Learning to Trust God: February 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013

The Difference Between Evolution and Creationism

Just a little something I wrote while working on my research paper on the Cambrian explosion and the Burgess Shale.

If you believe evolution is true, you must also believe that life is an accident. We are simply products of mutations and flaws of DNA with no point or purpose for being alive. Life becomes meaningless. If, however, you believe that everything you can see - and everything you cannot see - was created by God, it means there is a purpose for life. We have been created for a specific purpose and there is a meaning behind why you are here today. Life has irreplaceable value and should be protected.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Rock & Worship Roadshow

Here are picture from the concert my sister I went to on Sunday night! We had a blast! Since it was general admission, got there about two hours early. Even while standing around in line, we still had fun. About an hour before the doors opened, K-LOVE Radio started giving away free passes to get into the concert. They asked for random items (such as a Louisiana state quarter, a toothpick, a Q-tip, a Wal-Mart receipt from the day before, or a bottle of red nail polish) and, if you were the first one to show them the item, you got two free passes! When they asked for a CD from one of the artists that was part of the tour, I grabbed my Adam Cappa CD and handed it to Tori (because she was closer to the K-LOVE tent). She took off running and came back in a minute with two passes! Yay! :)

And now... On with the show! The singers/bands that were there were: Tim Timmons, Rhett Walker Band, Luminate, Family Force Five, Kutless, Adam Cappa, Jeremy Camp, Tedashii, and MercyMe. The show was great and we had so much fun! I can definitely say that we screamed the most during Adam Cappa's performance! We had met Adam about a year and a half ago at the We Cry Out tour (which was Jeremy Camp, Francesca Battistelli, and Adam Cappa) and we've been fans ever since. :)

Tim Timmons

Rhett Walker Band

Luminate

Kutless

Jon Micah - lead singer of Kutless

ADAM CAPPA!!!!!!!! :D

Jeremy Camp!!

MercyMe

And we got to meet Adam Cappa again! :)

After the show, we got to meet Adam and the guys from Kutless. Although we got their autographs, we didn't get a picture with Kutless.

As I said earlier, we had a ton of fun...even though our car died several times on the way home and we ended up having to call our dad to come pick us up at midnight because we were stranded in the middle of the road and our car wouldn't start! Definitely an adventure... While waiting on our dad, we passed the time by singing Adam Cappa's "The Rescue" and Jeremy Camp's "Reckless" just about as loud as we could. :)

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A Couple of Videos...

Hey everyone! I was going to do a post with pictures from the concert I went to Sunday night but Blogger is being really slow with uploading the pictures so I decided to share a couple of videos with you - one of Anthem Lights's new song and the other one is Jamie-Grace's latest vlog.

Hide Your Love Away - Anthem Lights
Hide your love away and wait for me. I will do the same. Wait for me, wait for me. There will come a day when I will finally say, staring in your eyes, "I've waited my whole life for this night."

[Jamie Grace] Boys
Jamie-Grace answers the question: Why are you so single? "Cause I'm anti-social! Duh!!" Homeschoolers are the best! :)

By the way, did y'all enjoy the "Fall In Love With Jesus" series? It was weird having a new post everyday, right? Haha. I've never been consistent with posting on here... :)

Reason #10 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

Note: This is the last post of the Fall In Love With Jesus Campaign.

Here are the links for the previous posts.
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.
Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand.
Reason #4: Because Jesus makes you want to try harder and be better.
Reason #5: Because Jesus knows exactly how you feel, all the time.
Reason #6: Because Jesus forgives your sins.
Reason #7: Because Jesus shows you exactly what to do in tough situations.
Reason #8: Because Jesus always takes you back when you wander off.
Reason #9: Because Jesus accepts you as you are.

I’m kind of sad that this is our final Valentine’ Day post, but I’m also honored for Sarah Elizabeth to have given up her little private space for us these past 10 days. Such a sacrifice.

If you haven’t yet shared with us who you are encouraging to dig deeper in the Word of God, please do. It challenges the rest of us to pray about who we might influence as well.

Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’ve given you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the tenth one.

Reason #10: Because Jesus returned after a horrible death to show us that we can have a new life too – with him. The death of Jesus and his rising from the dead to life again is a hard thing to understand because it never happened before and it hasn’t happened since. What’s even harder to get is why? What was that all about? There are a number of reasons, and the one I want to focus on is simply that Jesus wanted to show us that new life is possible. That no matter what we’ve done in the past, what we’ve believed, who else we followed, just by believing in who he is – the way to God – and following him we can leave all of that behind and be new – and we can do it every time we backslide. It’s a new life and a free life. You don’t have to worry about having “stuff.” You don’t have to stress because not everybody likes you. You don’t have to prove yourself. All you have to do is believe you’re taken care of and obey what Jesus shows you along the way of your life. It’s simple, yes, but not easy. That’s why you have the Bible. That’s why you have older people who love you enough to teach you about Jesus. That’s why you pray. And that’s why you pay attention, because Jesus is showing up all over the place. It’s a new life. Let’s celebrate!

Blessings,
Nancy Rue

PS: again, it has been wonderful hanging out here. THANK YOU! I hope you will connect with me in the future. I would love to hear from you and we do quite a bit of chatting over on my blogs. If you are a teen we have a special community just for you. Head on over and hear about our Google Girls community where we can have a bit more privacy.

Interested in reading more from Nancy? You can connect with her in any of these places: Website: http://www.nancyrue.com/
Blog for Tween Girls: “’Tween You & Me”
Blog for Teen Girls: “In Real Life”
Blog for the adults: “The Nudge”
Teen Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nnrueforteens
Adult Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nnrue
Twitter: http://www.nancyrue.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/nnrue/
YouTube: FaithGirlz Channel
E-mail: Nancy@Nancyrue.com

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Reason #9 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

Can you believe we're almost done with this series? If you count this one, we only have two more posts left!

If you've missed any of the posts so far, here are the links for all of the previous posts.
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.
Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand.
Reason #4: Because Jesus makes you want to try harder and be better.
Reason #5: Because Jesus knows exactly how you feel, all the time.
Reason #6: Because Jesus forgives your sins.
Reason #7: Because Jesus shows you exactly what to do in tough situations.
Reason #8: Because Jesus always takes you back when you wander off.

I wish we were all together, having Valentine’s sundaes and talking. Sarah Elizabeth has given us the next best thing by bringing us together here on her blog, and I appreciate that.

Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the ninth one.

Reason #9: Because Jesus accepts you as you are. That doesn’t mean he wants you to stay exactly like you are in some areas that need tweaking (maybe that lying habit, or your short-fuse temper), but right now, this moment, he accepts and loves everything about you. Who else does that? And doesn’t that make it easier to hold your head up and be yourself and not care quite so much about what the “popular” kids think? Yeah, that’s good stuff.

Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Reason #8 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

I am so, so sorry I didn't post this yesterday! I was out late Sunday night and didn't go to bed until almost 3am. Monday morning was spent sleeping and then I had to work from 2-11pm and, when I got home, I completely forgot (probably due to the fact that I was still in shock from the wreck I was in on my way to work - don't worry! I'm completely fine and so are the cars!). So here's reason #8 and #9 will be posted later tonight or sometime tomorrow.

If you're just joining us or missed any of the posts so far, here are the links for all of the previous posts of this series.
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.
Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand.
Reason #4: Because Jesus makes you want to try harder and be better.
Reason #5: Because Jesus knows exactly how you feel, all the time.
Reason #6: Because Jesus forgives your sins.
Reason #7: Because Jesus shows you exactly what to do in tough situations.

Happy Valentine’s Week, Mini-Women! We have found 7 reasons to FALL IN LOVE WITH JESUS and we have 3 more to go! I’m jazzed to be spending part of it with you here on Sarah Elizabeth's blog. If you have been here for the past 7 posts, you know the drill, but for you first-timers, here’s what we are up to:
Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the eighth one.

