Back In The Daaaay

Haha I remember my first day of Kindergarten. I painted with my hands and I ate apple slices. It was so simple. I loved playing on the playground, and in the winter my favourite thing to do was use the sleds! Our teacher asked us to write about what we loved during the winter, and I seriously wrote "Playing on the sleds at school!" It feels like an eternity ago, because I moved from where I grew up, but I still love thinking about 'back in the day'.



I think my favourite memory is all the simplicity. I never worried about our bills or Mom and Dad's job, I never freaked out because we didn't have enough money to fill the refrigerator (though I did freak out when I didn't have my favourite FOOD haha.) Friendships were easy compared to how they can be now. I believed everything my parents said. I believed most of what my friends said...unfortunately... Let's just say, once upon a time, I was told that boogers were really bugs covered in snot... Yes I did believe that for about two years, until someone told me otherwise. But ANYWAYS!

Faith was meant to be simple. Jesus encouraged childlike faith. Forget about all the difficulties life presents to us, and choose to believe that God has it all under control. That's what makes being an impossibility so much easier.

Choosing to go back to when my faith was simple,
Daddy's Little Girl

Get Loud With It!

They say actions speak louder than words. Today, there are so many people claiming to be on-fire Christians! That's awesome, and if its true, then wonderful! But our actions speak louder than our words. When we say "Ya I'm totally a Christian, Jesus is my everything," then live just like everyone else, we're not standing out.

I wanna stand out, I wanna be the technicolor in a gray world! If my actions don't line up with my words, then how am I supposed to do that? Its time we get loud with it. Not just verbally. Its time our actions reflect our words. Its time people stop and stare because we're WAY different than everyone else.

Like a neon sign screaming "OPEN" or a black sheep in the midst of hundreds of white ones, we need to be different. Our actions need to scream "I AM SAVED." Only then, can we truly be impossibilities. Otherwise, we're no different than those taking the easy path.

Christianity has been given a bad name because of actions that contradict words. Its been scoffed at and looked down upon because some Christians are so fake they smell like plastic. We don't have it all together, and that's where grace comes in. But the miracle of grace is a heart change. And an attitude change. And an action change.

So let's get loud. Let's use our actions to scream from the mountain-tops that we are the impossible generation, and that with God, nothing is impossible.

Getting loud with my faith,
Daddy's Girl

The Unknown...

As teens, we're all looking at our futures now. Whether it be college-wise, or just looking in to moving out and getting a job. My future never scared me before. But now that I'm looking at it seriously, I honestly am getting a bit frightened. I know that fear isn't of God, and I know that I'm not supposed to worry about my tomorrows. The thing is, I'm not "worrying" about tomorrow, I'm trying to set out a crude plan of what its gonna look like, so that I can start aiming my education in that direction.

Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God knows the plans He has for us, and that they're good plans. That's really reassuring. But how do we put those plans of His in action? I don't know yet. And as I'm walking out my life as an impossibility, I'm still learning. So I'll keep the assurance that God has great plans for me, and I'll give my future to Him, fully reliant upon Him.

Here I go. I'm seriously getting ready to start this major journey. I'm gonna try not to fear the unknown, because it is known. By God. He's the best Author of my future. So here goes it. Future, here I come! Better get ready for this impossibility, because God has great plans for me that'll prosper me and not harm me, that'll give me hope in this trek!

Living it out,
Daddy's Girl

Anytime anyplace, eh?

I had an extremely busy weekend, and that's why I haven't published any new posts for the past two days. Today I was back to my normal routine, going to school, and on the way home I started thinking ("Oh no! She's thinking! What's gonna happen now?!" I promise its good :D)

As we drove home, we turned on HillSongs and the entire family started singing along in both praise and worship songs. That's always so cool, when the car is filled with words of adoration for God. I think it is such a blessing to live in a free country, where worship is allowed anytime and anyplace. But so often, our minds get in the way of worshipping God. Worship isn't always singing songs, its something the heart is doing all the time. It's an action of love and adoration. Whatever the focus of our hearts is, that's what we're worshipping. When my focus is God, that's what my heart is worshipping. When its on other things, then my worship is no longer God-focused. And God-focused worship is a big key to a successful God-walk.



David was considered a man after God's own heart. He wasn't perfect, I mean, he killed a man to have the man's wife as his own. And yet God still called him a man after His own heart. That's so cool. When I read through Psalms, I see that even though David's world is crumbling around him, he keeps God as his focus and gives him the glory all the time. That attitude of worship gained him the title "A man after God's own heart."



