fall short. I don't like it when people use my faith against me by saying "Isn't that what a "good" Christian would do?" or "Your faith is a cult!". I am sick of it. I just want to leave but i have no where to go. I have been running to God for so long that i feel that that is the only safe place anywhere for me to go. People keep telling me my dreams are useless and will get me nowhere in life. Well its not life i am worried about i am worried about not doing what God whats from me.God is the one in charge and He rules my life. At least i believe in Him and finally trust Him. I understand that no human will love me like He does i just wish my earthly family would love me too. I honestly feel like i don't know how to dream anymore. Every time i try to have dreams of what i would like to do and i share them i hear "thats dumb", "You won't make money doing that",and "you wont be any good at that.". I understand we all go through hard stuff in life and God will never give us more than we can bare. I would like a time away from the house. I totally wish my grad party was not the weekend of the Spiritual retreat. That is something i will have to do sometime. For some restoration time. I guess maybe this summer i will take a week and go pitch my tent and live a week with no electronics. I think it would be nice to do that again. God grant me strength to get through this!

A kiss on my forehead and an embrace from a friend.

No one knows my whole story..about my past or present. I feel like a burden when i talk to people most of the time cause thats how i am treated alot. I am not better than anyone cause of my faith so please dont treat me that way. Tonight i talked to a friend i have told very little about anything going on past or present. It was after our church woman's ministry called Latte! Tonight we had a woman come in and tell us her story of abuse. I have to admit i was in tears but for more reasons than anyone knows. Well after it was over i was in the hall and a friend asked if things were going better. There is something about her that i just cant explain. I feel like i cant hide anything from her even though we dont talk often to eachother. Well I told her i wasnt doing much better than the last time we talked and i told her things it takes me years to tell anyone! The things i told her hurt my life alot and my quilt God is still mending for me. I told her things about the present that no one no matter how close they are to me know. I have never been so overflowed with God love at one time. Just to hear the word "I am here for you and i love you!" are some of the hardest things for me to hear. We went into the dark auditorium and sat in chairs and she prayed for me all the time letting me use her shoulder to cry on as she comforted me and prayed over me. How can anyone love someone thats not part of their family? I know that we are all a part of God's family and i dont even understand how God can love me..but i know he does. I guess its always been hard cause i dont hear it from my parents unless other people are around so that they can put on a "im a good parent face" for the world. Dont get me wrong they are good parents and i love them i just do hear im loved. I loved the part where my friend prayed that God would take me with my head down and embrace me and Kiss me on my forehead. WOW! What an image that put in my mind.When she was done praying it was nice to know that she was and will be around to support me and help me take the steps i need to take to better my life. God poured out soo much into my heart at one i am still in tears about everything that happened. Thanks God for answering my prayers!!! I love you soo much and i am overjoyed to call you my Father!!!!

Hidding behind a mask...

Right now my life all of it is hiding behind a mask waiting for someone to care enough to see through it. Has it happened yet? The answer to that is NO! No one has any idea what is going on in life right now cause no one has cared to asked or took the hints that i make. I am not fine i just want you to think i am fine cause i believe no one really cares what is going on any more. I am turning into who i was back in middle school. Im turning in to an introvert but trying hard to cover it up by still doing things i always do. Like cram my days with as much as i can. Right now i need someone in my life who will deal with the hard stuff with me in my life. My family wont listen to me friends ignore me for the most part and i cant pick up the pieces to life fast enough. I wish God would just take me home. i know he cares but i just cant take it here anymore... I need some one in my life i can talk to right now and every time no one has time for me. If i keep everything to myself im going to hate myself more than i already do. i just would like someone to talk to once a week and no be a hindrance to them. I pray God would bring that person soon!

Angry bridesmaid!

K well i think teen weddings well need the help and organization of an adult. I vote that they should use their heads a little. If you tell a bridesmaid the day before the fitting that they need $100 the day before how do you expect them to have it? Where is the money tree??? Oh boy there have been so many last min. things with this wedding planning its driving me up the wall! I mean if ya tell me earlier i will have the money but the day before!!! I have been saving all my money for my trip cause we never had a day planned for the dresses and we don't even know what they look like!!! uggh o well i guess no more trip for me all that money is going to a dress i will only wear once!

How long can you believe a lie?

I have been extra stressed lately. I can never seem to hit the ground running in the right directions these days. Pressure from school,college, deciding what to do next year, family, friends, Faith, work, everything is building pressure. I don't handle stress great cause i enternalize everything! I wont tell people how i feel unless they can see it. I always feel that if they cant tell then they dont care. Parents are pushing me to make decissions and it seems everytime i do they dont like the one i make. Trying to have faith right now is crazy hard. I keep falling and breaking. I get beat down and i beat myself up over it. Past come back and haunts me and makes me believe the lies satan is telling me. School well its my last year for highschool and that in its self is enough pressure for me but on top of that lets through in planning a grad party that is 1 and 1/2 months away! As for College my bible class i take on saturdays is great but it messes with my schedule like none other i get out of bed early or late i never seem to get out of the house at the right time! Deciding my life for next year i just want to through in the rag and give up! I dont wanna go for business and all my dreams for the next year keep getting pushed away and knocked down by what my parents expect of me! Its my life i wanna decide what to do! Family life well its stressful like always! Constant battle for me to do the right thing, make the right decission, not messing up, saying the wrong thing, and not making anybody mad. Come on! Friends well what about it! Some of them make me feel like they are using me to get something like rides or other things. Don't really have those deep friends anymore cause everyone else is always doing things together. Or like the big thing now is all the teens that went to Mexico they are their own click again so the few peeps i did talk to kinda ignore me now. The job thing i love the babysitting and nanny jobs i do it is one of my passions to be able to work and have fun with kids. However helping my mom with her 2 businesses not my passion or even something i want to be over involved in cause i cant stand that. The rav. business is the only one i could see myself doing something with cause i am the only one in the fam out of the kids who likes doing that. The pressure builds continually and i am having a hard time with this all and no one is around to talk anymore! I dont know how long i can believe the lies i tell myself to get through the day.

I tell my self i can handle all the pressure! I can run a business or 2! I can set aside my dreams and passions to do something i dont want to do! I can cram more in my week! I dont need friends! I dont need to talk to people! No one really cares about whats going on in my life! I am not worth anything! and so on there are so many lies i tell myself in a given day its sad.

I God has been breaking me of my ways slowly and its still a daily struggle to believe everything God says is true! if ya took time to read this sorry for my ranting but i needed to put it out there i dont care if you care or not i just had to do something to relieve some pressure.

Young kid with BIG love!

K so today i had received a call from my youngest sister saying my dad was in the hospital. I drove to Hudson from Afton knowing nothing about what was going on. Just for someone to be out there praying over the situation i called MaJ. Hearing a loving voice gave me enough to get home. When i got close to Hudson i called my mom and she said that they didn't know what caused it to happen but he would be staying the night and he would be getting a cat scan in the morning. Well we got another call around 630 from mom saying dad would be coming home. They have no idea what cause his heart and breathing to be affected that way and said it could have been a Muscle spasium due to stress. So he was able to come home and we have no idea what cause it. Well i called MaJ after i dropped off my dad prescription. I was leaving a message when all of a sudden i heard "How are you?" i said i was doing good. Then in an eruption i hear and eager "HOW IS YOUR DAD?" "IS HE DOING BETTER? IS HE OK?" I told little J that my dad was doing good and i got the whole "REALLY?!?" so i just told him Yah my dad is doing really really good. I dont think i have ever had soo much comfort from so few words from an 8 year old before. That kid has so much love for people. What a heart he has for people.