Forever For His Glory

I remember when I first got my purity ring. It wasn’t something someone told me to do - I wanted to do it.  I remember looking online for the perfect one, and then receiving it for my birthday. Ah, I wore it proudly! As did the other girls in our homeschool circles. The silver band sat glistening on my right hand, because the left hand meant you were married, and you couldn’t have people [aka guys] thinking that! Though I knew a couple girls who wore theirs on their left hands (aka the radical ones).   The ring symbolized a vow to the Lord to keep oneself for one’s spouse. It was something that you’d keep, and then give to your spouse. It was a symbol of purity; a gift. Years went on.... I still wore my ring (though I had since exchanged it with a delicate silver band that my brother made). When I went out of the country to India and St. Vincent I moved move my ring to my left hand so that guys would think I was taken. And during the 4 months I was in St. Vincen...

Last month while I was at the YWAM Refresh Retreat in Kansas City, Mo, one of the speakers told us to ask God to show us what our hearts looked like towards Him. Well, I missed that part, because earlier the leader of the session had also told us to ask God for a picture, or word, or something, so I did that, and God showed me a waterfall. Now, when I first did my DTS, a waterfall was what God showed me as to what He and His love is like. So God showed me this waterfall (He and His love) and it was so peaceful and beautiful. It was in a tropical forest with light streaming through the trees, and bright flowers. And so whenever God shows/tells you something, you ask Him what it means, so I did. And God asked me how I responded when I saw the picture. Well, when I first saw the picture I was like, “Oh, its so beautiful!” But instead of my normal reaction of “I see water; I want to jump into it!” My reaction was more like, “Eh, not right now.” And God told me that the sam...

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11 I did not want to grow up. I wanted the benefits of being a grown up, but I did not want the responsibilities. I wanted to be treated like a grown up, but still act like a child - an “adolescent”. Except, it’s not possible. I have tried. You either act like an adult and get treated like an adult, or you act like a child and get treated like a child. For most of my life, I have been tall for my age. When I was 6 people thought I was 9. When I was 9, people thought I was 12. When I was 12, people thought I was 16, and so on. You get the picture… Some people still think I’m older than I am. Since I was taller, and everyone thought I was older than I was, they treated me like I was older, and my maturity level increased to said older age. And, I have to admit, I enjoyed it. But, when I turned 1...

A week and a half ago, I received an anonymous letter in the mail with instructions that it was not to be opened until October 19th - my brother's wedding day. Needless to say, my curiosity was at it's peak. Who is it from?! I've always loved the idea of anonymous letters, and I couldn't wait to see what was inside! The morning of the wedding dawned bright and beautiful, and I hastened to open the card. Inside, I discovered something I was not expecting: a love letter. Literally, my heart skipped a beat. Have you ever opened a letter, not knowing who it was from, and read, "Dearest ____, I have loved you with an everlasting love"? My heart went a piter-patter, and rightly so. Because the card was from God. The entire card was verses expressing God's love, concern, and how He cares for me. It was signed "Abba". Love letters have always been something that have intrigued me, but I've never thought of receiving an actual...

I have found it: the best feeling in the world is knowing you are wanted. I don’t think there is anything that gives me more warm, happy fuzzies than that. But let me back up. June 24th-28th, I was teaching at a pre-school CYIA Good News club in Quinlan. On the 2nd to last day of club, I came down with a fever during club. By the time I got home, I piled under 4 blankets and took a nap. Naturally, the sickness made it so that I was not able to make it to the last day of club, which I was very disappointed about. We had an awesome group of 9 or so kids, and I was really looking forward to spending the last day with them. 3, 4 and 5 year old's are so cute, and I had formed a bond with several of the kids. Fast forward to last Tuesday, almost 2 weeks later, and I was finally able to ask the other two girls in my group how the last day of club went. “Oh, it was great. And they all really missed you!” “Yeah, Jaden asked where you were almost as soon as we got into th...