http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:07:00 -0600 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:07:00 -0600 Life can be so rough sometimes. Sometimes it's so rough that we feel like giving up. And sometimes it's just so awful we feel like and wish we could run away from the struggles. I know exactly how this is. If any of you have read my previous post, you'll know that I've been grounded. Sadly, I'm still grounded. This past week has been pretty rough too. School didn't going amazingly, and I felt like no one from my family was listening to me. I would speak and repeat things, but I'd feel like i was being annoying or that what I said was unimportant. I was also feeling like I was invaluable and like I could be easily replaced. So many other people can do things better than me, and are better than me. And, i just felt like if someone better came in to one of my friends lives, or if they got to know me fully they wouldn't like the less bubbly side of me, and (put politely) think of me as an awful selfish brat. Later, I found out I wasn't the only one going through a hard time this week. A few days ago I went to visit my brothers' house. My oldest bro, Jess, was just getting home Thursday evening, so my other big bro, Lukey, and I hung out at home. He and his parents weren't having a good week together. Things weren't going well, and he seemed to be getting in trouble for almost everything. It was so hard to watch. And there wasn't much I could do. The only things were being there for him, listening, and try to comfort him a bit by giving him hugs. Later on, Lukey and I also found out a good friend of ours, GP, was going through a hard time at home too. His mom hadn't spoken with him in a week, just because they got into a fight. =( Life is hard, and it bring storms and obstacles frequently, but we're not alone. Daddy's always there, and I've found He's the Ultimate comfort and help. Sometimes He helps/comforts you directly, and other times it's through people, music, books, and whatever other means he wishes to use. One thing one of my big brothers has always told me is to "hold fast". It's based off the song Hold Fast - MercyMe and is about how even when life gets rough, we need to make sure we hold fast to God. Things will get rough in life, but we can be sure our Daddy will come to our rescue. I also recently watched a movie called "Love's Enduring Promise", which is the second volume to the Love Comes Softly Series. In the movie, there's a scene were two of the characters, Willie LaHaye and Missie Davies, are out riding together. At one point, Willie asks Missie what God's enduring promise is, because he heard it mentioned previously. She told him that God's enduring promise is that one day God will wipe away all the tears (Revelation 7:17). Whenever I've read this verse, I've always put it in future context, like when the world comes to an end and Daddy brings all his people home. However, as portrayed through "Love's Enduring Promise" that is an promise that will remain valid from your present moment to eternity. When I was feeling invaluable this week and replaceable, Daddy gave me the privalege of talking with Jess. I told him about how I was feeling and why, and Jess was really encouraging. He helped me a lot! Daddy also gave me some verses. =) One of them was Song of Solomon 2:16a [KJV] "My beloved is mine, and I am his..."; and a devotion from the devotional book called "His Princess Bride: Love Letters from Your Prince" by Sheri Rose Shepherd, which included the verse Deuteronomy 14:2 [NIV] "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the , the Lord has chosen you to be is treasured possession." Both of those were so encouraging to hear - there we're also others too, but I unfortunately don't have time to write them all down. I'm still going through a storm, but Daddy wiped away some of my tears, and has helped my personal situation to improve. I'm still going through things with family and such but I know that He will help me. So if you are going through a hard time right now, the best advice I can give you is "hold fast' and talked to Daddy. He'll be able to help you the best, and remember our Daddy's promises. Here are a few of them. =)  "God will wipe away every tear" Revelations 7:17 [NIV] "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy." Psalm 126:5 [NIV] "God is our refuge and our strength, our ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1 [NIV] "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, ofr I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 [NIV] "For I am the Lord, our God, who takes hold of your irght hand and say s to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41: 13 [NIV] "He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliever him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." Psalm 91:15, 16 [NIV] Also, I want you to know that even though I may or may not know you, I love you all immensely as my siblings in Christ! I know how rough it is to feel like you're not valuable, and I want you to know that I value you greatly, even if I don't know you. =) I hope you all have a great week! Talk to you all soon! Dios te bendiga y Feliz Navida! