The time when we are closest to God is when we are broken.
When we have give up all other hope
Exhausted all resources
Lost our way
When the world has broken our hearts
Taken away what we love
Left us with nothing but scars
Piled too much on our shoulders
We are closest to God in those moments when
There
Is
Nothing
Left.
We cry out to him
"Lord, save me!"
We recognize that these hurts
These trials
This flesh
Is only temporary
Can be healed
By none other than God.
He takes the mess that is our lives
The broken pieces of our hearts
And mends them
Heals them
Saves them.
When life has just been going on too long
And we feel like we just can't make it any further
He carries us
Until we can walk.
Today is a very sad day. Today there is a funeral for a person that God has taken to live in his kindgom, even though it seems to early through the eyes of man. A two month old child has gone to live with her father in heaven, while her earthly parents are left to grieve and their friends attempt to console them at the funeral.
Many people that I know have gone through similar things. It is hard to lose a child no matter what age they are. It always seems too early. But the important thing to think about is that you will get to see them again someday. And when the days feel like they weigh you down too much, the best thing is just to cry out to Jesus, the healer and comforter.
I know that the couple will have a hard time. I have not lost a child, but I lost my uncle when I was a child. Very few days go by without the thought that he is up in heaven, watching over me, but he seems so far away. I know that the pain is real and no one will ever seem to know exactly how it feels. But God knows. And he can help you through.
Crystal and Dylan, I know that God has great plans for you and that everything happens for a reason. I know that the pain is great now, and that it always will be. But life can't be lived only for the past. Ecclesiastes 3:4 states, there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. I know that it may seem hopeless right now, but I guarantee that there is a bright future for you two. Though the sorrows may last for the night, the joy comes with the morning. I hope that you two keep going and rely on the Lord to help you through.
As to anyone else who might be going through something similar, I give you the same advice and push you to keep going, no matter how hard it gets. When you find yourself face down on the floor cryiing out, the Lord will be there to pick you up and hold you until the storm passes, or at least slows to a drizzle.
Anyone else, I encourage you to keep these people in your prayers and I will post something more joyful tomorrow. Have a beautiful day, and DFTBA.
Love,
Elizabeth W.
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible. Show all posts
January 29, 2013
December 3, 2012
Early Christmas Present!
So, my uncle gave me some money on thanksgiving, and told me that I could buy whatever I want, and that would be my Christmas present from him. Well, this weekend, I went shopping with my mother and ended up spending that money. The cool part is what I got.
My favorite thing that I bought was the materials to start screen-printing my own t-shirts. I got an actual screen printing screen, along with a squeegee/scraper thing. Then, I got all of the different filler and drawing inks along with some paint, and the cleaning solultion for cleaning the screen. I got a small sketchbook also, so I can sketch out my shirt ideas before I actually make them.
I think the first thing that I will screen print is a shirt with my new youtube logo on it. I haven't officially released it on the internet, but it is basically an image form of my username. I think I will make a couple, that way I can give one or two away or sell them. I now know why screen printed shirts are so expensive, however. In charging $20 dollars each, I would only be making about $8 or so profit. Thats not a lot. Once I get going, though, I can take orders and do specialty shirts.
A while back, my spanish 3 and 4 class discussed ordering screen-printed tshirts. We haven't done it yet to my knowledge. If I can get a design drawn out, and everyone to bring about ten dollars, I can buy a shirt for each person and make them. At Walmart, colored shirts are about three or four dollars each, plus I have to pay for the paints and the effort put into them. I might be able to get the people in my class to get together and make them with me. That way, I won't be making ten or fifteen shirts on my own. We could do an assembly line type thing. It would work best if the design was only one color, though. I don't want to have to line up the screen again to put more paint on the shirt. I'll need to experiment with my own designs and figure out how it all works first.
This could be such a great money saving and money making tool. I just have to get good at it. It doesn't seem that complicated. I will probably need to get more tshirts to screen print on, so I might do that with any money I get for Christmas. But think about it. Lets say I make shirts. All of them with different things on them. They cost $5 for each shirt and $5 for the paints. I charge a little for the time I put into it and the use of my equipment. I easily make $5 to $10 dollars profit. Of course, much of this will go to pay for maintenence of the equipment. Sometimes you need new screens or more of them. More solution to clean them with or more drawing and filling inks. New paintbrushes. Plus, I will need to be saving up money for college. I can't just go out and spend it all willy-nilly. Is that how you spell that?
