Proverbs 4:23 says "above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life." You guessed it, tonight I want to share with you about guarding your heart. It's kinda easy to see why God wants us to guard our hearts. I think that many of us have been hurt by someone we loved before. Obviously God doesn't want us to be in pain from being hurt. That's exactly what he's talking about, right? Well not exactly. One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis goes like this "Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable." Can you see where I'm going? If you love someone, they will let you down at some time or another. But that doesn't mean God is telling us to stop loving, to not let anyone in. On the contrary God tells us many times to love one another. So if "guarding your heart" doesn't mean holding back the love, what does it mean?
Basically it means to be selective with how intimately you love someone or even something. When you're in a relationship of any kind with a guy, it's a good idea to be careful with your heart. Don't just let yourself fall in love with him or just rush into it. Take your time, seek God's will first, and if it is God's will press on in the relationship. But still exercise caution. I mean, would you really wanna fall in love with 12 different guys before you find who God really has for you? Do you wanna put yourself through that much pain? On the contrary, I HIGHLY encourage you to be very careful and try your best not to fall in love unless you are sure he's the one. It's hard, I know. So many girls do the whole "fall hard, break up, cry a lot, get over it, and repeat" routine now-a-days. But do you REALLY wanna go through that?
Another reason to guard you heart is that it's harder to resist someone when you're in love. When you fall in love with a guy it's easier to make excuses like "well we're only doing this because we're in love." Well you may be in love but does what you're doing line up with the Bible??? I don't mean to step on any toes but being in love does not make you an exception to the rule. AT. ALL. And don't fall for the line "well if you love me you'll do this." If he loves you he won't go there. Guard your heart, because the more in love the harder it is to say no. Jen and I were talking the other day about how much harder it is to resist when you are in love. My youth pastor told us once that his wife's father got STRICTER on their dating when they became engaged, and with good reason. It became harder to say, I've gotta go, the closer they came to being married. So sisters, I encourage, please guard your heart!!!!!!!!!! You deserve God's best! I love the saying "dance with God, he'll let the right man cut in." Let God guard your heart, and you will be in safe hands!
Love In Christ,
Kat
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Perusing God with your everything!
Hey sis! I was trying to decide what to share tonight and I decided to start out by sharing a little bit of my past and some of the things that I’ve learned with hopes of encouraging you girls and showing you that you are not alone in this battle and it is possible to be in love with God and content with out a guy!
So here it goes.... I grew up in the basic home school family. I knew all the right answers and knew a good many verses, but it wasn’t until I was around the age of 14 that I began to realize how it wasn’t about my parent’s faith or their "religion", but it was about what I personally believed. Now, please do not get me wrong.... I had asked Jesus Christ into my heart when i was 5 years old and I meant it completely, although it was the fact that I was not seeking God's will. I was seeking my parent’s approval. Anyway, I had the chance to go on a mission trip out west at the age of 14 and it really hit me hard as to what the real world was like. That just doing the so called, "Right thing" was not what it meant to truly love God! So, I began reading my Bible more and it was the coolest thing to actually find for myself in the Bible all of the things that I had been told about so many times in Awana, Sunday school, Childrens church, and etc! That was the beginning of my love for God... Fast forward around 2 years. See, I like to refer to home schoolers as, "late bloomers"! :) Many of us do not get a chance to hang out with other kids our age (especially of the opposite sex) often until we hit high school, which means all of the drama that happens in public school during the middle school years hit us in high school. That is exactly what happened. Life got tough.... tougher than I EVER imagined that it could be. God was there though... I’ve made my fair share of mistakes...trust me. I’ve also had my fair share of hurt.... but girls...oh precious girls.... can I tell you how at your lowest times it is the most SPECTACULAR thing to have the Lord of Lords and King of Kings bend down, pick you up, dust you off, and then whisper into your ear how perfect and beautiful you are in His eyes?!?!?! I want you to stop and just imagine that.... because if you will allow it to happen He will do it EVERY time! It is not like a one chance thing... He loves you more than you can EVER imagine!! Enough preaching... back to the point! I had a choice. I could either stay luke warm in my faith or cling to God 100%. It wasn’t an easy choice to be real with you guys... Because being different is hard. If anyone ever told you it wasn’t they were lying! Listen to me girls... it is possible though! I chose God! Over this past year my love for Him has grown by leaps and bounds! I'm not sure how noticeable it is...but let me tell you, I know it’s true! Now just to let you know incase you are lost and saying what is this crazy girl talking about being truly in love with God! When I say truly in love with God I mean being ok with not having a guy, being satisfied with who God made you to be, being the girl who stands out in what she says, in the way she lives her life, in the way she treats others, and also in the way she interacts with guys (1 Timothy 4:12)! That is what perusing God with your whole heart is about girls! Putting God above what guys may think of you! I am not saying by any means what so ever that I’m perfect or that I love God as much as I ever could. I would be straight up lying if I did say that. What I am saying though… is I can tell you from person experience that it is possible to put the things of this world behind and run full fledge towards God!
