The Negative

What is film used for?  It is a tiny ribbon of amber material that captures an image forever.  I recently found photo negatives of my mom when she was a child.  Now I am not saying that was FOREVER.. but it was a long time.  The negatives still have the pictures that were imprinted on them nearly 50 years ago.  That's how our thoughts and our minds are.  That is how humans operate.  We hear something, see something, or act on something - and suddenly we begin to imitate that.  Just look at babies.  They aren't smart at 10 months old and just know that the two syllables ma-ma and dada mean Mommy and Daddy.  They are imitating you repeating it over and over to them.  They are wanting that approval from you.  Imitation is the highest form of flattery - but can also be the highest form of destruction.  

God has been teaching me a lot lately about myself and who I am becoming.  There are people that I surround myself with, TV shows that I watch, and things that I read that are not pure and virtuous. They are things that are bringing me down.  If you have noticed - I haven't been blogging about my relationship with my Savior lately.  It has been about me.  It has been about what I am doing.  Not about what the Lord is teaching me or doing in or around me.  

This morning my mom brought a magazine in my room.  It is the recent issue of self.  I buy women's health, shape, and self to make myself feel athletic.  Being athletic is one of the things I strive to be one day in my life, yet I know I will never achieve.  I buy these magazines because the front cover "motivates" me to look like that - yet it is virtually unattainable.  These models are models because they are genetically born with a perfect metabolism, a great bone structure, and they were found at the perfect time.  Okay - maybe they aren't born perfect and have eating disorders and tons of problems - but looking at them, not only makes me insecure, it makes me wish I was them and become unsatisfied with how God made ME.  

But what is one thing that these magazine have in common.  Here is the breakdown of what is inside of them:

I have been praying about it - but as all immature people say, "It's not going to effect me!  I am a bigger person than this - I am a Christian and I can read and watch and talk like this and not be effected." 

20% Nutrition

5% Recipes

35% Workout Routines/Articles

40% Relationship and Sex Advice.

Now out of those things... I want most of all the Workout Routine portion - but am I getting any of that out of these magazines?  No.  I am getting more information about sex and ungodly relationships than anything!  That is ridiculous!  Why am I filling my mind with things like this when the Bible EXPLICITLY warns me about this:

Mark 7:20-23 says:

²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

What you behold you become.  Your life is like a piece of photographic film.  

The eyes are the window of the soul.  

Things that you see go into your eyes make an impression on your soul.  The things that you focus on long enough you eventually take on the characteristics of what you are looking like.

Check this out:

This is a perfect "secular" example of this idea.  Old married couples look like each other the more they age.  What they focused on for 10-20-50 years are the characteristics they are beginning to embody.  

This is my favorite one! haha

So I pose the question:

Only you can be honest with yourself. Don't wait the 47 days to New Years to make a change.  make a change now.  

The change might be hard.  It might involve changing your friend group, not watching the shows you watch, and it might even involve you meeting new people.  But it also means...

You get more time with you Heavenly Father!  And that is ALWAYS a good thing!

I want to let you know what sparked this blog post.  It was a video that I watched several nights ago of one of my friends Dorothy Shepherd and her wedding that took place a few months ago.  (Click on the picture to watch the video)

It reminded me of the relationship, the man, and the love that I want to share and reciprocate one day.  It is a love that stems from Jesus - a love that can only be found if you seek HIM out and cultivate that relationship day in and day out.  

Prayer

I have really been convicted lately about prayer.  When I say I am praying for you - it shouldn't be just a shout up to God whenever I think about it.  It should be a consistent effort to pray for your needs and requests.  You know how every once and a while you will get stuck on a word.   Well the word that I have been stuck  on is Active.  My God is an Active God.  You hear of God being a gracious and loving God - but how many times do we actually stop and think about how active God is in our life.  I am amazed at the things God does in my life on a daily basis.  He never sits back and says oh you prayed for that 2 weeks ago I think I will help you with that later... he is constantly there for us!  He is Always with us - always around and always wanting us to ask for his help! Because it is when we allow him to work through us that he is glorified - no, he does not need us to be glorified- just take the sunset or the sunrise.. God does it all by himself.   But when we allow him to work through us and let HIM show us how ACTIVE he is in our life - I tell you what - EXPECT to see great things!

So the other day I was eating lunch with my friend Kelsey.  Kelsey is about to leave for India on a 3 year commitment to missions.  WOW! God blesses some people with a heart for missions in other countries and I am blessed by them.  Kelsey and I were sitting at lunch and I had been challenged earlier that day to let God work in our lunch time together.  As we were eating and talking about life and catching up (we had not seen each other since high school) - I asked her if there was anything I could pray about for her.  She really needs more support and more monetary funds for her journey to India.  She is looking for about $300 more a month for 36 months.  So if you can help - please let me know, if you can't - please pray for her and her journey and that God provides which we know he will!    I asked if I could pray over our lunch and for our situations in life and she agreed, so I began to pray and I mean wow - i felt the holy spirit around us.  He was with us there at lunch.  It was an incredible feeling.  It was so incredible that a girl at the table next to us commented on our prayer and asked us about what we were doing.  It was an awesome time to share what God was doing in our life.  To see God glorified and HIS NAME BE MADE KNOWN - through a casual lunch is so encouraging to who God is.  Be challenged to continue to pray for your friends and loved ones as the journey into new phases of life.

