Standing Strong

Today I have a different kind of post than I normally write. A good friend of mine wrote and published her first book! She takes Biblical concepts and puts them into an adventure-filled story full of forgiveness and hope. Definitely worth the read!  I encourage you to check it out :) A parasitic monster. A timid young woman. A deadly inner world. Giselle is cursed. A monster lives within her, preying upon her mind. She sees no hope for her future when thoughts disappear as they form, and every small pleasure is met with a fit of pain. Then her closest friend offers her a single, harrowing chance at freedom. Terrified that failure is inevitable, but desperate for the life stolen from her, she sets out to slay her curse armed with a magical talisman. Now, the girl who can’t do anything right must defeat the beast within before her dreamsnare fills, or risk dying trapped in her own mind.  What Readers are Saying: “This book excels at feeling cozy, heartwarming, and altogether lov...

What do we do when we are facing a tough situation?  What do we do when that relationship comes to an end? What do we do when a loved one dies? What do we when we don't get accepted into that school? What do we do when we aren't hired for that job? What do we do when we are told by our government to stay home due to a virus? About a month before this pandemic began, I watched Frozen 2 with my siblings.  I kinda had a hard time following the story line just because it was very fast moving, but the one song that really stood out to me was "The Next Right Thing" sung by Anna (Kristin Bell). I won't go into all the details in case you haven't seen it. I don't want to spoil anything. Basically, Anna is in mourning.  I've seen dark before, but not like this This is cold, this is empty, this is numb The life I knew is over, the lights are out Hello, darkness, I'm ready to succumb I follow you around, I always have But you...

My family and I have visited many churches over the years, so we have seen how several different denominations hold their services. Some of these churches have either been all for the prosperity gospel, or very much against it - that we should live as poor people like Jesus did.  In one particular church that we had been attending for quite some time, my family and I witnessed several situations that were very concerning to us. In the youth group, I remember everyone going around the room, saying what they were "believing" for. But the things they were believing for - every one of them was material possessions. When it got to my turn, I just kinda blurted out that I was believing for a piano. It was honestly the first thing I could think of at the moment, and I didn't want to look stupid in front of all these teens. Well, when you're afraid you're going to look stupid, oftentimes people pick up on that and decide to dig.  "Do you have a verse you...

"You shall have no other gods before me." - Exodus 20:3  Whenever I read this scripture, I immediately dismiss it, thinking, "Got it. No problem with idolatry here." When I would read it, I would think of the gods in the Old Testament that people would worship. You know, like when the Hebrews worshipped the golden calf when Moses was trying to take them to the Promised Land? I used to think of idolatry as people who worshipped other fake gods instead of the one true God.  However, idolatry isn't just the worship of other gods, such as Buddha or Allah.   This is the definition of idolatry, according to Merriam-Webster:            1. the worship of a physical object as a god            2. immoderate attachment or devotion to something This means then, that anything we put before God, is an idol. Anything that we can't stop meditating on is an idol. The Bible makes it very clear that idolatry ...

I don't know what 2018 was like for you. Maybe it was a good year. Maybe it wasn't.  For me, 2018 was a sobering year. It started in May when I was driving in a city that I was not very familiar with. As I was driving toward a specific destination, I realized I missed a turn. I turned around in a parking lot, and started going back. The sun was shining in my eyes, and I failed to see the traffic light just up ahead. I saw a car on my right hand side and thought they were at a stop sign. As I kept going, my sister in the backseat yelled, "Red li-!" A car slammed into the rear passenger door of my car, glass shattered, and my sisters screamed. As I got out of the car, I opened the rear door for my sister to climb through. She was crying. The whole side of the door, the side that she had been sitting on, had been completely destroyed. But here she was, alive. My hands started shaking, and I started crying. This was the first time I ever had to call 911.  Tha...

