Addison Road - "My Story"

Recently, my preacher gave me this CD by a band named Addison Road. Unlike other CD's, in this one, I loved every single song! Usually I find one that I just don't understand or don't like, but this one has just been wonderful altogether!

As I listened to the songs, I read the lyrics they provided, and one song really stuck out to me; it's called "My Story" (the album being called Stories), and here are the lyrics to it:

My Story

This is not another song about the reasons I am stressed

This is not a melody to get the feeling off my chest

This is not a pop song written for the radio

These are just my thoughts and what I'm praying for

If this is my story, if this is my song

Then I want to be a part of something beautiful

If this is my journey, then show me your road

Wherever you lead me in this world I want to go

There's just too many times I only think of me

'Cause I get so consumed with my opportunities

When my last breath brings me to the feet of God

I want to hear him say I lived for his glory

If this is my story, if this is my song

Then I want to be a part of something beautiful

If this is my journey, then show me the road

Wherever you lead me in this world, I want to go

Colors paint the evening sky

The sun is shining, giving light

Stars light up the atmosphere

But we're the reason God came here

We are his story, we are his song

A beautiful melody that shows the world his love

When we're on this journey, when we're on this road

We are a part of the greatest story ever told

(copyright 2010 Simple Tense Songs / Inthecity Songs (ASCAP)

and Regisfunk Music (BMI) admin. by Simpleville Music, Inc.)

Today is a beautiful Fall day; seeing it makes me wonder how we are more special and beautiful than all of the world God created.

Remember that our lives are a part of a wonderful plan that he's got for us; live it for our LORD!

I hope this made your day like it made mine. :)

(You can listen to the song here too!)

College

Being a Junior means one thing:

Planning for College.

Everything you do is focused on your future:

Preparing for SAT's, deciding what to major in, which college to go to, toughing through school to get the grades you need to get into your college of choice, etc...

It also includes some life-changing decisions too. Deciding what plans God has for your life, figuring out what you would like in a guy (for future marriage, if thinking about it), developing the skills you'll need in the business world--things such as leadership, working together, listening, debating, getting things done, persuading, etc.

All of this can easily pile up into a lot of stress on one person, and can be very hard to figure out! Some never do, some do and become extremely successful, where as most get through most of it and maybe miss a couple of things, but get out good.

Well, all of this weight has finally fallen on my shoulders, and so now I am trying to sort through it all.

It pains me to realize that I am not ready yet to move out and be on my own, but that is what these last years are for. (: Taking the time to figure out how things work and how to do things before you leave!

(I can't give advice yet on how to get through it; I can only talk about things that I'm going through, so I will not even attempt to go there.)

But for the past year or two, I have been thinking a lot about this question:

What do I want to go to college for?

Wow. Tough question when you haven't ever thought about it, right?

For some people it's obvious. Take my sister for example:

She has always loved arts & crafts. She loves working with kids. Her dream for life has always been to go to the college my mom went to. What is she doing now? Art education major at that same University.

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeasy.

But for someone like me? Not as easy.

I have sooo many different dreams, and so many different interests! There are things that I am good at (Math) and things that I don't believe I will ever be (History). Then there are the things that I do for fun (Art & Singing), but they are weighed against the things that make a good salary (Not art & singing). Of course you have my spiritual interests (Missionary, Start a Church, etc.), but they slightly rely on getting a job first, and getting married too (I want to start a church with a good husband, one or two kids, and a few other close families in the same spot).

So there are many different things for me to think about.

Finally, I came to a conclusion that I wanted to major in Graphic Design.

(Problem is, now I don't know if I really should.)

:/

It's so funny how one day you are so sure and set on what you are going to do, and the next you are back at the drawing board, trying to work things through again!

So now I've been debating again what I want to go to college for. Still looking. No news yet.

Maybe I'll come back and comment what I decide on after I go...

But now, the next step in the process?:

Where do you want to go?

Ahhhhh!!! Hardest question ever!

Why?? Well....

Raised as a Church of Christ Christian, I have only 'known the existence' of 3 colleges to choose from. Three's a good number right? Well, not really, but better than none, right?

Okay, so now that I'm looking through them, I marked off one, because it doesn't have Graphic Design (which now I'm unsure of), and I marked off (for the most part) the other, because my sister went there, and who wants to go to college with their sister? (I do love her, but we have our differences... (; )

So it came down to one college.

Great.

Then I looked around a little wider. I found two more colleges I might like; Christian, and had good Graphic Design programs... but then people told me the school had more of a title of "Christian", when it really wasn't any better than a State College.

Great.

So then there was one... or none, to be honest.

