No Worries...

As 2012 draws to a close, I look around and see worry and distress on the faces of a lot of people. When you think about it, there are so many things to worry about and most of them involve money in some form or another...Do I have enough money to pay for school next semester? Do I have enough money saved back for Christmas? How much is gas going to go up?...etc. In this crazy, fast paced world, we spend so much time worrying about so many things. In reality though, how much of the things that we worry over, do we really have control of? Our true problem is not worry but trust.

In Matthew, Jesus says:
"That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your Heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single cubit to your height? "

"If God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don't worry about these things saying, "What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your Heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you EVERYTHING you need." -Matthew 6:26-27, 30-33

So in reality, the problem is trust. Rather than trusting that God will take care of all our needs as He clearly states he will, we try to take care of them ourselves and begin to worry. As the holidays approach, and even throughout the rest of your life, stop worrying. Trust God instead and have faith that He will always take care of all your needs.

With Love,



Unconditional Love

I remember as a child thinking that love was so easy and effortless. I didn't understand why adults always talked about how complicated it was. To me, it seemed natural and not like work at all. I would hear people talk about unconditional love and how hard is was. I even remember being told that one day, when I get older, I would understand just what unconditional love meant and just how hard it can be. Well...I'm older now and I understand everything that I didn't understand as a child about this thing called unconditional love. In fact, I've become quite amazed and even borderline obsessed with the idea.

As a child, it was easy to love others because we didn't hold grudges. If someone stole our crayon, we were upset but only for thirty minutes because after that we forgot about it. However, somewhere along the way as we were growing up, we forgot how to do that. As we get older, we never forget those things that have hurt us and we allow them to keep us from loving unconditionally.

So what exactly is unconditional love? It is loving someone all the time with everything in you regardless of what they do, who they become, or the choices they make. It is remaining faithful to care about someone even if they hurt you deeply. It is choosing to not judge someone for their flaws, but rather to accept them for who they are. The perfect example, and the only true example, is Jesus Christ. I mean think about it...Jesus died for us just so we could have access to the Father. He knew exactly who we truly would be. He knew that we would seek other desires such as a boyfriend, girlfriend, or career rather than seeking Him. He knew that we would lie, cheat, steal, and hurt. He knew (and knows) every single flaw about us and every evil action we commit before we even do it.

Yet, even though we turn our backs on Him DAILY, He still loves us. He never leaves our side and the very second we need Him, He is always there. He is the true definition of unconditional love. So following in His example, we should show unconditional love to others as well. When people hurt us, we should not turn our back on them but love them. It is time for us to start loving others for their flaws too. Ultimately love is a choice. It is a decision we make daily to either love or not. Let's make the choice today to love, but not just love...love unconditionally. Forgive those who wrong you and love them for their flaws. The best place to learn how to love is to open the pages of the #1 Best Selling Book in the World....The Holy Bible. :)
With Love,



Thanksgiving...

I have to say...Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that really bothers me. It's not that I don't like thanksgiving because I really do. I mean who doesn't love eating way too much and spending lots of time with family and friends? My problem with Thanksgiving is that all of a sudden people become aware of their blessings, but it only lasts a day.

I mean think about it. How many times has Thanksgiving rolled around and all of a sudden you remember that you are thankful for your family, friends, health...etc. However, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, we immediately go back to our busy lives and no longer speak of how grateful we are. It really bothers me that we are not thankful for all of these blessings every single day of our lives. We take one day out of the year to express our gratitude for all that we have been given, when in reality we should be on our knees thanking our Heavenly Father every chance we get.

Just think of how much better our world would be if we expressed our gratitude or thanks more often. The problem is that we take all of these blessings for granted. I absolutely can't imagine life without my family and friends. I can't imagine life without having my Savior on my side. I can't imagine life without my health. However, I am just as guilty as the next person about not thanking these individuals more often.

I encourage everyone to really think about what you are thankful for. It might help to even make a list. Then make time to really express your thanks to those people whether it be our Lord Jesus Christ or family and friends. Don't allow Thanksgiving to start and end on Thursday. You can begin today and make it last all year.


--What if today we were thankful for everything??--



Never Ending Love

Even though I'm young, I've learned a lot about love over the years, especially this last one. The one thing that I'm just now beginning to realize is that people that love you will fail you. From a child's perspective, I just always assumed love never failed. In my eyes, love was perfect. The problem with this thought is that I was looking at flawed, human love. I now realize that there is only one kind of perfect, true love. This love can only be found through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Life is made up of ups and downs, and is literally like a roller coaster ride. You never know what is coming around the corner. However, one thing I have learned is that no matter what comes around that corner, Jesus is always, always, always there right beside me. It does not matter if I have not been living for Him like I should or if I have turned my back on Him. He is always there to wrap His arms around me and love and comfort me like no other.

Just a thought...God's love is the one thing that never leaves. I pray that one day I will be able to love others half as much as He loves us.

With love,