Dear College Students, I know you are probably stressed out with homework, tests, and papers (and probably wondering why you are reading this blog post in the first place when you have so much to do). But I know you are more than likely also thinking about your future. You may be thinking about your future career. You may be thinking about how to land the perfect job that fits your major. You may be dreaming that one day, you will make a name for yourself in your job. Because after all, college is all about receiving that education to get that high-end 9-5, right? It's all about what you do to make yourself successful...right? ....What if we have it all wrong? For the longest time, I thought I had to have the same job that was in my field. I was convinced that I couldn't do anything else with my life. I thought I would be in sin if I decided to go another path. But then I realized...what if God wanted me to go down another path? What if instead...

"I'm going to change the world someday," we say while sitting in our comfy recliners, eating a bag of Doritos, and binge-watching our new favorite series on Netflix. We read quotes from people like Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change you want to see in the world." All we do is talk, listen, and watch. But what are we DOING? Nothing. We are wasting our time. We say, "Well, I don't have time to do this or that." But we make sure we make time to scroll on Facebook or update our Instagram's. We get so caught up in other peoples' lives that we rarely have time for our own. This is the biggest problem with social media. (But that is a whole other topic in and of itself.) You see, we weren't just made to simply survive life. We weren't created to watch what everyone else is doing. No, we were all created to thrive. We were created to bring glory to God. We were created to do good works through Christ. We were created to bring light ...

Love can't stay silent. That was the focus of Audacity, a movie put out by Ray Comfort, who goes to the city streets of California and talks to people about Jesus. In this particular movie, a young man has a nightmare that leads to a lesbian couple who die because he didn't warn them of an oncoming danger. He then goes to the Bible to search for answers to find out how he can witness to homosexuals. In the end, we find that true love is not letting someone die in their sin, but speaking out in love what the Bible says about their sin. "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."  -John 13:35 Love does not just sit by and do nothing while a friend is in eternal danger. No, love speaks the truth. Ephesians 4:15 says, "...we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church." Christians, we cannot sit back and let our friends, family, cowork...

Dear Churches, I have been sad to see how many people are leaving your buildings. You say that the reason people are leaving is because they are not hungry for spiritual food. Instead they are seeking out what the world has to give them. I regret to inform you that I think you are wrong. While some may be seeking the world instead of God, not all are. I believe people are hungry spiritually, but unfortunately, they are not being fed properly by your "church." You say that the reason people are leaving is the rest of the world's fault. The world is feeding people garbage, and these people are falling into that trap. They are not hungry spiritually anymore because they are being fed garbage. But you are wrong. While the world is feeding us garbage, not everyone is falling into this trap. Just because someone is not attending your "church" does not mean they are stepping away from their faith. You say that it is the media's fault. The media is painting...

Anxiety. It pulls at you. It pulls with all its strength. You feel like you are being pulled down, down, down, into a never ending dark pit, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Anxiety.  The word itself makes my palms sweaty, and puts butterflies in my stomach. I get all jittery. I have come to realize that I deal with anxiety a lot. And instead of hiding it, I have decided to just come out with it, because hiding it makes me even more anxious. I become anxious over the big things and the small things. I get anxious about making decisions. I get anxious about buying things. I get anxious over money. I get anxious in certain social interactions, when I start believing the other person is thinking judgmental things about me. I get anxious about the future. I get anxious about almost everything. Anxiety is just fear. That's all it is. Well, I get tired of being anxious all the time. Letting anxiety take over is exhausting....

The room was dead silent. We all looked at our professor, who had tears in his eyes. "I beg you," he said, looking at each one of us, "Don't be half-in. Either get all the way in, or get out."  I will always remember that day. You see, that man was my Christian Ministries professor in college about two years ago, and he commanded us to make a decision. Either we loved God and wanted to obey Him, or we didn't. We either needed to serve God or just forget the whole thing. We shouldn't be in-between serving Him and then not serving Him. I thought that day would change me. It kept me inspired for a while, but then I fell back into the same old routine: Half-heartedly loving God. What I mean by half-heartedly loving God is this: sometimes praying, but usually only when I needed something. Worshipping, but only when I felt like it. Reading the Bible, but only when I was going through a rough time and needed encouragement.  I'm so...