Anyway, I got some clothes this weekend also. I got this bright red jacket and a frilly white tank to wear when I take senior pictures, AKA tomorrow. I got a blue infinity scarf too. I got all of this from a store called Maurices. Its a clothing store for women, but the sizes range from Juniors size zero to a womens extra extra large. I like it because both my mom and I can shop there for clothes and shoes and accessories. I almost got my mom to buy me some boots too, but there weren't any cute ones in my size.
Two random items that I purchased this weekend are a unicorn backpack and a book called "The Action Bible". I got the unicorn backpack from Michaels for ten dollars. It literally looks like a stuffed unicorn. I wanted to use it at school today, but I can't fit my headphones in it, so I'll probably use it like next week or something. The Action Bible is basically the comic book form of the bible. It takes all of the bible stories and puts them in chronological order with colorful illustrations and speech bubbles and boxes like a comic book. I think its pretty awesome.
Well, time to wrap things up. Its almost time to go to my next class.
Question of the day:
My favorite thing that I bought was the materials to start screen-printing my own t-shirts. I got an actual screen printing screen, along with a squeegee/scraper thing. Then, I got all of the different filler and drawing inks along with some paint, and the cleaning solultion for cleaning the screen. I got a small sketchbook also, so I can sketch out my shirt ideas before I actually make them.
I think the first thing that I will screen print is a shirt with my new youtube logo on it. I haven't officially released it on the internet, but it is basically an image form of my username. I think I will make a couple, that way I can give one or two away or sell them. I now know why screen printed shirts are so expensive, however. In charging $20 dollars each, I would only be making about $8 or so profit. Thats not a lot. Once I get going, though, I can take orders and do specialty shirts.
A while back, my spanish 3 and 4 class discussed ordering screen-printed tshirts. We haven't done it yet to my knowledge. If I can get a design drawn out, and everyone to bring about ten dollars, I can buy a shirt for each person and make them. At Walmart, colored shirts are about three or four dollars each, plus I have to pay for the paints and the effort put into them. I might be able to get the people in my class to get together and make them with me. That way, I won't be making ten or fifteen shirts on my own. We could do an assembly line type thing. It would work best if the design was only one color, though. I don't want to have to line up the screen again to put more paint on the shirt. I'll need to experiment with my own designs and figure out how it all works first.
This could be such a great money saving and money making tool. I just have to get good at it. It doesn't seem that complicated. I will probably need to get more tshirts to screen print on, so I might do that with any money I get for Christmas. But think about it. Lets say I make shirts. All of them with different things on them. They cost $5 for each shirt and $5 for the paints. I charge a little for the time I put into it and the use of my equipment. I easily make $5 to $10 dollars profit. Of course, much of this will go to pay for maintenence of the equipment. Sometimes you need new screens or more of them. More solution to clean them with or more drawing and filling inks. New paintbrushes. Plus, I will need to be saving up money for college. I can't just go out and spend it all willy-nilly. Is that how you spell that?
Anyway, I got some clothes this weekend also. I got this bright red jacket and a frilly white tank to wear when I take senior pictures, AKA tomorrow. I got a blue infinity scarf too. I got all of this from a store called Maurices. Its a clothing store for women, but the sizes range from Juniors size zero to a womens extra extra large. I like it because both my mom and I can shop there for clothes and shoes and accessories. I almost got my mom to buy me some boots too, but there weren't any cute ones in my size.
Two random items that I purchased this weekend are a unicorn backpack and a book called "The Action Bible". I got the unicorn backpack from Michaels for ten dollars. It literally looks like a stuffed unicorn. I wanted to use it at school today, but I can't fit my headphones in it, so I'll probably use it like next week or something. The Action Bible is basically the comic book form of the bible. It takes all of the bible stories and puts them in chronological order with colorful illustrations and speech bubbles and boxes like a comic book. I think its pretty awesome.
Well, time to wrap things up. Its almost time to go to my next class.
Question of the day:
If you could have a t-shirt that said anything or had any image on it, what would be on it?
Love,
Elizabeth W.
November 30, 2012
Fortune Cookie Questions
I think its strange that there are some things in history that no one can officially document or prove. Like, I was reading a book today (The Bar Code Rebellion by Suzanne Weyn) and it said something about a guy who invented the fortune cookie, David Jung. So, I looked it up to see if this was a real fact.
David Jung is one of the ones who claims to have invented the fortune cookie, however, there are like five other people who claim the same thing. Were there no witnesses? Who should we believe? In the book, it says that David Jung used the fortune cookies as a method to give bible verses and hope to the homeless in his area. As a christian, I like to believe this story, because I feel that fortune cookies would be an effective way to do such a thing. I am also against the ideas that buddhism or taoism or some other asian religion were the inspiration for such a food.
