RANT

So frankly, I have a LOT on my mind. I am about to go on a mission trip to Swaziland, Africa. I am so stinking excited! But that doesn't eliminate the random thoughts I have. Now understand that these rants really probably have nothing to do with my mission trip. It's just that these thoughts need to be typed and shared before my head explodes.

Rant 1: People who are trying to lead without having been anywhere. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yeah that's great that you want to lead people to God and stuff, but you can only lead people as far as you've been. So ask yourself "Have I been anywhere?" and if the answer is no, then hows about trying to follow someone else before you lead the sheep off the cliff. Not that it's bad to have a leadership's heart. In fact that's GREAT! But understand and acknowledge that you must be led first, before you can be entrusted to lead others. Let me give you another example. Mamma bird raises her baby birds. Baby birds grow up. Baby birds must now flee the nest and learn to fly. Baby birds are now adults and they migrate with the rest of their family. Now adult birds come back home and raise their own baby birds. It's a cycle. The birds must grow, leave, have an adventure, and THEN they come back to raise up new leaders. You can't just hop out of the nest and start flying and assume you can lead. no. no. no. It just can't be done. There is nothing wrong with you, it's just you have not reached the capacity of knowledge and experience that is required to be a successful leader.

Rant 2: "Friendzone"
Just stop. Stop. STOP. STAHP. Guys and girls, the friendzone is a GREAT place to be!!! This other person is like your sibling! Your brother/sister in Christ!! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU WANT TO DATE YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER? ya nasty, go back to Arkansas. But seriously. God wants us to develop a friendship BEFORE we pursue a romantic relationship. (and yes those of you who went to LTS, I'm really just re-iterating what they taught us). Value a friendship more than a boyfriend/girlfriend. Because if you develop the friendship and God tells you that y'all can date, you already have a friendship foundation! You can build love on that kind of foundation. It is IMPOSSIBLE to build a romantic relationship without friendship. What kind of house would that be? So just stop complaining about being friendzoned, because that's where you should want to be. You want to be friends because if you pursue a relationship that God does not want you to have, then you're just wasting your own time.

Rant 3: Can everyone please just be thankful for what they have? I'm tired of hearing people complaining about whatever. Yes, I am guilty of that sometimes but I really try to keep myself in check. Thankfulness is not just something you show at Thanksgiving. We should be in a continual state of thanking God for all the blessings He gives us. Just think about it. You are obviously blessed with internet access if you are reading this right now so that in itself is worth a whole day of praising God for. Need I go on?

So thank you God for everything, especially this chance to share my rants with the world wide web.

--sea'sthoughts--

Trust, Destiny, and Adventure

We've been talking about trust, destiny and adventure at my church. And everyone that speaks about it really hits my heart...in a totally good way. I know that God is setting the foundation for something big in our community. But we also need to recognize that and LET GO of all our distractions, excuses, and past hinderances. How does one do that? Complete trust.

Complete trust? Woah. Does that mean relying FULLY on God? Yeah, of course it does! You can't get rid of distractions without giving it to God. You can't get rid of excuses without giving it to God. You can't get rid of whatever happened in the past that you can't get over without giving it to God. JUST LET IT GO (feel free to start singin Frozen). If you are struggling and wondering what the next step God has for you... first of all STAHP worrying. Ok. Then depend on him and hold his hand so he can guide you. It seems simple to say and think "Oh, yeah I can totally do that." But APPLICATION is the key and you need to commit to getting it done. ACT ON IT. One of my role models in life, that preached at youth a few weeks ago, gave a great image of how relying on God looks like... it's like when a baby is learning to walk, and they HAVE to hold on to Daddy's hand. We are that baby learning to walk and we require God's helping hand. However, unlike babies we won't ever need to not hold on to something. As children of God we can not walk by Faith without holding His hand. We may stop holding His hand, but that usually leads us astray. Therefore just hold on to God's hand and he will take care of you and lead you to your Destiny.