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/753231/ Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:07:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/753231/ In life we have plenty of obsticals - school work, finances, hard times in relationships, the list goes on - and sometimes they can become extremely overwelming or discouraging. I know from my own experiences. Only about a week and a half ago, I began the worst - in some ways - grounding in my life. I got 3 really bad marks on my report card, and my parents were NOT happy with me at all. So basically it's been no IM-ing people, no none school related emailing, no phone, no youth group, no cell phone, no texting, and no hanging out with friends. It's been extremely hard, especially since I haven't had a good indepth conversation with my some of my closest friends who are siblings to me. I miss them immensely. I miss them so much, I've was even at a point were I had this deep sadness inside of me for a long period of time. I was even wondering if I'd possibly end up going into depression because of it. Getting caught up in my courses that I was behind in seemed impossible, and it felt like I'd never get through it or this grounding. Finally I decided to talk to Daddy (God). I told him how hopeless my situation felt and how upset I was feeling. Then he started to speak to me. I can't remember word for word what he said, but it was encouraging. One thing I believe He told me was that my situation is like the scenario of David and Goliath. The situation seems impossible, like the odds were against David. Everyone was afraid of Goliath, and cowerd at the idea of facing such an enormous being. Then David comes along, and people are basically mocking him for saying he'd fight Goliath. Soon enough, there's this enormous being who's looming several feet above him and who's more than capable of overcoming him. But, with a sling and a stone and faith in our Daddy, David succeeds in slaying the giant. David had two choices, to either let the giant overcome me, or to stand up to him and rely on our Daddy for everything he needed. Like David, schooling, my grounding and my hopeless feelings towards this current moment in my life are like an giant. However with some perserverance and faith in our Daddy I'll be able to make it through. With Daddy and two things so simple as a sling and a stone, the giant of life can and will be defeated. As it says in Matthew 19:26 "Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." and Matthew 17:20 (NIV) 'He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." '  I could have faith as tiny as a mustard seed, but with Daddy any thing, even the most hopeless of hopeless situations can improve. Sometimes facing those giants doesn't have to be in the way you automatically think of, though. An example would be, two friends (let's give them names - Tracy and Lucy) who've gotten into an argument and have a strong disliking towards each other. Tracy started the argument by playing a harsh trick on Lucy. Because of what Tracy did to her, Lucy may have revengeful feelings towards her. Where is the giant there? Revenge and what Tracy did to her friend is the giant. Lucy has complete right to feel upset, hurt, and/or angry with Tracy for being so cruel. However, instead of her getting revenge (which may seem to be the way to defeat this giant), the solution could be to talk to Tracy. To tell her how upset the prank made her feel. If Tracy is really snobby about it and tells Lucy to suck it up, then Lucy can feel angry or upset, yes, but she needs to forgive Tracy. She doesn't need to be close friends with her again, but she still needs to treat Tracy like a human, in ways such as awknowleging her when she sees her. But, every situation has different solutions. For me, it was simply making up some schooling schedules perserverence and seeking Daddy's help. However, in all situations you need to especially seek help from our Daddy. He knows the best way to deal with any and every situation you are in, and he's the one who's completely capable of helping you. And, one of the most encouraging parts is that He wants to help you. In Isaiah 41: 9-10 it says " I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you, I said, 'You are my servants'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; i will uphold you with my righteous right hand." And, Isaiah 41:13 says " For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." So today if you are struggling with something in your life, ask your self "Is this is a giant in my life? And, am I facing it or letting it overcome me?". And, seek the help and counsel you need from our Ultimate Helper. =) ( P.S. To any people who read my blog: I'm so sorry I haven't written in a long time. Life's been complicated, busy, and sadly blogging has been on the bottom of my list of things to do. I'll do what I can to try to be more frequent in my blogging though. =) Talk to you later! Dios te bendiga! ) (Note: All the Scriptural references that I've used have been from the New International Version [NIV] of the Bible) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/749919/ Sun, 6 Dec 2009 01:54:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/749919/ Heartbreak and upsetting situations/moments are unfortunately so common in life. You can't go a week without someone having a hard time with something, whether it being a bad mark on a school assignment, friends getting into arguments and one or both coming away hurt, or whatever else one might be going through. Lately, I've had quite a few people in my life go through upsetting situations and heartbreak. I've dealt with a small amount of it myself, but I'm almost convinced it's worse watching it happen to those you love most, than to feel it for yourself. You feel so helpless, and there's also this uncertainty of if and where you should step in to help. Or, even, HOW involved you should get or not. And then there's also helping them to a certain extent - trying to encourage them, give them advice, etc. - but they are too blinded to see the truth in your words. That's hard too. What I've been noticing, though, is that sometimes just being there and listening helps, or doing so much as to make them smile or