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.

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!