I wanted to share one more thing I thought was cool before I start talking about my life.  Because it is all about me right?  NOT!  that was so a joke and I hope you know that - honestly.  

Okay great movie:  Evan Almighty !  Bad theology - yes, Depicts the Bible correctly - no!  Great movie lines - OF COURSE!

So being with Taylor has really gotten me to notice and remember and quote movie lines.  Its crazy has someone can have such an incredible impact on your life.  Each and everyone of us has at least one person in which we influence on a daily basis - remember that!  People are watching you and a lot of them look up to you!

OKay - back to the point... A _D_D!  

In this movie Morgan Freeman says:

"Let me ask you something.  If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience, or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?  If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him the opportunities to be courageous?  If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"

How much truth is in that statement.  As I prepare to leave for Baylor in Waco, TX tomorrow a lot of feelings are running through my mind.  I am anxious and scared of the road ahead of me, but I am also sad and heartbroken to leave the ones I love in Arkansas.  It will be hard, but through all of it do I mope and sit in despair or should I look at what God has in store for me.  I have prayed for people to be placed in my life so that I can impact them on a very intense level.  Is that going to happen with me sitting at home? Maybe, but maybe God is putting me in a position to do that in Waco.  Now yes I would love to impact from Little Rock, but obviously that isn't where God needs me.  I have also been praying for perseverance and strength in my relationships - well nothing says perseverance and strength like Long Distance.  This quote really made me look at what I had been praying for to see how God might be using me in Waco.  DO NOT GET ME WRONG _  I am completely sad and miserable and have been crying all night about this move - but deep down I have solace that God will provide and I have a loving family and a wonderful boyfriend supporting me with open arms when I come back (which will be soo soon!!) 

Have I told y'all about Taylor?  He is pretty much amazing.  We are going to eat with the Mafia today at lunch.  It's going to be soo fun!  If you don't know who the mafia is... it is the Gosser Klan!  THere are soo many of us and we call ourselves the mafia because everywhere we go - we see a family member.  So watch out - you cross me... i've got the mafia.  JUST kidding!  no but seriously we are everywhere!

My life in pictures!

Found this on my google reader thanks to kati baldwin! Inside this wax paper sack (white square on the back of heart) is bird seed for a wedding!  How cute!

Laura Leigh made this bug for a project at school out of paper mache - if you can't tell it is holding 10 cupcakes.  hmmm wonder where she got that idea!  she loves her big sister!! and i love her - wow! I am going to miss that little goober!

Friday was my last day of workout before leaving for Waco with my trainer Julie!  She knew I had been craving a lemon tangy cupcake since my diet - and so she brought me one from cupcakes on kavanaugh!!  How sweet is she.  Kind of defeats the purpose of workout - but I engulfed that sucker!  It was soo good.  And as you can see I am wearing a sweatshirt!  I have been soo cold despite to extreme heat we have been experiencing in Little Rock. 

Me and Laura Leigh decided to tie-dye yesterday before the rehearsal dinner with Taylor - this is how it's done ladies and gentleman:

1. Swirl your shirts - and rubberband them!

2. Put something on the ground!  and dye your shirts!  Do not forget to wet your shirts with water it soaks up the dye better.  

3.  Wrap in Seran Wrap for 6-8 hours or however long.  I am ADD so i left mine there for 2 days ha OOPS!  My shirts are the 3 on the stop and Laura Leigh's are on the bottom.

This is the kit from Walmart that we used it was $24.95 and included a ton of colors.  We dyed 6 shirts and we ran out of almost every color - so I would recommend this kit if you are doing a lot of shirts.

Then Laura Leigh made cupcakes they are called FunCakes - don't ask thats such a weird name.  But they were sooo good!

I am soooo soooo sooo proud of Taylor.  He officiated his first wedding tonight and let me tell you one thing - I am the most proud girlfriend in the whole world right now.  He did marvelous and was so eloquent and spoke very meaningfully to the new couple!  He spoke on the positions and duties of a husband and wife in a relationship and encouraged them both to carry out those jobs and not to forget them.  I think he is a keeper!  The wedding was fun I got to see a lot of his friends and meet the girlfriends which were so sweet and very talkative!  It was a very fun night!  oh and the food was great.. but I forgot to taste the wedding cake.  WHAT! i know I am soo silly!

May your prayers always be answered.  May your life always be full.  May your path always look inviting and may you always have great friends on the sidewalk of your journey!  But most of all, 

May you be charmed in the Bliss of the Lord - and may that be your daily strength.

Be Blessed.  Be Charmed.  Be Happy.

Abby