Yay! Excitement!

I'm so pumped! I sorted things out with my friend that the last post was my steam-blower about, haha. So, we're going shopping today, and I finally get to buy a Bible for my friend that I promised to get him for Christmas if I got a job. It's gonna be a late Christmas for him, but he has been honestly seeking out God, so I'm really exciting to be able to equip him with God's infallible Word. :D I'm just so pumped! I'm praying that God will guide me to select the right one for him, and that he'll read it often and seek out the truths held within. I'm so blessed to have the money to do this right now. So many people have given to me the last few days, and I want to give to God's work now that I have this kind of money. And make good on my promises! I'm so so so excited! I also super duper love Bible shopping, anyways, cuz I love books, and what better book than the Bible?! Hahah. So very blessed. I can't wait!

And we have church tonight! I can't wait to see my friends! Yayyy. :)

I also really love this laptop I got for my birthday. I mean, really, I'm so blessed! YEAH!! WOOHOO! Thank You, Lord! ♥

WOWWW

Just got called a bad Christian for telling one of my friends not to date a guy who isn't a Christian. She told me that I was judging him up and down just because she didn't know what his specific religion was. I didn't judge him at all. I don't doubt that he's a really great guy. But if he has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, then she would know, and then I wouldn't have a problem with it. However, since it's very apparent that he's not, I don't think it's a good idea at all. And calling me a bad Christian for watching out for a friend is kind of one of the worst things you could do.

Sometimes, I feel like even though she says she appreciates all I do for her, she just sits there and destroys our friendship. Like she's trying. I mean, who does that? BLUGH. It's really frustrating and we're all good now, but it's just hurtful and I can't wait to run all this crap off tomorrow. I'm gonna focus on the positives in my life and know that she didn't mean to offend me. (JK, she definitely did. It was her way of slapping me in the face.) But whaaaatever. I have a better life than to dwell on this and blow it up. I just needed to vent it all out. I'll keep praying for and loving on my friends, no matter what happens. And keep running to get rid of the steam, ha ha.

Beautiful ♥

These are the lyrics to Kari Jobe's song, "Beautiful," on her self-titled album. I absolutely love how straight up worshipful and simple the whole album is, and I hope these words bless you today. You can listen to the song on YouTube if you like.
Here, before Your altar,I am letting go of all I've held;Of every motive, every burden,Everything that's of myself.

And I just wanna wait on You, my God:I just wanna dwell on Who You are.

Beautiful, beautiful;Oh, I am lost for more to say.Beautiful, beautiful;Oh, Lord, You're beautiful to me.

Here, in Your presence,I am not afraid of brokenness;To wash Your feet with humble tears,I would be poured out till nothing's left.

And I just wanna wait on You, my God:I just wanna dwell on Who You are.

Beautiful, beautiful;Oh, I am lost for more to say.Beautiful, beautiful;Oh, Lord, You're beautiful to me.

Beautiful,You're beautiful, oh You're beautiful!Beautiful, beautiful.

Holy, holy, holy, You are, You are.Holy, holy, holy, You are, You are.Holy, holy, holy, You are, You are.Holy, holy, holy, You are, You are.

Beautiful, beautiful;Oh, I am lost for more to say.Beautiful, beautiful;Oh, Lord, You're beautiful to me.

You're beautiful,Beautiful, beautiful.Beautiful, beautiful.Beautiful.

Blessed:)

Yesterday was my birthday, and wow, I am SO BLESSED YOU GUYS. I was blown away by how much my family cared enough to give me such wonderful things. Most of it was Hello Kitty stuff. Hahaha. But it was great. I'm so glad to have such wonderful people in my life. I also have a new Acer Aspire One netbook! Yeah! My parents blew me away with that. I had no clue. I thought the box was for a, like, picture frame or something. Ba ha ha. But it was amazing. I'm so thankful!

I'm so thankful to my Lord for the blessings He pours out on my life. They're not even necessary. But He gives me such wonderful moments and bits in my life because He wants to see me smile, because we've all had too many sad days. Sometimes, I think He just does things to make us smile for Him. ♥ He's so wonderful.

(*-And, Oh my goodness, my boyfriend just sent me a message letting me know He doesn't think I have big feet, and he only got me large slippers because it was slim pickin's. Ba ha ha ha.-*)

Because I was so tired this afternoon, even after my two hour nap, I decided I definitely needed to fight off the grumpy devil and his temptations to be too lazy to read my Bible, I punched him in the face and got some Bible time in. Man, when the Spirit leads me to read in the Word, I am always so very blessed by what I find there. I read Luke 6:6-11.

And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.

 Okay, here's what has stood out to me in this: The Pharisees were so focused on keeping their own laws that they had made up, that they disregarded the idea of choosing to save a man from his pain and torment in favor of keeping their traditions that they had added to God's law. They considered healing to be practicing medicine, and practicing one's profession was against their laws. But Jesus, Who is the author of the Holy Laws, smacked them in the face with a simple saying. Which one is against the rules? To do good, or to do evil?

We have to ask ourselves, which is better? To keep up with the rules that we have placed into Christianity, or to do the Good works that God has placed us on this earth to do? Which life has purpose and brings Christ joy and glory? I think it's obvious. Think of ways to apply this to your life. Take a chance to minister to someone that you wouldn't want to be associated with. Don't condemn someone because they didn't feel the need to wear suit and tie to church services. Just praise God that they're there, and reach out a hand of friendship to them. Change your heart. Aim to be like our Beautiful Savior. This is what has been burdened on my heart from my time with Him today.

I'm so wonderfully blessed to receive such a loving message from the Lord. And very much burdened to make these changes in my own life. Thank You, Lord! ♥

Love and prayers,

Natalie.

:)

Lately I've been such a Debbie Downer! Boo. None of that. I'm determined to work towards a happier life. :) Yep! I keep expecting something more from my relationship with God lately, and the silly girl I am thought she didn't have to put effort into it. HA! That's a joke! It takes loads of effort.