The prostitute who sat at Jesus' feet, anointed them with oil, and washed them with her tears and her hair, was commended for her great faith. In Bible times, a woman's hair was her pride and glory. The prostitute not only gave up her most prized possession, the expensive oil, but she dismantled her glory and laid it as His feet, literally. That would be grotesque. He walked in streets where animal feces was everywhere, where it was all dirt, and she used her hair (pride and glory) to wash them. Her attitude of worship (sitting at the Saviour's feet) gained her the title "Faithful". Her faith saved her, which in the original Hebrew meant "to save from diseases". Wow.

David worshipped as his world fell apart. The prostitute worshipped as the men around her judged her because of her imperfections. David was rejected because he was appointed by God to be the next mighty king. The prostitute was rejected because of her sin. But did God reject these worshippers? No. He saw past the outside skin, and saw hearts full of love and adoration. It didn't matter when, it didn't matter where, it didn't matter how.



That's what I want. I wanna be faithful and a woman after God's own heart, I wanna be the worshipper that God sees and says "Wow" to. I'm not there yet, I have just as much learning to do as the next guy, but I'm working on it, and its my heart's desire. That's what matters to God. And that's what's so cool for me.

Choosing once again to be an impossibility, in heart and in action,
Daddy's Girl

What Is It Really?

Christianity. Hmm. What is it really???


For the first ten years of my life, being a Christian was just who I was. All my friends were Christians. We all prayed and sang songs about Jesus and memorized verses. That's what it was all about, right? Then life became a little more difficult. My two options were to run or to step up to the plate. I took the latter. I was never perfect, I never will be perfect, but I chose to get a little more serious about this whole Jesus thing. Every year, my relationship became a little more intimate. In 2009, my Christianity became more than I ever expected it to be.


"Fire insurance" is a great bonus in being a Christ-follower. The blessings God pours out on us is cool as well. But having a close, intimate relationship is far greater than both of those. That's what Christianity is all about. I'm no better than the next girl, I don't have life all figured out, but I have one thing that I am absolutely certain about, and that is this: My Creator loves me deeply, and He longs just as I do to have a wonderful relationship with me.


Once I stopped looking for His hand (all His blessings) and started seeking His face, everything became a little bit clearer. Why did Jesus really die on the cross for me? This right here, my realtionship with God, is why. Wow. WOW. He's become so much more to me than a "Higher Power". It's so amazing and wonderful. Anyone and everyone can have it; God desires to have it with each of us. It's not about deserving it, it's not about earning it, it's not rules, regulations, and laws. It's something that was truly meant to be from the beginning of time. God walked with Adam in the Garden, He wants to have a close walk with us. Once we realize that, once we accept that, once we willingly choose to go past "fire insurance", we can have that intimate walk with Him that He desires.


I'm a communicator (that would be a polite word for motor-mouth!) I have so much to say, and I'm sure you've noticed that in my many-worded posts. When it comes to God's love, though, my words are not enough. I'm now at a place where I crave His love. I hunger and thirst for His attention. And He constantly meets those needs, if I let Him. More of Him, less of me. Assurance of my salvation is no longer enough. Forgiveness of my sins does not cut it anymore. I desire His love. That's Christianity. Being fulfilled with that love.


Perfect. Beautiful. Passionate. Intimate. All consuming. More than enough. Great. Wonderful Amazing. Breath taking. Never ending. Deep. Desirable.


When I truly think about His love for me, I feel like I'm drowning. It engulfs me, it engulfs all of us. Whether we feel it consuming us or not is our choice. Choices, He's given us choices in everything. To make us all different, so that we aren't robots. I have my own unique personality. And because of that, we can all worship God in a different way. 


As an impossibility, I'm not only walking the God-walk, I'm walking the God-walk in total wonder and adoration of Who that God that I'm walking for is. That's what Christianity is. Its not just fire insurance. It's following after Christ and getting to be a part of the awesome romance God wants to have with all of us. Understanding that makes being an impossibility all the better. If we can all understand that now as teenagers, we'll be able to move and shake this world like never before. Because we're the next generation of presidents, managers, business owners, motivational speakers, ministers, singers, actors, movie producers doctors, talk-show hosts, and lawyers. Can you imagine what all of that would be like if we understood what Christianity really is? It'd be revolutionizing. And in my honest opinion, we need some revolutionizing in this nation. 


Choosing to be an impossibility, totally surrendered to His love, and ready to revolutionize, 

Daddy's Girl

So the Storm is Here...Now What?

