Christmas cookies!!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making/decorating cookies at my aunts house!!

Every year for I don't know how long my sister and I have gone over to my aunts house and decorated cookies for Christmas! I love it! not only do they taste amazing but it's also so much fun! I love getting to spend time with my cousins and decorate cookies!

Most years my sister my aunt and I are the only ones that actually decorate the whole time. the boys end up decorating a few and then go watch TV or play video games. It's really fun no matter how long it takes us.

Then we make these mint cookies they are amazing! and get eaten in the first few days.

Christmas...(part 1)

Some of you may know that I am not really a fan of Christmas. Let me make a correction...

I don't hate Christmas! I actually really like Christmas I just don't like to craziness of Christmas.

I don't like the craziness of trying to get gifts (why do we feel like we have to give people gifts? can't time just be enough)

I don't like the overload of decorations (you know what I'm talking about... The people that decorate ever inch of their house and you could see their Christmas lights from the moon)

I don't like Christmas music... let me clarify I like some Christmas songs they have a great message, however most songs have become so commercial and lost their meaning, also the fact that they start playing it in October (so dumb), and that the radio doesn't play much else, also how come our standard for music and what we listen to all the sudden goes out the door with Christmas music?... There are a few Jesus songs that I do really like.

I don't like that we have lost the true meaning behind Christmas... I realize that we put nativity sets up and talk about Jesus being born but what does that mean for us?... Do we really see the significance of Jesus humbly coming down for us just so that He could sacrifice His life to save ours? that should change the way we live.. does it? (there will probably be more about that later)

I hate that at most jobs you can't say merry Christmas and you have to say happy holidays

I hate that my allergies go crazy this time of year (could be Christmas trees)

Now on to things I do like...

I love getting to spend time with my family!

I love the time off of school and my family having time off of work.

I love a few simple decorations (I'll do a separate post on the ones that really make me really happy)

I love that we can celebrate Jesus and really see the humility behind Him coming

I love Christmas cookies (every year we go to my aunts house and make cookies, I'll have to take some Pict's from this years)

I love getting up early Christmas morning and drinking tea and eating breakfast with my family.

That's just a few things that I can think of right now more to come later!

Time in the Word with a Friend!

Today I got to have coffee (well tea for me) and fellowship with my amazing friend Johnna! She is such a blessing in my life. I have only know her for a short time but I feel like the Lord has really done alot in that short amount of time!

Anyway we thought we would do a little Bible study together so we opened the word and started talking we read Hebrews 4:9-16! I was so blessed by the entire time we spent together just talking about the Lord and the blessings that He has for us even though we don't deserve it. It was awesome!

We really spent time meditating on the importance to taking time to rest in the Lord! reading the word and being refreshed does so much for us! it helps us see our need for Jesus and the sacrifice He made! It makes us see how humble He is and how great He is!

I was so blessed by it! my encouragement is grab someone and go meditate on the Lord this week. Sacrifice a little of your time to spend with Jesus and encouraging a fellow believer!!

Here Comes the Sun...

In case you don't already know this I love waking up early!
I love sunrise!! and I love getting up before the sunrise so that I have a chance to watch it!!

Mornings are beautiful!!! The best part is getting up between 430 and 530 before most of the world is awake! It's so peaceful and calm. There are stars in the sky (yes stars in Orange County) and it's dark! I love it! So every morning I get up before the sun and go workout. Whether that is a run through the neighborhood or at the beach or working out at boot camp! Sometimes I take my dog, sometimes (like this morning) a friend or two come along! It's so nice to be able to start my day with a little me (and Jesus and/or others) time before the piles of homework and studying and cleaning or whatever else the day has in store.

I encourage you to get up early die to self and go take a walk or something and spend sometime with Jesus before the sun and Experience the Sunrise! My favorite part of the day!

(FYI the picture is from the sunrise this morning but not from here. It was taking in South Dakota) (This mornings wasn't this amazing:( tomorrow should be better)

Beautiful Slave

I recently (Saturday) got back from a trip to Las Vegas. First I really don't like going to Vegas (God please don't send me there) It's such a dark city and while i like to see the world sometimes because it makes me pray harder I hate being in the environment.

So while I was driving there... just before you enter the city there are all these billboards on the side of the road advertising well everything you can think of. well one billboard the last one before our exit said something that really caught my eye and tore my heart. It said if you suspect human trafficking call (888) 373-7888. It became so much more real to me that human trafficking is huge issue even in the united states. I researched the group that put up the billboard. Last year there were over 2000 calls to that number to report suspected human trafficking. CRAZY!

If you have not yet seen/heard beautiful slave by take no glory you really need to it's very powerful and even more moving now than ever in my life.

Prayer changes things!

I love quotes from people! When I was in High School I read this quote and it changed my life!

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"-Corrie Ten Boom

It really got me thinking about prayer! Is prayer really something that guides our life? or is it just something we do when we are at our end and don't know what else to do!

At that point I started to think about prayer and tried to pray more! I soon realized I didn't even really know how to pray or what to pray for! I had grown up praying before meals and praying when someone was sick or something like that but how do you pray for everyday things. So I asked God to teach me. I asked Him to show me how to pray and most of all what to pray for!

It changed my life! The Lord started first to show me to forget about praying for only what we want but to pray for the Lord will. I totally stopped making requests and just asked the Lord what to pray for.

He started showing me things and telling me what to pray for. It was crazy I found myself praying for random people I hadn't talked to in years. People that I had only met once or people I had never even met! I would see someone on the street or at a bible study and the Lord would just say pray for that person so I would. It was crazy! Sometimes the Lord would put specific things on my heart to pray for for people and it was so awesome to see that the Lord would do those things! It's rad!

so now I have learned to not pray for what I want and only what I see but just continually ask God what should I pray for and wait for Him to fulfill it! It's amazing the things that the Lord does when we just ask Him. Lately I have been seeing a lot of things that I have been praying for, for a long time happen. The Lord has finally been opening the doors and fulfilling those prayers and it's so exciting to see and to be apart of!

I would encourage you today! PRAY but don't pray for what you think! ask the Lord what to pray for and pray for that! Pray for the Lord's will! Prayer is essential for fellowship with the Lord! prayer should be something that we do all the time! The Bible does say pray without ceasing!

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing."- Martin Luther

More to come on prayer in another post!

Reality

I am leaving in just a few minutes to go to the reality women's retreat!!

I am so excited to spend some much needed time with Jesus! I have so much to pray about and so many decisions that need to be made in my life!

I can't wait to see what the Lord is going to teach me and what He has in store!!