Destiny. Ah, such a lovely word. Very profound and elegant. Well. What's it mean? Dictionaries say that destiny is "the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing" Ick. That's so drab and bland. It seems that destiny is something we aren't in control of. Well it's not. God has a particular destiny for each of us. BUT it's not just gonna happen. We have to trust God and let Him take us to our destiny. Each step we take holding God's hand today, determines what tomorrow will be. God has given us a promise and we need to actively take control of that by walking in faith and trust, and by living with a Spirit of Adventure.

ADVENTURE. The first time I heard my pastor say Spirt of Adventure I thought of Frodo, Luke Skywalker, and Indiana Jones. WHERE DO I SIGN UP FOR THIS?!?!?! And stop there. Having a Spirit of Adventure isn't just something you can buy. This is something you are born with (It's given to us by God *mind blown*) And if God's destiny for you is to be an adventurer you must also be a conqueror. [The rest of this is pretty much taken from my notes taken at church] To be an adventurer and a conqueror we must set our hearts to determine to be an overcomer. An overcomer can navigate change and adapt to it, which is a pretty good quality for anyone. Also if you are committing to being a person of Adventure you NEED to be a risk taker. (NOTE: not everyone is given a Spirit of Adventure to travel the world, so don't go and sign up for the next mission trip because it sounds fun. Your heart needs to be in the right place and you've gotta be comfortable with the uncomfortable.) Your Spirit of Adventure could be just around the corner...literally. Everyone has a different Destiny, therefore their Adventure will be different. You could be uncomfortable with the thought of sharing the love of God to people in your school or workplace. wait for it.                              THAT'S YOUR ADVENTURE. So no excuses "Oh, I'm just not called to go across the country to serve God." Then how about you go across the street and serve God by being a friend to your neighbor.

Soften your heart to be a difference maker and change will come into your life and you will need to embrace it and trust God so He can show you the next step and reveal your Destiny and your heart will find its Spirit of Adventure!

And to clear a few things up:
I am mostly talking to myself here because I know that I need to give my complete trust to God. But I do think this is a great reminder to realize our mission in life is NOT to sit back and let God take care of everything. Get active.

--sea'sthoughts--

Wisdom

So I know that when we seek, we shall find, and when we ask, God will answer and give us what we need. BUT I firmly believe that we get caught up in looking for and asking for the wrong things. We seek love and relationship, when God is right here with us. (He's probably waiting for us to open our eyes so he can say "Yo, I've been here the whole time and I've loved you longer than you've been able to breathe.") However I want to talk about what we ASK for.

The Holidays are upon us and everyone is telling Santa what they want. I have a few problems with that.
1) SANTA ISN'T REAL.
2) Be thankful for what you have and don't be whinny about all the crap you don't get. Cause it's just crap you don't need. (I'll be honest, I've been asking my parents for stuff I probably don't need. BUT I'm not being a baby about it. EX: "Hey mom, it would be really cool if I had some more tennis stuff, or even a ukelele but hey I can live without it."
3) Focus on what you NEED. 'nuff said
4) Can we just be happy with each others company? I love my family and just want(need?) everyone to get together and have a good time.
5) NO ONE IS ASKING FOR THE RIGHT THINGS.

Ok. Let me elaborate on number 5. Some people ask for more $$, to be skinny, or to be smarter. All of those things you can work on yourself...stop being lazy. (Laziness is something I have to work on myself, so I'm telling myself that) However, why don't we ask God to grant us with wisdom? For reals though?!?! Just look up Proverbs 8 and let's chat about this.

-Wisdom is being characterized as a person who is calling out to us. She speaks what is true and I think we could all use a little bit of that. And wisdom should be our choice over silver and gold!

