Simply.Ana.

: Warning sign of things to come. Love is here, but I guess its gone now.

: I love it when God completely yells something at me. Today I wasn’t too thrilled about helping out in Kidz Ministry because I wasn’t exactly prepared. I did hand motions somewhat smoothly and then I moved onto leading a small group. The lesson was all about Humility, hilarious right considering I just posted about humility yesterday, which made me tune it out a bit. Until finally I thought about it seriously. Sometimes I don’t let people serve and help me which is selfish of me. I only serve certain people as well. People who I care about serving but not everyone. As I was asking the kids what ways they could help serve I thought about the ways that I could help serve. The ways that I could be helpful and encouraging. How even the words I speak should be encouraging and good. The incredible thing that made me feel blessed and happy that I served that day was the way the kids got it. They understood and that to me is worth it.

Afterwards I just somewhat thought well I do serve in a lot of different areas so its whatever. I went through out my day which included going to lunch, seeing an Invisible Children movie, and went off to Neighborhood Cup. Then I got a text from a friend whom I don’t know very well but shes still a friend. She asked to meet up and hangout and even though I didn’t have much time left I said yes! I was so blessed by saying yes. Honestly that always happens to me. Every time I feel as if I have no time or I don’t feel like serving but I do anyways God blows me out of the water. I love it.

I don’t think I’ve ever realized how often you have opportunities to serve everyday. It honestly blesses me so much more then the one I am serving.

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”- Philippians 2:3

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less” - C.S. Lewis

 I absolutely love this quote in all aspects because to me it just really makes sense and clicks. Humility is a HUGE topic and something that I always go back to. Making sure my heart is always in the right place and I’m doing things for the right reasons. Asking God to constantly check my heart and my motives is something that I feel is important to do regularly. 

Becoming a humble person is quite hard to do. We all get wrapped up in our own lives, our own problems, and our own selves. It is just the way this world is. But if we all try to become humble before God we are broken and open for Him to use us to glorify Him all the time. “The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way” Psalms 25:9 God will always guide us. If we think of ourselves less it opens us up to think more about other people and it opens our eyes to the things God see. 

My desire is to see the things that God sees. To be open to the things He wants me to be open to. To lean on the word of God as the road map of my life. To have my actions be the actions that glorify God and to be apart of His work. If I am thinking less of myself then I am focusing more on what God focus’s on and I’m leaving myself open. I see the brokenness and the misery people are living with everyday.In return all I desire to do is Invest time and pour out love to everyone because that is what God does for me. He does so much for me that I want to show others the same thing. I can’t exactly do it on my own but I know God helps me each and everyday. So this week I pray that I would be open to this and constantly remind myself of this.

My Desire:

To be a servant of Jesus Christ

and 

Have a heart for the lost 

Am I seeking the approval of man or God? If I was still trying to please man I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ. 

: My past has happened there is no way to change it. My present is happening and theres no way to skip it. My future is in front of me but there is no way I can hold it.

My life is completely uncertain.

: Sometimes I just have to sit back and laugh. Life happens. Things happen. The only way to deal with it is laugh at the funny things you always knew were right.

: Having someone help doesn’t mean you failed it just means you aren’t in it alone

: “Am I going mad?”

“I’m afraid so…you’re completely bonkers…but I’ll tell you a little secret…all the best people are.” 

I believe I am going mad.

Dear people of tumblr,

I am what you would call an activist for a wonderful organization called INVISIBLE CHILDREN. Right now I am trying to raise AT LEAST $50 for their 25 campaign. Which is being silent on April 25th for 25 hours. I will speak out with out speaking for 25 hours, every year of the war in Africa. You can help me out! If you could go to my donation page and donate any little bit that you can spear it would help me out tremedously. Don’t think that any amount is too small because every little bit makes a difference for me. All the money from this campaign goes towards building radio towers and a rehabilitation center which is something that the people of Gulu and Uganda requested. You would be apart of making a difference in peoples lives across the country. Think about how incredible that is!

This is my donation page! PLEASE HELP! 

http://ic.stayclassy.org/member/ic-fundraising?fcid=3524

This is Invisible Children’s website to learn more about them

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/what-we-do

And this is the place where you can learn more about the 25 event and how YOU can be apart of it as well.

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/25

YOU can make a HUGE difference even if its the in the slightest way. You are always able to make a difference in someone else’s life and you are always able to make a difference to our broken world. Don’t ever under estimate the power that you hold because you are able to do radical things.

: Don’t play with me. Because you’re playing with fire. 

: Thank you Lord for blessing so many conversations this past week. Thank you for surrounding me with people who support and encourage me. Thank you for giving me opportunities to pour out and onto others. Thank you for speaking through me. Thank you for speaking through those who I look up to. Most of all thank you for what you are doing and what you have already done. I’m blessed and I’m thankful.

Amen.