I heard the song The Space Between Us by Shawn McDonald the other day and I realized, that's what I'm missing. I was so focused on just doing the stuff Christians should and I forgot to actually be seeking to get closer to God. Whatta moron I can be! I realized I have to seek Him out and ask Him to fill all my gaps continually. Not just once. Cuz He'll fill the gaps, sure, but once I get sidetracked, I make new ones, or kick Him back out of the ones He already filled! Ya know? It's ridiculous.

Oh, and I was reading in Luke 5. Verses 12&13 stuck out to me.

In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. "Lord," he said, "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean." Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

First off, the guy had leprosy. That was a big deal back then. You got kicked out of the city for having that and you couldn't come back until it started to regress, which didn't usually happen. So the guy boldy came before Jesus, and was, like, "Jesus, I know you can heal me, if you're willing to!" That's a huge step of faith! He already knew Jesus could do it, He just had to ask! So many of us know that God can heal our hurts and fix our hearts but we don't turn to Him. We can be such fools. We know He's right there and willing, but we choose our own vices to numb our pain, when He is able and willing to literally take them away.

Secondly, Jesus chose to heal him by touching him. A man that hadn't been touched in what could have been years, was touched by the Lord of the earth! What a blessing. The loneliness he once had, was now taken away by the touch of the Savior. And He is still willing to touch all of our lives. : ) Sure, Jesus doesn't walk the earth anymore, so we can't ask Him to touch us with His literal hands, but He can still touch our hearts and kindle the fire of love and life inside us. And He is more than willing to. The offer always stands, it's just up to us to take Him up on it. Don't you love that? I do.

So, yeah! That's what's been on my mind. If there's any hurting in your life, I hope you're seeking out God to take away the pain. Seek Him to fill the space between you two. And ask Him to heal you, because He's glad to do so!

Happy hearts ready and waiting for worship tomorrow!
Natalie

Therapy.

As you may or may not have guessed by now, I struggle with depressive moods. A lot. I'm not claiming to be clinically depressed, for fear of belittling a real problem for others that I might not actually be going through. But, I will say I know how it feels to feel hopeless and alone. Wanting to be so much more but confining oneself to bundled lump on a bed, avoiding contact with the outside world. If I had it my way, I might never leave my house again. (Gosh, that sounds really nice. Not worrying about people or events or anything... Not doing anything. I sure make a good hermit.)

I have this ideal self in my head of who I want to be and pretend to be. She's a pretty sociable person, handles people well, and even enjoys going out. She's also thinner, has clear skin, is always happy, has the next year's supply of contacts, and is totally unreal. I'll never be her. I'm not sure I truly want to be her, either. She sounds really fake and stupid. (Sometimes I think I already am fake and stupid, though, so who knows.) But the main point is, she's not real. She's not me. I'll never be close to dream Natalie. She's too far off to actually reach. I have to make do with the person I am. And, at the moment, I have struggles. I'm fighting off an incessant sadness that most of my friends cannot grasp. I'm getting over mono and trying to get my productivity back. I even have a cold, ha ha ha. For a self-centered, almost eighteen-year-old, home schooled high school senior, it's a lot to handle. Especially when you haven't done much for schoolwork this year. The stress of being behind is way too much. Freaks me out.

So, when the devil is trying to confuse me with all that's flooding my head . . . I decided to make a list tonight. A list of God/Truth -vs.- The Devil/Depression. I contrasted the lies of the devil to the truths of God Almighty. It helped me so much. That was my therapy tonight. (Which is nice, because no matter how bad my 'depression' gets, I refuse to go back to the doctor and have her not take me seriously again. Therapy sounds crappy anyways and medication doesn't actually do anything. Screw the system.) The list really forced me to recognize the truth. And it will now be there to redirect me whenever I start to think I'm worthless . . . just a quick glance and I have a reminder that I'm precious to Him. Eventually, the more I reinforce this new thought pattern, I'll hopefully begin to believe it.

Anyways. If any of you have trouble believing God because the lies of this world are overwhelming you . . . just make a list like that. "The devil says __________, but God says ____________". Dare to believe His Words. : ) He loves you sooooo much.

Love and prayers,

Natalie

The Realization.

Once upon a time, I had a very late night prayer time. And through it, I experienced an amazing closeness with God. It was humbling and uplifting and just flat out wonderful. But one of the things it has made me realize, is that I don't matter. Especially after the sermon my pastor gave on Sunday about self-centered mindsets. We all have one, and we all need to work to break free of them. I have a real problem with mine, too. I am so very self-centered in my thinking, and I'm praying that God will strip me of that, and make me think of others first. I don't actually matter.

One of the examples my pastor used really got the idea across. You walk into a room, and you don't really know anybody. You see a group of people laughing and you wonder... are they laughing at me??? Because we think of ourselves first! And then they look over and stop laughing. As if that confirms it. When really, they merely looked over at a very solemn individual... who wouldn't stop laughing at a sight like that? Ha ha. It kinda opens your eyes... To the fact that you're not the only person in the world. Chances are, everyone isn't talking about you and they're sure as heck not revolving their lives around making you feel a certain way.

That's just kinda been on my mind lately. Convincing myself that I don't actually matter. Nobody's actually going to remember me for the tiny things that embarrass me. Thinking that my mistakes are all that matter in this world. It's a little bit ridiculous. And thinking that someone thinking I'm weird for my faith? Even worse. Shame on me. Reaching out is part of Christianity. Why shouldn't I do it? Just because it's not cool? No way. There are souls on the line. I shouldn't risk it.

Christians converting to Islam???

I had an interesting YouTube experience tonight. I went from watching cute animals, to watching a centipede kill a snake (too creepy, only got through the first minute), and then to watching videos made my Islamic people about converting Christians to their religion.

Never has my heart felt so broken over this subject... not in a very long time anyways. It is sooo sad. Watching these people twist the ultimate Truth into lies that fit their religion is the saddest thing I have ever seen. It's also ever so slightly offensive. (Okay, veryyy offensive, but it's so laced with sorrow that it hardly even makes me that angry... it just shatters my heart.)

