Speechless

Do you ever feel like you have nothing to say? You have a huge essay due but suddenly you have no words. Your blog is due and you do not want to just blab on about nothing to get it done. You want it to mean something, maybe you meet a cute boy and yet you cannot find it in you to say hey. Sometimes in prayer or church, you find yourself speechless. Have you ever wondered why you have a loss of words, cause when you’re in class you cannot seem to shut up, When you are with your best friends, it would take an army to get you to stop talking. Maybe God takes your words away in certain situations because He wants you to take in the silence. When you find yourself speechless in prayer, maybe it is because He wants you to stop talking so maybe you could hear Him. When you cannot finds the words to say in your blog, maybe it is because He wants you to take your time, really put your heart into it, be creative, and think outside the box. I sat down tonight with nothing to write, all I could think about was how I had nothing to say and how I was at a loss of words. I started this blog planning to write about having nothing to say. I knew it was going to be pointless but I just wanted to get it done. Well my plan has turned on me. It made me think, why do we have a loss of words and I believe it is because sometimes you just need to listen.

Sisters

Do you ever wish you could go back in time? I do. I wish I could go back to last summer, and not stop talking to you. I know I act like I cannot stand you anymore but I miss you so much. I just never show it because you seem like you don’t even care. You were my sister, when we're together nothing mattered. You were there for me through the heart breaks and tears, through my broken bones, and all the happy times. The important times in my life, you were there for me. The memories of me and you will never die; we skipped best friend stage and went straight to sisters. People even thought we were twins, we were inseparable. If I wasn’t at your house, you were at mine. The truth is I miss you with all my heart. I miss your mom’s mac ‘n cheese. I miss the way your house smelled. I miss you. I was upset with you because you were with a guy who treated you like dirt so you slowly stopped telling me about you and him, then I started seeing someone and did the same. We slowly lost touch with each other.

It took me the whole summer to realize what I had lost. I wrote you letter after letter and not once did I get a response or you told me you wanted a sorry. I said I was sorry. I have told you more than once, but it wasn’t just my fault only. It was yours too. I would like a sorry, but I’m not asking for that as I just want to be sisters again. I see you every day, we never speak to each other. We walk right past each other as if nothing had ever happened. This kills me and I don’t know if it kills you too. I don’t know what else to do. You told me you didn’t want to fall in to my bad ways but wouldn’t a sister try to stop me from those bad ways? You have changed a lot and I don’t know who you are any more. But in the end, I hope to get to know you again and maybe one day, return to being sisters.

Child like Faith

Do you remember what it was like when the biggest worry in the world was what was for lunch or who you were going to play with on the play ground since Toni wasn’t at school today? Life was so innocent; you were so innocent. When you prayed, it was about getting that new toy Jalen had or how Tucker pushed you on the play ground and you scraped your knee. When the things you were afraid of were things like the dark or that really big kid on the playground who always pushes you down. Now those seem like silly things to be afraid of. We are seniors in high school and about to leave home. We're afraid of what’s out there, if we will fit in, if we’re going to make it in to our dream college, how were going to pay for it. When we pray it’s about how we're struggling to find that right path and we need a little guidance when we just applied to a college and really want to get in. But is that really that much different from the prayer when we were younger? No, it's not. “Someone” aka life pushed us down and we scraped our knee and we need a little help up. Elizabeth made it into her dream college, encouraging me into mine. That’s no different than asking for that toy you had been wanting.

When we were little, we believed in the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause. Our parents had us believe in small thing such as those so that we could start believing so that someday, we would understand the true meaning of Easter and Christmas and believe whole heartedly in Jesus Christ just as we did the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause. I believe in Jesus, just as I believed in other things. Santa always brought me toys; well, Jesus always brings me strength. When you were little, it didn’t matter what people said about the Easter Bunny. You believe in him with everything you had, let your faith be like that now. Who cares if people disagree with your belief in Jesus, you know what you believe and that’s all that matters. If you believe in Jesus like you did Santa when you were a little kid, I promise the “presents” you will receive will have much more meaning. They will be much more useful than some silly toy, so I dare everyone to find that childlike faith we all once had and live your life with this faith. The outcome will make an impact. J

Dream BIG...

