Right now I'm in Destin, Florida for spring break....but first I'll start off with some background information. A few months ago a family from my church offered to take me on vacation with them, and clearly I responded with a yes, being that I'm here right now. The family has five children; the oldest one being my age. After the four days so far with he and his family, I'm seeing a whole different side of him. He's funny in his own quiet way and he cracks me up! The next two children, two girls a little younger than myself I'm great friends with. We're always having a good time and making each other laugh. They are such beautiful young women! Then there's the youngest two that I babysit. They are two of the sweetest children you will ever meet, and such a pleasure to take care of. And finally, they have two god-fearing parents; their mother being my discipler. Both of them are great role models and I look up to them a lot! I was more than happy to go on vacation on this awesome family!
I've been here for four days now and I'm having the time of my life. For starters, the house we're staying in is basically a mansion. I know this because I'm still getting lost finding my way around. The beach is walking distance away, and there's a pool in our backyard. All these material things aside, and I'd still be loving every bit of my time here. The family I'm with (along with their extended family i.e. aunts, uncles, and cousins..) are all wonderful godly people. The love they have for God and the love they have for each other is obvious! I can't help but to sit back and watch the way they interact with each other and simply have fun together. I only pray that one day I'll have a family half as great as this one!
Every day here has been spent either at the pool or the beach, often times at both. It's been really neat to do my devotions in the sun by the poolside each morning. Then later in the afternoon, walking along the beach and watching the waves crash along shore. I can't help but to be in awe of who God is. I am soo small compared to just the ocean, but yet God holds the entire universe in the palm of his hand. INCREDIBLE! I am truly blessed to have the opportunity not only to go on a nice vacation, but also to view God's creation and watch as He lives in the hearts' of the people around me.
God. Is. So. Good.
I Will Praise You O LORD My God, With All My Heart I Will Glorify Your Name Forever
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Cheese Fountain
So, some silly things happened to me today and after contemplating whether or not to make a facebook status about it, I decided it wasn't worth it. I figured that people who actually care about my life (aka consistent blog readers) would get more of a kick out of this. So I'm going against the typical trend of my posts and simply writing about today's funny happenings. Hopefully you'll laugh, maybe you'll think I'm just a weird, (dumb) blonde, teenager...but I don't really care because I think it's hilarious. Ok ok enough rambling, here's my story...
It all started out like my typical school day. I woke up at 5:00am (I'm the first in the shower so I have hot water...and it's only fair being that my hair's the longest). Anyways, I shower and go through my morning routine as usual. Then I arrive at school at 6:45 and get out at 1:50. So here I am at home....with my cute, little grandma. Sometimes I'll come home exhausted and crash on our couch in front of the TV and watch my recorded shows; rather, today was one of those days where I was wide awake and slap happy. Those of you that know me well enough, would understand that my version of slap happy would resemble someone that's drunk. But it's like I tell my friends: I don't need to be drunk to make people laugh and have a good time. Back to the story....here I am in my kitchen (not only was I slap happy, but I was also hungry). My friends will also tell you that I crave food like a pregnant woman, and today that craving was bean dip. Now I've never made bean dip before, but I'm always cooking so I decided to venture out and come up with my own recipe. These were the ingredients I found and as a result, decided to use: a can of organic refried beans, shredded cheese, sour cream, and taco sauce....potential for a killer bean dip right there!
First things first, I opened up the can of organic refried beans. I got out a bowl and proceeded to open the can and spoon the beans into the bowl. (Those of you who have ever used canned refried beans can only imagine the smell of these things) I love refried beans, but I never knew how bad they smelled right when you open them...I guess it wasn't as bad as the horrid farts that follow, but still. Anyways, the only thing I can compare it to, based on the looks and the smell of the beans, is cat food. Here's where things get funny. My grandma is watching me scrape out the refried beans, so I get the idea to turn the can's label away from her and convince her that I'm getting cat food to feed the stray cat in our neighborhood (there is no stray cat by the way). From what I read on her disgusted face, she had bought it and I reaped the benefits. Her face was enough to make me laugh til my abs hurt. But to be mature (?) I stopped myself and put the "cat food" in the microwave to heat it up. While that was happening I pulled out the bag of shredded cheese from the fridge. (Don't forget I'm slap happy..) I hold the cheese out in front of me with both hands and start dancing with it as I make up a song about bagged up shredded cheddar cheese. My grandma is laughing and telling me I'm crazy and I tell her that she's just old and not in tune with this generation's music (she knows I'm only kidding..we were having fun). Just as I begin screaming the chorus of my cheese song and continue dancing around my kitchen, the zipper thing on the bag opens and shredded cheese showers down on the kitchen counter and my hair, then falls on the floor between the toes of my bare feet! I guess I'll also mention that I'm not a big fan of cheese unless it's melted...otherwise it's like eating rubber. Everything about cheese is gross, but I'm starting to aquire more of a taste for it; that's besides the point. So here I am, covered in cheese, being laughed at by my grandma, in total shock of what I'd just done. I stood there frozen for a minute before shaking off my feet and cleaning up my mess.
