The Wedding Dress

           She stands, looking at herself in the mirror, eyes covered in tears, “this is it” she says, “I’m finally getting married.” This was the day my interviewee, Lindsay, had dreamed about ever since she was a kid.  Looking in the mirror, you saw Lindsay, standing in her gorgeous, white, laced, sparkly, strapless dress. Her make-up was perfectly done and her hair waved in a seamlessly natural look. Lindsay continued explaining to me about her dress, “The dress was literally the first one I tried on.”

Her wedding took place on the beach – the perfect setting. Wind flowing, waves crashing in a sequenced pattern, the sun just on the brink of setting, everything was in place. All of her friends and family were seated, patiently waiting for the bride. Brady, her husband, was standing in front of them, wearing his nicest suit. Heather, the maid of honor, was waiting eagerly at the altar, finally getting to see her best friend evolve from a woman to a wife as she walks down the aisle. Fixing the last piece of hair, Lindsay was ready to go down the aisle.

Everyone turned to see the breath-taking bride. Strutting down the aisle, Lindsay locked eyes with her dad, who was tearing up as she walked with him. The moment Brady saw his wife-to-be, his face immediately lit up. She stood in front of the reception in awe of the whole experience. Her old selfish ways of life would finally disappear with the words “I do”. Lindsay would no longer just be living for herself, but for another person. She explains “We now work together as a team in this world, rather than alone.”

Then the magnificent ceremony began. Friends and family watched in awe, they were finally seeing two people madly in love, come together “for as long as they both shall live.” The minister states, “Take hands and repeat after me: I, Brady, take you, Lindsay, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live”. After exchanging these words, Lindsay and Brady were now considered Mr. and Mrs. Closson.

“Perfect” were the words Lindsay used to explain her wedding to me. She was now not one person, but one of two. Lindsay enthusiastically explained to me about her amazing husband saying, “My life is so wonderful because of the man I get to share it with. He provides love, protection, grace, forgiveness, affection, friendship and respect. He treats me as though I am the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to him, and we enjoy the moments we share together.” I got the awesome opportunity to meet Brady not to long ago. All I can say is she is understating his awesomeness. Brady treats her like a princess, and Lindsay is so madly in love with him. They are the perfect couple.

Her wedding dress is a reminder of her breath-taking wedding, and her amazing friends and family. The dress symbolizes her “once in a lifetime partnership” with her great husband, Brady. This object shows her life evolving, from being single to becoming a team of two. This wedding dress is not just spectacular, but a memory that she will cherish forever.

For me, I take their partnership as an example of who my husband must be. He has to treat me like Brady does Lindsay. And like Lindsay is to Brady, I must be so madly in love with my future husband. He has to be my best friend and someone who will provide “love, protection, grace, forgiveness, affection, friendship, and respect.” I thank Lindsay and Brady for being an amazing model and influence on me and my life. Lindsay last words to me in the interview were simply, “I am so glad my wedding dress is in my life, because it reminds me I have a husband to share my life with. And for that, I am thankful.”

Dating

It seems like having a boyfriend in high school is the norm/ the cool thing to do. I mean if you went to my high school for a day you would notice all the couples making out in the halls, and holding hands. Society is telling every teenager that you need a boyfriend, and we want that, we want someone to tell us they love us. We want that person to protect us. I mean God created attraction; we want to be with another person of the opposite sex. But society takes it a little farther and says that “love” is going a little farther with your boyfriend then you would have wanted. Your friends, you find, are having sex, and doing other things. Then you see on TV teens who are having sex and they make it seem like they are cool. Let’s face it, high school has a lot of pressure to have a boyfriend. 


Are you the girl that dreamed of having a boyfriend ever since you were little? Do you imagine him in your head saying how he would be the perfect guy, a gentleman, who treated you like a princess, and is drop dead gorgeous? I know I did. But now you are in high school, and never had a boyfriend. But maybe you have, and he turned out to be quite the opposite of that perfect guy you imagined.  He was a total jerk, and only dated you for what you would do with him.


But is that what love is? Is love making out with him, or doing other things to him? That can’t be all to what love is, yet we believe what are peers in high school and what society tells us.