We had a very special man visit our church to speak earlier this year. He had been an Islam extremist and ended up finding Truth in God's Word and converted to Christ. God later used him to reach his wife and, if I remember correctly, his children as well. (Dr. Daniel Shayesteh if you ever care to look him up.) He risked his life to embrace the truth, and it is truly encouraging. He was able to speak at our church and inform us of the truth about Islam-- the things about their religion that they do not want others to know. Their ultimate goal is to convert the whole world, and they are instructed to do whatever it takes to do so, even to lie about it. It is just so very sad. I am determined even more now to read his book "Christ Above All". It compares the major religions in the world to Christianity and instructs on how to conversationally lead these people to Christ. I really hope this will help equip me for going out into this world. I feel a tremendous burden for the lost people in America... knowing that they are all around us with all their false religions that America tolerates under instruction of democracy... (I am not bashing on democracy and freedom of religion at all. Just stating where it has gotten us, with Islam as the fastest growing religion in the world... the placeholder that Christ Himself instructed us to have, but we seem to fail at.)

I am praying so hard about this now. Praying that God will use me to impact this world. I don't want to live a quiet life that doesn't even spread God's love and His salvation... It would be a waste. I want to reach others. I pray that God will embolden me. I pray that God will give me wisdom and knowledge and  help me to understand Him better. I am praying that God will show me how to do what He has called me to.

I am also praying about fasting sometime soon. I've done it before, and I knew it was what God was asking of me. He truly answered my prayers and it was a really spiritually charged time. I just find that when my heart is so heavily burdened, the best thing to do is pray and pray and pray and fast. I'm not saying this to brag at all. I am only saying it because I feel it's something that many Christians tend to overlook. The power of prayer is amazingly strong. Focusing on it even more is hardly a bad thing. I'll probably post more about what I believe about fasting tomorrow, when I can gather all my thoughts and track down my verses about it. To anyone who's reading this, please pray for me that I'll be so in tune with God that I'll know exactly what He wants me to do right now. That He'll guide me as I study and that He'll show me what I can do to further His will this week. Especially pray about this fasting, that He'll tell me if this is what He needs me to do right now and if so, how long? 1 day? 3 days? 30 days? I will be praying!!

Love and prayers,

Natalie

:)

Applied for jobs today. Please pray that I'll be considered!

:/

Feeling really down on myself lately. Prayer would be thoroughly appreciated.
Not that anyone reads this.

Debbie Downer, checking in!

I have been such a downer lately! But there is sweet relief for my depressive moods... the blood tests from my worst-doctors-visit-ever came back and I'm not chemically imbalanced. I just have a moderate case of mononucleosis! Yeah! The kissing disease! I swear it's not from kissing Joey! He wasn't sick! I think I shared drinks with someone or somethin' like that. I still have that stupid drained depressed feeling to deal with, but knowing that it won't last forever and it will go away is such a relief. Knowing I won't feel so hopeless for the rest of my life or something... it's just nice. I'll be happy again soon. I'm just so thankful it's not serious. All of my close friends that I confided in when I thought I had depression... their prayers have really been working. God's blessed me so much. I'm very thankful.

So the doc ordered that I get lots of rest and eat healthy. I can do the rest part at least!

Love and prayers,

Natalie

Knit... must... knittttt

I seriously need to knit today. I wanna keep my mind off things and knitting is the perfect thing to do for that... Guess I'll track down some yarn that isn't in a knot and get to work!

Hard Times.

I have my struggles just like anyone else. Sometimes, I feel like mine are worse. It can be so hard to find joy when I'm just really trying to fight off the terrible thoughts that accompany my depression. Spending time in the Bible has really helped me a lot. It helps me avert my attention from my self-pitying miseries, and back to Christ and the joy I can receive through live in Him.

I just started reading Philippians today, which is known to be a book about joy. After a tough evening, and deciding to use my Sunday for a break, it seems like the perfect time to be reading this. One of the chunks of verses that stuck out to me is Philippians 1:19-26.

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what shall I choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having  to desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

I feel like all this means that no matter what happens, we need to remember that it is for the glory of Christ. As a result, we have nothing to be ashamed of, and nothing to fear. All that God has put in our lives will somehow be for His glory and for our joy. I find myself in the apostle Paul's shoes a lot, I think. I so often just want to be done with life. I want to go to my eternal home in glory. But I can't. Not yet, anyways. I have so much to do here, and more that I don't even know about. God is not done with me yet, that's why I'm still here. He has more plans to carry out through me. (Just go read all of Philippians 1! He talks about God completing his work in us earlier on in the chapter.) Anyways. Knowing that God has more plans for me that I have yet to live out, and I need to stick around and be with friends and family, encouraging and helping them, and by that, I can find purpose in why I'm still on the earth. "I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again." I may not want to go on, but that is selfish thinking. If I think about how I can help others and encourage them then I can keep those negative thoughts at bay.

My mom has been talking to me about this stuff a lot lately. I finally straight up told her about everything I'm going through last night and she knows and understands it all. We have a lot in common, actually. And she's struggled with depression just the same as me. It's so comforting to know that when I think nobody understands, God has given me my mother who has felt the exact same way as me. Not only that, but God understands, too! He's been through more than I ever have. Needless to say I love Him for this. And I love my mom so so so much.

I am very blessed to have parents and friends and even a boyfriend who are all so very patient with me when I'm going through harder times and focused so much on myself. I'm so thankful for them. Today is about recovery and focusing on all I have to be thankful for. Taking a break from all the work that wears me down on Sundays, and remembering how much I have to be thankful for. And there's a lot of that.

Love and prayers,

Natalie.

Our True Identity In Christ

This is an amazing chart in my Bible that shows us our true identities in Christ (:

Romans 3:24......We are justified (declared "not guilty" of sin).
Romans 8:1......No condemnation awaits us.
Romans 8:2......We are set free from the law of sin and death.
1 Corinthians 1:2......We are sanctified (made holy) in Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:30......We are pure and holy in Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:22......We will be made alive at the resurrection.
2 Corinthians 5:17......We are new persons.
2 Corinthians 5:21......We are made right with God.
Galatians 3:28......We are one in Christ with all other believers.
Ephesians 1:3......We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Ephesians 1:4......we are holy and without fault.
Ephesians 1:5,6......We are adopted as God's children.
Ephesians 1:7......Our sins are taken away, and we are forgiven.
Ephesians 1:10,11......We will be brought under Christ's authority.
Ephesians 1:13......We are marked as belonging to God by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2:6......We have been raised up to sit with Christ in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 2:10......We are God's masterpiece.
Ephesians 2:13......We have been brought near to God.
Ephesians 3:6......We share the promise through Christ.
Ephesians 3:12......We can come with freedom and confidence into God's presence.
Ephesians 5:29,30......We are members of Christ's body, the church.
Colossians 2:10......We have been given fullness in Christ.
Colossians 2:11......We are set free from our sinful nature.
2 Timothy 2:10......We will have eternal glory.

