“Worrying doesn’t change anything but trusting in God changes everything.” – Unknown
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.” – Psalm 56:3
Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s 2017?! It’s gone by way too fast. But then again, I say that every year. You’d think I’d be used to time changing by now.
Okay, so I’m going to start off by saying I don’t like using the word “resolutions”. I feel like they should be more of goals because it doesn’t matter to me whether I meet them or not, as long as there are progress and growth.
With that “mini-rant” out of the way, here are my 2017 New Year Goals. My theme for 2017 is growth so this year I’m making goals that will hopefully help me better myself.
Hey, everyone! How are you? November flew by so quickly! But it’s December so that’s awesome! Anyway, here are some of the things I did this month and my favorite memories. :)
Hey, everyone! How are you? Hopefully, school hasn’t been too crazy for you. But if you are having a stressful week, here are 5 Bible verses for when you’re stressed.
But now, this is what the LORD says – he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
When hard pressed, I cried to the LORD; he brought me into a spacious place. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Hey, everyone! How was your January? Mine was really fun! So many wonderful things happened to make my January a great month. Here are some of my favorite things. :)
Hey, everyone! How was your August? Mine was spent getting ready for school and enjoying the last few days of vacation. Here are my top ten favorites from this past month. :)
10. DIY Honey and Vanilla Scrub – A couple of weeks ago, I decided to do through my craft pins and actually do them. Because it was the only “craft” that I had all of the ingredients for, I made a DIY Honey and Vanilla scrub. I love it because it made my skin really soft and smelled good.
9. My backpack – My backpack this year was from Pottery Barn and I received lots of compliments on it. You can see all of my school supplies here.
8. You Will Never Run by Rend Collective – This is one of the top songs on Rend Collective’s new album, As A Family We Go. I love Rend Collective and this song is a great reminder that God will always be with us.
7. Old Navy’s Patterned Soft Pink Floral Skirt – Early this month, I went to Old Navy and bought multiple items but one of my favorites was their soft pink floral skirt. I was about to not get it but I was glad that I did. And bonus, it is on sale now. :)
6. Garner Fructis’s Brazilian Smooth Shampoo – This shampoo really works for my hair. For “difficult to straighten hair”, like mine, this shampoo is said to be proven to reduce flatiron time. It will be interesting to see if that statement is true when I do get around to flat ironing my hair.
5. Garner Fructis’s Sleek & Shine Leave-In Conditioner – My sister uses this often and so I decided to try it. I was amazed at how smooth and soft it made my hair, even the second day. Definitely worth trying.
4. Papa Smurf Flash drive – I found this flash drive extremely helpful in my computer web design class and it is easy to find because it is different than most of the flash drives used.
3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins – My family loves these Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins. With the perfect amount of chocolate and pumpkin, these muffins are perfect for fall and for after-school snacks. You can find the recipe here.
2. 500 Writing Prompts (book) – I bought this book from Barnes and Nobles, a while back. I like it because it has some interesting prompts that make you think, such as; “Do you think ‘take it one day at a time’ is good advice? Why or why not.” and, “Do you think the eyes are a window to a person’s soul? What does eye contact mean to you?”
1. Psalm 118:6 – While doing my devotions, I came across this verse. It reminded me that we don’t need to worry about anything in this world because it’s not going to matter in the end.
A couple of weeks ago, I was blessed with the experience of watching turtles hatch. This was an unusual experience because normally turtles hatch during the night but these turtles hatched during the day time. Let me start from the beginning…
A lady was walking down the beach when a baby turtle scrambled passed her feet. She didn’t have a camera so she asked my uncle who happened to be sitting on the beach. My uncle called us over from the balcony and we all ran down to see the turtles. By the time we got there, three turtles had already hatched and a fourth one was crawling out of the nest.
It was amazing to see so many people gathered around watching the turtles come out, one by one. I was able to take some pictures on my iPad and my dad was able to get a video of my favorite turtle, Tumble. Tumble had a little trouble getting out of the sand. And once he (or she) did get out, he got lost on the way. I named him Tumble because well, he took a little fall but was able to get back up and keep crawling his way to the water. Tumble was also very grateful to the kind bystander who kept the birds away.
About fifteen minutes after little Tumble hatched, my mom called the Turtle Watch to let them know what had happened. Apparently, there were lots of red ants in the nest and they were biting the turtles, making them come out of their nest early. And you can imagine how much the ants hurt the turtles since they are so small.
What I loved about this experience was seeing how God is in control of everything and is so amazing. I mean, how did the turtles know to go to the water? How do they know when to leave their nest? How do they know to come back to the exact same beach they hatched on, twenty years later? It really is amazing.
So as you might have noticed, my blog has a new look. With the new year, my blog got a new look. It looks great if I do say so myself. :)
New Years are great for remembering the past and looking forward to the future, to reflect on what you learned and make goals for the future. I have a good feeling about this new year: 2015. I feel that this year will have something special in store for all of us. And with that said, I want to challenge all of you to make today better than yesterday but to also not do something you will regret.
Do you ever just stop and think of all the people who love you? Not like “I know them so it counts” love. I’m talking about the “I will drop anything and everything to come help you” type of love. Maybe your list would start like:
And… That’s it. And then you start to think and you come up with a few more.
And then you’re like “Oh yeah!” And you add 20 more people.
And then you’re like “Wow! That’s a lot!” But there are tons of more people who love you, people you don’t even know or have never met but they are praying for you and they love you! That’s a lot of love! It can’t get better than this, can it? Yes, it can! God loves you. How much? Like, a lot. More than everyone you know could ever love you all put together!
Psalm 36:5 says that God’s love is steadfast and extends to the heavens. That’s REALLY far which means that God loves you a lot! I am so happy that we can go to God for everything and anything, knowing that He loves us and will always be there for us! It’s just one of the many things that I’m thankful for. :)
