Thank you God :)

Even though physiology is taking over my life.....it's not as bad as I thought. I get to learn more about God! Praise Him! :)

remember.

Thank you.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

Enjoy each day.

"I want to believe that, in a city of nearly three million people, there has to be someone else who sees the world in the beautiful way that I do."

Don't hold back.

“Friends are like elevators. They either take you up or down. 

Who are you hanging out with?” -Unknown

Taken.

Every breath is a gift. NEVER ever forget this.

Hope.

Dear God, 

YOU are amazing. When I needed this speck of hope, YOU came through. You didn't just come through in a tiny way, but a huge one. You gave me hope to keep on going. My only concrete plans in life: to follow YOU. No turning back, no turning back. Thank you for not giving me anything I can't handle. Thank you for teaching me to FULLY trust in you. Thank you for calling me YOUR daughter and thank you for giving me hope at the exact time I needed it. I am in awe of you and I pray this NEVER changes. Keep my focus on you and my life revolved around you.

Love always,

Your daughter.

"When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we don't see the one that has opened for us."

- Alexander Graham Bell

Hello Summer!

I can't tell you how many times I've said, "This is the last time I will EVER get sunburned." 

FAIL once again. :( 
But this time I have the weirdest sunburn of them all. And I'm completely FRIED. Boo.

I'm so glad that June gloom is gone and the sunshine is finally breaking through! It officially feels like summer! 

New summer goal: No more sunburns. No exceptions.

 I'm sticking to this from now on (Although I never try to get sunburned). 
AHHH. I can do this.
The ocean amazes me and always will.

"I want his fingers to always find the spaces in between mine." -Unknown

Psalms.

I came across this a while back and STILL think this is the cutest thing ever.

So tonight I had dinner with my grandpa, aunt, cousins and parents. My mom's whole side of the family is going to the lake this summer and let me tell you how excited I am. Being with them tonight was so much fun and now I can't wait! I get to spend an entire week with these little munchkins :)

"You don't have to be a 'person of influence' to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they've taught me." 

-Scott Adams 

Jealousy.

"Don’t be jealous of anyone. I guarantee you, if everyone walked into a room, and dumped their problems onto the floor, when they saw what everyone else's problems were, they’d be scrambling to get their own problems back before someone else got to them first". -Kim Gruenenfelder

Masterpiece.

"He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing." - Sherman Alexis

Don't take anything for granted.

"Don't deprive anyone of hope- it may be all they have." -Unknown

You are not an accident.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
   before you were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5

Beauty.

"There is beauty everywhere, if you know where to look." -Unknown

Perfect timing.

and I absolutely love it.

Are you a lukewarm Christian or are you on fire for God?

As Francis Chan states in his book, Crazy Love:

"LUKEWARM PEOPLE don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. LUKEWARM PEOPLE don't really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one. 

LUKEWARM PEOPLE rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion.

                      'Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.' (Matthew 10:32-33)

LUKEWARM PEOPLE think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Daily life is mostly focused on today's to-do lists, this week's schedule, and next month's vacation. Rarely, if ever, do they intently consider the life to come.

                       'Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.' (Colossians 3:2)

LUKEWARM PEOPLE ask, 'How much time should I spend praying and reading my Bible?' instead of 'I wish I didn't have to go to work, so I could sit here and read longer!'

A LUKEWARM Christian is an oxymoron; there's not such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are "LUKEWARM" are NOT Christians. We will NOT see them in Heaven. (Crazy huh?!)

The amazing thing about God is His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3) His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God wants our best, deserves our best, and demands our best."

I don't know about you but this was SO encouraging for me.  I want to be someone who is absolutely in love with Jesus.

Side note:  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE BEST FATHER IN THE WORLD!!!

I am so thankful for my dad. He has taught me so much and has been a great example of what a Godly father should look like and be like. Thank you dad for everything. You are so amazing and I am truly blessed! I love you Bud :)

"I am not ashamed to say that no man I ever met was my father's equal, and I never loved any other man as much." Hedy Lamarr 

What are you waiting for?

So I only completed day 3 out of the 30 day photo challenge. Lame. Maybe I'll attempt this again before summer ends? I guess we will see.

