Spring Break

I went to Florida over spring break with my friend and her family, so here are some pictures!

I wanted to prove that I could have a little bit of energy at 4:30 in the morning :)

My dad got our family a new car when I was in Florida, and now I am able to drive this smaller car instead of our old van that is so big!

God is so good.

God is so good. I can't even handle it! Today I met with someone who I haven't seen in a long time.... and I seriously have a new perspective on everything now. I watched a video a couple days ago, and it seriously changed my life and how I look at everything. Here's kind of what I took out of the video.
Our lives are full of pain. It's the truth. But God isn't giving us this pain just to watch us suffer! I seriously have yelled at God so much just because it feels good. I feel like I need to get my anger out somewhere, and God seems like the perfect target. But I was so wrong to do that!
The Bible tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from above. Nothing bad comes from God. The reason there is so much pain in this world is because of us. When God was in control of the world, the world was perfect. But when he gave control over to us, that's where it all went wrong! The devil got a hold of this power and that is why there is pain in the world today. God doesn't always win, and that's why my mom went to Heaven. I've heard this phrase many times: "Everything happens for a reason." But the person who I was with today put it in better words: "God makes a reason out of everything." It's so perfect! Anyway, 1 John 5:19 says this: "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one."  God admits here that the devil has control of the world, so it is written here that God will not always win, but there really can be a shining light in all darkness!  Anyway, just thought I'd share what I learned today and hopefully it can impact everyone who reads this as much as it impacted me.

February 19

Well, the school I go to has a snow day! Of course, though, I showed up at 6:15 along with a lot of other people because of Dutch Dance. At first it was only a 2 hour delay, so we just hung around at school for a while waiting for school to start. And then, it was a snow day, and we were all pretty happy about that.
Anyway, I thought that since it's a snow day I would spend some time in the Bible, so here are a couple verses that I like.

Psalm 73:23-26: "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." 

John 14:1: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." 
I know this verse is short and simple but it has a lot of meaning behind it.

Hebrews 12:2: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and st down at the right hand fo the throne of God."

Isaiah 31:21: "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" 

Psalm 145:18-21: "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord, let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever." 

Semiformal

Saturday night was semiformal for the school that I go to, and it was a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of the night.

Some poems

We're doing this poem writing unit in English, and I'm really enjoying it!
Here are a couple poems that I've written in class. I realize that some of them aren't the best but that's because we only had 15 minutes to write them.

This is called a "Found Poem." A Found poem is a poem where you take another poem or  Bible verse, or something like that, and just take out the key parts of the writing and make your own poem out of it.
So, I made a poem out of Psalm 13. Psalm 13 originally is this:

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?

    How long will you hide your face from me?

 

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

    How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.

    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

 

and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”

    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

    my heart rejoices in your salvation.

 

I will sing the Lord’s praise,

    for he has been good to me.

Here's my poem about it: 

Day after day I feel forgotten

I feel like like God’s love has left

I’ve been defeated, I have fallen

I’ve been overtaken by death

Lord, help me trust in you

I need your love to help me rise

I’m longing to see you now

help me open up my eyes

We had to mess around with different poem types, so here is a poem that I wrote. It's a "Cinquain" poem.

Nature never fails to amaze me
it takes my breath away everyday
No matter what season
there is always a reason
to let nature tell me that it will be okay.

Music plays a big role in my life
it defines who I will be
Music will never fade away
it is here to stay
Music brings comfort to me.



What makes me the person I am
is simply my passion for the Lord
I know that he’s always there
anytime and anywhere
and I know that from him, I will never be ignored.

And finally, here is my "I am" poem. 

Everyday is a struggle

Everyday is the same
I wipe a smile on my face
that covers up all my pain
People think that I’m doing okay
they think that I am staying strong
I just wish sometimes
that this pain wouldn’t last so long
I miss her so much
this pain doesn’t even seem real
I don’t understand God
when will this pain begin to heal?
Starting life over without her
is the hardest thing I’ve ever done
I need a mom here
to help me when troubles come
Music is my foundation
it rescues me everyday
When I’m lost and when I feel alone
I play the piano and sing away
I hope that someday soon
my fake smile will go away
I hope that a real smile can appear on my face
and this time, I hope it will stay.

Acacia Tree

My Bible teacher really likes Acacia tree's, so I wrote a poem for him about this type of tree(:

The Acacia Tree

The Acacia tree has a foundation

a foundation that will forever stay strong

this Acacia tree provides shade for everyone

and stays alive all year long

you may think that humans are nothing like trees

however that is not true

we both need to have everlasting roots

that help us become new

We need to be planted into God’s word

just like the Acacia tree is planted into the ground

God’s word will keep us alive 

just like the water keeps the Acacia tree profound

When pain taunts us left and right

we all need a foundation to return to

we all have to let our roots dig deep into God’s word

That is what God wants us to do

People who have no roots have no where to go

they are left feeling sad and alone

They have nowhere to run to and no one to count on

but maybe that is all they’ve ever known

Once you have a foundation

like a tree, you need to grow

Some people need God in their life

some people need to know.

January 12

I read something in my devotional the other day that I feel like should be shared with a lot of people. I read this: "Hope in Me, and you will be protected from depression and self-pity. Hope is like a golden cord connecting you to heaven. The more you cling to this cord, the more I bear the weight of your burdens; thus, you are lightened. Heaviness is not my Kingdom. Cling to hope, and my rays of Light will reach you through the darkness."
I love that so much. 
Also, the other day I was rip-sticking around the block. I was praying and asking for God to give me a sign because I really couldn't feel his presence anymore. I didn't think that God was going to give me a sign because I've never really gotten an obvious sign from him before. Anyway, as I was riding along the street, I looked into the sky and in the sky was a cross formed out of the clouds. It was amazing.  
I haven't really posted much about my family lately, so I'll give you a little update on how everyone is doing here. My dad is doing good with work, and my siblings are loving school/loving their teachers. I'm also loving school but I'm not loving the exams. Next week is exam week, so I've been studying all day. I've actually been studying in our storage closet in the depths of our basement because it's the quietest place in our house. Once Exams are over, then I will begin to start writing more. I'll be updating this blog more often once I get into that routine(: