Beauty of the Heart

Okay, so the other day on the RL blog, Mrs. Rue was having us vote on what the next topic should be. One of the ones that I voted for was worrying about weight and having to look perfect all the time. Well, after I posted my comment, I prayed about it and asked God to really help me get over thinking that I need to be thinner and prettier. Every time I've looked in a mirror the past few days, even though it's the same person that I see, I'm no longer looking at the outside. God opened my eyes and has been letting me see myself how He sees me. It amazing what a difference it makes! Instead of saying to myself, "Oh my word...I really need to lose weight." or "I really wish I was prettier." I see my God-given potential. Yesterday I looked in the mirror and said, "Wow! I'm really pretty!" and it wasn't with the attitude of 'everybody look at me because I'm so pretty' or anything. It was just like, for the first time I could really see myself as what God has created me to be. :)

I can see myself as loved by God and beautiful in His eyes. What do you see in the mirror?

~Sarah Elizabeth~

Sorry!

Oh, my... It's been a LONG time! Hasn't it? :) Sorry about that. Moving totally threw me off and then my laptop died so I didn't have a computer for a couple of months...but now I have a new computer and we're pretty much settled in our new house. So hopefully I can post a little more.

Okay...I'm not sure where I should start! It's been so long since I've done a post! Haha! Well, at Bethany World Prayer Center, they've been having P21 (Pursuit 21- Twenty-one Days of Spiritual Intensity). We've had services every weekday night. It's been really good! Sunday will be Day 21.

Last night we sang this song so I'll share it with you!


"I Wanna Dance" By Deluge

I sought the Lord He heard my cry
And came to my rescue
When I was lost apart from Him
He showed me what was true
So I will love Him and I will show Him

I wanna dance like there's no one else around
Get lost in this freedom I have found
Your love has set me free so I will dance for You
I'll dance for You

It's Biblical so don't be critical
You can't hold it in
You shouldn't have to
Forget your dignity stop being pretty
Are you ready to go now

~Sarah Elizabeth~

Christmas!

Okay, so it's not really the Christmas season yet but I always get into it way early. :) My favorite time of the year is November through December. Thanksgiving Day is my favorite actual holiday-day but the Christmas season is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it! The excitement in the air, the decorations, the lights, drinking hot chocolate, watching Christmas movies, baking cookies, eating candy canes, making fudge, the stores constantly busy with shoppers looking to get presents for everyone on their list- what's not to love about all of that? As great and wonderful as all of that is, something is missing. Something great. Perhaps it's the whole purpose of our festivities... Christmas is about us celebrating Jesus' birth but so many times we get so caught up in the celebration and the things that we're "supposed" to be doing that we forget the reason why. As the Christmas season starts to come around once again, no matter if you're like me and are already getting into or if you're dreading it, be sure to keep in mind the reason behind it all. It might just change everything.

One more thing- here's a link to something my pastor posted on his blog last Christmas eve: "A Few Questions on Christmas Eve" Very thought provoking and it goes perfectly with the whole point of my post today. Be sure to check it out!

~Sarah Elizabeth~

A Short Post

Once again I don't have time for a long post...but here are some of my notes from my pastor's sermon about Jesus walking on the water:

You have to get out of the boat (your comfort zone) if you want to experience the supernatural.

If you are going to water-walk, make sure that you are walking towards Jesus.

The minute you take your eyes off of Jesus, you will begin to sink.

(This is from the Sunday evening service.) God will keep everything that you place in His hands; you will lose anything that you keep in yours.

~Sarah Elizabeth~

Mr. Right or Mr. Right Now?

In our culture today, pretty much all teenagers are dating and they have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. They get all caught up in the relationship and put so much into it but then, what happens when they've had enough? They break up! Break-ups can cause lots of pain and hurt and "What did I do wrong?" "Am I just not good enough?" type of questions to arise. When you get into and start playing the dating game, you are saying, "God can't bring my husband/wife to me. I have to go find them." As Christian teens, we need to be using the time we have right now to prepare ourselves for marriage not dating every other person that we see. I've heard people say things like, "Dating is practice for marriage because you learn how to be faithful to only one person." Really? So in marriage, when you've had enough or get into an argument, you can just get a divorce (break-up). Yes, you could go that way but God intended marriage to be a life long commitment. At the altar the preacher says, "Till death do you part." but, sadly, most people don't truly mean it deep down. Just look at how many marriages end in divorce. Divorce isn't and never was part of God's plan. If you don't want your marriage to end that way, then don't practice it now with dating! The old saying is "Practice makes perfect!" but really it should be "Practice makes permanent!" Whenever you do something over and over the same exact way, that's way you'll do every time and unless you put extreme effort into changing, you'll automatically do it the way you've done it for so long. So dating is actually practice for divorce- not for a happy, the-way-God-intended-it-to-be marriage. It may seem like you're missing out now by not dating but it will be worth it in the long run!

First Post!

Since this is my first post, it will be a little more boring than my other ones will be. ;) Anyway, I'll tell you a little about myself and about this blog in general.

The name of this blog comes from two places- Proverbs 3:5-6, which say "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track." and also from where I am in my life right now. I'm learning what it means to trust God 100% and let Him have complete control of my life.

I'm a Christian and pretty much everything on here will have something to do with God. I'm still not sure what I want this blog to be exactly so I'll be working things out as I go. I might do some "here's what's up with me" posts but most likely a lot of my posts will be either Scripture verses, Christian song lyrics or notes from my pastor's sermons. So, I hope you all enjoy my new blog!

~Sarah Elizabeth~