Guys

"My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways"

~Proverbs 23:26

Guys. I am not going to gush about the cutest boy at school, (Which since I am home-schooled would be my brother, Dad, or dog. Yes, definitely going with the dog.) He's adorable. 
See: 

Anyways not gushing about our dog, or about any guy from the latest TV show, band, movie, etc. Personally the whole thing causes way too much drama. However with guys are out their, it can be very hard staying God-centered. It can be extremely challenging for me to keep God at my center when I look at some of my friends with their boyfriends/girlfriends. It is hard to keep myself from falling into the pit of self pity. I must focus on the will God has for me, not my own. 

Sometimes I wish men could just fall off the face of the earth and make it easier. But that is not the solution. Realistically the male race is not going to die out tomorrow. So what do I do? How do I become God-Centered now. Waiting.
First, this may sound a bit backwards, but forget about yourself, and start thinking about a guy. The guy, a guy in the future, and of course think about God. 
When I was in middle-school, I really liked this guy, foolish little puppy I know, but I did. I began to realize I spent way to much time dwelling on foolish stuff. I started praying for this kid each night. I would pray God would strengthen his own personal walk, and then I would pray God would prepare the right godly girl for him, completely taking me out of the picture. I did not dwell on him long though, after him I moved on to praying for my future husband. Asking God to prepare his heart and mine, even at this early age. And then I would move on to other prayers and subjects. 
God can use such things in amazing ways. This young man may have been struggling and God knew he needed a prayer warrior. Even though I have stopped liking this young man, I continue to pray for him when the Lord leads. Him as well as many others. If God lays someone on your heart, pray. Go and continually lay them down before the throne of God. 
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

I encourage you to join me. Whether you are praying for you future husband, current spouse, a brother, or your Dad. Sometimes I pray very specifically and sometimes my prayer is more of a heartfelt babble. That is when I am very thankful I have an intercessor and translator of my heart! When I pray specifically some of the things I pray for is this:

His Head–That he will look to God as Lord of his life. (1 Corinthians 11:13)
His Mind – That he will have the mind of Christ and think as the Holy Spirit would lead him and not the flesh. (1 Corinthians 2:16)
His Eyes –That God will keep his eyes from temptation and that He will turn his eyes from sin. (Matthew 6:13, Mark 9:47)
His Ears – That he will hear God's still small voice instructing him. (1 Kings 19:12, Psalm 32:8)
His Mouth – That his words will be pleasing to God. (Proverbs 19:14)
His Neck –That he will humble himself before God and be strong, courageous, and careful to do everything written in God's Word so that he will be prosperous and successful. (James 4:10, Joshua 1:8-9)
His Heart-That he will love and trust God with his whole heart. (Deuteronomy 6:5;  Proverbs 3:5)
His Arms-That God will be his strength. (Psalm 73:26)
His Hands-That he will enjoy the work of his hands and see it as a gift from God. (Ecclesiastes 3:13, 5:19)
His Ring Finger – That he will be true to our marriage vows and that our love will never wane. (Proverb 3:3; Malachi 2:16)
His Legs – That he will stand firm in his faith and not waver. (Psalm 62:6)
His feet – That God will order his steps and that he will walk in God's truth. (Proverbs 4:25, Psalm 26:3)

God has a plan for my life, even if I do not know the chapters ahead.

"Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

~Matthew 7:7

Sticks and Stones

"The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences."

~Proverbs 18:21

"Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." This familiar statement came to light in the 1800's. It originally was written to persuade young victims of name-calling to ignore the taunts, to refrain from physical retaliation, and to remain calm and good-natured. I believe that is a fantastic thing. In other words it could be restated as this: 

"You have heard that it was was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you... But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." - Matthew 5:38-42, & 44 

God never said it would be easy, because it's not, however He did say we should do it. We cannot control what comes from another mouth, but we can control how we respond and what comes from ours. Instead of putting blame on someone else why not start with us. 