Reason #8: Because Jesus always takes you back when you wander off. When you were a little kid (or maybe even now!) and you strayed from your mom or dad in Wal-Mart or someplace, they always took you back when you found them or they had to find you. I mean, right? They might have been mad at you, grounded you, took away your computer privileges, but they didn’t say, “Sorry, kid, but you aren’t ours anymore.” Can you even imagine that happening? Jesus is exactly like your parents only he leaves out the punishment. If you get sidetracked, forget to pray, whine about going to church, have a season where you and your friends are snarky to people – as soon as you realize you’ve wandered off, you can go straight back to Jesus and he’ll take you in. And continue to teach you. And you’ll wander away less and less. Ya gotta love how that works.
Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Reason #7 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

Welcome to Day 7 of the Fall In Love With Jesus Campaign!! :)

If you're just joining us or missed any of the posts so far, here are the links for all of the previous posts of this series.
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.
Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand.
Reason #4: Because Jesus makes you want to try harder and be better.
Reason #5: Because Jesus knows exactly how you feel, all the time.
Reason #6: Because Jesus forgives your sins.

I love you, Mini-Women! Including Sarah Elizabeth. And for letting me take over here on 'Learning to Trust God' for a while as part of our Valentine’s Week tour.
I hope there are some new visitors and that Sarah Elizabeth is finding some new friends! Do tell us who you are hoping to influence with these posts.

Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the seventh one.

Reason #7: Because Jesus shows you exactly what to do in tough situations. We’re talking exactly. There isn’t a situation you can face that he doesn’t talk about in his teachings – or show you in our own life, sometimes through other people. Just stay connected. Jesus loves that.

Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Reason #6 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

If you've missed any of the previous posts of this series, here are the links for those.
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.
Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand.
Reason #4: Because Jesus makes you want to try harder and be better.
Reason #5: Because Jesus knows exactly how you feel, all the time.

All set to find out #6? Here we go! :)

Hey, Mini-Women!
I have been loving being a guest blogger this Valentine’s week. How are you liking this series? Do you have a tween sister or cousin whom you are sharing these with? Do share who you are hoping to influence with this series. It just might change their life.

If you are new today welcome! Here is s short reminder what we are talking about. Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the sixth one.

Reason #6: Because Jesus forgives your sins. I think we’ve all had the experience of messing up, asking for forgiveness, being told, “It’s okay” – but then it never is, at least not the way it was before. Jesus doesn’t work that way. When you go to him and say, “I really made a mess out of that whole thing and I’m sorry and I want to be better than that,” forgiveness is a given and the entire situation is forgotten. Jesus loves you exactly the same way he did before you managed to tangle everything up. Maybe even more, because you went to him. That’s what he’s there for.
Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Friday, February 15, 2013

Reason #5 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

Ready to find out the fifth reason why you should fall in love with Jesus? Then keep on reading! :)

If you've missed any of the previous posts of this series, here are the links for those!
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.
Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand.
Reason #4: Because Jesus makes you want to try harder and be better.

Hel-l-o-o-o Mini-Women! Welcome to our fifth post on this Valentine’s Week – and thanks again for letting me camp out here for 10 days. It really is a sacrifice for Sarah Elizabeth and I appreciate it greatly!
Yes, this sounds familiar if you have been here the past few days, but for anyone visiting for the first time this portion might be new. Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the fifth one.

Reason #5: Because Jesus knows exactly how you feel, all the time. Other people, especially moms and dads, may tell you they do, but sometimes they just don’t. No other person can really get into your heart and get right where you’re coming from ALL the time. Jesus can. You can count on it.

Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Reason #4 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

Hey, there! Happy Valentine's Day!!
If you've missed any of the previous posts of this series, here are the links for those!
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.
Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand.

Now that you're all caught up, are you ready for reason #4? Here we go!

Hello, Mini-Women! Welcome to Valentine’s Week! Even if you don’t make a comment about this post, do leave one thanking Sarah Elizabeth for letting me camp out with her this week. Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the fourth one.

Reason #4: Because Jesus makes you want to try harder and be better. How many rules do you obey ONLY because you don’t want to get in trouble? Like if you didn’t HAVE to follow them, you wouldn’t? Here’s the thing about Jesus: he doesn’t give you a bunch of rules to make you feel like you’re in a cage; when you love him, you actually WANT to do better and be better. And when you want to, you will. You’ll even realize you can do things – good things – you never thought you could.

Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Interested in reading more from Nancy? You can connect with her in any of these places:

Website: http://www.nancyrue.com/
Blog for Tween Girls: “’Tween You & Me”
Blog for Teen Girls: “In Real Life”
Blog for the adults: “The Nudge”
Teen Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nnrueforteens
Adult Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nnrue
Twitter: http://www.nancyrue.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/nnrue/
YouTube: FaithGirlz Channel
E-mail: Nancy@Nancyrue.com

CONTEST:
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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Reason #3 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

Welcome back! If you missed the first two reasons why you should fall in love with Jesus, here are the links for the previous posts of this series.
Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you.

Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life.
And now here's reason #3. :)

A little reminder of what we are talking about. Like most M-W’s (Mini-Women), you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the third one.

Reason #3: Because Jesus makes SURE you understand. Ever had a teacher who couldn’t explain the work to you and when you didn’t get it after the second time, he just shook his head like you’re dense or something? Jesus never does that. He told story after story after story to make what he was teaching clear. Don’t you wish ALL teachers did that?
Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Interested in reading more from Nancy? You can connect with her in any of these places:

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Reason #2 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

A big-time thank you for returning today and again to Sarah Elizabeth for having me on her blog as we travel through Valentine’s Week together. Like most M-W’s, you’re probably way aware that the Valentine’s Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills – or you can’t wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN’T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He’s just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different posts, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we’re giving you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here’s the second one.

Reason #2: Because Jesus brings you to life. In the story you’re about to read, he literally brings a young girl back to life. As in, she was dead and now she isn’t. The message for YOU is that when you fall into a “dead time” – you’re cranky, snarky, unhappy, and feeling farther away from God than you are from Paris, France – Jesus can, and does, bring you back to a great life with him. Not just once, when you give him your life, but over and over and over again.

“DREAM GIRL” Feature (Matthew 9:18-26, p. 1108 from FaithGirlz Bible)
A crowd is knotting together in the street, probably again surrounding that Jesus person everyone talks about. You tug on a nearby girl’s cloak and ask, “What’s going on?” Her eyes bulge at you. “A man asked Jesus to bring his daughter back from the dead!” Yeah, right, you think, until two men slice through the group. One is strong in the shoulder, but his face is gentle. That must be Jesus. The other is your best friend’s father. His face is long and sad as if someone has… “Did his daughter die?” you whisper to the girl. She nods, and you let out a wail. But it’s lost in the noise of the shoving crowd. You follow the men to your best friend’s home. You elbow through the crowd and scramble onto the wall where you and your friend have often spied, giggling, on those in the house. Through the window you see her face is ash grey against her sleeping mat. Her chest doesn’t’ rise and fall. Not a muscle twitches. You stifle another cry as Jesus puts up his hands for quiet. “The girl is not dead but asleep,” he says. Some people snicker. As wrong as you know he is, you would never laugh at this man. There is something about him that keeps you peering into the house as he enters. He takes your precious friend’s limp hand in his. She rises from the bed. The color rushes to her cheeks, and her eyes spring open, bright as a bird’s. She is alive! And so, it seems, are you….more than ever, as if his power has overflowed from the window into your soul.

Blessings,
Nancy Rue

Interested in reading more from Nancy? You can connect with her in any of these places:

Monday, February 11, 2013

Reason #1 To Fall In Love With Jesus (Guest Post by Nancy Rue)

I want to give a big thank you to Sarah Elizabeth for being a part of our 10-day blog campaign. Like most people, you're probably way aware that the Valentine's Day season is here, and you probably either love the cards, the candy, the frills - or you can't wait for the thing to be over because it makes you so painfully aware of who DOESN'T like you! One being DOES like you. He loves you, in fact. He's just waiting for YOU to fall in love with HIM. Why would you? In ten different post, each one giving you a peek at a feature from the FaithGirlz Bible, we're going to give you a Reason To Fall In Love With JESUS. Here's the first one.

Reason #1: No matter what you have going on, Jesus is there to handle it with you. Unlike your friends who try to help, he actually knows everything. Unlike your parents, he always has the time. And unlike that crazy world out there, he'll never lead you some place you don't need to be.

Blessings,

Nancy Rue

Interested in reading more from Nancy? You can connect with her in any of these places:

CONTEST:

Here's more about that giveaway I was talking about! :)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f9b9d912/

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