Something that bothers me about fortune cookies and other fortune-telling devices is when people take them so seriously. Even some Christians believe in them. It says in the bible, “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:31) Are not those who write horoscopes or fortunes acting as mediums? Did not the mediums and fortune-tellers of the new testament have demons that were driven out by Jesus and his apostles, thereby taking away their fortune-telling abilities?
People should be more careful as to what they believe in and trust in.
Back to the fortune cookie story of David Jung. I was thinking about how fortune cookies were used in order to give the scripture to people who might not have access to it. Then I thought, why can't I do something similar and get the scripture and the message of the bible out to people who might never open a bible or step into a church otherwise?
Last school year, around valentines day, there was a thing that went on, started by a local Christian radio station. People would take post-it notes and write short sayings of encouragement or bible verses on them. Then, they would take and stick them on walls or lockers or mirrors or wherever people might see them. I heard so many stories about people whose days were improved, just by those post-it notes. The administrators got mad and started taking them off of the walls, saying that things could not be put on the walls without permission. All it did was inspire more post-it notes to be put up.
I have thought many times about going through the FCA group to do such a thing again at random times of the year. We could impact peoples lives in such a big way. And we wouldn't have to just put them in the school, we could put them in our homes and our local businesses. Anywhere where people wouldn't expect them. That way, we could anonymously spread the love of Christ, giving the glory to him and not us. Letting him use the post-it notes in whatever way that he wanted, letting the right people see them.
And thus begins the Post-it project. All I need to do now is get some post-its and bring them to FCA next week. I also have to write the lesson for next week. I planned on doing the message of salvation, but I wanted to invite a bunch of people who may or may not be Christians. I guess I could text Shelby and other people and ask them to invite people to FCA. Now, do I want to do the post-it project this week or the next time I teach? Well, I feel like it should be done before Christmas. However, I'm not sure when I can get the post-its and if I will be able to give them out in FCA if we have invited people there... Would that make it awkward for them? I'm conflicted. I guess if I remember to invite people and to bring the post-it notes, I'll do both in one week.
Thanks for reading my blabberings.
Love,
Elizabeth W.
David Jung is one of the ones who claims to have invented the fortune cookie, however, there are like five other people who claim the same thing. Were there no witnesses? Who should we believe? In the book, it says that David Jung used the fortune cookies as a method to give bible verses and hope to the homeless in his area. As a christian, I like to believe this story, because I feel that fortune cookies would be an effective way to do such a thing. I am also against the ideas that buddhism or taoism or some other asian religion were the inspiration for such a food.
Something that bothers me about fortune cookies and other fortune-telling devices is when people take them so seriously. Even some Christians believe in them. It says in the bible, “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:31) Are not those who write horoscopes or fortunes acting as mediums? Did not the mediums and fortune-tellers of the new testament have demons that were driven out by Jesus and his apostles, thereby taking away their fortune-telling abilities?
People should be more careful as to what they believe in and trust in.
Back to the fortune cookie story of David Jung. I was thinking about how fortune cookies were used in order to give the scripture to people who might not have access to it. Then I thought, why can't I do something similar and get the scripture and the message of the bible out to people who might never open a bible or step into a church otherwise?
Last school year, around valentines day, there was a thing that went on, started by a local Christian radio station. People would take post-it notes and write short sayings of encouragement or bible verses on them. Then, they would take and stick them on walls or lockers or mirrors or wherever people might see them. I heard so many stories about people whose days were improved, just by those post-it notes. The administrators got mad and started taking them off of the walls, saying that things could not be put on the walls without permission. All it did was inspire more post-it notes to be put up.
I have thought many times about going through the FCA group to do such a thing again at random times of the year. We could impact peoples lives in such a big way. And we wouldn't have to just put them in the school, we could put them in our homes and our local businesses. Anywhere where people wouldn't expect them. That way, we could anonymously spread the love of Christ, giving the glory to him and not us. Letting him use the post-it notes in whatever way that he wanted, letting the right people see them.
And thus begins the Post-it project. All I need to do now is get some post-its and bring them to FCA next week. I also have to write the lesson for next week. I planned on doing the message of salvation, but I wanted to invite a bunch of people who may or may not be Christians. I guess I could text Shelby and other people and ask them to invite people to FCA. Now, do I want to do the post-it project this week or the next time I teach? Well, I feel like it should be done before Christmas. However, I'm not sure when I can get the post-its and if I will be able to give them out in FCA if we have invited people there... Would that make it awkward for them? I'm conflicted. I guess if I remember to invite people and to bring the post-it notes, I'll do both in one week.
Thanks for reading my blabberings.
Love,
Elizabeth W.
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