Pretty encouraging if you ask me! (:

Long time?

It's been a while since I posted last. School has been keeping me busy! I don't normally like to get on the computer when I've got stuff to finish.

Anyhow!

This is what's up lately:)

I've been getting really into fitness and eating right lately... (which is ironic because I just ate 3 pieces of Pizza Hut Pizza and I can feel my arteries clogging... neeed... cardio!!) I found out that my ideal weight is 120-125, and by that I mean on the thin side of my ideal weight. Which I don't expect to be, really, since I have quite a bit of muscle in my legs. But I'm not worried. I just wanna get down to 125. I have a smaller frame and I'm 5'5". So that's what I'm working towards now. I also have fitness goals, of course. I want to run 5 miles in one go. That's a long ways away but I'm looking forward to it. It's already getting too cold for my running gear, though! I really need to get some coldgear. And I'm also a huge fan of HIIT now. Sprinting and walking on and off. Love it. It makes me feel sooo good all day! Love it. So I've got 24 pounds to lose and 4 miles to conquer. It's going to be wonderful.

I'm going through the book of Galatians, too! It's kicking my butt. Not because I put rules and guidelines on my Christian walk, but because I can easily let myself become a slave to sin again. I always think of enslaving myself to sin whenever Paul talks about how the church was choosing law over faith and whatnot. They're both ends of an extreme we should avoid. So that's what I'm working on in my spiritual walk. Really just focusing on love for God and love for others, so that I'm not a slave to anything bad, I'm merely choosing to do what God asks of me. : ]

School's been good, too! I kinda slacked this past week, though, so I'll have a nice and busy weekend. Goodie. But that's what I get! I just need to work hard. I can do it, though. :] :] :]

That's pretty much it!!!

Love and prayers,

Natalie

:'(

There's sorrow out there.

And, I'll be honest, it steals me away all too often. I don't know whether I struggle with depression, or if this is just me being crazy. I really do not know what the deal is. I never have a good reason. Ever. But, right now, I think God is trying to get me to learn to seek Him out for my joy, and rely on His promises to get me through the harder days.

Today was honestly pretty bad. I was just fine in the morning, (jk, I slept in until 12 P.M. ...) had some amazingly wonderful Bible time, but by 4 P.M. I was dead. I was so depressed. Sitting at the dinner table around 7 P.M., I nearly busted up in tears. I had no reason. I was even finding ways to take it out on Joey. (I really can be terrible to him when I'm not happy... I can't stand it.) My mom noticed how upset I looked (GOD BLESS THAT WOMAN!!) and I just brushed it off. I ended up flat on my stomach on my bed after dinner, bawling my eyes out. But my wonderful mother... she came in and talked to me. She told me how she understood, and how she goes through it, too. How when we're working our butts off to get closer to God, we sometimes end up struggling with the worst depression ever. She compared it to the prophet Isaiah. He was part of an amazing victory with God, and after that he was so depressed he wanted to die. (Been there!) (I think it was Isaiah, anyhow. She might have meant Jeremiah.) Anyways. It happens. We experience depression. And we have to keep focusing on the fact that it will not last forever.

This thought, that it will not last forever... it carried on when I sought out scriptures concerning depression. Here are the verses I found that really brought strength back to my heart!

"O LORD, You are my lamp. The LORD lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God's way is perfect. All the LORD's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection."

-2 Samuel 22:29-31 

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed."

 -Psalm 34:18

 

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever."

Revelation 21:4

These verses really just spoke to my heart. I felt the Lord's sweet Spirit telling me it was gonna be okay. It doesn't matter that I feel like I can't go on. I will go on, anyways. And He will be there with me, lighting my darkness, staying my joy, always. His comfort is always there for me. And, someday, sorrows will be defeated. The only tears I'll experience will be for joy! I just have to persevere.

Anyways. This is just what's on my heart lately. I really needed to sort this all out into words, and here it is! Mission accomplished.

Love and prayers, and support!

~Natalie

Excitement.

I know. I ended that word with a period, so it's not really that exciting. It sounds a little more sarcastic that way. Hahaha. Anyways. I'm not talking like that! I'm talking about getting excited about God. (: Hard task, right? (No, really! Sometimes it can be super hard!) But this stuff I got out of my Bible time today made me get pumped up a little more!

First off, I wanna stress how important it is (for me, especially!) to keep a prayer journal. That doesn't even necessarily mean to keep a journal with a gajillion entries that all start with "Dear Heavenly Father," and end with, "In Jesus' name, amen." No no no! That's SO MUNDANE!!! BOO! Vain repetitions, much? I mean just writing out your thoughts! Just yammer away on your pages. I usually write a few words to start off with that kinda sum up what's on my mind. Today's first bit says "Baby steps...". I went on to talk to God about (yeah, I don't just go "blah blah blah give me this and do this, Lord," I straight up go into conversation! That's what Prayer is about, baby!) how I feel like I'm slowly making little steps closer to Him. Then I'll write down the reference of where I'm reading today, and after each reference, write down whatever I felt God was trying to tell me through that. The big stuff that popped out to me, that seemed special to me. And I'll write out my thoughts on it until I figure out how I need to change my life to what God's pushing me towards. It's so important for me to do this, because I'll forget wayy too easily what I got out of my Bible time and next thing you know, I'm off in a bad mood, harassing my sister for eating the last whatever! Ha ha ha. It helps me so much, though. Not gonna lie. Just throwin' that out there!

Anywho. I just wanna talk about the stuff that really stuck out to me today!

