graves.

what is your grave?

while singing "mighty to save," i've been contemplating "the grave." we line in a society that fears death. we have medicine to postpone death &put other peoples' blood in our bodies to stay alive. we glorify vampires for their immortality &are always on the quest for the latest fountain of youth. our society is not comfortable with the coda of physical body.

there are other kinds of death.

as humans, we get attached. death, in the physical termination way, is detachment of your life from your body. we attach to so many other things from materials possessions to people. we get so comfortable with our situations, relationships, etc.we never think about the end of our comfortability. just like death, it can be gradual or sudden.

in my life, i've realized my grave the same way you fall into a manhole. i was so comfortable with my relationship that when my boyfriend ended it, i was suddenly living in a grave. i was living 6 feet under, looking at where i had come from and the ditch i was in.

we have a God who conquered all graves. He rose from a phsyical death but also a spiritual death (the betrayal of close friends, the abandonment of a father, etc.). not only did He overcome His graves, but He helps us with our graves. He let's us not look down at our graves or simply look up; He reaches into the depths of our grave &helps us overcome our graves with His strength. He conquers &with Him we can do the same.

p.s. easiest way to get out of a grave is to ask for help.

it's really quite simple.

"above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." -proverbs 4:23

update.

hello ladies!

i hope all is going well with high school &those silly teachers aren't giving out any homework!

this blog is to let you know that both megaleg and i are in pensacola this semester. so if you want to catch up, have coffee, need someone to talk to, or anything, we're here! so please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. if you don't have our numbers, ask one of the other girls! getting a text from y'all brightens our day!

we love you very much!

(if you're going to meltdown i'll see you there)

"the Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

-exodus 14:14

(so, what do you think that means?)

d.a.i.s.y.

here is an acronym for what i believe. if you care to look it up, it's a spinoff of "t.u.l.i.p" from the calvinists.

direct connection to God

accessible grace

incredible love

sacrifice

your choice

d - we have a direct relationship to our Lord without the need for a middle man such as a priest or an offering

a - all are invited to the Kingdom of Christ

i - above all is the instant love of our Savior that is beyond comprehension

s - there exists a strive for more than this world can offer

y - you have the free will to choose Christ

everything.

hey girls. this is about the time of year where all those goals we made at the beginning of the year start slipping away. all a's, not fighting with your parents as much, not drinking, focusing on your faith, keeping high standards, for some reason it all kinda fades about this time. it's right between the beginning of the school year promises and new year's resolutions.

before you watch the video below, reserve about ten minutes to view and think about it. watch the whole thing, don't just hit play and open another window with facebook. this video has changed my life before &i cry every time i watch it. allow it's message to really sink in.

&more importantly, talk about it. even if it's just to one of the other girls in small group or your youth minister, it is important to talk about it to someone else. but before you do anything, talk to God about it.

God bless i love you,
BT



everything by lifehouse.
Find Me Here
Speak To Me
I want to feel you
I need to hear you
You are the light
That's leading me
To the place
where I find peace, again.

You are the strength, that keeps me walking.
You are the hope, that keeps me trusting.
You are the light, to my soul.
You are my purpose, you're everything.

And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

You calm the storms, and you give me rest.
You hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
You still my heart, and you take my breath away.
Would you take me in? Take me deeper now?

And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Cause you're all I want, you're all I need
You're everything, everything
You're all I want, you're all I need
You're everything, everything.
You're all I want, you're all I need.
You're everything, everything
You're all I want, you're all I need.
You're everything, everything.

And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
And how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better, any better than this.

And How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?

giving back.

all of us have certain things we are gifted in. for some, it's obvious &for others it takes some digging. the cool thing about talents is that they can be used to glorify God in some pretty miraculous ways. some gifts are just simple hobbies that you can turn to the Lord. like for me, it's writing. when i was in middle school, i was an avid writer. it got me through a bunch of rough times. most of my problems were over freshman year so i stopped writing. then, in the last few months of sophomore year i realized that God had given me the gift of writing as a way to cope. even though i didn't see Christ in my dark times, He was there. after i realized that, i started to think of a way to thank God. so, i now write psalms instead of writing about the dark and hopeless. for me, i write as a way of prayer. what i'm trying to get to, is that all gifts can be used to glorify our creator. dance, song, music, crafts, drawing, you name it and God can use it! think about it ladies!

here's what i mean by psalms:

lukewarm.

when did this happen?

where was this fall?

no matter where i look

i can't seem to recall

the place or the time

where it all fell away

nothing sticks out

there's no exact day

when i can say 'there.

that is the moment

i made up my mind

that's when it all went

off.'

i didn't turn back

i just chose to stay

to stop running forward.

the start of the stray

not to a life of sin

but to the life of 'good'

not running up or down

i just stood

&in that standing

the Strength began to fade

until the place i stood

was the place i laid.

i wasn't a runner

just a hollow shell

and the 'good' life

is where i fell.

a life of 'good'

isn't a holy one

a life like that

is not for the Son.

for more of my psalms go here. if you don't know your gifts, ask your friends. if you don't know how to use your gifts for God, megan and i are always here!

Gbly,

BT

Love.

So, Emily inspired me a week ago to write about love because, to her, it's "just a stupid emotion." Now, I can admit that is partially true. Love is an emotion. But it's not just an emotion. You should all know that love is much more than that. There are so many different ways to look and it, and it comes in so many forms that it makes it nearly impossible to define. But the greatest thing about an emotion without a true definition is that it causes it to become limitless. Love is forever reaching, continually changing, constantly in motion, and always in your heart and the heart of others at the exact same time. The coolest thing in the world to me about love is the fact that it's so incredibly amazing that it will never leave you. Love will never give up on you, it will never allow you to lose sight of what really matters...All you have to do is trust in it, and you won't have to worry about anything else. No matter how lost or alone or sad you feel, love is going to be there. You may fall out of love with someone, or maybe you'll lose a friend that doesn't love you like you thought they did, but that doesn't mean that love ever left you. It still exists inside and around you, and nobody can ever take it away from you. Love is not just an emotion, it is the emotion. It is the most important.

1 Corinthians 13 is one of my most favorite chapters in the entire Bible. I'm just going to put the whole thing in here, it's just that good.

(1) If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (2) If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. (3) If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing.

(4) Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud (5)or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. (6) It does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. (7) Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

(8) Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! (9) Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! (10) But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless.

(11) When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. (12) Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity . All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

(13) Three things will last forever- faith, hope, and love- and the greatest of these is love.



How could you NOT love that chapter? Yeah, I know it's THAT good. :)

And guess what else? God is love. So that makes this whole thing like 10 billion times better.
What are your thoughts on love?