: I would say that I am a person who is passionate for unity. It is something that I have been told I have a passion for. Something that is always on my mind. Something that I’ve always wanted to be apart of  but never have. I have a constant struggle with feeling unified with other believers in Christ. To be honest it turns me off to the whole church thing a lot, but then I realize I still have God so I guess it shouldn’t matter. Truth time: It does matter. I need other believers in my life as my strong brothers and sisters in Christ. I think my passion for unity comes from two things 1) I love people and I love having great solid friends who I can talk about God for hours with. I love encouraging and helping people with the word of God and in turn have someone do that for me. I love being able to have people to fall back on when I need it. I love seeing people support each other when someone needs supporting. 2)I’ve always been the girl who wanted to do radical things. I love reading about all the crazy things that Paul, Peter, and John did thats just SOME of many who have done amazing things for God in Jesus’s name.  I love knowing that as the body of Christ we can all do the same thing. The Holy Spirit can move big time if we actually desired it. But do we really desire that? Or do we just believe that those stories are only true to those times. That the same God who moved then isn’t moving now because we somehow changed. Truth time: God never changes. WE AS PEOPLE DO. We changed. The church changed. I guess I should tell you that I haven’t been the most unifying person in the whole world my whole life. I mean I’m a sinner and I forget things. I forget how important this truly is. But I will say this that this past year God has done radical things in my life and this is something that has desperately been on my heart. I’ve been rejected so many times by people who are simply too busy to be unified. People who just have too much going on that they can’t think of anything else. I don’t blame them. I’m the same way. But now I’ll say something: WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. There is so much more that we can do together! God has so much more for us. We have so much more potential as believers in Christ. Ephesians chapter 4 is something that you should probably go read right now. It is all about unity. Verses 4-6 is this “There is ONE body and ONE Spirit just as you were called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism; ONE God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Please tell me that makes something inside you squirm just a bit. Because I know for me it did and does. Later on in chapter 4 it talks about edifying the body of Christ with our words.  Speaking truth in love. Forgiving like Christ forgave us. Now here is something that I’ve realized and been told is many Christians tend to focus on the bad or the sin in someone else rather than looking at the good. If we look at the good it is easier for us to forgive and be tenderhearted to those people. If we look at the good we can encourage and edify them through God. We can help them turn from the bad because God would be changing them and using our words. To be honest I’m the person who just sees the bad. I’m the person who just knows what is wrong with people and I do nothing but think of that. This realization though made me want to do something different. I can’t change my ways on my own I need God to desperately change the way I think about that subject. He needs to change my heart so that I am able to do that. I want to see change which is exactly why I’m writing this to all of you now. I’m sick of sitting back and talking about it. I’m tired of just having these thoughts and not accompany it with action. I will take action and I hope and pray that you will take action with me because I can’t do this on my own.   

: My thoughts are louder than my words. They never quiet down and they never back down. My thoughts are always there like a virus you can’t get rid of. They intoxicate my mind. My thoughts tell me lies that I have no other choice but to believe. They leave me tired and exhausted. Numb from everything else. My thoughts are louder than my words because they are nothing but sinful broken thoughts that never shut up.

: Today has got to been THE most insane day I’ve had in a while. The most insane but also the most encouraging and solid day. I started by having devos with my long time best friend, then off to playin’ with my favourite kiddos at women’s study, went straight to a meeting with my wonderful brother and sister in Christ, Cece and David, which turned into a two and a half hour talk that made me SO incredibly grateful with what God has been and is doing in my life and their lives, and then ran back to the church to film Kids Worship videos that included having a cheesy smile for 2 hours straight, and lastly ending the night with youth group: seeing old friends: and my Dad’s birthday dinner. Yes this is what I would say having an insane day means. This is what I live for: to go from one place to the next serving and pouring out God’s love and being so encouraged by others. God is doing huge things in my heart right now and in the hearts of the people closest to me. I’m so incredibly excited. 

“Be still and know that I am Lord” Psalm 46:10

: Sometimes you just need to shut everything off. Sit and be still before God.

When things get so crazy like today thats the time I look forward to most.

: We are all eternal creatures who step closer to Heaven or Hell everyday.

: I <3 my new laptop!

Came just in time to start planning new youth events!

: So, is that what you call a getaway?
Tell me what you got away with.
Cause I’ve seen more spine in jellyfish.
I’ve seen more guts in eleven-year-old kids.

Everyone’s caught on to everything you do…Everyone’s caught on to 

: Noah Gundersen this Saturday? Uh yes please. 

:I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. - C.S. Lewis

: A leader carries the slowest man in the herd. 

: Highlight of my converstaion

David: Damien Rice really needs to meet my friend. I think it would help him out a lot.

Me: Oh? Which friend is that?

David: Jesus of course.

Why yes I do have great friends.

: Trashpretty dress shopping
Aldophos for dinner
Top of the world for sunset
Gelato with great conversation
Driving around beautiful Laguna Beach with some dubstep
D Jones’s house
Topped off wit yogurtland and popping boba.
This is what it means to hangout with Dylan Jones and Makenna Gurzi for the night.

: After the mad dash of working on Midterms and Finals all week I have a break. I’m completely looking forward to a lovely weekend that includes: Disneyland, Tron dance party, Prom dress shopping, FARELLS, and sleepovers! I’m quite content. 

: So apparently I’m a really spiritual person and I have good energy. Now theres something you don’t hear everyday. Thank you Pacific Coast for having the strangest people attend your school.

#thisiswhyidon’tgotoschool

: “It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.” - Isaac Asimov

: “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For the God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding” Psalm 47:6-7

I love musical worship. 

I’m officially a speed reader who can read 2000 words per minute. I feel quite accomplished seeing as though I started out reading 150 words per minute….

: I didn’t realize how much I missed summer/the beach till today. The waves were perfect, the sun was shining, Bob Marley blaring, great friends and having not one care in the world. Yes I shall say that today was a very good day. Praise God! 

: Appearances are really good at throwing you off as to what is REALLY happening on the inside. I’ve seen this happen over and over again. To be quite honest that is exactly why I don’t feel so bad anymore. Note to self: Appearances ARE NOT everything.