With all that said, I challenge you girls... get into Gods word and fall in love with Him! I love the verse Psalm 37:4,"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."! It is so true! I will tell you now though... The road to purity and loving God with your whole heart is a road that not very many people travel....It can get lonely, but girls that is why we created this group. I want you to know that at NO time are you alone! Even when the world is throwing every lie possible at you to get you to quit chasing Christ please know that I’m praying for you. More so than that you have a Heavenly father who will NEVER leave you nor forsake you! He promises so in Hebrews 13:5b, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."!
I love you girls and I care about you! Please know that you are not alone in this journey and that when you do fail Jesus is there... He wants to pick you back up!
Sis in Christ,
JEN
So here it goes.... I grew up in the basic home school family. I knew all the right answers and knew a good many verses, but it wasn’t until I was around the age of 14 that I began to realize how it wasn’t about my parent’s faith or their "religion", but it was about what I personally believed. Now, please do not get me wrong.... I had asked Jesus Christ into my heart when i was 5 years old and I meant it completely, although it was the fact that I was not seeking God's will. I was seeking my parent’s approval. Anyway, I had the chance to go on a mission trip out west at the age of 14 and it really hit me hard as to what the real world was like. That just doing the so called, "Right thing" was not what it meant to truly love God! So, I began reading my Bible more and it was the coolest thing to actually find for myself in the Bible all of the things that I had been told about so many times in Awana, Sunday school, Childrens church, and etc! That was the beginning of my love for God... Fast forward around 2 years. See, I like to refer to home schoolers as, "late bloomers"! :) Many of us do not get a chance to hang out with other kids our age (especially of the opposite sex) often until we hit high school, which means all of the drama that happens in public school during the middle school years hit us in high school. That is exactly what happened. Life got tough.... tougher than I EVER imagined that it could be. God was there though... I’ve made my fair share of mistakes...trust me. I’ve also had my fair share of hurt.... but girls...oh precious girls.... can I tell you how at your lowest times it is the most SPECTACULAR thing to have the Lord of Lords and King of Kings bend down, pick you up, dust you off, and then whisper into your ear how perfect and beautiful you are in His eyes?!?!?! I want you to stop and just imagine that.... because if you will allow it to happen He will do it EVERY time! It is not like a one chance thing... He loves you more than you can EVER imagine!! Enough preaching... back to the point! I had a choice. I could either stay luke warm in my faith or cling to God 100%. It wasn’t an easy choice to be real with you guys... Because being different is hard. If anyone ever told you it wasn’t they were lying! Listen to me girls... it is possible though! I chose God! Over this past year my love for Him has grown by leaps and bounds! I'm not sure how noticeable it is...but let me tell you, I know it’s true! Now just to let you know incase you are lost and saying what is this crazy girl talking about being truly in love with God! When I say truly in love with God I mean being ok with not having a guy, being satisfied with who God made you to be, being the girl who stands out in what she says, in the way she lives her life, in the way she treats others, and also in the way she interacts with guys (1 Timothy 4:12)! That is what perusing God with your whole heart is about girls! Putting God above what guys may think of you! I am not saying by any means what so ever that I’m perfect or that I love God as much as I ever could. I would be straight up lying if I did say that. What I am saying though… is I can tell you from person experience that it is possible to put the things of this world behind and run full fledge towards God!
With all that said, I challenge you girls... get into Gods word and fall in love with Him! I love the verse Psalm 37:4,"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."! It is so true! I will tell you now though... The road to purity and loving God with your whole heart is a road that not very many people travel....It can get lonely, but girls that is why we created this group. I want you to know that at NO time are you alone! Even when the world is throwing every lie possible at you to get you to quit chasing Christ please know that I’m praying for you. More so than that you have a Heavenly father who will NEVER leave you nor forsake you! He promises so in Hebrews 13:5b, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."!
I love you girls and I care about you! Please know that you are not alone in this journey and that when you do fail Jesus is there... He wants to pick you back up!
Sis in Christ,
JEN
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
He Could Be Alright...
Hey Chickas!
