It'll Never Be Goodbye...

*Sigh* parting ways is always a sweet sorrow. It's a sorrow because they aren't in your lives as much and may never be again. It's sweet though because you know that in your different journeys, you each will face new challenges and become better people. No matter where the world may take us, God is always there, changing our lives - forever.

Today was the last day for my friend, Mason. I have gone to school with him since Kindergarten. Him, my friend Kelsie, and I all grew up together. We're like a family. Some people don't understand this concept because in public school, you don't know everyone in your class. Well, at a small Christian school like East Linn, you know everybody's full names, their birthdays, who their parents are, who their siblings are, how long they've gone to East Linn, etc etc.
This blog post is dedicated to my friend and brother, Mason Lee Gregory. He is 16 years old and has gone to East Linn since Kindergarten. Over the years we have fought many times because we're both headstrong. However, we've always gotten over it and have managed to stay friends because we have respect for each other for standing up for what we believe.

Today didn't feel like the last day of school. I can't even picture Mason going anywhere else which is probably why I haven't cried today. It's starting to hit me now though. Mason is what makes our class fun. He is the typical class clown but yet, he's unique. He would always be there if I needed him. If anybody needed him.
I hope and pray that while he goes to a different school next year, he'll never forget the family he has back home at East Linn. He will always be a part of us no matter what. I also pray that he will become closer to God than he ever has before and that he'll really be able to reach out to people.
Mason has so much potential and God is going to use him for great things.


Keep seeking God in all you do, Mason. The rest of us are here praying for you while you start a new journey. We love you and hope to see you soon. <3

Thankfullness

I'm going to dedicate this blog post to thanking God.

I'm thankful for my friends that I can depend on... the one's that are always there even if I haven't talked to them for a long time... I am SO blessed to have friends that will stop and think about where they're going with their lives and whether it's glorifying God or not... and if it's not, then they will sacrifice things so they can make it right and get on the straight path again.

I'm even thankful for the friends that don't seem to be there very often... or even the friends that sometimes focus more on themselves... because I still learn from them and it gives me the opportunity to remind them that their focus needs to be on God.

I am thankful that no matter what, God always brings me back to Him. I haven't been feeling the greatest lately and haven't been feeling God's presence lately... well in church today, I was in His presence... I felt such a love and praise for Him that I haven't felt in a long time... not like that. He has truly blessed me.

I am thankful that we can always trust Him... it makes things so much easier when you can just depend on Him and not worry about what the future holds... because I know that no matter what, I'm going to end up in Heaven with Him forever. And that's all that's going to matter in the end.

Thank You, Father God, for everything that You've blessed me with. You are my Creator, Father, Lover, and Friend. Thank You for simplying being You <3

How am I suppose to react to that?

Ok so I have a question, and if you can answer, please do so, 'cause I'd like to know.

I'd like to know how you're supposed to react when your little brother is being a pain. Not just annoying, oh no, but telling you to shut up every 5 seconds, especially when you're barely saying anything, or if you're not talking to him at all. Like just now, he was holding Gold Bond creme stuff and I asked him why, he said because he had bug bites. Since he said that, I was going to tell him about a guy I know who literally got bug bites ALL OVER his body! It's crazy! You should see it. Anyways, right as I said, "Dude, I know this..." he interrupts and says, "Shut up Addie! Don't talk to me!" and of course, I responded in a way that I probably shouldn't of, but I said, "No Andrew, you're not the boss of me" So he keeps telling me to shut up and I keep saying no so he tries to kick me and threatens to hit me because he's mad. So how am I suppose to react to that? Am I suppose to just do as he says and make him think that he's my boss and has control over me? I don't think that's the answer either. So please, if you have a really good answer, please please PLEASE let me know because I'm all out of ideas and I'm tired of being mad and frustrated with this.

I've tried praying about this over and over again but nothing seems to come. It's VERY irritating and I have no clue or idea what to do!!!!!!! Please help me!!!!!!!

Living for Today

I'm going to make my post today short 'n' sweet :)

God has really opened my eyes today. Not really to anything specific but just living one day at a time and loving life. Even if you're cleaning up the house and everything. :) I found joy in that today. Doing the dishes, laundry, and cleaning my room. I feel accomplished and I actually really enjoyed it. :)

If you're rushing through the day, stressed by how much you have to get done, or if you're anxious for the next day to come, please take a moment to breathe deeply and see the day God has given you with a new set of eyes. Because each day is a gift from above and you won't ever get that day back. We will never have Tuesday, July 13, 2010 ever again. So please, make the most of it. :)

True Love

I challenge you to read this whole thing. :)

