A little thought on prayer

In church today, we sang the hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus". A few of the lines in particular I really liked and have been thinking about this afternoon.

"What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer! "

and then also:

"Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer."

"Carry everything to God in prayer." "Take it to the Lord in prayer." Prayer. I think we often underestimate the power that prayer has. When we are down, when we are depressed, when we are at our worst and we feel like no one in the entire world can help us or understand what we're feeling.... we should take it to God. Lay our troubles, our burdens, our worries, our sins, our grief, everything at His feet and simply say "Help me." We cannot face the trials in this life alone because we will not succeed. But with God's help -- if we seek Him out, if we give him everything that we have, and if we pray to Him.... then, and only then, will we survive the battle. With Him as our captain, and us following Him as soldiers, we will have victory.

When life gets hard.

If there's one thing, ONE THING, that life has taught me, it would be this--

When life gets too hard to stand... KNEEL.

For me, that would be every single hour of every day. Ok, maybe not physically on my knees all the time... but mentally, constantly surrendering my life and what I do to Christ. Because without Him life IS too hard to stand.

I can change the world

Today, I feel like I can change the world.

Today, I am going to change the world. Changing the world starts with having an impact - even if it's only affecting one person. And I know I can do that.

Tomorrow, I'm going to do even more to change the world.

In a month, I'll meet with world leaders to discuss ways to change the world. No really. I will.

In a year... who knows where I'll be? But I hope I'm doing something to change the world, leave an impact, and make the world a better place.

Sometimes I think that I can't do anything to improve the world until I'm older, when I have more influence. But that's not true. I can improve the world right now. Maybe it means telling someone that I love them, to help them have a better day. Maybe it's buying some chocolate for my friend who needs some cheering up. Maybe it means volunteering somewhere. There are so many things that I can do to improve the world. And even though my impact may start out small, it can grow. And it will.

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

 -Anne Frank

Sarah Nicole

This is one of my dearest friends, Sarah Nicole.

Isn't she beautiful? She's absolutely stunning. And radiant.

So let me tell you about Sarah Nicole. We've known each other through debate... so two-ish years. But we haven't really talked a whole lot until a couple weeks ago or so... and now we talk every single night about everything. ;D

She loves Sherlock, green tea, bananas, peanut butter, writing, running, chocolate milk, bicycles, food, letters, puns, people... I guess you could say that the small things in life make her happy. Sometimes the small things are important. :) Oh and she loves God. And she's really great at talking about Him. 

Another pretty picture of her....... how did she get so lovely?

You know what I love about Sarah? I love that she is not afraid to admit that she has flaws, I love that she is okay with talking to me about anything and everything, even the little things. She makes me smile and laugh at almost everything. She encourages me when I need it the most, she's willing to open up to me and answer questions that I ask her. She knows some good puns and she likes to make plans with me (business plans and travel plans). And she loves Sherlock. Not to mention she writes some amazing stuff. 

Like this:

I guess you could say that she is one of my favorite people ever. And I am so so so SO blessed to have her as a friend. If you don't know her, get to know her. She's worth it.

I think this quote sums up our friendship well: 

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one...'" - C.S. Lewis

A promise

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” –Winston Churchill.

^^I really like Mr. Churchill. Especially this quote. It reminds me to not give up, even when the going gets tough. It won't be hell forever... you just have to keep going. 

There is always hope. Always hope. Somewhere, sometime it will get better. And yeah…sometimes, you have to fight to get there. You have to keep going, even when you feel like falling and quitting. Press onward. 

And you know what? God will support you. He’ll help you get through whatever mess you’re having to deal with. He’ll help you face the hell that you’re going through. And at the end of it… it’ll be better. Because God uses everything to accomplish something good. 

That’s a promise.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28