• In 2 Samuel 9, David stayed true to his promise to Jonathan that he would look out for and be a friend to any of his ancestors. Mephibosheth was his only surviving son, and David tracked him down (not even knowing whether he was alive or not!) and brought him into his house, treating him as his own. We need to remember our promises to people! David could have forgotten his promise easily, especially after Jonathan's death, but he went out of his way to fulfill it. I feel like sometimes we go out of our way to get out of fulfilling a promise, ha ha. We're supposed to stay true to our word, just like David!
• I read Mark 14:32-42. Man, Jesus went through a lot here. The idea of the torture and the painful death He was about to go through was finally sinking in. He was stressing out. He prayed to God that, if it was the Father's will, to not make Him go through with it. But it was God's will... it's heart-breaking, but I rejoice in it anyways, because of the glory God receives for it! Anyways. This moment is one of those moments where you see the human part of Christ. He felt stress. Immense stress. Just like we do... and obviously even worse here, considering He could have easily avoided going through all that. If Jesus could go through all that and still stay true, we can, too. We don't even have that much to get through. As Christians, we don't usually have that many obstacles for our faith. So stay true! Stay strong. And stay in Christ. ♥
• Same passage, I realized how much Jesus needed the support of His dearest friends--and they fell asleep! It makes me sad to realize that I do the exact same thing. I choose sleep over fellowship with my Lord and Creator. Dumb dumb dumb! I'm going to try and get up earlier to take care of this. Early mornings with Jesus always get me off to a better start. :) When God needs me... I want to be there. Fully aware of His need for me. Not having to wallow in guilt later on about how I failed Him.
• Galatians 1-- The part where Paul is talking about how soon the church was led astray from the Good News! That hit me hard. How quickly we try to figure out what else there is to Christianity other than receiving salvation through Jesus Christ, repenting of our sins, accepting the Holy Spirit, and walking closer and closer every day. Some people seem to think there are rules and guidelines. You can only wear this, listen to that, eat that...whatever! We can't add rules. We simply follow God's lead in our lives. Yes, sometimes He leads us away from certain things because He knows that will be a stumbling block for us, but that doesn't make it one of the ten commandments, set in stone for every believer. Don't let anyone tell you that. Just follow God's convictions on your life. And don't let anyone try to tell you that you have to fit God into a denomination. He is huge. There is no way you can explain Him by anything, or make Him fit into articles of belief. Base your beliefs and knowledge of Him through His Word and the experiences with Him through said Holy Bible, k? Be careful of false teachers! Compare everything you hear to His Word!
• Psalm 110. This one is supposed to be about the Messiah. But what stuck out to me was verse 3, the second half of it. "You are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew." I get that Jesus is almighty. But I also take this as a promise that Jesus clothes us in holiness, and righteousness, and in Him, our strength is renewed daily. What a huge promise and blessing. It encourages me so much to know that He does this for me. I love You, Lord! :)

Such a good time in the Word! :) Makes my heart full of J O Y.

Oh, I also wanted to share that I bought an NLT Bible today (75% off of $20... $5 Bible! YEAH!) for pocket reference and comparison. It helped me a lot in my study today. I know some people might have the idea that it'll make me dislike my KJV study Bible. Not true, though! It made me love and appreciate my study Bible even more. The NLT just helps me understand a little better sometimes. :) Just a side note!

I hope everyone is feeling super blessed.

If not, track down your blessings and thank God for them! He loves you so very much, and I do, too!

~Natalie

I'm struggling right now. I'm struggling to see the light through the foggy darkness. See, Jesus, and His ways, His purposes, His plans... they're all the lighthouse. And I'm out here, distracted by all this fog. I'm not a fan of it. I know there's a light. But You Never Let Go (the Matt Redman song ♥) just came to mind... so good.

I absolutely love it. We sang it at camp my first or second year. So many amazing memories with it. Plus, the lyrics speak so much to me. I remember that no matter what, God has a purpose and a plan. So no matter what we're going through, we just have to keep the faith. It's so cliche, but it's still so true. No matter what, if we hold onto God's promises, and His hope, and His amazing love we'll make it. He works all things for good unto those that love Him. I hold onto that so strongly. If I didn't have His promises for the best ending possible, I wouldn't have purpose or reason in continuing life. And I am very glad to have purpose and everything for life. So very thankful. I am thankful for how far I've come. How far Christ's love has carried me. Words cannot express His unending patience with me. I've screwed up in more ways than I'd like to admit, but He's stuck with me through it all, always showing me how to work even my stupidity for good. The bad things I've been through, they strengthen my faith. They teach me things about endurance, and decisions, and love, that I'd never know if I didn't stick through it. I'd rather be here right now, wondering how I'm going to handle situations that are facing me, but trusting Jesus to get me through them all, than being bitter about my past. Yes, things still hurt. And yes, I still question God as to why on earth He chose to let so many terrible things into our lives... but I do not question that He has good intentions with everything He allows. Big plans and biiiig love are in His heart and mind for us. He's got so much goodness piled up for us, He has to plan all this stuff out so we don't get spoiled. I think it's like eating your broccoli before you can have your pudding! No kid wants to eat the broccoli, but they gotta do it for their health, and to get to the really good stuff. That's like life!

So I thank God for all we've been through. Together and apart, we had deep wounds from it all, but they're healed now, because of His wonderful healing. ♥ There might still be scars as reminders, (like sad reminders, or consequences from our screw-ups still affecting us!) but His love overcomes it all. We can use them all as building blocks in our relationship with Him. He holds us through the night, so we can walk and sing in joy when the morning comes. : )

So much love in my heart right now!

~Natalie ♥

P.S. - Please pray that my throat is nothing serious! It's getting worse. : ( (It diiiid get me out of Wednesday night church, though. Ha ha. Yes, I missed the fellowship, but everyone needs a break here and there. I definitely needed the time I got alone with God tonight. Just one-on-one, no distractions. Loved it.)

Generosity

Long time, no post, right? It seriously has been a while... Haven't had a whole lot to say!

I've had a sore throat and stuffy head since yesterday . . . the soreness was on the left side of the throat yesterday, and today it's inching to the right! Odd! Ha ha. It's alright, though. I like cuddling up on the couch, eating soup and crackers, and watching endless amounts of television. Best ever. Ha ha ha. It's been quite alright.