-Proverbs 8:11 this is my favorite description of wisdom. "for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." So rubies are pretty fabulous....wisdom is better. You could think of anything you want but it doesn't come close to being better than wisdom

-The other thing that I absolutely love about this Proverb is the 'origin' of wisdom'. Wisdom has been around FOREVER. Like, literally. Before oceans, mountains, and earth itself. "...I was the craftsman at his side..." By God's wisdom the earth was made. Woah! THAT IS AWESOME! Wisdom helped create this world so I think it would help you to have it.

Let's think about this. Next time I ask God for something, I will ask for wisdom. If you are unsure ask think about the pros and cons.
Cons: have you even been reading this blog because I see none.
PROS: If you love wisdom, wisdom will love you. The fruit of wisdom is better than gold! It brings blessings, life, and favor.

And all this is just from my 15 min Bible study. So needless to say....there's more to Wisdom than this.

So next time you find yourself asking God for stuff you want, remember what you need. And ask for wisdom because I think it is worth it.

--sea'sthoughts--

MOTIVATION

Who knew motivation could be a gift? Well I sure didn't!! My great friend told me to take the quiz at http://www.gifttest.org/survey.html    I thought why not?? I thought motivation was just cheering someone on at a game or something. NOPE. Let me tell you want, they go into so much depth and detail with it.

I AM NOT COPYING THEM IN ANYWAY. I just want to explain the different concepts.

You could be a perceiver, server, teacher, encourager, giver, ruler, or someone who shows mercy. I highly recommend anyone to take this test! I'm still reading up on the details of being the different types of motivator.

Perceiver, well they perceive between right and wrong. This helps them help other people!! A server accomplishes tasks...kinda self explanatory. Teachers...teach. But this is so important because understand and can explain different reasonings. Ah the encourager! They see and point out the very best in others. Givers not only donate money, but also time which is the most valuable thing in life. The ruler can help navigate everyone to the goal in a practical way. Showing mercy requires patience to listen and be compassionate. Mercifulness is important in comforting people.

I have personally learned a lot about myself by this, and you probably will to!

Sorry no deep thoughts right now...maybe some in depth stuff later in the week. Right now just read and research!

--sea'sthoughts--

Chances

So we all agree that there are many chances out there in life right? Well, a Wednesday or two ago, our youth group talked about GO. To sum things up, we discussed our mission as disciples to go into ALL the nations and share Jesus. And well, I thought "Oh, yeah. I've heard this before, but you know maybe this time I will actually have a chance to do something at school." So I prayed that God would open a door for me somewhere and that I would be able to notice it as an opportunity to share Jesus.

The next week, after talking about the Holy Spirit, I got the chance to pray for a few people. One was my dear friend. She asked me to pray for her and to help her fully understand the Holy Spirit. Of course I embraced this opportunity and I was so ecstatic that she was so interested in this! So I saw that chance and took it. I gave her some advice and I was really excited to see what would happen. The NEXT day she told me about how when she got angry she listened to her worship music and then read her Bible. She found a verse that she now repeats when she gets angry. I was SUPER happy to hear this! I know that she is growing and becoming such a strong woman of God and it makes me smile that I was a little part of that. But what would I have done if that chance hadn't been so clear? Well, frankly I don't know.

Then sometime that week, during a class somehow we started talking about the Holy Spirit. (It was slightly related to my Facebook post on how "The Holy Spirit calms you.") anyways, someone asked me about that. At first I just said, "Well ya know, it just calms you." I ALMOST brushed it off. But something caught in me and I asked if they wanted me to explain it to them. So I did. I'm not sure I did it justice at explaining the Holy Spirit in about three minutes but, hey, I did my best.

I keep looking back on these events and I can't help but think that these chances so random. I mean it's hard to explain but...things like this don't happen everyday. I am honestly just relieved that we happened to talk about all this at youth, because if not, I'm not sure I would've been able to explain or lead someone into a better understanding. So I now challenge myself that whenever I recognize a chance to share anything about Jesus that I will take action. You just can't describe how wonderful it feels to see people you know well to come to church, want to be a part of it, and actively seek out more people to come. It brings pure JOY to my heart. :)

--sea'sthoughts--

Little Thoughts

So I could not fall asleep without writing what just popped into my head. I knew if I didn't write a little something now I would forget. So here it goes.