"You've gotta know how to treat me like a lady, even when I'm acting crazy, and tell me everything's alright." Do you recognize these song lyrics? If you guessed "Dear Future Husband" by secular pop artist Meghan Trainor, you guessed right. I came across this song while listening to her song "Better When I'm Dancing," which she performed for the Peanuts movie (because I love the Peanuts movie, and listen to the soundtrack all the time). YouTube was on auto play, and "Dear Future Husband" was the next song on the playlist. If you're listening to it for the first time, you'll probably notice how upbeat and fun the song is (I did anyway). I thought it was cute and sweet that she was singing about her future husband. But after I listened to it a second time, I paid more attention to the lyrics. Needless to say, I became disturbed. If you don't know the song, she is essentially listing the things her future husband ...

Recently, my mom told me that she felt as though 2017 was the year God wanted her to deal with some of her pet peeves. After she told me that, I started feeling the same way. My mom and I Googled the definition of "pet peeve." This is what we found: pet peeve noun informal noun: pet peeve ; plural noun: pet peeves something that a particular person finds especially annoying. "one of my biggest pet peeves is poor customer service"   We ALL have pet peeves. I have many pet peeves. Like when I find two open jugs of milk in the fridge. Or driving behind a school bus when I am already running late for work. Or when customers tell me how to do MY job.   These are only small pet peeves of mine, but I also have a few big ones that actually matter a whole lot more than the others.   One of my biggest pet peeves is this: When a pastor/youth pastor/elder/minister/worship leader/missionary says,...

Who are you when everyone is watching you? Who are you when no one is watching you? (Or so you think.) Who are you when you hang out with friends (or enemies)? Who are you when you spend time with your family? Who are you when you worship in front of others? Who are you when you worship by yourself? Who are you when you talk with other believers? Who are you when you talk with nonbelievers? Who are you when you confront a friend? Who are you when a friend confronts you? Who are you in front of your teacher, pastor, or youth leader? Who are you in front of your parents? Who are you in front of the opposite gender? Who are you in front of your spouse? Who are you when your friend wants to hang out with you? Who are you when your sibling wants to hang out with you? Who are you when you serve others at work? Who are you when you serve your family at home? Who are you when your work manager watches you? Who are you when they don't? Who are you when you go t...

She knew she couldn't keep on going like this. She knew it...down in the bottom of her heart....Way down where all those dark secrets she never told anyone about took hold. Those dark secrets were like bear claws and teeth scratching and gnawing at her heart. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't keep living like this. She needed a change. She needed someone to snap her out of the fantasy she had been living almost her entire life. She wanted to start living - to really start living. But this living was going to be different. This living didn't involve parties, drugs, or a different guy each night. No, this kind of living was something she had dreamed of for a while, but that she could never grab hold of. But she wanted it. She needed it. No more depression , she thought to herself. She sat up in her bed and peeked through the blinds. Outside, the sun was beginning to rise. Cars on the city street below her apartment honked. An ambulance flew by, its s...

What does it mean to have pride? According to Google:   Pride - a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.   In this definition, pride is a good thing. You take pride in your hard work. You take pride in your siblings, parents, children, spouse, and friends in their accomplishments.   Overall, pride can be a good thing. But it can also become ugly. When exactly does pride become ugly?   Pride is ugly when it is a selfish pride. Pride is ugly when you are proud of your own wisdom, and don't lean on the Lord for His wisdom. Pride is ugly when you are proud of your wrongdoings, your sins. Pride is ugly when you are too proud to change your ways. Pride is ugly when you don't humble yourself.   Recently, there have been several people I know who have come out on Faceb...

During my last semester in college, I took an Intro to Christian Ministries class. In one of the class periods, my teacher talked to us about how we should either follow God or we should not. As he talked about being lukewarm, tears started coming to his eyes, and his voice got stronger. He told us to either "be in the ministry or get out of it. Don't be lukewarm." I hope I will always remember how he was moved to tears about this particular subject, because it really helped me to see how many lukewarm Christians there really are, and how I did not want to be one. Revelation 3:15-16 says, "I know your works, that you are neither hot nor cold. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of my mouth." Ouch. God is really strong about this issue. He will vomit us out of his mouth if we are lukewarm. He tells us that it is better to be cold than to be lukewarm. Jesus also said in Matthew ...