I honestly don't have any heartfelt choices in my list of colleges! Somewhere along the way, all the places I was encouraged to go to, have been turned off by someone who warned me not to go there, and so I really don't have a favorite choice! I fear that every college will seem great, then seem horrible, all based on individual experiences; yet the more negative comments I get, the less interested I am in those places!

Now I have about five places that "should" be my top choices, yet don't inspire or encourage me to go there at all, one place that I've heard of, but again, haven't been greatly encouraged to go there, and nothing else to do.

Here is when I turn to God and just say:

Help?

I'll be praying a lot for guidance on this topic. I'm even considering a non-Christian school that has maybe a Christian group thing in it, rather than Christian schools, just so that I can get more options...

Pray with me, please, that God shows me where to go, and what to do. I already see him working on me, so I know for sure that he has a plan for me, but I want to know His plan! I have to trust that he will provide for me, though. It's another struggle, and a good lesson to learn for later in life--but, again, a struggle.

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.' "

-Jeremiah 29:11-12 (NIV)

~♥

My Story

This is a speech I wrote for Rhetoric class this year about how I've come to believe in Christ. I wish to share it with you, and I hope it inspires someone.

(I removed some names for online use.)

I was raised in a great Christian family. I attended a Church of Christ every Sunday for years. I've been at a Christian School all of my life; and I went to a Christian Camp in the summer every year since first grade. Christianity surrounded my life from day one. If you saw me in school, I was the quiet girl. Being a Christian, at that time, was nothing more than being good, singing pretty songs about God in Church, and learning about the Bible stories.

It wasn't until High School that any drama even affected my life. Some of the issues I met, I had already faced a little in Middle School with friends outside of school; but the only way I knew how to handle them was to ignore it. In High School, even though I was at a Christian school, there were people openly lying to parents and teachers. There were groups together cheating on homework. I heard someone curse almost every day. For the quiet girl who was coming out of her shell, this was a huge change from what I had been used to seeing. I honestly did not know what to do, and I made a lot of mistakes that year.

At the end of February of my Freshman year, I took a trip to Tennessee with my youth group for a huge Christian youth rally called Winterfest. I had been there the year before, and so that year, I convinced my whole family to come with me. It was here that I met real Christianity.

I heard people sing as though God was right before them and listening to their words. I learned new songs with words that were clear about their message, and not hidden behind fancy Bible language. I listened as the speakers explained how there had been a Veil that kept us away from God, and that when Jesus died, that Veil was torn from top to bottom, so that we could be with God again. I spent the last night crying and praying with my friend Alicia. The last day I was there, the speaker announced, "If you feel you need to give your life to Christ right now, please, come forward." I turned to Alicia, and I asked her, "Alicia, will you walk up there with me?" She said, "Of course!" and I was baptized that very day back in the hotel's hot tub. I cried through the whole thing.

For the next year and a half, I have gone up and down through struggles, making mistakes and learning from them. I've been learning how to trust God with my life, how to resist temptations, and how to lead others. I will openly admit: I am not perfect. Being a Christian means always growing, so I know I will never be done struggling with life; but I can say that I am a better person now than I ever was because of Christ.

What About Now?

As a young Christian, I tend to set a lot of goals in my life for the future, for things that I hope and wish to do and make differences in when I'm older. All of us should make goals like this and persevere to accomplish them in our life.

But in the meantime, I find myself doing nothing. I'm constantly setting goals and getting nothing accomplished at the moment. Times like that make me question where God is in my life right now. They make me wonder what I'm doing wrong and why I'm getting tempted so easily to disobey God. As I was asking myself about this, I came across this quote:

"Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying in the thing that lies before us today? How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person's seemingly small act of obedience! Rest assured: Do what God tells you to do now, and, depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next." ~Elisabeth Elliot

Too often in our lives, we promise and pray to God that we will be better Christians, but too little do we put it into practice today in our lives! If you're anything like me, it's like that essay you're supposed to write: you get so caught up in saying that you absolutely, positively will do it on this day that when that day comes around, you've been so used to procrastinating it that you never get it finished!

As is said in a familiar song by Daughtry: "What about now? What about today?" You've got an open opportunity to simply obey God right now, so "before it's to late, what about now?"

Let's make our focus being what can we do for God today. Let's pray together and ask God, "How can we obey you and serve you today? Help us live how you want us to live, right here, right now." Be willing to work for God, and he will use us to do great things! Don't put it off any longer, for the time is now, and the day is today!