I finally had some decent Bible time this morning. I've been failing to do it in the morning before anything else lately . . . Sad, right? I can't stand it, but I just keep being lazy. Shame on me.

But this morning, I read 2 Corinthians 9. I did chapter 8 last night . . . So, God's been talking to me about generosity a lot lately. Which shouldn't be surprising considering the fact that I'm such a stingy person, ha ha ha. But I do really need to work on that. I should be generous with the things that I have, because all good things come from God, and God gives to all His people so very generously. How can I be like Him if I don't give freely of my time, things, and money? Silly me. So that's what I'll be working on. : )

And I sang my new song in the evening service at church Sunday night. Man was I nervous! But I prayed and prayed up until I sang and God got me through it. And now my throat hates me. Ha ha. Really good timing. It was already hurting some Sunday night, but my voice was fine.

I'm still really thankful for my amazing friends, of course. Everyone's been praying for my little throat to stop hurting. How sweet! It's paying off, ha ha. And I very much love my wonderful Joey. Still. Hee hee.

Oh, and my mom's chicken noodle soup was amazing yesterday! Had it with some biscuits . . . I'm ready to get fatty mc hatty!

Love and blessings,

~Natalie

I didn't wear make-up...

But I feel like that's perfectly alright. : ) God made me beautiful. We're all made in His image, and there's nothing more beautiful than that.

Anyways, I wrote this song. I thought I'd share it, since it's from the heart. I prayed for some guidance on it, since I plan on playing it for church Sunday night. Feedback is always acceptable. ; ) Ha ha.

Now that I've got that out of the way . . . Wow. What a week. Things have worn me down, things have built me up! I think the wearing down seemed to happen a little bit more . . . ha ha. Ever feel like church should be your spiritual recharge? I'm missing that a lot more now. I don't know what the deal is, but that's just how I feel. I end up doing so much at church, and doing so much for it, I barely get anything out of it anymore. I'm praying for a change of heart, and I'm praying for our youth leader especially, since he's nothing but annoyed with Wednesday nights now. That wears me out a lot. I need some recharge and showing up at church just wears me down now. Get there, practice once, practice again, do the real deal, sit through a lesson, go do the other real deal, sit through another real service . . . go home for a couple of hours, then go back for choir. More music for the evening, another sermon, then eventually go home and maybe sleep?! Yeah, Sundays are long. Such long, long, looooong days. I can't handle it without God. He helps me out so much on these days that are too much for me. Wednesday nights are even pretty brutal. Show up and get lectured about how we're a terrible youth group. It's really disappointing because I have to do all my work with God alone at home . . . However, I'm really thankful for it, too. It's made me work harder to get close to God. It's not like I don't get anything out of the sermons. I really do. I forget them quickly, but it doesn't mean I don't get anything out of them, ha ha. I just do so much better at home. ( : And I'm glad that I have a tangible relationship with God outside of the church.

Which reminds me!!!

One of the best things ever . . . I did it for the devotional us girls are doing . . . Go on a literal walk with God. There's this nature trail by my house . . . wonderful walk with God. Just talking with Him, telling Him how much I love Him, and really soaking up His love for me. I did it on Thursday. The weather was lovely on top of lovely, and His creation is wonderful. Nothing is more beautiful than our Wonderful Lord's creations! He's my favorite artist. : )

Also, I read Mark 12 tonight. Definitely spoke to me! Especially verses 38 through 40. I have to sing Sunday night, and I want to make sure I'm doing it humbly before God, not proudly and for praise in the church. Pray for me! I need to be humbled before I go up on that stage!

My nephew is such a blessing! He's such a sweet boy. I got to babysit him tonight. Loved it. : )

Anyways, long night! Nighty night!

Love, prayer, and blessings!!

~Natalie M.

Super long week... yay!

Hey, everyone. ( :

It's been a while, right? I go from posting almost (if not more than) every day, and all of a sudden you hear nothing from me. No, I haven't turned my back on all you lovelies. Ha ha. I actually had my internet disconnected--say what?! Yeah, you heard me. First, my dad forgot to pay the cable bill, which I find hiiiilarious. And then Comcast just couldn't seem to make it work. So, dad's deciding to go with SureWest instead. Also at the cost of ditching cable television. It's okay, though. We'll live. And I'll enjoy being able to watch JCTV again, ha ha ha. I'm so cool. I seriously do love that channel, though. Christian music videos, and there was this one show that I think was called H2o or something that was really good. I'll have to check and see, because there are some awesome programs on that station. And the roadtrip one was fun, too. And nobody has any clue what I'm talking about, right? Ha ha ha ha.

Anyways. I'm at the library now. We still have another week until we get internet again. I've been dyyyying to post! There's been so much on my mind!

Okay, first thing on the agenda, (gotta do this fast, I only have 35 minutes to finish this post!! AH! LAWLZ I'm a fast typer, no worries) I've gotta tell you all about the book "Jesus Freaks" by dc Talk. It's amazing. It chronicles many stories of so many people in the persecuted church throughout history, and current, in closed-door countries. Many of these people are being persecuted for their beliefs by communists. It's so sad. But the book isn't just story after story of death and fear and destruction... I can honestly say it's encouraging. These people stand strong in their faith, boldy proclaiming the Good News when threatened with torture and death. They're willing to put their lives on the line to further God's Kingdom. I think that is absolutely amazing. How can we, who have nothing like that to threaten our joy, be scared of something as silly as judgement, and allow that to hinder God's work? We're ridiculous. We should be spreading out and boldly spreading Christ throughout the nations. This book has also burdened my heart for prayer. We should all be praying that the persecuted will stay strong in their faith, and that God would continue to keep them safe, strong, and loving. These people dare to love those that beat them senseless. It's truly amazing. Pray for their oppressors. Pray that they will see Christ in the Christians they want to see destroyed. Pray that these people will reach their persecutors with God's love. It's happened many times before, and it can continue to happen. Pray that the insane laws (such as the blasphemy law in Pakistan, which requires that those who reject the Koran and Muhammed's teachings should be put to death) to be thrown out. Their burdens are great, and so should our burden for prayer and action be. ♥

Next up! : ) Giving up our lives for Christ... man, this is something God's been slamming me with lately in my Bible studies. Whoever holds onto his life will lose it, and whoever lets go of their life for Christ will gain eternal life. Amazing, radical teachings. We have to give up our lives to put ourselves in teh center of God's will to experience what a real life is. It's crazy!