Hey you, yeah you, that girl, that teenage girl that just wants a guy to love, and comfort her, you. Guess what? You don’t need a boyfriend right now. If you tell yourself all you want and need is a guy then you tend to lower your standards, believe me I have been there. Are you the type of girl that, if a guy tells you that he likes you, and you didn’t like him before, you start telling yourself you like him because he liked you first? I was that girl. All I wanted was a person who loved me for me. But what I didn’t know was, that wasn’t love. No, far from it. That guy I dated, he wasn’t after me because he liked me, he liked me because of what I could give him. Have you been down this road? What I have learned from this experience is that I can’t lower my standards for a guy just because I want a boyfriend.


Recently in my youth group we have been talking about dating and guys. They talked about how God created dating for marriage, not just to date any guy who says he likes you. This really got me thinking, if God tells me I should date for the guy I want to marry then what do I want my future husband to be like. So I made a list. I admit some of it is really superficial, but come on I am still a 15 year old girl! After I read this list, and had a vivid idea of who my perfect guy would be like, I realized how horrible the guys I have previously dated were. Most of them didn’t meet any of my standards.  Yet I dated them.  I wanted to feel loved. But it wasn’t love.


God has a perfect guy for you, someone who He hand-picked for you. What I am asking is that you don’t lower your standards. You were “perfectly and wonderfully made”. You’re beautiful. DO NOT go for a guy who doesn’t love you for you! Do not “awaken love”. Be patient and don’t go after the bad guys. If you are thinking it’s too hard, and believe me, I KNOW ITS HARD, all I want you to do is write your own list of the perfect guy. The next time a guy asks you out, or you like a guy, I want you to look back at your list and see if he matches up to that guy. He probably won’t. All you to know is that you are precious and a gem, you don’t need a bad guy, and you deserve the BEST! Just wait for him, don’t give your body up to any jerk that says “I loves you”.

Go after your Dreams

In this day and age many people grow up having dreams. I remember going to Disney World when I was a kid, and every time I left I remember feeling that this moto was true, “All my dreams could come true”.

Maybe when you were little you had a dream. Maybe it was being a princess, or perhaps when you were older it was owning your own company. I am sure you can think of one time were you had a dream. And for that one moment when you were a little kid, in my case after going to Disney World, it felt as though you could accomplish it, and actually could have all your dreams come true. 

But then... you got older. You came to recognize that those dreams were realistically impossible, and too hard to accomplish. You realized that getting to those dreams, of owning your own business, helping the poor, or becoming an author, is harder then you thought. You realized it would take a lot more work and effort, and it wouldn’t just magically appear when you got older. Then you even came to realize this painful reality, that even if you give it your all and work hard, that may not even be enough to make your dreams come true.

Most of us stop right there. We realize that our dreams seem impossible. We can now see the reality of our dreams, and how unrealistic they are in accomplishing. You let negative thoughts of doubt ruin your imagination, “I can’t own my own Christian teen girl conference, no, it may fail, it will be too hard, I don’t have enough money, enough resources, what if no one goes to it?" So what do we do?  We let our doubts set in, and we decided not to take any steps in accomplishing our dreams. But why?

If we really want our dreams to come true then why not go after it? If we really want to accomplish something why not take the hard route in life, and take the steps we need to get to our goal. For some of us though we find ourselves to comfortable in our position now. Maybe it’s the job you’re at, it is a sturdy job, you may not be the happiest there, “but it’s paying the bills” you tell yourself. We think that “paying the bills” is enough. But is it really? God is saying “No, you shouldn’t stop at comfortable, you should do hard things, for Me”. Jesus didn’t take the easy way out, no He took the hard route and ended up saving you and me.

God gave you many gifts when you were born. Maybe you are good at talking to people, or maybe you’re good at writing, whatever it is, God gave you those gifts for a reason. Do you think he wants you to sit around at work all day, every day? I don’t think so, I think he gave us those gifts so we can use them!

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord “plans to prosper you, and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”

We have dreams for a reason, they are so we can imagine something we want. So that in turn will give us the boost we need to go out and accomplish them. He has huge plans for your life, and your dreams! I have a question I want you to think about, are you going to allow God to help you accomplish his big plans for you, or are you going to stop Him and sit around at your job?

I am challenging you today, to first, write down your goals on a piece of paper. Second, below them I want you to write steps you can take to accomplish them; after that pray about it, ask if that’s were God wants you now. Then, the last thing, if God is saying yes, I want you to go out and take those steps needed to accomplish them.

“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards. They try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” ~ Margaret Young ~

“Unless you start doing something different, you are in for more of the same.” ~ Author Unknown ~

“Go confidently in the direction of your Dreams. Live the life you've imagined!” ~ Henry David Thoreau ~

You are More Video

This is an amazing song, with amazing lyrics, and an amazing message.