~♥~

Trust

Read Luke 21:1-4. You've probably heard this passage read often at Church services for the offering, but what is this really about?
"I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others."
At this point in the short story, the disciples (twelve people who are constantly watching and learning all that they can from Jesus) are probably thinking, "What are you talking about, Jesus?! They gave so much! And she gave next to nothing! You can't use that to make repairs on the temple or to pay taxes!!!" But Jesus points them to a higher place.
(verse 4:) "All of these people gave their gifts out of wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."
Back then, if you were a widow, you were poor. You might have a family member or a friend taking care of you if you were lucky. But this lady wasn't just a widow; she was a poor widow. So most likely, she didn't have anyone to take care of her. All she even has to care for herself is two tiny copper coins that were hardly worth enough to get food! To give up this was to give up everything she had to live on.
Now there are only two ways a person would do such a thing:
1. She is crazy. or, 2. She has complete trust that God will provide for her.
Jesus was pointing out that by putting both of those coins, her only way to survive on her own, she was placing her complete trust in God, and he was proud of her for it. He was not just saying that the amount given in was more in compared to what she had than the others; he was telling his disciples to have the kind of faith that she had.

Matthew 6:31-33 "So do not worry saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well."

God's Wonderful Deeds

Alright. Let's do this. It's time to serve.

This Sunday evening is the first of two nights of our church's VBS (Vacation Bible School).

It's an exciting time for me! About 5 months ago, I would have never dreamed this day would come! Let me explain...

I am one of the few at my church who literally grew up in the same church my whole life. I still have baby pictures of me in front of the old puppet booth in the upstairs "A" room. When I was a little kid, I remember having VBS every year at my church. We did some Veggie Tales theme one year, another we had a jungle theme, another bible brain, and yet another Jerusalem Marketplace; then that was it. By then, I was actually a helper rather than a participant, and so all the parents of the kids my age were stepping out of helping and some even moving to different churches.

So then, they transferred the responsibility to the youth group for us to form VBS, but we didn't have any real youth leaders then--just parent volunteers. What happened? Nothing. Why? They didn't want to do all of the work, and we couldn't. We didn't know how.

Finally, I got tired of it. I was helping out during our Children's Worship, and I saw a ton of tired, bored kids who didn't care about what was going on, and clearly saw nothing exciting about the word of God because of the boring routine of the Church.

I couldn't stand that. That pierced me to the heart and made me realize that someone needed to do something about this.

Some Wednesday night in March, when we have an hour long time at the church for us to meet and have more lessons, our youth group was gathered together in the room discussing plans for this summer. As they discussed all kinds of trips and get-together ideas and when to do them, I spoke up and asked, "What about VBS?"

Immediately, a girl across the room said to me, "Forget about it, we're not getting that done." And our two 'Parent Volunteers' both said to me, "Yeah, sorry, but there's no way we could get that done this year."

I was dumbfounded. This youth group honestly did not trust that God could help us do this? No one was willing enough to take action and actually do something for these kids? If I'm correct in my memory, I got very quiet for the rest of the night.

The following Sunday, I still wasn't completely giving up inside. I talked to a strong Christian friend of mine and asked him what he thought about giving VBS a try this year. Despite what had been said that Wednesday, he told me that if I want to do this, then I should. It just so happens(thanks to God), that the ones who had disagreed with me were not present on Sunday. I attempted to bring up the subject again, at first with little success. Then, a college student who had been sitting in on our class(because he still acts like a kid), spoke up and got everyone's attention. He said something like,

"Hey! Guys! Emily's trying to get something started here! Pay attention! (Then he directed the conversation to me as well) If you guys want to actually do this, you need to plan for a date, right now."

Thanks to him and to the other teen, we came up with dates, times, and a theme for everything. Ever since then, a friend of mine, Sarah, and I have been planning out all the details, creating a schedule, writing skits, planning crafts, forming lessons, coming up with activities, and slowly delegating details down to other close friends(and relatives).

Today, we have a well brought together staff (which includes her mother, both of my parents, and both of my sisters), and we have figured out everything that is going to happen during the night. We are expecting every kid in our church to come(about 15-20 I believe), as well as some neighbors, and possibly some kids from another church we know.

I could go on and list the ways that God has blessed us, but just having VBS this year is such a blessing. Nothing that is VBS now would have ever existed without God. What happened on that one day has changed my summer, and my whole life.

VBS is happening. I'm learning what it means to be a leader, and now am being called into service in my school as one. Our church is changing and seeing true growth compared to the stillness beforehand. We are preparing to touch people's lives next Sunday(A couple new families are being encouraged to bring their kids to VBS, and I am excited to see what happens!).

So much good has come out of this that will lead to more good, and it is ALL thanks to the Lord, Jesus Christ. I cannot express enough in words how blessed we are because of this! Let God be blessed 77x over and over for what he has done for me, and for my church and family!

"Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men."

~Psalm 107:21(or 31)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose."

~Romans 8:28

Dear Girls...

Dear Girls,

Gossip hurts.

Be smart;

Just don't do it!

Sincerely

~Emily