I woke up this morning and just about rolled over and went back to bed. The weather is very rainy today, and when it rains I always feel lazy. That plus the fact that it still looked like it was five in the morning outside made for a very difficult effort in getting out of bed. I love rain. Its great weather to curl up with hot chocolate or ice cream (or both) and just watch a movie with. Or, if my parents allow it, and if I'm feeling courageous enough to actually go for it with our wild storms here, I like to go outside and play in the rain.

Most of us have heard the story about Jesus in the boat calming the storm. That's awesome that He spoke to the storm, and in life, we know that we can speak to the storms that turmoil inside of us as well. But what about the disciples? They panicked during the storm. They really truly freaked out. Life is going to throw storms at us. For my family and I, it was a lot of financial dishevel. And that's ok, because I learned that if you don't dance in the rain, you lose all that precious time.

David praised His God in the streets, dancing like an idiot. I'm sure if it had rained, he would have continued dancing. That's the sort of attitude I want to have. When life is throwing storms at me left, right, and center, I want to dance like David did, praising God regardless, even in the rain.

Today I don't plan on literally dancing in the rain. I did my hair this morning... I'd rather not mess it up haha. But I will dance in the storms of life when they come by. When we keep an attitude of praise even in the storms, people notice. They wonder why you're smiling even though you're going through the proverbial wringer. That's when being an impossibility is fun, because we get to share the love that God gave us through that. Actions speak louder than words, and I'm pretty sure dancing in the rain is an action. So let's get loud about our faith.

An impossibility choosing to dance in the rain,
Daddy's Girl

Grace

This morning I can't say that I woke up early to read my Bible and all that stuff. Because I didn't. I got up around 9:30am and I did homework. But I was thinking about a verse in Galatians about being crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) and I decided to look it up. I am HORRIBLE at remembering where verses are, so I guessed it was 2:21. The verse I found was not what I was looking for, but I think its what God wanted me to read. I've read that verse many times, because it follows Galatians 2:20. But this morning was the first time I go the revelation about what Paul means as he says that.


Galatians 2:21 says, "'I do not set aside the grace of
God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in
vain.'"


Grace is something I don't deserve. At all. Like, at all at all at all (get my point?) Its like if I just crashed my parents' car (which I will never do...hopefully) and they took me out afterwards for icecream. They'd be showing me grace. I didn't deserve that icecream. Heck, I deserved to be grounded and have pay off all the damage to the car, not ICECREAM! But they had grace.

That's the whole point in Jesus dying on the cross. As I choose to be an impossibility, I'm not going to be perfect. On the contrary, I'm choosing to live under God's grace. I mess up all the time, but if I wasn't living under grace to get my right standing with God, Jesus' death would have been pointless, and I would epically fail at being the impossibility I want to be.

In being an impossibility, I'm seeing that its not my works that get my righteousness, its the grace that has been so freely given to me. Grace means that even if I sin, I'm forgiven. That doesn't mean I can keep sinning. When I fully understand grace, a miracle happens inside me where I no longer desire to sin. That's what's so cool.

I'm going to mess up. I'm going to tell my brother, "Leave me alone! I'm blogging! Gosh!" (yes I did just say that to him....) but God's gonna forgive me for not responding the right way, and I'll once again have a clean slate. God's so awesome. Seriously, no joke. He's like. Superman! Yaaa! Except better, because He doesn't have a kryptonite. He's always mighty to save (and forgive).

My righteousness is not through the old law, I don't earn it through my works. My righteousness is through the grace that God freely extends to me time and time again because of His Son's death on the cross.

I'm an impossibilty because I'm living under grace. That's what being an impossibility is all about. Walking the God-walk isn't about being perfect. Its about accepting God's grace and letting the mirace of grace work in us. I'm going to fall on this path that God's set for me. But His grace picks me back up. I don't earn it. I accept it. And in His grace, under His protection, in the shadow of His wing, is the best place any one of us can ever be.

Living in the grace, being an impossibility because of it,
Daddy's Girl

Are You Talking To Yourself?

My brother talks to himself sometimes and I think it is the most hilarious thing in the whole wide world! Sure, I talk to myself A LOT, but hearing him do it is soooooo funny! Haha.

When I pray, I sometimes get distracted (especially if I'm in my room and my music is on and I'm not entirely focused) so I end up just talking to myself. My mind goes crazy places....like what to wear to church on Sunday or what flavour candy I'm craving at that exact moment hahaha. It actually discourages me when I can't focus on prayer, because I feel out of touch from God. Is something wrong with me when I can't pray properly?