There you have it...that's my funny story. I'll conclude by saying that my bean dip was amazing. I had a layer of hot refried beans, a shredded cheese layer, sour cream layer, little bit of taco sauce drizzled on top, then a final layer of refried beans topped with shredded cheese for a mouth-watering presentation. ( I really need to stop watching cake boss. lol) So whether you laughed at my expense, smiled to yourself as you read this, or simply read it and officially think I'm weird....I hope you enjoyed it. I only have a year and a couple months until I exit my teenage years and move on to "adulthood." I'm not trying to grow up anytime soon. Besides, I think God laughs right along with me and is more than proud of his crazy little daughter. That in itself makes me smile! I can't even describe in words how comforted and blessed I truly am. He gives me just enough strength to make it through each day, and He fills me with soo much joy...today was definitely joyful to say the least!
That's all there is to it....maybe I'll make a habit of posting more about the silly moments of my life. What are your thoughts on that?
Even when I'm with my friends in person, they'll tell you that I'm always pretending to be dumb or I'll act like I don't know something and look stupid but it's really because I simply enjoy making people laugh, I promise!
You know what they say..."there's blonde, and then there's Julie" :)
It all started out like my typical school day. I woke up at 5:00am (I'm the first in the shower so I have hot water...and it's only fair being that my hair's the longest). Anyways, I shower and go through my morning routine as usual. Then I arrive at school at 6:45 and get out at 1:50. So here I am at home....with my cute, little grandma. Sometimes I'll come home exhausted and crash on our couch in front of the TV and watch my recorded shows; rather, today was one of those days where I was wide awake and slap happy. Those of you that know me well enough, would understand that my version of slap happy would resemble someone that's drunk. But it's like I tell my friends: I don't need to be drunk to make people laugh and have a good time. Back to the story....here I am in my kitchen (not only was I slap happy, but I was also hungry). My friends will also tell you that I crave food like a pregnant woman, and today that craving was bean dip. Now I've never made bean dip before, but I'm always cooking so I decided to venture out and come up with my own recipe. These were the ingredients I found and as a result, decided to use: a can of organic refried beans, shredded cheese, sour cream, and taco sauce....potential for a killer bean dip right there!
First things first, I opened up the can of organic refried beans. I got out a bowl and proceeded to open the can and spoon the beans into the bowl. (Those of you who have ever used canned refried beans can only imagine the smell of these things) I love refried beans, but I never knew how bad they smelled right when you open them...I guess it wasn't as bad as the horrid farts that follow, but still. Anyways, the only thing I can compare it to, based on the looks and the smell of the beans, is cat food. Here's where things get funny. My grandma is watching me scrape out the refried beans, so I get the idea to turn the can's label away from her and convince her that I'm getting cat food to feed the stray cat in our neighborhood (there is no stray cat by the way). From what I read on her disgusted face, she had bought it and I reaped the benefits. Her face was enough to make me laugh til my abs hurt. But to be mature (?) I stopped myself and put the "cat food" in the microwave to heat it up. While that was happening I pulled out the bag of shredded cheese from the fridge. (Don't forget I'm slap happy..) I hold the cheese out in front of me with both hands and start dancing with it as I make up a song about bagged up shredded cheddar cheese. My grandma is laughing and telling me I'm crazy and I tell her that she's just old and not in tune with this generation's music (she knows I'm only kidding..we were having fun). Just as I begin screaming the chorus of my cheese song and continue dancing around my kitchen, the zipper thing on the bag opens and shredded cheese showers down on the kitchen counter and my hair, then falls on the floor between the toes of my bare feet! I guess I'll also mention that I'm not a big fan of cheese unless it's melted...otherwise it's like eating rubber. Everything about cheese is gross, but I'm starting to aquire more of a taste for it; that's besides the point. So here I am, covered in cheese, being laughed at by my grandma, in total shock of what I'd just done. I stood there frozen for a minute before shaking off my feet and cleaning up my mess.
There you have it...that's my funny story. I'll conclude by saying that my bean dip was amazing. I had a layer of hot refried beans, a shredded cheese layer, sour cream layer, little bit of taco sauce drizzled on top, then a final layer of refried beans topped with shredded cheese for a mouth-watering presentation. ( I really need to stop watching cake boss. lol) So whether you laughed at my expense, smiled to yourself as you read this, or simply read it and officially think I'm weird....I hope you enjoyed it. I only have a year and a couple months until I exit my teenage years and move on to "adulthood." I'm not trying to grow up anytime soon. Besides, I think God laughs right along with me and is more than proud of his crazy little daughter. That in itself makes me smile! I can't even describe in words how comforted and blessed I truly am. He gives me just enough strength to make it through each day, and He fills me with soo much joy...today was definitely joyful to say the least!