laugh. That's huge! But another important thing I've figured out, is it's best to step to the side a bit and just let Jesus help them directly. Sometimes he likes to help heal people through others, but there are many times when he needs to directly help them. He is after all titled our Comforter, and I know from experience he is the best comfort. He knows how to help those who are suffering by giving them exactly what they need. We earthly beings can only offer what we've learned and of what we know ourselves. Taking those people who are hurting and (figuratively speaking) taking them by the hand and leading them to God is the best way to deal with situations. We can try by our own power to help people, and they may be satisfied, but only momentarily. Jesus...if you bring those who are hurting to him, he can heal them and satisfy whatever it is their heart is desiring or needing to hear to heal. We may be used as instruments by God, but in the end, it's Him who can heal people the best, and it's He who can comfort those who are hurting. "I find rest, O my soul, In God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."    ~ Psalm 62: 5-8 "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken." ~ Psalm 34:18-20 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/737801/ Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/737801/ At one point this past summer, I was in the car with my dad. We were sitting there, and not much was said, so eventually I decided I'd spend some time talking to God. For some reason a question came to mind - "Why does God allow people to hurt, suffer, die, etc., if he's not a cruel God?". For the longest time I haven't understood why that happened, but then God made that clear. He doesn't hurt people or allow them to hurt because he's a cruel God. He's EXACTLY like a father. No parents like to see their children hurting, but they have to let life run its course. If they always intervene, always keep their children from feeling hurt, then those kids will never grow. They'll never learn. God CAN change the course of our lives, and, yes, he is in control. But, God doesn't like to force things upon people. He likes to give each and every one of us a choice. That's why even though he could if he wanted to, he chooses NOT to treat us like puppets. But that doesn't mean God just stands around when we hurt. Not at all! If you think of a typical father, what does he do? If his child is upset he'll gather them in his arms, hold them tight, and comfort them. If one of his children are hurting, he'll do what he can to make that pain less painful. If he sees his child fall, he'll pick them up again. Sometimes we are too quick to say, "God!! Why did you let that happen??" while thinking, he's so cruel and awful to allow that to happen. We're always told that God isn't a cruel God, but until we've found out that that's true, we say it but don't truly believe it. Well, I can tell you whole heartedly that God IS a good God. He's our Heavenly father, and he doesn't receive enjoyment in watching us suffer and hurt. He dislikes it, but he has to let life run it's course. However, that doesn't mean he won't be right behind you. He's standing there with you right now, ready to embrace you if you're upset. Ready to help heal you if you're hurt. Or, ready to pick you up when you fall. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/726195/ Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:27:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/726195/ Throughout life, we come across areas in our journey where there are forks in the road. Choosing a direction, however, is the challenging part, but no matter the out come, it's nice to have people taking the journey with you.  Recently, I went for a hike with some of my really close sibling-like friends, and we were walking down this trail that eventually forked. As we were walking and were coming near the fork in the road, something suddenly hit me. My friends and I are traveling the our spiritual journey together. No matter what goes on, no matter how rocky the road may become, we've stayed on the path together, and we're walking it together. One picture I've always had of us, since the day I became really close with them, is this. The silhouetted forms of my brothers, Lukey and Jesse, and my sister, Sary, and I walking along our our journey, with are arms around each other, and walking towards our destination - the Kingdom of Heaven - and to our Father. For some reason that picture has implanted itself into my mind. And, it's no lie either. As the months have past, I see how much we are growing together, both in our faith and in life. We help each other, support each other, give each other the encouragement that one of us or all of us may need, and truly and purely treat each other as siblings in God. Even when we become weak, and get to a point where we aren't sure if we can keep going, God uses all of us to pick each other up, and help us to keep going. God knew our journey wasn't going to be easy. And he knew that we'd need people to help us along the journey. And, so he's created us to help one another, and more so to help each other to bare the burdens we are given. :) Also, God has given us each other to help us in our walks with him. Sometimes we are walking side by side, and other times I notice that we take one another by the hand and push them closer to God. It's really incredible when you think about it! God uses us to help each other grow closer to him! :D I find that incredible! In my life, I've had quite a few times where friends have "taken me by the hand" and led me to God, because they knew he would and could help me the best. I've done that with friends too. I think that is the most