                Do you remember when you were little and you had dreams of becoming a fire fighter, an astronaut, or a fairytale princess? Then as you got older your dreams changed. You wanted to become a professional athlete or a Tibetan Monk. Now we are in high school, and it is time to make our dreams become reality. We are given opportunities to become what we have always dreamed of becoming. We surround ourselves with people who will support us, push us, and motivate us to become what we have always dreamt of becoming. We have one limitation to achieving our dreams and that is ourselves. We are our strongest critics.  That is why we surround ourselves with people who won’t let us give up on our dreams. With the amount of opportunities we have in this generation you would be crazy not to achieve that dream. I sure know how to dream BIG. I have always wanted to open a dance studio for special needs kids or become a Neonatologist.  I think that either of those would be incredibly rewarding jobs. It is not the size of the dream it is the amount of heart you’re willing to put in to achieving that dream. Whether your dream is to become the President of the United States or a stay at home parent, if you give that dream your all it is sure to become reality. So never ever be afraid of dreaming BIG, because with enough heart and faith all dreams are possible. Have a blessed week J “Keep your dreams alive, understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication remember all things are possible for those who believe.”-Anonymous

As most of you know, it is Lent. I am a Catholic so traditionally we give up something for forty days, in addition to every Friday, we abstain from eating meat. The point in giving something up is to make some sort of a sacrifice to bring you closer to the Lord; some ask how does giving up soda bring you closer to the Lord. Well it is simple. Every time you want to drink that soda but don’t; you think to yourself why don’t I drink this, you are reminding yourself of the Lord’s ultimate sacrifice. So by reminding yourself of this sacrifice, you are becoming closer to the Lord. Some people say they love their religion because it is simple and they don’t have to give anything up for Lent, but really I am not obligated to give something up. I do it because I love the Lord, and if He can be hung on a cross for me, I sure as hell can give up soda for forty days for Him. A sacrifice isn’t just about giving something up, it can be doing something for Lent. For this Lent, I not only gave up energy drinks but I am reading the bible more. This is a great way to come closer to the Lord. By reading the bible, I am giving up my time to read and even think about what I had read and the message behind it. Tonight in Life Teen, Randall’s lesson was about sacrifice and it just really got me thinking about how important it is. Lent is a great time to reconnect with the Lord, if you have been a little disconnected. If you think it is too late to give something up, well guess what. It is not. I challenge you to make a sacrifice this week even if it is something as simple as saying hello to someone who you butt heads with. Believe me, it will be so worth it in the end. "If we only have the will to walk, then God is pleased with our stumbles."(C.S Lewis). So don’t be afraid to stumble with this sacrifice. It is the thought that counts.

You Gotta Believe

Believe, have you ever thought of the true meaning of the word believe? Believe: to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so: Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully. To believe you have to have some sense of faith. When you believe you can do something other people will believe in you too. Dean McNamee is fighting cancer the doctors told him it was “incurable” but he believed that he could fight it and look at him now the mass in his right lung has been reduced by 75%, there is no sign of cancer in his lymph node, and his liver if functioning in normal range. Most people in this town had an incredible amount of faith in him and God, that he could fight this disease. If Dean would have gave up and didn’t believe it was possible to fight this who knows where he would be? Isn’t life about believing, you believe that you can try new thing you believe you can be successful.  You believe in love fate destiny, you can’t see love you just have to believe that it is there.  Believing in something is so incredibly powerful. I believe in God, have I ever met him? No I haven’t but I believe I will someday. I believe he created us and that when we die if we believe in him we will go to heaven.  When you are young you believe in the Easter bunny and Santa, then as you grow older you find out there real and in some cases you lose your Christmas spirit, but was Christmas really about Santa? No it is about God no matter how old you are, you’re never told to believe in God. "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Hebrews 11:6 (NLT) With God anything is possible but you gotta believe and he will show you that he is real. Have a blessed week, and remember God is walking by your side J

Right place at the RIGHT time...

            Do you ever feel like your put on this earth for a reason?!?! Even if it was for something as simple as making someone smile, or something as extravagant as saving a life. One night I was having a heart to heart with my god father and he said you know Hope sometimes I wonder if I was out on this earth for you. He told me a story about how he use to play baseball and he was really good and how that was something he wanted to do when he grew up, but one day his coach decided to cut all juniors and seniors so they could make a championship team, well that devastated him but he moved on and became a police officer in Holbrook Arizona and started the life teen program and that’s how he met me and became my godfather, and has helped me along, my spiritual journey. “God intentionally allows you to go through painful experiences to equip you for ministry to others.” You may sometime feel You have no place in this world like you have no calling, and everyone has found theirs but your still searching. You may go through painful experiences so that you can become stronger or share you experience with others and maybe help them find their way. I often feel as if I can’t find my way or my calling but I know that it will come with time I will find out why I am placed on this earth. It just takes time and patience.  I do believe that we are all placed on this earth for a reason some may find the reason early in life some it may take longer, but with God anything is possible. Have a blessed week and if you have found your calling please comment I would love to hear it JJust remember “You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”