Tonight I wanted to talk to you about standards other than just purity. Cuz you can have purity standards and fight to uphold them, but if you're going for the wrong guys it'll be a hard fought battle- harder than it has to be. I know that several of my friends and I have a list for what we want in a future husband. I HIGHLY encourage you to make one of these lists. Don't just brainstorm what you want, WRITE IT DOWN. Develop a well thought out list (not just "needs to be cute"), write it down, and keep it somewhere safe. You are probably asking "what's the point of the list?" Well first of all it lets you evaluate what you really want to spend the rest of your life with. Second of all, the list isn't just a guide for your future husband, it's a guide for all your boyfriends. Let's be honest, if you wouldn't spend the rest of your life with him, what's the point of keeping him around? By getting into a relationship with a guy who doesn't make the cut, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak. Having a list written down is more beneficial than you think. It comes in handy to have something to look at when you are trying figure out if he could be alright. Sometimes we forget what we really want when a cute guy pays attention to us. So next time a guy starts flirting with you, don't be afraid to go home and put him up to the test. Who knows, "he could be alright." ;)
Something to remember when you make the list, the Bible specifically warns against being "unequally yoked" (2 Corinthians 6:14). Now if you're like I was not too long ago, you're probably thinking something along the lines of "what on earth does it mean to be unequally yoked?" lol. Have no fear, I will explain. Mental picture, two oxen are hooked up to plow a field, what keeps them together? A yoke. In our lovely mental picture, the yoke symbolizes the bond of marraige. Now the ox on the left (you) is strong in it's faith and constantly trying to pull towards God and do his will. The ox on the right (your husband) is not into "religion" as he calls it and thinks Sundays were meant for football and nothing else. The ox on the left is constantly pulling one way, and the ox on the right is pulling the other way, and in turn, they go NOWHERE. Not a pretty picture huh? Well you may being saying "well it's not like I'm gonna date a non-christian." Let's put a twist in here, both oxen are believers. But the left ox is a baptist, and the right ox is a catholic. They are eventually gonna end up the same way as the oxen from our first scenario. Do you get what I'm saying? You want to have the same basic belief system as your future husband. And that includes purity. You are not gonna want to spent your entire dating relationship fighting to keep from going too far. I encourage you to keep that in mind as you make your lists.
Until next time, Kat
Tonight I wanted to talk to you about standards other than just purity. Cuz you can have purity standards and fight to uphold them, but if you're going for the wrong guys it'll be a hard fought battle- harder than it has to be. I know that several of my friends and I have a list for what we want in a future husband. I HIGHLY encourage you to make one of these lists. Don't just brainstorm what you want, WRITE IT DOWN. Develop a well thought out list (not just "needs to be cute"), write it down, and keep it somewhere safe. You are probably asking "what's the point of the list?" Well first of all it lets you evaluate what you really want to spend the rest of your life with. Second of all, the list isn't just a guide for your future husband, it's a guide for all your boyfriends. Let's be honest, if you wouldn't spend the rest of your life with him, what's the point of keeping him around? By getting into a relationship with a guy who doesn't make the cut, you are setting yourself up for heartbreak. Having a list written down is more beneficial than you think. It comes in handy to have something to look at when you are trying figure out if he could be alright. Sometimes we forget what we really want when a cute guy pays attention to us. So next time a guy starts flirting with you, don't be afraid to go home and put him up to the test. Who knows, "he could be alright." ;)
Something to remember when you make the list, the Bible specifically warns against being "unequally yoked" (2 Corinthians 6:14). Now if you're like I was not too long ago, you're probably thinking something along the lines of "what on earth does it mean to be unequally yoked?" lol. Have no fear, I will explain. Mental picture, two oxen are hooked up to plow a field, what keeps them together? A yoke. In our lovely mental picture, the yoke symbolizes the bond of marraige. Now the ox on the left (you) is strong in it's faith and constantly trying to pull towards God and do his will. The ox on the right (your husband) is not into "religion" as he calls it and thinks Sundays were meant for football and nothing else. The ox on the left is constantly pulling one way, and the ox on the right is pulling the other way, and in turn, they go NOWHERE. Not a pretty picture huh? Well you may being saying "well it's not like I'm gonna date a non-christian." Let's put a twist in here, both oxen are believers. But the left ox is a baptist, and the right ox is a catholic. They are eventually gonna end up the same way as the oxen from our first scenario. Do you get what I'm saying? You want to have the same basic belief system as your future husband. And that includes purity. You are not gonna want to spent your entire dating relationship fighting to keep from going too far. I encourage you to keep that in mind as you make your lists.
Until next time, Kat
Uncommon- Greg Long and Kristy Starling
Following up on the quote I posted from Robert Frost. A friend mentioned a song that I absolutely love and I wanted to share it with you guys. Below are the lyrics and a link to a video on youtube. Enjoy!