incredible way to help someone, although, I have to admit I enjoy helping them more than that if I can. :) However, from my own experiences, i know that going to God with stuff is the ultimate best. Sometimes he talks through friends and family, and then other times he'll talk to you directly. I find that that usually happens when I feel like I'm constantly complaining about stuff to friends, when I'm just having an awful week verbally, and also just when I don't feel like talking to anyone or am afraid to incase I say the wrong thing. I can't say I haven't been that way with him, otherwise I'd be lying, but when it comes down to it, especially in these times God is the most incredible person to talk to, and he knows you and your heart better than ANYONE ever could, so he knows exactly where to help you. :) Tonight, I've been having a rough night. It was one of those times when I just felt like a good portion of the world was crashing down on me, and so I found myself running to God. I pictured him scooping me up in his arms, and just craddling me, telling me things will be alright. He also said some other stuff, and that was the most comforting. Songs and verses in the Bible quite frequently talk about how God is our refuge in the storm and in times of trial. This I know is SO true! When life feels like it's falling down, or a ragging storm, he's the one you can run to, to find the comfort and the security you need. He's truly our refuge! "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1 "The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9  "1 O LORD, you have searched me        and you know me.  2 You know when I sit and when I rise;        you perceive my thoughts from afar.  3 You discern my going out and my lying down;        you are familiar with all my ways.  4 Before a word is on my tongue        you know it completely, O LORD.  5 You hem me in—behind and before;        you have laid your hand upon me.  6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,        too lofty for me to attain.  7 Where can I go from your Spirit?        Where can I flee from your presence?  8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;        if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.  9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,        if I settle on the far side of the sea,  10 even there your hand will guide me,        your right hand will hold me fast.  11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me        and the light become night around me,"  12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;        the night will shine like the day,        for darkness is as light to you.  13 For you created my inmost being;        you knit me together in my mother's womb.  14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;        your works are wonderful,        I know that full well.  15 My frame was not hidden from you        when I was made in the secret place.        When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,  16 your eyes saw my unformed body.        All the days ordained for me        were written in your book        before one of them came to be.  17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!        How vast is the sum of them!  18 Were I to count them,        they would outnumber the grains of sand.        When I awake,        I am still with you.  19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!        Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!  20 They speak of you with evil intent;        your adversaries misuse your name.  21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,        and abhor those who rise up against you?  22 I have nothing but hatred for them;        I count them my enemies.  23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;        test me and know my anxious thoughts.  24 See if there is any offensive way in me,        and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139 I hope you all have a fantastic week/weekend, and if anyone would like prayer, don't hesitate to drop me a comment. I'd be happy to pray for you! I love you all as my brothers and sisters in Christ! Shalom! (Peace) Amar tu hermana en Cristo, Sarah ~ " Be devoted to each other in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourself."  Romans 12:10 [NIV] ~ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/702909/ Fri, 3 Jul 2009 23:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/702909/ A few weeks ago, I was grounded for neglecting school work, and chatting...when my mom thought I was working. I felt awful for that after I saw how upset she was, but I think things are better now and I know God has forgiven me. I'm slowly edging towards getting caught up, and school seems to be on my side at this point. So.... Praise God!!! When I say this, most people would think I've got something seriously wrong with me, but in all honesty this has been an incredible grounding. The only EXTREMELY SUCKY part is that I've been grounded from speaking with three of my bestest friends, which sucks SOOOO bad and I miss them terribly. But God is teaching me SO much! For the first few days of being grounded, I was seriously SO upset. It wasn't even that I was grounded, it was that I couldn't talk to my closest friends. I cried more in those few days than I've cried in AGES, and I was missing them so much I actually felt sick for a while. Some people would see that as being ridiculous and overly dramatic, but because i love them so much and think of them as my siblings I think it's understandable. :S I hope anyways.....  