change.

Change. Change is something I’ve been thinking about recently. There are a lot of changes going on around me and I guess that’s what prompted it. Change isn’t always bad, BUT sometimes, actually most of the time, change is bad.  For Christians when things start changing that’s usually a bad thing.  I’m seeing people around me change -- what they use to say was wrong and sin, they are now doing. Why is that? To me it is very scary. It first makes me look at myself to make sure I’m doing what I say I believe. Yes, things did change with me once I begun thinking about this myself. Second, it scares me for those people that have changed. I’ve realized that these people aren’t all of a sudden changing, but it’s what has been in there hearts all along, but now for different reasons it is coming out. What I’ve also observed is once one thing in their life changes (this may even be small to most people), they begin slipping and before they know it they are doing, saying, etc. things they never thought they would. A lot of Christians these days say that the outward appearance doesn’t matter much, but only the inward. That statement isn’t a complete lie because that’s how the devil works -- mixing a little truth in with a LOT of lies. Yes, we are suppose to be most concerned about our heart, but that doesn’t mean we forget the outward. The outward appearance is what reflects what is in our hearts. I think people completely forget about this or they close their eyes to it because they don’t want to change the way they are living. It is easy to say what you believe, but it is completely different to actually live what you say you believe. When we claim to be Christians, but we look no different then the world than that shows that our heart is really in the world. We might be able to talk “godly”, but the way we live out our life will show who we really are. With the changes going on around me, the two “beliefs” I’ve thought about most is 1. Why do I wear skirts, dress modest, etc. 2. Why do I do, and strongly believe in courtship? I don’t do these things because it’s what my parents say I need to do or because that’s what my sisters have done. Those reasons aren’t good enough and with time it would show how I really feel about these things. No, I do these things because this is what I believe is True and right. This is what God teaches and therefore is what I want and need to do. I’ve really appreciated my dad’s messages on Wednesday nights about God’s commandments. There are so many that I’ve forgotten about or that I haven’t seen as being a commandment from God. And what comes to mind is the verse “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

I’ve had this on my mind and I decided to write out some of my thoughts and post them.

Sun n' Fun 2011

I realized the other day when I looked at Hannah's blog that I never posted pictures from Sun n' Fun. I had switched out camera cards in my camera and completely forgot to even download the pictures. I figured it was better late than never. So here you go...

It was cool to actually be able to go with Matt this year. :) We went with Patrick and Hannah and I had a really good time.  

Brandon with his mom's sunglasses 

Dancing with the music...

Blue Angels--- 

With all the storms that went through Lakeland around the time of Sun n' Fun, it was very muddy and we saw lots of stuck cars.