From church tonight...

“‘I get it. This is my responsibility...  This is why I’m a Christian. This is why I’m on the planet. This is why I’m here. It’s not for me to make money and to have a happy family and to see PG-13 movies and to just really enjoy myself.’ That’s not why you’re here. You’re here in order to serve King Jesus and to take this gospel to all the nations.”
                -Pastor Alan Dunn

Monday Nights

It was a cold Monday evening in December. A little girl, only six years old, and her mother walked along the narrow stone path which led from a square driveway to a little cottage in the woods. The little girl clutched a white three-ring binder and followed close behind her mother. The woman who greeted them brightly at the door had gray hair and tired eyes. She welcomed the two into her home, then started the girl’s first piano lesson...
...I do not have a desire, nor the skill, to be an accomplished pianist, or even musician of any type. I do not plan on continuing piano after high school regularly. I do know that if anyone ever asks me how I ended up doing missions work on the other side of the world, my answer will be that I started piano lessons in first grade. I do not know how the rest of my life will play out, but I do know that my Monday night piano lessons will have a huge impact on me.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others. 

           Marianne Williamson

Memory Challenge

I'm working with Psalm 34 for the month of January.  I'm hoping my sisters will join me and we can hold each other accountable.

Changes

Her heart sank when she realized what Alex was doing.  Hearing Taylor's approach, Alex turned to look at her.  She met Taylor's eyes for a moment and in that instant Taylor read her best friend's every thought.  Taylor hoped her own expression had been just as clear as Alex's. She wanted Alex to see her shock, her disappointment, and her concern.  She wanted Alex to know that she did not approve and was worried.
At first on Alex's face she saw exhaustion and a little hopelessness.  But her mouth was set and her expression was hard and unyielding.  It very clearly told Taylor "I don't care what you think of me.  You have no right to judge me and nothing you say will make a difference."  But underneath the stubbornness on her face, there was something more.  There was fear in her eyes as well.  As much as she tried to hide it under her confidence, Taylor could see Alex gauging her reaction.  Alex was silently pleading with Taylor to understand.  She apologized for disappointing her friend and begged her to not be angry.  There was desperation deep within her expression.
Alex looked away as if sensing the intensity of her friend's thoughts and made her usual complaint.  "It's cold."
"Yup," Taylor replied easily.
And then they continued as if everything was normal.

A Faithful Saying

If we died with him,
we will also live with him;
If we endure,
we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
he will also disown us;
If we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

Words from Ashes

I started a new blog for my poetry: http://wordsfromashes.blogspot.com/
I wanted a separate place for all my poetry and I want this blog to be more focused on my desire to serve God as a missionary.  I deleted a lot of my meaningless posts and the poetry (which is now all on Words from Ashes).  I will be giving this blog yet another makeover, however, I will be keeping the name the same for the time being.  I wanted to keep some things that were already on the blog, and this makes it easier.  Besides that, Blog2b still serves its purpose and I expect that once I start college I will be starting a new blog.  That's all for now.