I started reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. If you haven't read it stop what you're doing, drive to the store and buy this amazing book. In one chapter, Francis talks about our lives here on earth. "The point of your life is to point to Christ." You would think that would be obvious.  I mean, God sent HIS Son to DIE on a cross for US. Yet, how many times do we forget this? How many times do we focus on materialistic things and things that aren't significant compared to Eternity? Our lives here on earth should reflect Jesus Christ. Compared to Eternity, we only have a short time here on earth and we only get one chance to live it. What are you waiting for?

Also, a friend showed me this video. It's AMAZING and eye opening. You HAVE to watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86dsfBbZfWs

“A life of love is simply the outflow of God through a person.” David Gregory

Aloha.

 Day 3: A picture of your favorite place to be.

I couldn't pick one so I posted a few.

Welcome to Maui, Hawaii :)

 "Missing someone gets easier everyday because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will.”


Day 2.

Although it's been forever since day 1, day 2 is finally up.

Even though this picture was taken a year ago, this is what I wore today!

Day 2: A picture of what you wore today.

30 Day Photography Challenge.

So I'm going to give this a shot. We'll see what happens!

Day 1: A Photo of yourself.

 This was taken on my birthday by my beautiful sister. They all came out to see me and take me to dinner. I was so grateful and beyond honored they would take the night off and spend it with me. Cheers to 19!

   "I know that someone, somewhere is playing a guitar for the first time. I know that someone, somewhere is dipping a paintbrush and marking a field of white. I know that someone, somewhere is singing a song that's never been sung. Perhaps someone, somewhere will create something so beautiful and moving, it will change the world. Perhaps that somewhere is here. Perhaps that someone, is you..."

iwrotethisforyou

If only this worked.....

The Motions.

This was written by my cousin Kaleb who is a high school sophomore. Let me just tell you how amazing he is and how encouraging he is to me.  I love this kid to death!!

Enjoy!

"The worship leader tells everyone to stand cause church is about to start. The lights over us slowly dim as the lights over the stage start to become clearer. Drummer hits his sticks together 4 times and worship begins. Everything seems like an ordinary night at church until the guy next to me starts jumping and screaming out praise to God. It kind of caught me off guard but I just smiled and kept singing. As I keep singing I get a bump from my cousin and I can tell it has to do with the guy next to me. She isn't mocking him but rather acknowledging his enthusiasm just as I did. We both smile and continue in worship. After a few songs everyone sat down and announcements began. I started thinking about the guy next to me and how my first reaction to his enthusiasm was a sense of embarrassment for him.

A parable from the Bible quickly came to mind, it was from Matthew 13:1-23. I talks about how a farmer went out to plant his seed. Some seed fell into shallow ground, other fell into thorns, some on the path, and some fell on good soil. The seeds that did not fall onto the good soil eventually perished and only the seed on the good soil remained. Then God explains the parable in verses 19-23.

"When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Then it hit me. The difference between me and the guy next to me was the he flat out got it. He heard the word of God, and wasn't ashamed one bit to show it. He realized that church isn’t about going with the flow and going through the motions, it’s about going beyond your comfort zone to praise the Creator of the Universe.

So now the announcements are over and eventually the pastor comes up and begins to preach his sermon. At one point he has everyone open their Bibles to the book of Isaiah. I didn't have a Bible with me so I just turned to the screen to read. As the pastor began reading from the passage I noticed the guy next to me still going through his Bible. I started thinking to myself, "this guy puts on this great show during worship of how he is madly in love with God, and yet he can't find the book of Isaiah?" And then God spoke to me again.

There will be a day when you rise up to heaven and stand before the almighty God for Judgment. When you do God will look at your life and judge to see if you are worthy of His Kingdom. When God looks at the life of the guy next to me, he is going to see that this man was not ashamed to proclaim his faith under any circumstance. When he looks at my life he isn’t going to say, "Well, you knew all the right verses and you went to church every week, and you knew every worship song so welcome to My Kingdom." No, he is going to say, "You might have known the right verses but you never put them into action, and you might have gone to church but you didn’t listen to one sermon, you knew every worship song but never meant a word you said."