That's all there is to it....maybe I'll make a habit of posting more about the silly moments of my life. What are your thoughts on that?
Even when I'm with my friends in person, they'll tell you that I'm always pretending to be dumb or I'll act like I don't know something and look stupid but it's really because I simply enjoy making people laugh, I promise!
You know what they say..."there's blonde, and then there's Julie" :)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
My Heart will Forever Worship
I don't know about you guys, but I am a HUGE fan of worship! I'm always playing Pandora, the genre being 'contemporary worship' so I constantly have some sort of worship song stuck in my head. My list of favorites grows from like one to fifty, changing almost daily..sometimes it's easy for me to get caught up in the song and I lose focus on what my worship is really about. It's about praising the God of the universe, not just singing some song and clapping to keep a rhythm (or so us Grace Brethreners attempt). Recently, I find it kind of cool to keep quiet and listen to the lyrics maybe while I'm driving or just laying on my bed at night. (I tend to be one of those people that hates when I don't know the lyrics and can't sing along--so it's a challenge to simply sit back sometimes.) Aside from all this, I thought it would neat and out of the norm to post some of my favorite songs and their lyrics for you. So Enjoy! Just listen to the words and let your heart worship and praise our God!
This is one of my current favorites. I can't wait to get to heaven and be free from all of earth's hurting and hate.
Another one of my current favorites. I love the lyrics and I think it describes my heart's desires. I hope and pray that my life would be one that brings honor and glory to God and that I would be seeking His kingdom and not the lowly things of this earth.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
My Distorted View
This morning I was reading my Bible alongside my devotional and I read about what our top priority should be...and that is God and loving Him. But it went beyond that. The priority or commandment right after talks about how we need to love others, and how it relates closely to the first. Both are about love and seem to correspond with each other. Sometimes it's not that simple though; if we have a distorted view of God it can affect not only our relationship with Him, but also our relationships with other people. How do distorted views happen? Well for me it was because of the earthly authority figures in my life, more specifically my mom.
Growing up, I always wanted to show off and make my parents and teachers proud. I wanted to be their favorite, their best kid. When I would get good grades or do chores without asking, I easily won their approval; I thrived on that. At the same time, whenever I would mess up or fall short of standards, I was punished and knew that I had disappointed them. No matter who you are or who the authority figure(s), I'm sure you know what that's like. Good things result in praise, while bad things result in some type of punishment. That's usually all we know.
In response, when I hear about God and his endless forgiveness and grace, I want so badly to accept it and feel free from my past. It's forgiven, it's done. But because of my distorted view, it can be really difficult to fully wrap my arms around that.
Here's some good news. Because God wants us to fully experience His love and then love others with that same type of love, He is totally open to our honest hearts, no matter what the situation. We can be real with God and confess things to him like "hey i'm not feeling this whole love thing, but I really want to. Please help me in my relationship with you." So often we got caught up in the 'routine' of Christianity and we read our Bibles, we go through devotionals, we sing worship....but it's easy to forget about simply speaking with God and spending time in prayer. As I read my own devotional, I realized that I was merely trying to do all the right things rather than focusing on my relationship with Christ. That in itself is really all it comes down to.
I'm challenging myself to pursuing Christ and spending time working on our relationship. The other things will follow closely behind. I challenge you guys to do the same. Pray for me as I pray you, and remember the vast amount of love that God has for all of us. It's nothing like the earthly love we're so used to.
Growing up, I always wanted to show off and make my parents and teachers proud. I wanted to be their favorite, their best kid. When I would get good grades or do chores without asking, I easily won their approval; I thrived on that. At the same time, whenever I would mess up or fall short of standards, I was punished and knew that I had disappointed them. No matter who you are or who the authority figure(s), I'm sure you know what that's like. Good things result in praise, while bad things result in some type of punishment. That's usually all we know.
In response, when I hear about God and his endless forgiveness and grace, I want so badly to accept it and feel free from my past. It's forgiven, it's done. But because of my distorted view, it can be really difficult to fully wrap my arms around that.
Here's some good news. Because God wants us to fully experience His love and then love others with that same type of love, He is totally open to our honest hearts, no matter what the situation. We can be real with God and confess things to him like "hey i'm not feeling this whole love thing, but I really want to. Please help me in my relationship with you." So often we got caught up in the 'routine' of Christianity and we read our Bibles, we go through devotionals, we sing worship....but it's easy to forget about simply speaking with God and spending time in prayer. As I read my own devotional, I realized that I was merely trying to do all the right things rather than focusing on my relationship with Christ. That in itself is really all it comes down to.
I'm challenging myself to pursuing Christ and spending time working on our relationship. The other things will follow closely behind. I challenge you guys to do the same. Pray for me as I pray you, and remember the vast amount of love that God has for all of us. It's nothing like the earthly love we're so used to.
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