Over that week, it was also my birthday, and my really close friends - Lukey, Jesse, and Sary - and I were supposed to hang out on the Friday. Many of us had been anticipating this day for a long time. That was REALLY hard. I kept hoping and praying that God would allow the rest of them and I to be able to hang out after all. However, God said 'not yet'. I accepted that, but I was still really sad about it. Then the day after my birthday my brothers, Lukey and Jesse, called me to wish me a belated happy birthday. I was seriously SOOO excited! I was smiling more than I had in days, and my mom couldn't help but be happy for me. :P That made my week, and that plus the fact that it was a gorgeous day made that day incredible! Every now and then, after that, I keep/kept having moments were I REALLY missed my brothers and sister. Then, the following week I received in the mail letters from Lukey and Sary. I was seriously SO mega excited, and I was beaming with joy! And, Jesse sent me a couple of things over the internet. Those totally made my week! Then a few days after, I was going through one of my continuous fazes where I miss Lukey, Jesse, and Sary SO much, and I had to go in an online meeting with my school, and Sary and Lukey were there. I was SO glad to finally be able to "see" them again, but unfortunately I wasn't able to talk to them. Eventually, though, our teacher decided to put us in to groups, and incredibly enough he put Sary and I in the same group. We were required to talk and Sary and I were SO excited, and talked for a few minutes. I was SO excited!!! From those few things that happened over those several days, God really showed me that he cares and that he pays attention to us and what we are feeling. He knew when I was nearly ready to give up, or when I was missing my siblings/friends. And he gave me those few moments with them to keep me going. God is SO great! I've also been feeling really afraid lately. As much as I love and trust Lukey, Jesse, and Sary, I was afraid of what would happen when I was eventually allowed to talk to them again. I had questions running through my mind, such as 'how will they react when I can talk to them again?', 'Will they be mad? Happy? upset i didn't tell them i was behind?'. I wasn't and still am not sure, but as time went on and these thoughts kept growing in my mind, and the fear that they'd be really annoyed with me continued to grow in me as well. Then, God decided to interviene. He brought back all these lines from things they'd told me. My oldest brother he told me at one point to "...have faith in yourself, in your friends, and more importantly God." I took that statement for granted at one point, but as I haven't been able to talk with him in a while, I've had time to think about this and I realize that I need to have more faith in my friends. Then there other things they've quoted such as "friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the lord of them, and a friend will not say never, cause the welcome will not end..." ~ Michael W. Smith; "..and in this marriage of our hearts, there is no death do us part, for you are eternal, and I am eternally yours. I could never lose your love to sickness, I could never lose you to divorce, and there's no concept of abandoment for I am safe within your arms..." ~ Sanctus Real; "Hold fast to God" ~ my other big brother; and "A friend loves at all times...." in Psalms 17, in addition to SO many others. All of these, God has brought back to mind, and I'm ashamed to realize that I've been doubting in my friendships with my three of bestest friends. But, I've realized now how stupid I was. I still haven't had a chance to talk to them, but I know full well that they will be there when I get back. And that no matter what we'll be friends for a long time. I'm always telling them they don't need to be afraid of me judging them and that our friendships are built on the solid foundation of God, so they don't need to be afraid to tell me things cause I won't be shaken and neither will our friendship. Then one of my brothers quoted me on that, and I've been learning that more and more. God's got his enormous loving arms wrapped around Lukey, Jesse, Sary, and my friendship and he's helping us to stay together. If it weren't for him we wouldn't even be this close or know each other. Basically, God has shown me that they are true friends who I won't lose easily. He also is protecting our friendship, and he's shown me and told me that they'll be there when my grounding is finished. They are all incredible people!! :D Then another cool thing that happened, occured last Sunday. I'm getting baptized soon, so I was having a meeting with an elder, just to discuss my beliefs, why i was getting baptized, etc. (my church requires it). The elder I had was SUPER nice and we had a fantastic discussion about faith. Towards the end, he asked if he could pray for me, and I was all for it. I was a bit uncertain, though, cause as he was praying he kept pausing. I thought it was because he was listening to God, but I wasn't sure. Then God gave him a picture. The elder, he said he saw a picture of me kneeling before God. I wasn't just kneeling for myself, but for others. And God told him that I want to help people. Then the elder who I had, continued to pray and prayed that I would fall to my knees in front of God for SO many people/things as my life continues. It was SO incredible, and I was truly amazed by it for days! So many people would be down about being grounded, and as sucky as it is, I'm sorta glad that I am. I've missed Lukey, Jesse, and Sary SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXTREMELY much, but I've also learned a lot. And, I've realized how strong our friendship is. I know to others this would seem a small thing, but I know I've got them as friends for a long time. So..... THANK YOU JESUS!! :D The verse that I think