1 Corinthians 13

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This chapter, as you can see, is all about love. Now whenever I always thought of this verse, I always thought of this is how we're supposed to treat other people. Which is 100% correct. However, I never thought about that this is also how I should treat my family. We're around our families all the time so we don't always think to treat them how we would treat our friends. So I want to make this my challenge, and yours if you choose, to treat my family the same way, by being patient, kind, not jealous, not boasting, not being proud, rude, self-seeking, easily angered, or keeping record of wrongs. Not delight in evil but rejoicing in the truth, I'm going to try to always be protecting, trusting, hoping, and persevering. :) I make this my challenge not to only treat my friends and everyone else this way, but also my family. :)

Thanksgiving-
#2: I'm thankful for love. Many people mistake infatuation for love. If you don't know what infatuation means, I encourage you to go look it up. But real love is all of the things listed in the verses above. Nobody's perfect, no one can do all of these things all the time. But God can. God is the only one with the perfect love. And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that God has perfect love and that He wants us to experience it so much that He gave it to us, by sending Jesus to die on the cross. The most perfect love, the most perfect sacrifice, anyone could EVER give just so we can experience true love with Him. <3 True love DOES exist. <3 It's up to you whether you want to receive it.

Proverbs 15:1

There's this beautiful young woman named Danae, that just graduated from my school this year, and lately, I've been reading her blog. She is such an amazing woman of God. In her most recent post she was talking about taking time to just be still, quiet, and be with God. She was the Valedictorian in her class and so she had to make a speech for graduation. This is exactly what her speech was about, to take time to just be still and KNOW that He is God. :) so I've decided to take time each day, whenever I could, to write on here a verse that's been on my mind or that I've come across. And to also just take time to thank God and look at the positive things in life because I'm tired of just seeing all the negative. So I'm gonna really dig down deep and find something. Not just the typical things like, I'm thankful for a house, clothes, food, etc. I'm not saying that these things aren't important, or that they're not worthy to be thankful for. I'm not saying that at all. It's just that every time I try to think of something to be thankful for, these are the things I think of, and I want to find something new and different, something that I don't normally think about being thankful for.

Proverbs 15:1
"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

I was thinking about this verse today. Because this morning, I had just gotten up so I wasn't in the mood for people to be talking to me, and my parents were asking me to put my dirty clothes in the laundry room because I wasn't gonna have much time today (I had to leave about an hour after I woke up to go work at the fireworks booth and I wouldn't be home til 4 hours later as my parents pointed out). I knew these things. And that's exactly what I told them. I knew that I had all this stuff going on today but I also knew, and my parents knew, that I probably wasn't going to get to it later 'cause I'm just that way. So I got really irritated with them and apparently, my brother was irritated with all of us 'cause out of the blue, he yelled, "Shut up!" he was trying to sleep. So what did I say? "No Andrew!" but guess what! No one said anything after that. lol :) I was genuinely surprised he didn't have a smart remark for that. haha :) anyways, right after that happened, I thought of this verse. This is one thing that I REALLY need to work on... which I'm doing. It's worked several times when I was getting mad at my sister and was yelling, I would think of this verse, calm down, then apologize and try to state my point more calmly than just trying to yell it at her.
I went on Facebook just minutes after all this went down with my parents this morning and saw that my good friend, Taylor (whom I've been in the same class with since pre-school! lol), his mom put up this story as her status: "Dealing w/a snooty sales rep..I started to match her attitude, and it was going downhill fast. She put me on hold, saying they wouldn't do the refund, etc.. the verse came to mind 'A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.' When she came back, I apologized for my part of it..her attitude COMPLETE...LY changed..she apologized too & agreed to our refund! (It was almost $400, so what a blessing!)" so it became my verse for the day :)

Today, I'm thankful for all of my friends that I have met and ever will meet. Whether they've been in my life since forever, or they've only been in it for a short while. They have ALL made a difference in my life one way or another. God put them in my life for a reason to help me learn. :) so thank you guys <3

Your Music, Not Ours

I want to make Your music,

Become part of a symphony of instruments: Your children
Where what we create speaks to people, spreading Your name
Yes we aren't all perfect, we do have sharps and flats
But You use that to make our story even more beautiful
Tell us, again, Your story, Father. We want to hear it
And be reminded of everything You've done for us.

You're story is like the melody of notes, written on a page
And ours, just the simple harmonies, but You are the lead.

Be our Composer, Father God. Make us into Your music.
Make our notes, our lives, our experiences, short and staccato, or long and legato,
Pianissimo, or forte, for Your glory. To make a difference in this world even if we don't see it.
Music is a universal language, and You, are our universal Father. Father of everything.

You are also the Conductor. If you slow down, so do we.
No matter how we think the music, our future, is written before us,
You can change it however which way you want. Drag out the rests, or speed them up.
Make the music however You want it to be.
And use Your instruments, so we can be apart of the majesty too.