crazy awesome gift

So my friend Tony sent me a website of this girl who is 11 years old and shes been painting amazing paintings since she was like 6 years old. She paints visions she has, and she also writes unbelievable poetry. Anwyas check it out it will stop you in your tracks.

www.artakiane.com

make me beautiful

Here are some lyrics from the song beautiful by Bethany Dillon. They express so much of the heart of a girl and the heart of God. If only we’d all realize the depth of Gods love for us. I know that I constantly forget, and so many times I feel so unworthy, or not enough, or too much. I think we all desire for people to know who we really are, to take a risk and to step into our hearts. I know Christ already knows who we are more than we know ourselves, and he’s knocking at our hearts waiting to come in. So let him in because you will forever be changed.


I was so unique
Now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause
I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong
But it's killing me
Does someone hear my cry?
I'm dying for new life

[Chorus]
I want to be beautiful
Make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart,
and be amazed
I want to hear you say
Who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love
And beautiful

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won't you help me back to glory

[Chorus]
You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love
and beautiful

beauty

Here's a paper I wrote last year; read it tell me your opinion

Beauty- when heard by most of society the first thought that enters the mind is the outward appearance of a person; but what does beauty mean to the Christian and what should it mean? What is the truth behind a woman’s beauty, is it only skin deep? Three Christian authors share three different views on a woman’s beauty and things that are connected to it.


Most women, Christian or non-Christian wear cosmetics and style their hair in order to enhance their appearance. Every woman has a desire to become more beautiful in appearance. In the eyes of Herbert Armstrong, it is a SIN for a woman to enhance herself by wearing makeup. “Whether the painting emphasis is on the eyes, cheeks, or lips, it is all the same so far as the principle of SIN is concerned.”[1] To change the appearance of the face by adding makeup is to falsify the face and so DECIEVE others. Herbert believes it is a sin because the custom of using paint to the face originated from harlotry and was used to lure and seduce men into lust. “Only bad woman use it,” were the words of Herbert’s mother. Herbert’s mother was seen as a highly virtuous woman.


Joyce Landorf chooses to disagree with Herbert’s theory of makeup. She believes women ought to make themselves look beautiful. She has noticed that if four women were gathered and one was Christian and the other three were non-Christian; the Christian was easily determined by her way of appearance. She was usually the one who wore no makeup, had her hair up in a tight bun, and unattractive clothing (take note that Joyce wrote this in the seventy’s and times have changed since then).
When God created man he created him with visual attributes; when He created woman He created her beautiful for a reason. “It is true that God beholds our inner beauty, inner motives, inner thoughts and dreams, but man has no where else to look but on the outwards appearance!”[2] A woman’s body is God’s beautiful creation and the beholder of that body should take care of her body, as she should. This does not mean that every woman should like look like a super model in order to be beautiful on the outside; that is a lie and deception from the enemy.


When Joyce wrote her book, the women in her church were very religious and felt they had to look spiritual in order to be spiritual. What they failed to realize is that maybe if they were spiritual they would look spiritual; they were not allowing the light of Jesus from within them to shine forth and determine if they were in close relationship with Jesus or not. They tried to look spiritual by not wearing makeup or doing their hair. “They continued to put the cart before the horse.”[3]
Joyce not only believes in the outer beauty of a woman but most importantly she believes in the inner beauty of her. Joyce once came across a woman who was stunning in appearance, but once words of hate, scorn and disrespect left the woman’s mouth she was no longer as beautiful. “If a woman’s soul is without cultivation, without taste, without refinement, without sweetness of a happy mind, not all the mysteries of art can ever make her face beautiful… I find no art which can atone for an unpolished mind and an unlovely heart.”[4] Once a woman finds her life in Christ she cannot help but radiate beauty from within; “but one who, because of Christ’s inner glow radiating from her heart to her face, is beautiful, all in her own special way.”[5]


At a very young age, Leslie Ludy had a great desire to become beautiful. She was still unaware of what it truly meant to be beautiful.
“Staring into the bathroom mirror one morning at my stringy hair and crooked teeth, I decided that the only remedy was a makeover, which I skilfully applied after digging in my mom’s makeup drawer. However, that was the end of my makeup escapades for the time being, but I held out hope that one day I would grow into a dazzling beauty.”[6]


Almost every female can relate to Leslie’s story in some way or another.
When Leslie got to be a bit older she thought the only way she could become a beautiful princess was to find a prince to sweep her off her feet. She searched until she ended in much regret and heartbreak because of guys she thought would be her prince. One day she did find her prince, Jesus Christ, and he made her into the beautiful princess she had always dreamed of. She decided to make a life-long choice; “I was filled with a passionate desire to be completely set apart for Him¾ not just to carry the title of being his princess, but to think, act, speak, and live like His princess everyday of my life.”[7]


A woman’s beauty is shaped both by her inward and outward appearances. Society screams at young women to look like super models, while Jesus Christ looks at their hearts and sees his image and declares them beautiful. A woman must understand that she is beautiful the way she is, the way God made her. However this does not give women permission to treat their bodies like trash. Women should look good for the men they love, but not in order to seduce them but rather to love them. A women’s goal ought to be to draw closer to Christ and be shaped by His heart.

neverland?

Where do we cross the line between reality and fantasy? As children we lived for the moments to play pretend, and we loved watching our disney movies because they always seemed to have a happy ending. Something beyond us captured our minds and maybe even caused our hearts to skip a beat, and somehow we really believed we were that cinderella or superman.

There's a little boy named Gavin who is about 4 years old at my parents church and he honestly believes he is superman. (I have to admit he is the cutest kid I have ever seen and I really want to keep him.)( he also knows almost every word to every U2 song)He 'flies' around the church floor with his right arm out in front of him and his other at his side ready to devour any evil that may come his way.

I have been many times labeled a 'dreamer' or 'hopeless romantic', or I see life through 'rose colored glasses'. What that means I really don't know. Sometimes I may feel, react or think too much; is that wrong?

Were those stories as kids really far fetched or were they perhaps a metaphor, a whisper from God showing us there is more to life. I'm not saying that things are to be perfect, because I know very well that we live in an imperfect world with hurts and failures. But when did we stop dreaming? When did we look around us and give up on life being abundant and fruitful and joyous? When did we stop believing that maybe we too can fight for the better good and make a difference; or when did we stop believing that we are adored and beautiful? You have it in you to be in a story that is far beyond what you can imagine, so don't be afraid to dream a little, to hope for something more. God created you beautiful and God created you heroic, so believe it, believe in yourself.

I'm afraid to dream because I'm afraid to jump.

wisdom teeth

I get my teeth pulled tomorrow... eeek! Please pray for me, or bring me smoothies, lol.

seasons

Winter has gone and spring is in our midst. Snow is thawing and turning into running water. Every corner is a new smile a new face, and new hope. Like the weather I feel something stirring in my heart. An anticipation of a new hope. I feel God saying step out into the open, for you were broken but I long to heal, so let past fears and failures melt away like the winter snow. I long to show you spring, a life of abundance for I will never forsake you. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you (Isaiah 60:1). So if you're wounded get up and walk, if you're bored get up and praise the Lord of the most High, if you're joyful dance! Smile because you really do have something to smile about.

If there were no winter would we really enjoy spring?