Consider this disclaimed.

Readers- Please excuse all the large and annoying black boxes with the triangles in them! I'm not sure what happened or what I did to have them appear as huge eye sores for everyone to see... but I assure you, they will be fixed- quickly!

I have been reading some articles, watching videos, and as a result some thoughts have been floating around my brain. Some of the content I viewed became decently thought provoking for me. I was compelled to share all this information with you and also wanted to put it all in one place. I hope some of these things get your mind floating everywhere as well! 

*Disclaimer: Just because I post something, does not mean I totally 100% support it or that I am 100% against it. If you want to converse about it, let me know.

1. There is a Facebook App that allows people to set their last status, ever. I think creepy.. Would you want your last words to be on Facebook? I'm not sure. Read about it here.

2. And of course... I'm sorta sick of him now. 



3. Found this on my friends Facebook.. "Why I don't believe in Christian Accountability."

4. I wasn't too sure what SPOA was and ect. Here's a little summery of the whole issue. I found it helpful.

5. It comes out soon..... :]


6. Mark Driscoll interview entitled 'Just Grow Up.' Most thought provoking part for me:

You’ve talked a lot about twenty-somethings today living in a sort of extended adolescence. Why do you think that is?

I think, in particular, it’s young men. Perhaps to some degree it is young women as well, but we’re finding more women are getting better grades, more women are graduating high school, more women are graduating college, more women are buying homes, more women are doing things that are more adult and responsible. We’ve created this. It’s a sociological category. It used to be you go from “boy” to “man,” and now you go from “boy” to “guy” to “man.”

It’s just extended adolescence, where 20s, 30s, sometimes even in his 40s, he doesn’t really want to get married, doesn’t really want to have kids, doesn’t really want to pursue a career. He has a lot of hobbies, got a lot of buddies, watches a lot of porn, gambles, has a lot of fun, maybe plays in some band or is in a guild of World of Warcraft, or something ridiculous like that. And they’ve even got little [mottos] like, “It’s all good” and, “Bros before hos.” It’s just this whole adolescent, juvenile culture. .... and I think part of the problem is, as well, that the Church in large part has accommodated that.

Those guys tend not to go to church. If those guys do show up at church, it’s usually just to find a couple of gals to break the commandments with. And the Church doesn’t really know what to do with them, so the least likely person in America to go to church is a guy in his 20s who is single. Without knowing what to do with those guys, they commit crimes, they get women pregnant, they’re a drain on social services, they don’t raise their kids, they don’t contribute to church, they’re not getting ready to lead the next generation. I’d say it’s nothing short of a crisis, it’s a real problem.

While Driscoll was hounding on the men, I was left with the question, and what are women supposed to do?


7. Gay Rights.


8. I very much enjoyed this article "Women, stop submitting to men." Is there such a thing such as Godly or Biblical feminism?

9. Mark Driscoll and his wife wrote a book on marriage. One review is here.  [Also, Driscoll is speaking at Liberty this Spring. Insert [Eeeeeeeeek] here. I hope he talks about the previous article posted.]

10. A company used the new Facebook Timeline to create an Anti-Drug campaign.

New year, Less baggage.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :] I know this is a tad on the late side... But I feel like I haven't had a second to breathe the past 2 weeks! Honestly, I feel like I should be doing 10,000 other things besides blogging- but I have a few things on my mind I want to hash out here.

So, 2011 is OVER. Done-zo. Finished.  [I insert my yay here]. As my 2011 ended, I found myself in an Applebees celebrating with a few waitresses and my friend, Monica. We discussed our past years, made predictions of 2012 and may have bet a little bit of cash over the future events of 2012. This past year was a crazy one for me [to say the least]. But as Monica and I reflected I found myself saying "2011 was the best year of my life." Monica seemed to be a little taken back by that and honestly I was too. 2011 was difficult, embarrassing, a battle, complicated and so on. But in that year I learned the best lesson of my life…

Throughout 2011 I struggled with two little words, guilt and baggage. I was fixated on my past sins. I dwelled on them, frequently. I reflected on them, repeatedly. I gave my sin so much more power in my life then they ever should have held. It was almost like I clung to my mistakes and issues because letting them go was letting go half of me.

I read an article and I found this quote " I once heard it said that someone who cannot forgive themselves for their past is not struggling with the sin of guilt, but with the sin of pride." Then, I think it all hit me...

When it came to dealing with my personal sin, it was like I was too prideful to think that someone else could handle it. Really? Since when were my sins too big for God to forgive? Am I some royal sinner who is too good for the blood of Christ? [OMG someone slap me in the face.]

How did I allow myself to live this way for an entire year? I lived most of 2011 blinded to God's forgiveness and stubbornly resisted the joy His grace brings.

I was being SO prideful when it came to my own SIN. I wanted to deal with it myself, I wanted to make it go away myself, I wanted to confront it myself, I wanted to handle it myself. [OMG someone slap me in the face, AGAIN]

Now, of course there are consequences to sin and stupidity. I'm not saying forgiveness excuses the problems that sin creates. But I am saying I had no excuse to live in guilt. I had no excuse to blame baggage for my problems. I am forgiven and have been rescued by my Savior. And that my friends, is an awesome way to bring in the New Year.

As I finally started to piece this all together, I found much comfort in Scripture reassuring what I had been dealing with.

 ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. ⁹ The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

 Philippians 4:4-9

For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— ⁹ I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. ¹⁰ For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. ¹² So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. ¹³ For this reason we have been comforted.

2 Corinthians 7:8-13

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14

I have many New Year’s Resolutions I would LOVE to tell you about…. And I will. But, right now, I need to get back to work. I just wanted to share this little thought with you. While my sin is a never ending, heart breaking, and reoccurring issue in my life- I have a Father who will always forgive... I just need to get over myself and give it to Him. *sigh. :]

Happy, Joy-filled New Year to YOU!

Wedding Bliss

After a crazy break in Michigan, I went back to the burg to leave and head North in the same week!! I am currently on my way back to Lynchburg after celebrating my friend Ashley Kelly's beautiful wedding! Me and four girls all packed in a car and made the 9 hour trip to New York! We had a blast.. Missing tolls, singing to some oldies, watching movies, dancing, getting lost in Dirty Jersey, getting dressed up ad celebrating Ashley's marriage!!

We are all ready to get back to the burg and get some much needed sleep.. 6 more hours! This wedding was a wonderful way to end my Christmas break!

I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend as well! Enjoy your Sunday afternoon! Here's some pics from the weekend!