best suits all that I've been going through and learning is Psalm 139 "  1 O LORD, you have searched me  and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in—behind and before;  you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;  if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,  for darkness is as light to you.13 For you created my inmost being;  you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.15 My frame was not hidden from you  when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,16 your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 They speak of you with evil intent;  your adversaries misuse your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me,  and lead me in the way everlasting." And, even if I don't know you I love you all as my siblings in Christ, and you've got me and Jesus! And, if anyone has prayer requests, feel free to drop me a comment. I'd be happy to pray for you! :) God bless, Sarah  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/689584/ Sat, 16 May 2009 00:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/689584/ Today, when I was supposed to be doing school but wasn't, I was talking with a friend and he decided to send me the link to this video he found on YouTube - 'Oh Praise Him' ~ David Crowder Band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpVsF4W8V2Y. This movie touched my heart like not many have. It's a video of this guy who is walking down the streets of New York, and he just can't resist praising God even though there are hundreds of people around him. He was even on his knees praying to God! That is the most incredible thing I've EVER seen! But my question is.... why can't we do that? Why can't we have this unresistable urge to get down on our hands and knees and praise God? We so openly tell our friends we love them and care for them, and we encourage them when the need it, not matter where we are or who's around us. So, why can't we do that with God? Why is it SO weird for us to openly praise God? He's the ultimate friend, and we should NOT be ashame to tell him how indescribably great he is! And why do we care about what others think? People who love God, too, should understand why we are praising Him. And even those people who don't, why do we care? They can scoff and laugh and mock us if they want, but who cares! God is looking at us with a beaming smile on his face! And SO many others have done the same. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know where this passage is, but somewhere in the Bible it talks about how King David, in all his splendor, didn't care what others thought of him. And at one point he was crazily and passionately dancing threw the streets of Jerusalem praising God's name! He was scoffed at by  his wife, but that did not stop him! He still did it anyways! He praised God and danced for him in front of HUNDREDS, but he wasn't ashamed to dance, praise, and just glorify the name of our ULTIMATE Best Friend, and our father!! Just now, I found this other song. That goes along with what I've previously written. :) Here's the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp7B5V-qpTQ&feature=related Today, after I watched this movie, I was thinking. And I SO want to just drop school all together and go after God with all that I am. I want to SOOOO badly, but I know my parents wouldn't let me. However, I was talking to God, and he told me that I've been focussing on school way to much and making it this enormous thing in my life. He said, though, that I shouldn't make it as big a thing and that I should have HIM be the biggest thing in my life, and that He wants to be my number one focus. School is just to be a small pebble compared to him. I know that I've been making school a WAY bigger thing than it should be, and I'm SO tired of that! It's a pointless goal, because after I'm home with God, none of it's going to matter. The only things in this world that really matter are God and the people here with us. As much as I want to drop school, I'll have to stay in school (mostlikely my parents orders), but I'm gonna hold onto the words in this verse. Psalm 37:4 states "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." So God knows my desires, and if I go after him he'll grant those desires, whether it being today, tomorrow, or years from now. And another verse that I'll hold onto is Matthew 6: 25 - 34 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?  28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." And one last verse that I'll leave you with is Jeremiah 29:11 - 14 " 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." Love you all! And I hope this wasn't a preachy and harsh post. I didn't mean for it to be. My heart was on fire for God while I was writing it, and it might have come out a little harsher than intended. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I love you all! :) Love your sister in Christ, Sarah (P.S. If any of you need prayer or just someone to talk to, whether you know me or not, I'd love to help. :) Just leave me a comment and I'll reply as soon as possible. :) ) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/681864/ Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:47:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/681864/ Now days when anyone thinks of love, they picture a couple who are attracted to each other, have romantic feelings for one other, and kiss and such. Basically, anything you see in movies now days is considered love. This is inaccurate, though, as I've learned in the past little while. Love is such a purer emotion and reality that people don't see anymore. Instead they are blinded by a false and polluted version of what love is. In the Bible it says that "God