I'm not saying I don't put verses into action or listen to the sermon or really worship God. I'm saying that God gave me a wake-up call to tell me that I shouldn’t be ashamed to proclaim something I know is true. And that I should be more concerned about the passage and not the time it takes to find it. Because church isn’t about going with the flow and going through the motions, it’s about going beyond your comfort zone to praise the Creator of the Universe."

Please.

Lord, please show me YOUR plan for my life. NOT mine. I'm all ears......

Follow your heart.

:)

Even if it's tough...

Finals...Let's do this.

Organic and Biochemistry.

So finals are approaching and I have SO much work to do.  Only FOUR more days of school and four finals and then guess what......summer is all mine. I have this hugeeeee chemistry project I have to do before I'm done with this class forever! It reminds me of elementary school because yes, I hate to admit it, we're using the gigantic science fair boards.  I thought I was in college and I was growing up? Apparently not. I've already spent at least 25 hours on it and it's MAYBEEEE half way done? All I can say is God has a plan for my life and right now He has me in O-Chem.  Even though this project is a nightmare and is challenging, it's teaching me more about God each day.  Even the metabolism points back to God. God is  good. ALL the time!!! :)

Emily and I were going crazy so we got dressed up and took a much needed and deserved study break!!

This girl means the world to me and I don't know how I would be getting through this class without her! Love you Em!! :)

please.

Love never fails.

photo cred: sista sista!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8♥

Be Yourself.

Don't give up.

Never Ever EVER Forget This.

Please don't ever stop.

My new favorite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMu8BOqw22E

Lyin’ here with you so close to me
it’s hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe
caught up in this moment
caught up in your smile

i’ve never opened up to anyone
so hard to hold back when i’m holding you in my arms
we don’t need to rush this
let’s just take this slow

just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight
just a touch in the fire burning so bright
and i don’t want to mess this thing up
i don’t want to push too far
just a shot in the dark that you just might
be the one i’ve been waiting for my whole life
so baby i’m alright, with just a kiss goodnight

http://www.hotnewsonglyrics.com/lady-antebellum-just-a-kiss-lyrics.html

i know that if we give this a little time
it will only bring us closer to the love we wanna find
it’s never felt so real, no it’s never felt so right

just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight
just a touch in the fire burning so bright
and i don’t want to mess this thing up
i don’t want to push too far
just a shot in the dark that you just might
be the one i’ve been waiting for my whole life
so baby i’m alright, with just a kiss goodnight
no i don’t want to say goodnight
i know it’s time to leave, but you’ll be in my dreams
tonight

tonight

tonight

just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight
just a touch in the fire burning so bright
and i don’t want to mess this thing up
i don’t want to push too far
just a shot in the dark that you just might
be the one i’ve been waiting for my whole life
so baby i’m alright, oh, let’s do this right, with just a kiss goodnight
with a kiss goodnight
kiss goodnight

Lady Antebellum – Just A Kiss.

Forget the coffee.

sista sista.

hellloooooo pets. you may call me aunt Katie. So, sista sista and I decided to do guest post today for our precious babies.

   

it took me forever and a day to figure out today's post because i wanted to do a little sompin sompin different, but i finally figured it out. 

Since we share this obsession, here's some quotes to start us off: 

QUOTES:

"Do not regret growing older. it is a priviledge denied to many." -Unknown

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you will never walk alone. People, even more than things have to be restored, renewed, reviewed, reclaimed and redeemed.  Never throw out anyone!" -Audrey Hepburn
\"and when you are done with her, dont you dare think of me."

knowledge without ambition is like a bird without wings. -Unknown

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." -Nikka, Age 6

"It's gotta be that can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars, over the fence, world series kind of thing." - It Takes Two

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
- Abraham Lincoln.

"I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had. And no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life." - The Notebook

The best smell in the world is that man that you love.”
Jennifer Aniston

PICTURES

how hilarious is this!?

im currently in the process of recreating this.....

and dear sister,

the end.

visit asunflowerlove.blogspot.com for my own daily updates 

and thanks for visiting where the wind blows.

interests in guest posts email me at asunflowerlove@gmail.com

or jordyn at jordyn.a.tyler@biola.edu

tootles.