No, I'm just not "in my zone." The prayer zone, that is. Seriously, when I first started really praying, I felt like I was talking to myself ALL THE TIME. If I'm completely honest, I felt really silly about it. How am I supposed to pray without feeling silly?

Sometimes prayer can feel really religious to me. I don't wanna sit there and recite all this stuff that I hear the preachers saying all the time. Prayer is supposed to be personal. Its me and God, and I don't ever want it to feel just routine. So I've learned to talk to Him like a best friend. Nooo not an imaginary friend, a best friend. As if He's in the room with me, because in truth He really is. When I get in my prayer zone, I have to turn off my cell phone and leave my iPod off and walk away from the TV and computer. I get easily distracted, so its especially hard for me to zone in. My parents call it the "secret place".

I have this wonderfully large imagination :D Haha so when I imagine my secret place, I imagine a big forest. And in the middle of this big forest, there's a clearing. And in this clearing, waiting for me, is my Daddy (God). So I run through the forest and into the clearing and jump into His arms and just talk to Him. I guess a big imagination really isn't a bad thing after all ;)

Its not comfortable at first, I guess. And I do sometimes feel like I'm talking to myself. But I guess I have to keep in mind (and in my heart) that He's always there, so I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to Him.

I guess this post was more spur of the moment than not :) Its hard to give stuff over to God if you don't even know how to talk to Him. But in choosing to be an impossibility, all of us have to keep in touch with the One who keeps everything possible.

Because being an impossibility is really worth it,
Daddy's Girl

Gravity Likes To Pull Us DOWN (How annoying is that!)

So we're teenagers! And we like to be happy (or atleast the majority of us do) but stupid gravity is such a downer!

How in the world am I supposed to deal with all the yuckiness that's constantly gets thrown at me? Ugggghhhh what a tragedy, right?! Not really. I guess when I think about it, there's always a solution to my problem, and it's quite simple. Giving it to God.

Easy, isn't it? Most of the time, yes it is. When I give my yuck to God, its not that hard at all. Here's the part that seems to always be more tricky for me:
Leaving it with God.

At my church, we do petition forms. Basically, we write out our problems and wants and needs on a piece of paper and pray over them. Its an easy way to hand stuff over to God. What I'm now having to work on is leaving it with God. Because I'm a girl, my emotions sometimes rise up and I'll freak out about whatever is going on. 'What ifs' tend to play on repeat in my head and I worry. It seriously can get me down sometimes. A big one for me is my cell phone bill. What if I can't pay it in time? What if I did something and its more expensive this month? What if I forget and I pay it late and there's an interuption in the plan? Another huge issue is DRAMA (I'll blog about that exclusively later!) Its so
disgusting! Once you're pulled in, good luck getting out. Then your head is constantly spinning with all the "issues" involved in this "tragic situation" that everyone is being so dramatic about.

My easiest solution to all that, after giving it to God, is telling my mind to SHUT UP. :)

If we're always worried and down, how in the world are we supposed to be impossibilities? What sets us apart from the rest of the teenagers out there? Not much.

Walking the God-walk isn't easy. But like I said in my previous post, it's not a mistake either. He's the best friend I could ever ask for, being that He takes all my icky junk and makes it all better :D

I'm choosing to be an impossibility. The adventure isn't easy. But it's a lot of fun. :) Try joining me, because in the end, nothing is impossible.
Daddy's Girl

"Impossible!"

I'm so excited to start this blog! So, to begin, let me explain what this blog is about...

I'm a teenager. And I've seen a lot of discrimination against our generation of teenagers. But I'm a teenager choosing to follow God. "Impossible!" they say. Being a teenager AND following God isn't exactly easy. I'm doing it, though. And I'm really enjoying it. So my blog is going to take you on my adventure, through the ups and the downs of adolescence, and how we as teenagers can be the impossibilities.

I was inspired to write this blog as I looked at my own and also the lives of all my friends. We truly are not perfect, and so often people tear down our generation because we're full of mistakes. One thing I know without a shadow of a doubt, though, is that choosing Christ was NOT a mistake. The journey isn't easy, it isn't perfect, but it's so much fun. Watching God work in all of our lives is an adventure.

We're teenagers and we want to have fun. We're put down and we're told that we won't make anything of ourselves. So often we want to quit because it's too hard. But we can make it together. And we WILL make it together. If we stick together.

That's enough for right now! Remember, we are the impossibilities. But in the end, nothing is impossible. (Luke 1:37, "For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment." [Amplified version])

Choosing to be an impossibility,
Daddy's Girl