is love" so we receive love from him and his way of loving is an unconditional love. No matter how major or minor anyone could think the mistakes they've made in their lives, God loves you anyways. It doesn't matter where or on what you've messed up on, God still loves us and that is unchanging. That is how God has designed and desired for us to love each other, but the media is saying that we are to give up on the people in our lives who do wrong and to hate them. However that is wrong. In the past few weeks, any readers who read this blog have heard a lot about my dear friends Luke, Jesse, and Sarah. Well this post, too, will be including them. As our time together has lengthened, we've grown closer to each other and to God. Our friendships with each other are the most precious treasures anyone could ask for. We love each other as siblings, yet we aren't afraid to stay stuff . My brothers tell my sister and I that we are pretty, and my sister and I tell our brothers that we think they are attractive and/or cute. In most friendships now days, that would be considered SO wrong or extremely weird, and most people would think that we are peaking towards falling into a dating relationships. But this isn't the case with us. As we grow closer as friends and as siblings in Christ, we realize how much we mean to each other and that we don't want any relationship like that. Our friendships and my siblings mean WAY to much to me to lose to some hormonal feelings. The way we love is SO different from that of our world. We are truly like siblings in our hearts and minds. So often my sister and I will make mistakes that we'll remember or that have recently occured. It doesn't matter how stupid the decision was that we made but we forgive each other and realize that it isn't our place to critisize or lecture each other over the decisions that we've made. We simply say "that wasn't a smart decision" and "I love you". And that's it. Through love we help each other, and realize that the decisions we made were stupid, yes, but that it is something we don't have to be guilty of. And of course we also direct each other to our Father in Heaven. And we tell each other that as longs as we've made things right with God, we don't need to worry about the mistake we made any longer. That there is the purest and most beautiful type of love I have ever seen or known. But, it's not by our own will or power that we are able to love the way we do. It all points up to one person, and that person is God. If it wasn't for God, and for him sending his son Jesus to die for each of us on the cross to take away ALL of our sins so that we can be forgiven. We'd never be able to forigve each other or love. God IS love so from him we receive the love we have. And are therefore able to love others. But it is from God's example that Jesse, Luke, Sarah and I are able to love each other the way we do. Anyone can love like that, you just have to seek that type of love from the source of all love - God. He's the ultimate lover and from his example all of us learn how to love each other. Just like how a Father teaches his son to play a video game or baseball, or how a mother teaches her daughter how to sing and cook and run a household, we too can learn from our Heavenly Father the way to love fully and purely. " Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity." 1 Timothy 5:1-2 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/678096/ Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/678096/ Lately, life has been really amazing! No words can fully or properly describe all that's occured this last little bit. I've continued to grow close with my friends and develop even stronger brotherly and sisterly relationships with my brothers, Luke and Jesse, and my sister, Sarah. No matter how much I say it, no words will be able to describe how much these three mean to me. They are the bestest friends I could have only imagined in my wildest dreams. They've totally turned my world around, and where as before I felt that if I stumbled no friends where completely there or always there to catch me, now no matter how insain life is I know I can run into the arms of my brothers and my sister anytime. We do it to each other all the time. As our friendships have continued to grow, through them God has been helping me to begin to REALLy see things that used to be a bit of a blur to me before. When people get hurt, we always complain - A paper cut, a scraped knee on the pavement, or even a sore leg muscle. Not matter how severe or how minor our injuries, we complain. Recently, I was talking to one of my brothers and my sister about all the pain they have to go through. Both of them have some pretty harsh pain that they deal with daily, but they are still living their lives to the fullest. I realized after talking with them that I really don't have anything to be complaining about. Compared to them, I've got it good in the pain department.