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from you brother's eye." Matthew 7:3-5 

When you think about saying something about someone else, think about theses things.

• Would I say it to their face
• Would it build them up
• Would it improve the silence 
• Is it meaningful to God's Kingdom

When you think about sweeping under the rug. Or skipping a minor step in a task think about this verse.

• "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through HIm." -Colossians 3:17
• Do your best, for God, because He is there, and He is watching you.

"Show yourself in all respect to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us." Titus 2:7-8

Three Strikes

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

~Ephesians 2:10

This last school year I got the pleasure of taking an English 101 class. I can honestly say it challenged me for the better in my writing and speech making skills. This last week of class we were given the opportunity to write our on creative story. There were some amazing stories written, and I was honored to be amongst such talent. Unfortunately I do not have copies of those stories, but I do have a copy of mine to share with you. 

  Three Strikes

I have played every sport in the book, from Basketball and football, to red rover and Chinese checkers! You may be wondering why I have played so many sports, but let me just start out by saying it is not because I am some super genius athlete. The problem lies there. I am about as much of an athlete as my grandmother is a singer. It is awful. Not that I'm not good at a sport, what is awful is her singing. Sounds worse then a pelican crying for help while he chokes on a fish! But it's the heart that counts.

The first real sport I ever tried, was skipping rope, otherwise known as jumping rope. It started when my mother told me to, "get involved," "You need to make friends!" She would tell me everyday. I tried jump rope. Mom was sure I was going to make friends!  She was right, I did make a friend, his name was concrete and he hurt.

After that failed experience Dad encouraged me to try something more manly. I went as manly as I could think. I joined the sport of rodeo. Cowboys are pretty manly, right? I was sure it was my fit. I mean riding bucking horses this was perfect! The problem was instead of riding them I spent most of time flying through the air over them. After failing to perform this sport properly, I was given what they said would be the manliest job ever...the rodeo clown. After spending one day running for my life, I realized the rodeo was not for me.

After that bucking experience, I thought maybe I could choose a manly sport that kept my feet firmly on the ground. I found the perfect match. It was chess boxing.  Chess boxing is just like it sounds, it’s chess and boxing.  All you do is rotate from one to the other. Box for four minutes, chess for four minutes. Sounds easy right? It wasn’t, the sport was horrible. How could someone expect you to think logically after being pummeled in the head by a 200-pound kid. I broke the record, I am sure, for the most broken bones in four minutes.

Three strikes, if this had been a great big baseball game I would be out. My mom was still determined I was going to make friends. I was quickly signed up for unicycle hockey, a team sport. Balancing, balls, swinging sticks, nothing could go wrong there. Let me just say whoever invented this so called "sport", did not consider that balls being whacked everywhere, is not good when your on wheels. The only thing I managed to do for my team was to show the opponents my awesome spastic ninja skills as I hit the ground. I could see the fear in their eyes.

I tried underwater football, snow kiting, logrolling, cluster ballooning, sky surfing, rattlesnake round up, toe wrestling, hamster racing, and many others. I thought I would never find a sport. I was tried of making friends, and tired of being manly. I was tired of the disaster that seemed to follow me everywhere. I was giving up, if only there was ultimate sandwich making, or a race in messing up your room, those I could do. I wanted something solo, something that does not require muscles big enough to pull a train, I wanted a break.

Our family decided to take a trip to the Grand Canyon. “Family bonding” is what my parents called it. We got there and were looking at the canyon when I looked up and saw him. No, not an angel, it was a man ironing his shirt. I went over and asked him what he was doing. It was then and there that I found out about the sport of extreme ironing. Perfect! Imagine how amazing it would be to iron around the world. On top of Mount Everest, on the Great Wall of China, by the Great Pyramids. Just do not try it in the pool. I found out the hard way water and electricity do not mix...

 The End

I hope you you enjoyed it! :D