New(:

This is my new blog (:
I'm so excited about it! I love starting things over, haha. My old one was on a different email account and I was a little tired of the separation there. So I made this one. I hope I remember to keep up with it!

One of the reasons I decided to make a new blog was that I want this to be a positive thing. I've been praying and praying for God to change my heart, and I feel that wanting to keep it up by talking about it on here is a great idea. It should be a good reminder to keep up these changes rather than reverting back to my old self-centered ways. So every time I log on here, I'll remember how much LOVE I'm receiving through Jesus, and how much love I'm choosing to pour out through Him, too. ♥

So, what's going on in my life? Hmm... Well, this last week I had a huge self-confidence, body image, self-love, breakthrough! Lots of words for it, but so much greatness is hard to wrap up into one little statement. I'm finally learning to see myself as one of God's wonderful creations. You know how you have a favorite artist or designer and you simply can't help but love everything they make? I've realized that should be how we view God. He's the best designer out there! He says everything He makes is good. So how can I find the time to hate what God made? He made me beautiful. He knit me together, bit by bit, putting love and beauty into each stitch. Loving myself simply tags along on the towboat of loving God. (:

This means no more down-talk about yourself! (OR OTHERS!) God made you, me, and everyone else. Try and see people the way God does: with love! It's the best feeling ever, even if some people take a little more work. But it's so worth it. God's love just fills up your heart, and spills out to everyone else. He just leaves the faucet running (;

This is what's on my mind lately! Knowing that I'm beautiful, inside and out, because God put that worth and beauty there. :) If there's something I do or say that doesn't reflect that beauty, it doesn't belong there, and I need to pray and work hard to remove it from my life. What people see in me should be Christ, not me. And I certainly hope I don't obstruct the view. He's everything!

And on another note, the girls in the youth group at church are starting a new Bible study that I'm so excited about! It's called Experiencing God, and I absolutely love it. Today was the first day of the at-home work, and it's just so great already. It puts clearly in front of you what you need to do to make God real in your life. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

There's also verse memorization every week, which I'm really excited about. People may view that as juvenile, but memorizing verses is a huge deal for fighting the devil! This week, it's John 15:5 - "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same shall bring forth much fruit: for without me, ye can do nothing." We used to have a painting of grapes with this verse under it in the dining room... hahaha. I love it tho. (: It's reminding me that I'm nothing, and God is everything. That's the biggest thing. I won't get anything real accomplished without him.

I'm just really excited about all this! And I love my hamster. I'm sure I'll say stuff about her all the time, haha. She peed on my phone tonight! (: I still love her, though!

Much love!

~Natalie

P.S. - Don't reject advice! If someone says something to you, think long and hard about it, think about why they would say that and consider the good parts of it before you blow up on them for helping you out.