One of the biggest things I struggle about following God's Will is giving up everything that I want, all my selfish desires. It's easy for me to mistake emotions and junk like that and use them as a way of saying I'm following God... how foolish of me. I need to give up all that. What I follow is God's Word, and His Spirit. Nothing else. Not advice from friends, nothing like that. It's all about God. So, pray for me to pull through on this! I need to refocus!

I think it was Psalm 92 or 93 I wanted everyone to read. It's all just a huge heart of praise. Loved it. I hope everyone will check it out!

Peace, love, blessings, and prayer,

~Natalie

P.S. - I totally wanna remind my friends that I really am praying for them! I pray that you'll grow deeper in your relationship with the Lord, falling in love with Him more and more every day. And I pray that you'll be strong in your convictions, never wavering. And that you'll all find joy and love everywhere you go. I love you all!

I'm not perfect.

I'm so far from it. I have no patience when I'm confronted with something that I'm not sure about. Right now, this isn't going to be very positive sounding, but I'm so very unsure about a lot right now. No, my faith in God isn't wavering, but my beliefs about the fine tunings of it all is really being tested. I'm not sure what exactly to think, but I know I really just need to trust God and ask Him to show me what to think. Prayers would be appreciated.

I would also like to say, however, how proud I am of my dear friends. : ) Seeing their faith grow and how they're really selling out for God has been amazing. Just tonight I got to hang out with a friend and she was telling me how much she's allowing Jesus to just change her from the inside out, and how she's really just giving it all to Him. It is so encouraging to see others doing exactly what I strive to do as well.

Also, my hamster almost escaped today! When I left I forgot and left the top of the cage open!!! She got out, and I crawled everywhere praying to find her. God must really want me to have a hammie cuz she was in the floor by her old cage... Thank You, Lord!!!

That's all!

Prayers and big love,
Natalie : )

The church body's functions

¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

 ¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

 ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

 ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

 I Corinthians 12:12-31 (NIV)

There's no use in envying other people's spiritual gifts (or the ways that they are able to help the church). Yeah, we should be willing to jump in and do our best to work, but don't let envying those whose gifts make them look more spiritual let you be held back from doing God's work!

Just my thoughts from my personal Bible reading tonight. I figure the plain version here really says more than I need to. Just read the scripture and think about it. "And yet I will show you the most excellent way" might not make much sense there, because Paul is going on to teaching about love in the next chapter. Amazing chapter, I'm looking forward to spending time in it tomorrow!

Big love! XOXO

~Natalie ♥

Late night!

Intense prayer time tonight... I focus so much better on God at night. So thankful for bible study with Joey. Opening my heart and mind to God's Word & His will.
                                                                                          
My goshh I am so tired today! Last night's Jesus time seriously just... it's making my eyes feel like raisins instead of grapes. That doesn't even make sense! But last night was so intense! Really just inspected my heart to find whatever is there that's keeping any distance between me and God. My self-centeredness, my lack of love for others, and actually laughing at jokes that should make me grieve the lack of purity in today's world. That's what really stuck out to me.


So pray for me as I'm asking God to and taking action on purging myself of all these stupid habits that hold me back. There's nothing I want more than for my heart to be one with Christ's. To get to that point, I know I need to continually be inspecting my heart. A regular prayer is going to be Psalm 139:23.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts:" (KJV)

In the Bible In Basic English version, I love how this thought is worded.

"O God, let the secrets of my heart be uncovered, and let my wandering thoughts be tested:".

Psalm 26:2 says,

"Examine me, O Lord, and try me; test my mind and my heart." (NASB)

I don't think I pray these things enough! I need to really emphasize it. David sought God to examine his heart, instead of being his own decider of whether or not he was good enough. He went ahead and went straight to the ultimate judge, Who is known for zero tolerance for any kind of sin. Too often when we're examining our own hearts, we let a ton of junk slide because it's not like we can detect sin very well if we're used to living with it. Our sin nature gets in the way and is totally comfortable with it there. When we honestly turn to God and ask him to clean out our hearts and examine us, He pulls through.

I used to think these verses were David saying, "Look, God, no sin!" and just inviting Him to check it out. Kind of like having your parents approve of your room when you're done cleaning it. I realized last night that I was totally wrong. It's David asking God for His honest opinion, asking Him to point out the secret sins even he himself had failed to notice. He wrote and prayed it so heart-felt...fully? Hahaha. That's so not a real word. But anyways. You say this whole-heartedly... and God will answer it. He'll let you feel inside your heart that there's something there keeping a little wall of separation. You sit there and meditate on it, and compare your actions and motives to God's actions and motives... anything that falls short needs to go. Self-love (the conceited, proud kind!) is one of the biggest ones we have to get past. There's a balance you have to find that usually lands on self-respect enough to keep out of stupid situations, but the focus is more because you want to honor God with yourself, not because you have some kind of reputation to keep up. It's not your reputation you have to keep up, it's Jesus' reputation you're protecting.

This is what's on my heart!

Hope y'all got something out of this.

Love and blessings,

~Natalie.

Clean : )

I just cleaned out my iTunes library. Man, it feels good. I got rid of 1163 junky songs that I didn't need! (Okay, some of it was KJ-52, but he's seriously nott my cup of tea. At all.) Some of my friends don't totally understand this kind of action. I love them to bits, but they just don't get it. They say, "Well, it doesn't really matter what you listen to. It's not a big deal." And I know they're saying that because they might think I'm looking down on them for listening to secular music. I really don't look down on anyone for that. But, personally, I don't have any reason to listen to that stuff. It makes me more worldly. It gets in my head and messes up my relationship with God, and nothing should come above that.