As a teenager that is fairly active in school (honor classes and whatnot as well as sports, student organizations, etc), and highly active in church there is obviously a lot of pressure to not mess up. Well I was just lying in bed and praying to God "Forgive me for this and help me do this better...bla bla" That's about when He told me to shut up and listen to him. I'd been asking questions a mile a minute and all the sudden "It's ok to make mistakes, just learn from them."

What? You mean I can mess up? No, no, no. I can't let that happen then so-and-so will think this... But wait. Why should I care what they think. I AM A HIGHSCHOOLER! No duh I'm going to make mistakes.

So don't worry. I'm sure there is percentage of people who learn from their mistakes...(it's gotta be at least 95%)

Now that I got that out, I shall be pondering that one statement. Maybe I'll get a revelation or good analysis for it later but just remember. It is OK to make mistakes, just LEARN from them.

--sea'sthoughts--

The Little Things

Fall is usually an incredibly busy time for a majority of people. Numerous practices for football, band, cheerleading, new church activities, and frankly, CRAZY stuff. Not to mention getting back into the swing of things after summer. To continue my train of thought... people get stressed and distracted. Well recently Jeffery Dean came to our school and spoke, but that night he also preached at Forged by Fire. I was super pumped up and exciting for the new year, and for God to do amazing things at our school and in my youth group. And He HAS!!

A week or two later we had maybe twice as many people at See You At The Pole than we did last year. Students opened up and God flowed through many people and I was assured that God was moving in my community. Of course with High School drama, rumors, and crap go around, and so far (Thank Jesus!) I have no been involved and if I have He has given me wisdom on how to get through it all. Especially with my friends having boyfriends and stuff and I'm just sitting there thinking "I like tacos...and chocolate....especially chocolate." Catch my drift? And if you're wondering, yes I am waiting for God to reveal my future husband to me no just go around dating people. Let me clarify: I am not saying that my friends are doing this! They all are being very wise in their decisions and I respect them for that and they respect me for staying single...at least I think they do.

Ok. Off that bunny trail. Life is crazy, right? Well back to that Forged by Fire night? I prayed for my friend afterwards and got to chat with some awesome people. And me being me, I posted a promotional Facebook post to get people to come right? Here it is:

Alright. I just assumed teens would see this and come check it out. 

Little did I know, this message would get to Jeffery Dean who lead this whole thing!! My sweet grandmother is part of Wise Choices. They bring Jeffery Dean to DHS every year to talk about teen stuff and he also holds the Forged by Fire at the stadium that night (along with one of the local churches). Well I guess they had a meeting and my grandma somehow showed him this and he 'replied' with a note. My awesome grandma printed my FB post and framed it with the note saying: "To Sarah- Be fearless girl!" Signed by Jeffery Dean himself.

Now this may mean absolutely nothing to you...but it means a lot to me. I mean how crazy is it that something as small as a stinkin' facebook post could reach someone who travels the US and speaks to teens about Jesus and THEN somehow get back to the first person. That my friends is called a God thing. Defined: something so crazy the only explanation is God.  

It's the little things that go a long way. Actions speak louder than words. And FAITH without works is DEAD. I personally don't want to be dead, so as a word of encouragement, talk to that person. Send them a message. Let the world know you care. God is pushing you do step out of your comfort zone in busy times. Don't forget one more in heaven = a party in heaven. Oh yeah, and something else about 99 sheep and the ONE lost one. I'm pretty sure the shepherd still went out of his way to find that ONE. 

Do what it takes for that ONE person. Inconvenience yourself. God doesn't care if you are little bit embarrassed to share your faith. Wait. WHAT?!? You shouldn't be ashamed of Jesus!! 

You never know who is watching so take that step of faith and courage. 

Keep Calm and Be Fearless

--sea'sthoughts--