ER visit -- part 2

Thanks for your prayers, everyone! Everything went very smoothly and Ian is home doing great! Andrea said that she was more squeemish at the hospital than he was! Here are the pictures.
Note: Don't continue if you dislike blood, wounds... etc.

Waiting for stitches

Before

After

Look how brave he was!
My brother is amazing. :)

God is good! Thanks again!

ER visit -- part 1

Hey everyone,
My brother Ian cracked his head open in our basement this morning. Right now he's in the ER with my mom and Andrea. He was a little nervous about getting stitches and going to the hospital, so prayers would be very much appreciated!

I'll update you all later! Thanks so much!

So, what is love anyway?

When someone says, "I love you", what do they actually mean by that? Who gets to decide what love is? How do we know?


This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3:16

GOD is the definition of love. Without knowing God, you can't love.
I like this quote by C.S. Lewis (one of my favorite authors ever... )

"You cannot love a fellow-creature fully till you love God."


If you want to know how to love, seek God. His love is so incredible, human love just can't compare. The only way to love other people is by letting God love through us.

Many people think love is a feeling, an emotion, something that comes and goes. Nope. We love because God loves. We choose to love.

Love isn't a feeling, it's a decision, and making a decision requires taking action.

That action is loving someone whether you feel like it or not! Sometimes people bug us, sometimes they drive us crazy, but we need to decide to love no matter what... because that's what God does. His love is so amazing.


So, love is God. God is love. That's what it is. It's always, it's whether we feel like it or not, it's unconditional. Make it a goal to love like our God!

When the time is right...

When the time was right,
the sea parted,
the walls fell down,
the lions went hungry,
the sun stood still,
the waves were calm,
the stone was rolled away,
the clouds were parted,
the Lord ascended...
And when the time is right,
the King of Kings will return.

God is never early and He's never late--
He's always right on time and His plan for you is good.

--Dayspring

New Year's Resolutions anyone?

I think something might be wrong with me! As I finally sat down today to put together a New Year's Resolution's list, I could hardly think of one resolution. Normally I'm quite the list-maker. I enjoy setting goals for myself... but this year I just can't do it.

As I looked back on my 2010 resolutions, I had to realize how much has changed since then. I had no idea what God had in store at the beginning of the year. He has been SO faithful.

Right now I'm trying to decide what to do this year. Should I go to college? Maybe I should be homeschooled another year... possibly both? There are so many things I'm uncertain of! It's then that I have to remind myself, "God has NEVER let me down. He's always been in control. For 17 years God's been nothing but faithful to me. Why would He stop now?"

This holiday season has been one of the best, most fun ever. Still, I've been realizing lately that the joy I have had recently doesn't come because it's Christmas or New Year's. Although these have been great days, I've realized that my whole year, my life, is incredible. Joy isn't something that comes with the holiday. Joy is something that creeps up on you slowly and increases each day. Joy is a way of living. Joy is Jesus Christ.

Well, I realize that these paragraphs don't have much to do with each other.... they're all just some things that have been going through my mind lately. :)

As we start into 2011, I'm expecting and knowing that God's going to do amazing things. He has plans greater than we could ever imagine!

When we live for Jesus, every moment of life is more exciting!

~Love. Joy. Jesus.~