Ch-ch-changes!

I was watching this video from TwinSauce, and thought I'd write up a response.

Before something new is going to happen, I get really excited! I love trying new things. Once I'm actually going through changes, I'm full of regrets and I spend a lot of time thinking about how I shouldn't have made the change. Afterwords, I always look back on it and realize how that change has impacted my life for better and for worse. But mostly for the better! :)

I remember one summer when I was fourteen and my parents made me go to a junior high day camp. I had always gone to a smaller camp with less that forty campers, but this new one had more than one hundred. I was pretty excited to go (because what's more fun than a summer spent at camp?). On the first day, I realized that everyone had built groups of friends with years of history behind them. Then there was me. I had no idea who to talk to, or what to do and it was a confusing day. I wished I had stayed home. Eventually, I got to know everyone, and God helped me make some fantastic friends and memories I'll never forget! I think I would have regretted it more if I hadn't gotten through that first awkward day.

Now, there's only one month left of my final year in high school and I could not be more excited! Next September, I'll be flying across the ocean to attend Capernwray Hall, a bible school in England. This is going to be a HUGE change for me since I've never lived away from home for more than a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to meeting new people, living without my friends and family, traveling, and taking the time to learn more about God, but in the back of my mind, I keep thinking what if I don't make friends, or what if I don't fit in and even what if God doesn't want me to go? I know it's going to be a fantastic experience for me, even if I have some tough times while I'm there.

When I was watching a documentary in class a while ago, there was one quote that stuck with me. Someone said "The only thing constant in life is change". Only afterwards, did I realize that the quote was wrong. In Hebrews 13:8 it says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever". Change takes courage. But it's comforting to know that no matter how much I change, or things change, or other people change, God's always going to be the same, and He's always going to be there for me every step of the way.

Verse of The Day

Hebrews 2:18
For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

http://mydailybible.org/dv/esv/2013-05-23.htm

Thoughts on Worship

Last Sunday, worship was kind of a mess. The pianist wasn't there this week, so the regular hymns during the service were replaced with hymns done by the youth praise team. As usual, we practiced before the service and got everything all set up. Well, everything except for the lyrics for the congregation. I assumed that someone had already done that, and I completely forgot about it until we were about to begin. As we scrambled to sort out several technical difficulties, we started worship without the words and no one was really able to sing along. For most of the time, it seemed like a poorly coordinated concert rather than a worship service.

After the confusion was done and out of the way, I still felt stressed. Ever since I've been in the praise team, I've felt like I need to sound good first to please the congregation, and I can focus on the lyrics and on God later. Wherever I make mistakes, or when there is any confusion, I get lost and distracted from the real reason I'm playing. Last Sunday, I realized that I'm not supposed to be putting on a show for the congregation. I should be giving praise to God with the congregation. Sure, it might take a lot of work, there might be mistakes, but God isn't looking for perfection. He's not going to focus on how well I played or sang.

Worship is such an important part of my life. When I actually focus on the words I'm singing and on God, I can really feel his presence. One of the greatest parts of the mission trip to Bathurst was coming together as a group at the end of the day to share our thoughts and experiences and have a time of worship together. In those moments, I knew that God was there with us. Having worship as a group helped bring us closer to Him.

I've also gotten back into listening to worship songs. I made a playlist of the songs that I really like, and I've been listening to them on my iPod when I walk to and from school. Here are a few of them:

• Bones - Hillsong United
• New Again - Life Support
• Awake My Soul - Chris Tomlin
• I Am Set Free - All Sons and Daughters
• The Wonderful Cross - Matthew West

Kindness to Strangers, or a Stranger to Kindness?

Ephesians 4:32

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

School this week way pretty normal. But, as the weather keeps getting warmer, school is the last place I want to be. Yesterday, I was on my way home when a girl I had never met held the door open for me. For a second, I was shocked! At my school, everyone is either in a rush or they don't realize that there are other people trying to go through the doors too. This was a rare sight. But her kindness didn't stop there. As I said thanks, and walked through the door, she then complimented me on what I was wearing. Me? I asked. I looked behind me to see if she was talking to someone else, but she was in fact talking to me.

I know they say it's better to give than to receive, but when I received an act of kindness from a stranger, I felt so happy. Not because I had a door open for me, or because someone liked what I was wearing, but it felt good to know that there are some really great people in my school. It's so much easier to be kind to the people you know well. But showing kindness to someone you don't know or even don't like, is a real challenge for me.