Maybe there is something holding you back, something that you are feeling regret about. Well guess what there is good news, YOU ARE FORGIVEN! Nothing, and i mean nothing you can do can seperate you from Jesus' love and mercy.

I could write a nice, strongly worded blog about this song, and the lyrics. When really I dont need to, just the lyrics to the song are enough. Mike (the singer) did a nice job writing this song, almost as though he was writing a blog post when he wrote it. So anyways here is the lyrics (:

You are More
Tenth Avenue North

There's a girl in the corner

With tear stains on her eyes

From the places she's wandered

And the shame she can't hide
She says, "How did I get here?

I'm not who I once was.

 And I'm crippled by the fear

That I've fallen too far to love"
But don't you know who you are,

What's been done for you?

Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

 You are more than the problems you create,

You've been remade.
Well she tries to believe it

That she's been given new life

 But she can't shake the feeling

That it's not true tonight
She knows all the answers

 And she's rehearsed all the lines

And so she'll try to do better

But then she's too weak to try
But don't you know who you are?
You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

You are more than the problems you create,

 You've been remade.
You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

You are more than the problems you create,

You've been remade.
'Cause this is not about what you've done,

But what's been done for you.

 This is not about where you've been,

But where your brokenness brings you to
This is not about what you feel,

But what He felt to forgive you,

And what He felt to make you loved.
You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

You are more than the problems you create,

You've been remade.
You are more than the choices that you've made,

You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

 You are more than the problems you create,

 You've been remade.
You've been remade

You've been remade.

You've been remade.

You've been remade.

 

 

 

How to deal with Stress

Today I am going to talk about how to deal with stress. I am not a master at dealing with stress, not at all, but I do have an opinion on this subject. 

For one, I see too many of the people I love who are stressed out – I guess that’s why I wanted to talk about this. Sometimes even if you love your job, you can still find yourself being stressed out. Yes, even if you love your job! But, what matters is how you react to the stress.

Sometimes stress can be good. Maybe the stress of having to finish your task actually motivates you to finish it. But not all the time even that type of stress can be good. For example, you have a huge goal you have to meet by the end of the month and this goal seems impossible. So you stop all activities you have had planned, ignore your outside life, and totally %100 give your all to completing it. That is bad stress.

Stress isn’t supposed to be a blocker to our outside life. If you get in the habit of needing to complete the tasks to save your job, and blocking your life, this is when you will find yourself lost. If you continually push-off your life for your job, you will never be happy.

First I think you need to understand why you feel you need to finish your task. Let’s use the previous example; so you’re ignoring all outside life, and you feel like this is the only way you will be able to complete it. You can’t have outside distractions or you won’t complete it efficiently or effectively – well that’s what you tell yourself. But then you end up getting lost, you start getting easily angered,  and very impatient with your loved ones. Stop right here, why do you feel you need to finish this task? Is it because you want to keep your job, or pay the bills? If so, why do you feel you need to keep your job? Is it because you want to have a house for your loved ones, or be able to provide for your family? If so, then why are you letting the stress of your job hold you back from your loved ones.

What I am saying is that your job should always come second to anything you are doing for, you, your family, and the most important thing, God. Remember this when you are feeling stressed out.

Another point I want to make, in 50 years, after you retire, what will you have left? Will it be your job? Or will it be friends and family? Whatever is happening right now won’t matter in the future.

Not only can stress deter you from your friends, family and God, it can also cause serious health issues like

So my blog today was called “How to deal with Stress” so I think I should make a list of ways to deal with stress lol.

One- do something you love. Maybe it is a sport, or hanging out with your friends, do that because that will help you get your mind off it

Second- think positive.

Negative                                               Positive

Third- when you get to a stressful point in your day, or just are feeling really stressed out try to do this,

·    Count to 10 before you speak.

·    Take three to five deep breaths.

·    Walk away from the stressful situation, and say you'll handle it later.

·    Go for a walk.

·    Don't be afraid to say "I'm sorry" if you make a mistake.

·    Set your watch five to 10 minutes ahead to avoid the stress of being late.

·    Break down big problems into smaller parts. For example, answer one letter or phone call per day, instead of dealing with everything at once.

Fourth-  have a time during the day were you relax. During this time, don’t do anything, don’t think, just relax. Maybe this time is before you sleep and you’re praying or reading your bible.

Last- PRAY. God will help you if you ask, ask him to help you see the positive in situations. God is an amazing stress reliever, use HIM!