I'm back!

I am back from Guatemala safe and sound! :)

Although it's bittersweet, because I wish I was back there! I loved every minute of it!

This is a quick post, because I'm crazy busy catching up on stuff right now, but I can't wait to post about all the amazing things that God did while I was gone!

GUATEMALA!

This blog will be quite for a while, because in about 4 hours I will be heading to Guatemala!

AHHH sooo exciting!

I have the great oppertunity to go with many other seniors from my school and work with the Hope of Life ministry down in Llana Verde :)

I'm so excited to see a new, culture and be able to serve God and share the love of Jesus! I cannot wait to see all of the amazingly awesome things that God is going to do while we are down there! I am ready for him to blow me away and I can't wait to see what he's going to teach me and them mighty ways that he is going to work in!

Please be praying for me and my team! :) If you want to follow my trip here's our blog

www.seniorsinguatemala2012.blogspot.com

See you in 9 days :) Adios!

Memories

Memories--Recollection, recalling events and moments, remembrance

Memories are such an interesting thing. Remembering joyful memories of the past makes me happy , thinking about funny moments make me laugh, recalling God work in amazing ways strengthens my faith, remembering the moments of tears makes me sad.

It is amazing how many emotions can be brought about by simply remembering the past. I believe God has given us memories for many reasons

-God wants us to remember where we have come from and to see how far God has brought us.To encourage us by seeing the growth and change that has happened.

-He wants us to see that he delights to bring us blessings and joy through friendships and fun times. To remember the laughter in the days of saddness.

-God wants to show us his faithfulness and how he has provided for us in the past, to increase our faith for the future by seeing how God has answered us in the past. Remember his faithfulness to us, gives us faith for the future.

-Memories also keep us humble, increase our faith and encourage our hearts, bring smiles to our faces, give hope for the future and help to teach us lessons and reveal more of God's amazing character to us.

*Genesis 9:16-- remember God's promise

*1 Chronicles 16:5-- remember God's wonders

*Ecclesiastes 12:1-- remember your Creator

*Luke 22:19--communion is for us to remember what Christ has done

*Psalm 105:1-2-- recount God's wonderful deeds

Memories are important to God (he's the one who created them in the first place), he wants us to remember and to tell others of the great deeds that he has done! So that not only will your memories give you hope and faith, they will help others to trust God and see more of his amazing greatness as well! :) So treasure your memories they are a gift from God!

My Random Easter Thoughts

Easter has never been a huge holiday for us.

Besides wearing the cute easter outfits and doing the Resurrection Eggs when we were little it, it just was never something that was a big deal for us.

If I'm honest I've never really been that excited about Easter. I never a huge easter bunny or chocolate fan and I've grown up in a christian home my whole life and have been hearing the story ever since I was a baby! I'm most definitely not proud about that fact, but it's the truth.

Around the holidays I usually look at all of the blogs that I follow seeing if anyone has posted a twist on the current holiday, or if they have any cool new insight or perspective to share....as much as I love seeing new perspectives and such, I was thinking about the Easter story last night and I realized how simply, yet amazing it is!

The story is so powerful and deep in and of itself that there is no need to find a new way of saying it, because we will never fully comprehend or get to the depths of it. It is such an amazing story that is is impossible to wrap your head around it.

Why would a Holy and perfect God come down and go through all of that for ME? A sinner who despised and rejected him...It's true love, nothing else would have driven him to give his life for us! how many of us are willing to go die for someone that we know? Who would go die for a criminal? Yet that is what Jesus Christ did for us!

It's so crazy because you feel so worthless, but yet you are worth more than you could ever know, so undeserving, but so loved and cherished at the same time!

When you realize your sinfulness, how you hated God and were enemies with him, that YOU were the reason that he had to come and die, and go through such suffering and pain....it breaks me! Why me? I am so undeserving! I just can't understand, it shows me how real and true and deep his love really is! If Christ was willing to give up his own life as a sacrifice for me, how can I ever doubt his love for me? This love drives me to give my life for him, it's the reason that I want to live my life to glorify my God and to give him all that I have to bring him praise & to serve him only!

So when thinking about the Easter story this weekend think about this quote:

"Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something

done by us."

Think about your sinfulness and how much you grieve God in just one day! How you were were

the cause for his death. When you make this story personal to your own life it brings it to a new

level and your really begin to become grateful and realize what a huge gift it is, and what a great

price it cost!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. ~ 1 Peter 1:3

Easter means that this life on earth is not all there is. Jesus went “to prepare a place for us” in His Father’s heavenly mansions for all eternity. Jesus died for our sins, paying our penalty, so that we could be forgiven. He was resurrected, to prove that death has no hold on those who repent and accept Him as Savior. This life on earth is a prelude to eternal joy with our Lord. Easter is a celebration
of our eternal destiny.