It made me think of a picture I liked so much, I saved it on my computer:

Do you show kindness to strangers, or are you a stranger to kindness?

Early Morning Swims and Daily Devotions

After watching The Great Gatsby and eating tons of popcorn and candy last night with Kristen, I had the urge to go for a swim the next morning. Sure enough, I set my alarm for 5 am, and went to sleep as early as I could. The recreational pool that I usually go to is open at 7:30 for an hour and a half. Why would I wake up so early, you may ask? I figured I'd need lots of time to eat before I swam, so I decided to give myself plenty of time to do so. Maybe a little too much time. Being me, I actually ended waking up at around 6 and it took me less than ten minutes to eat. So there I was, at six in the morning with an hour before I'd actually leave. What was I to do?

The night before, I thought about getting back into doing daily devotions. I've always struggled with devotions and reading my Bible on a daily basis. I would make excuses to myself in order to get out of having to do them. One day I would be too busy, another day I would be too tired, or I would be reading another book instead. But today, I had no excuses.

Last week, a girl at my christian fellowship at school brought a monthly devotional book for everyone. I thought I wouldn't end up using it, but when I looked inside, I saw that it wasn't the type of devotional book I was used to. There was a bible verse, reflection and prayer, but what caught my attention was a question at the end of every day.

As I waited for the sun to rise, I opened up the Living Truth devotional book and turned to today's page. Here's another thing about me and devotions; I don't like to do them in order. I read today's page, answered the question, and closed the book feeling unsatisfied. I still had plenty of time though, so I picked it up again and started reading the titles of days I had already missed in the month. I considered giving up and reading another novel instead, but one page actually looked pretty interesting.

Because I knew I was doing a bad job at reading my Bible, I read the devotional titled THE BIBLE. It talked about how the Bible was not just a book, but a library, filled with real people, places, parables, poems, poverty, prophets, and politics. But it's not just another entertaining story, it's God's word! I've been spending more time reading fictional stories than I have reading His word, I feel like I'm missing out.

The next time I wake up too early, or have a few minutes to spare, I'll try and work on my devotional habits and bible reading. I might not read it in order, but I think that will be better than making excuses to not read it at all.

A Somewhat Lengthly Introduction

Hello there! My name is Annie. I'm a seventeen year old, christian, high school student from Toronto who loves to read, eat, and swim. Welcome to my blog! Don't worry if you're new here, so am I! I've never done anything like this before, so bear with me as I try this out.

Why have I started this you may ask? Here are a few reasons:

1. Sharing what God has been doing in my life.

There have been times when I've been asked to share my story, or journey with Christ, and I've always found it really difficult to do. I feel like my story is plain, simple, and uninteresting. Yet, I've been blessed with so many wonderful opportunities, I sometimes forget that those should be told. By actually writing my thoughts and experiences down, and documenting them, I might find it easier to communicate my walk with God to everyone else.

2. Being productive on the computer/Tumblr

You wouldn't believe the amount of time I waste, surfing the waves of the internet and getting nothing done. I knew it was becoming a problem, but it wasn't something I wanted to admit. Tumblr has really been taking up most of my time. With it's unending stream of posts, I found myself scrolling through it's content at every chance I could. I followed a couple of christian blogs, but every time I saw one of their posts, I quickly scrolled past. Now that was an ever bigger problem.

What did I do? Instead of staying away from Tumblr all together, I thought it might be better to continue to use it, but in a different way. I decided to delete my account, and start fresh with a new one. Do I regret my decision? Not at all! I thought it was going to be difficult, but it actually feels like a weigh has been lifted off my shoulders. I found so many other christian blogs on Tumblr that seem spiritually encouraging. I'm hoping this new account will help me focus on what's really important.

3. It's kind of been a dream of mine. 

I guess I wouldn't call it a dream. Maybe more like a daydream. There have been so many times this year when I've thought about my future. I've been struggling to come up with a career idea and I've been asking God to show me what he wants me to do with my life. Time after time, my mind has come across the idea of of having my own online journal, (like I said before) to share my journey with God.

My church's youth group has gone to Bathurst, New Brunswick every summer since 2011. During our trip last year, I wrote about my experience in a notebook, and had tons of fun taking pictures on other peoples cameras. On one of the final days of the trip, I had this idea that I could do this in the future. Take pictures, write about it, and then share it with everyone when I returned. I sounded like a ridiculous idea, but I never could get it out of my head.

So there you have it, my blog is finally started! I have no idea what I'll end up doing next, but I'm excited to find out! Please keep me in your prayers! Thanks for reading!