(Although I don't for a second wish that I couldn't take those pains upon myself or at least help them to bare that pain. I'd take those pains in a heartbeak if it would lessen or help them to never feel that pain again.) After realizing that, I remembered how Jesus died on the cross for us. He went through MAJOR pain! He was TORTURED for goodness sakes!! And, even though he knew it would cause him SO much pain, he did it anyways. That is MAJOR love right there!! No one in all my life, I could ever imagine doing that for me or anyone, except Jesus. I only recently discovered how badly pain Jesus was put threw! It's SO sad and awful, but I'm glad I'm seeing it more clearly. Easter is just around the bend, and I don't know about the rest of you, but as the years pass, what Jesus did for me and all of the rest of mankind hits me harder every year. Things that I didn't understand before, I'm finally understanding. Things I couldn't imagine before, i can finally imagine. And it's all because of those two wonderful friends and siblings of mine who've been used by God to help me to see things more clearly. This has only been our second week together as mega close friends, but even in that short period of time, God's spoken to me through them. God has used them to majorly open up my heart and my mind. Before, I used to always be afraid to say "I love you" as my brother in Christ to a boy, incase they'd take it the wrong way, or they'd start to develop emotions toward me that i didn't have for them. I also just believed that it was wrong and weird to tell one of my spiritual brothers that I loved them. Finally now though, I see that it's not. There are times to say it, and times to restrain, but in the end it's okay to tell someone you love them as long as it's a pure love from God. The way my brothers, sister and I love, is not of love from this world. It's love that only our Heavenly Father possesses and gives to the rest of us to pour out on others. His love is the purest of loves; he loves unconditionally. And that is how my brothers, sister and I love. The love we have for one another, seems SO sur-real even to me. It's the most incredible type of love though! The amount of true love that I've received from our Father through my brothers and my sister, have completely transformed my heart. Now I can look at a guy at my church, and not just see him as another random person. I can look at him and say in my mind that he's my brother.   These three incredible best friends of mine, have also helped me to do another important thing. They've helped me to hear God more clearly. Before I used to struggle a bit with that. Then after hearing their voices a few times over the phone, even when I chatted with them over some sort of instant messaging mechanism, I felt as though they were sitting right in front of me...nearly anyways. So many times I've rethought about conversations we've had, and many of them I've examined them and came to the shocking realization that that was only an IM conversation. I could basically hear their voices. And, that's helped me to hear God a lot clearer. It's like a passage in my mind, that has been open, yet sorta closed, if that makes any sense at all. And now that I've begun to talk to them, it's like God has taken them and through them opened up that passage so that it's wide and I can clearly hear his voice. It's SO incredible! All that I can say, is that I love Jesse, Luke, and Sarah more than any possible words could depict or describe. They mean the world to me, and I REALLY TRULY believe that God has given them to me. With them, I feel completely accepted. I don't have to worry about anything with them. And they are completely true friends who take me and help me in my walk with God. We all do. And it's the most incredible and Godly brotherly and sisterly friendships that I've ever had!! They are like angels who God has sent at just the right time. And I truly hope that no matter where we are, whether we find spouses or not, or even if we remain in our hometowns we are currently in, I hope that we will be friends for eternity. God has connected our paths, and together we are walking and helping each other towards our destination. Our destination being to grow stronger in our walks with God, and to honor him in all that we do. And to one day live together in peace in God's kingdom. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/673939/ Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:00:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/673939/ So, one of my dear friends has had to deal with a lot of pain lately. It's worse today than it was a few days ago, and I hate that he's in pain. I've told him SO many times that I wish I could take that pain upon myself so that he doesn't have to bare it. Every time he says though that he wouldn't want that. I feel so helpless, and wish that I could do more. I know this won't do a whole lot, but I hope through a poem that I wrote for him this afternoon that he'll just be able to remember that I'm here for him and remind him that he's not alone through anything. He's got his friends, family,and even more importantly God there for him. And, if everyone could help me to pray for him, we'd both appreciate it SO much. So without further ado, I give you my poem.   My Brother Is In Pain   My brother is in pain and there is nothing I can do. My heart feels so helpless and I really want to help you.   I’d willingly take some of it, If it would decease your pain or even all of it so that you’d never feel that pain again.   My brother, my dear brother, is in pain and there is not much I can do. So, I’ll stay here by your side and do what I can to help you.   By showing that I really care, maybe even a hug or two, Some prayer, some smiles, and maybe some laughter too.   My brother, my dear brother, let me help you if I can, to help you bare this pain until we are all together in Heaven.                                       ~ Sarah Fung And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is my poem for my brother, who is also my best friend. I love you, man, as my brother in Christ! And I'm here for you always! :) Te quiero!! (That means 'I love you' in Spanish) I truly and purely love all of you as my siblings in Christ!! Amor, tu hermana en Cristo, (Love, your sister in Christ) Sarah http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/673354/ Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:51:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/beyondtheopendoor/673354/