1 Corinthians 10:23 says, 

" "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive. "

This says heaps about what we allow into our lives. Next time you're watching television, or listening to the radio, compare what you're letting into your mind with this verse. If it doesn't measure up, you might want to consider watching or listening or even reading something different. Just a thought!

Hope you're all having a lovely day!

XOXO,

~Natalie ; )

Just a side note ;)

I just had my personal Jesus time and... wow. I just wanted to share how much I'm falling in love with the Creator! The best thing is... I can feel myself changing from the inside out! He's starting with my heart, and moving on to my mind and my actions and my words. I feel Him working on me, and it brings tears of joy to my eyes. I don't want to be the old, selfish me anymore. I want to be a mirror of my Lord. Kind of like standing in a doorway, with Jesus on the other side, and I'm mimicking His actions. I want to be so close to Him, and know Him so well, that people can hardly tell the difference. I want people to see Christ through me, and even disregard this old person here. I wanna be His mirror. : ) His love is filling up my heart every day, and I feel it particularly tonight. Now I'm gonna go pour out that love on my lovely boyfriend, and hopefully brighten his stressful evening just a tad. ; ) Poor kid's so stressed out! Pray for him if you can.

Love and prayers,

Natalie! : ) : ) : )

The White African

Tonight, I got back into a show I have loved for ages. It's called POV (Point Of View) and it's aired on PBS. They play documentaries here each week that really inform you on an issue (sometimes it's not a very important issue to me, but oh well). Tonight, they played Mugabe And The White African. It was about the fight between the Zimbawean president Mugabe and the white African farmers. The filmmakers chose to follow Mike Campbell and his family in particular. The things done to them are heart-breaking. Mike Campbell died last year from injuries sustained three years earlier in a kidnapping and torture that was intended to force them out of their land. To find out more details, read here. What is amazing about these people, though, is their continued faithfulness to God throughout their trials. They were put through immense struggles, and yet they continued to trust His plans. Heart breaking, and encouraging, all in one.

Man, that was a hard film to watch. But it also reminded me of the prayers I need to be sending out for people I don't even know. Their immense hardships are overwhelming, and I forget to even recognize that daily. It has also reminded me to pray about what God wants me to do about these things. I wonder if prayer is enough? Some days I really hope and already plan that I'll have a normal home life, married, raising kids (the kids part is a long way off, of course) and all that good, American stuff. But I'm learning to be okay with the idea that God might have bigger plans. God might call me to be in the ministry, and that excites me. Whatever He has in store for me, I'm excited about it. I'm hoping for something big. I'm hoping for something that will make a huge impact for Christ. The burden on my heart for the lost continues to grow, and I almost pray that it's my calling to actually go and do something about it. Maybe. We'll see. There's a long time until that's possible. But I hope that my life will be something worth praying about. Until then, I'll just follow the little steps and guidelines I'm receiving from God every day. He always has something to tell me, I just have to listen for it. : )

Needless to say, I do plan on going on a missions trip at least someday. Maybe I'm not called to be a full-time missionary, but I've heard it said that going at least once on a trip like that is an amazing thing for any Christian. : ) I hope I hope I hope I can go someday!

Anyways.

Do you have a love in your life? Any love. Like... a passion! Helping people, cooking, eating, exercising, loving on people, making beautiful things, music, any hobby? You should. It helps a lot in making your life more meaningful. It becomes... what you do! It's part of who you are. Make a list of the things and people you love that you wouldn't be the same without! I'll do it.. right now!

My loves <3

• Jesus Christ/God. Same diff...literally! Love it!
• My family. My mother, my father (he's a hard one to love sometimes, but I do anyways!), my brothers, my sisters-in-law, and... my sister? Hahha. Fine. I'll love her, too ; )
• My wonderful, amazing, and so very loving best friend and boyfriend, Joey. Gosh that boy is such a blessing! I hate how much I take him for granted. : (
• Friends! I love my friends to bits. They blow up my phone every day with the funniest things and always listen to me when I hate on stuff hahaha.
• Art and music and writing. All these forms of expression, I love them all. I thank God for the gifts He's given me and the talents I have to use for His glory. I hope I do Him justice. ; )
• Running. My goodness, I love to run! It's so freeing, and I love the feeling of all that blood pumping so hard and fast and boy do I get a runner's high. Even if a mile is the hardest thing for me, it's still one of my favorite forms of cardio.
• Worship. And I love being a part of it in my church. Sure, I miss being in the congregation for worship, but... it's great to be able to use my guitar-playing for something so good. Maybe someday I'll get a break and get to sing from a pew. ; ) heehee
• FOOD AND T.V.! I love them both! Food makes me full, and tastes so yummy! It's hard not to let that love get out of control... ha ha ha. I'm a silly willy, I know. And I love television. Man, that thing keeps me entertained. It'll be the death of me. SpongeBob, baby.
• Blogging, the internet, facebook. Okay, so I kind of hate facebook, but I use it all the time, so who cares. I love blogging and the internet, though. I like having an excuse to be narcissistic all the time. And I like being able to find recipes a lot. Cuz I love cooking!
• Texting, babes. You knew it was coming.

And I think that's the end of my list. Because, frankly, I could go on, but it'd get too long!

And I'm loving these fonts I found while I was messing with my profile layout! Heehee. I hope they're readable! This cursive one looks so much like my penmanship.

Also, I really miss my mommy! She's in Dallas for the Mary Kay conference... She's having a blast, of course, but I didn't get to say goodbye to her this morning when she left. : ( Sadfaceee. Oh, well. She'll be home Saturday! Yippee!

Today's devotional was about God's plan. That's what really stuck out to me. It's not about God's plan for my life, but about God's plan, and then I change my life to help fulfill His plans. So it's really about God and not my life. I loved that. It's changing my perspective so much already. I love this devotional course! I can't wait for the meeting on Monday with all the girls. Our discussions are going to be amazing.

I want people to comment! Let me know what you like about my posts, what you don't like, constructive criticism! And if you have anything to add to what I'm saying, for goodness sake, say it! I love feedback, and conversations, and yeah. : ) Love it to bits.

I can't wait for tomorrow and to see what's in store!

~Natalie M.

P.S. - Without Christ, we can do nothing!