-Kat
What if there's something bigger for me out there
Than the comfort of a life on this middle ground
I've played it safe but now I can't help but wonder
If maybe I've been missing out
'Cause I look around and see a sea of people
Everybody's moving in the same direction
And I think it's time for me to break away, break away
Chorus
I want to finally take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
What if the right thing was harder than the wrong thing
But I did it anyway
Standing strong even when no one else was watching
What if I really lived that way
Every heart has its defining moment
This is mine and I'm not gonna miss it
I want to finally take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
I don't care if it makes me look different
I'm never letting go of my conviction
Let the world see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
I'm done with the easy way out
I'm done with the easy way out
Done with the easy way out
With the easy way out
What if I made it to the end of my days here
Only to find that my legacy was nowhere to be found
I don't want to waste another second
Give me the strength to start right now
Right now, right now, right now, right now, right now, right now
I take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
I don't care if it makes me look different
I'm never letting go of my conviction
Let the world see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
Uncommon
Call it uncommon
I'm done with the easy way out
Check out the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4zZ3_nveqs
-Kat
What if there's something bigger for me out there
Than the comfort of a life on this middle ground
I've played it safe but now I can't help but wonder
If maybe I've been missing out
'Cause I look around and see a sea of people
Everybody's moving in the same direction
And I think it's time for me to break away, break away
Chorus
I want to finally take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
What if the right thing was harder than the wrong thing
But I did it anyway
Standing strong even when no one else was watching
What if I really lived that way
Every heart has its defining moment
This is mine and I'm not gonna miss it
I want to finally take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
I don't care if it makes me look different
I'm never letting go of my conviction
Let the world see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
I'm done with the easy way out
I'm done with the easy way out
Done with the easy way out
With the easy way out
What if I made it to the end of my days here
Only to find that my legacy was nowhere to be found
I don't want to waste another second
Give me the strength to start right now
Right now, right now, right now, right now, right now, right now
I take the road less traveled
I want to run away from anything typical
I want the world to see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
I don't care if it makes me look different
I'm never letting go of my conviction
Let the world see the life I'm living
And call it uncommon
Uncommon
Call it uncommon
I'm done with the easy way out
Check out the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4zZ3_nveqs
Monday, October 26, 2009
What we stand for!
Hey girls! I just wanted to give you an idea of the things we stand for... This isn't just a, "wait for sex until marriage" deal. We want to encourage you girls to pursue God with your everything and with that our sexual desires will seem to fade until it is God's timing, hence the name of the group! Of course we stand for abstinence, but we also stand for purity of mind and heart. As girls it is SO easy to give away our heart and body because we think that he, "loves" us. Often girls give parts of themselves away without even the promise of it turning into a dating relationship, but we stand for waiting just a little while... It is between you and God as far as how far you go before you are married, but hopefully through this blog you will be able to see purity in a totally new light! Not as a chore or something your parents and youth minister have shoved down your throat, but something that you want to do and are proud of! The limit we are going to go by basically is that you shouldn't do anything that you wouldn't feel comfortable doing with Jesus sitting beside you. We all know that He is there with you if you have asked Him into your heart... So just think about that! It can be kind of disturbing...
Also, I wanted to add that if you have ANY questions or things that you would like to discuss, but maybe do not want to post it as a comment feel free to message either one of us or you can e-mail us!
Kathryn- kreed1193@bellsouth.net
Jennifer- jennifer.rochester@charter.net
Love you girls!!
Also, I wanted to add that if you have ANY questions or things that you would like to discuss, but maybe do not want to post it as a comment feel free to message either one of us or you can e-mail us!
Kathryn- kreed1193@bellsouth.net
Jennifer- jennifer.rochester@charter.net
Love you girls!!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Let's start at the beginning...
Hey peeps! Okay, so Jen kinda introduced me already, but allow me to tell you a little bit more about myself. Okay so the beginning- my name. My name is Kathryn, but people call me Kat a lot. Feel free to use either, I answer to everything from "hey you" to "Katarina." lol. My story, well I'm a teenager who fell in love with the Lord and just wants to live for him. I've had my share of middle school drama, high school drama, and everything in between. I learn a lot by observation. Throughout my middle school and high school careers I have noticed two things. 1) Girls just want to be loved and accepted. 2) They tend to look for that love and acceptance in guys. My heart has been burdened for quite sometime that we girls become a bit obsessed with being loved and accepted, so much so that we will do almost anything (such as compromising our morals) to get that from a guy. I, like Jen, have vision for this blog to encourage girls to keep their standards high and hold tight to our morals. I hope that we create a haven here for girls who are tired of looking at guy after guy, and all them end up disappointing. When you feel like there is no one out there trying to hold tight to purity standards, I hope you think of us. Our blog idea came to us tonight as we had one of our typical conversations about guys. We started out talking about our guy problems and are wish to "just find a good guy." We moved on to talking about other girls and how we see them wanting to press for higher standards, but they are either too scared to pursue that or they don't think they can. We both started talking about making a difference, and helping each other. We started brainstorming and voila! We're starting a blog. You see, we're going through the same things you are. We're not some adult who's "been through it already and knows the best decision to make for every guy situation." We're just two teenage girls, earnestly following Christ, and figuring out our guy problems as we go. I think I can safely say that this idea we developed tonight is much more than just a blog, it's a support system. This is just one way we can unite the body of Christ! As I close up my very first blog post, I would like to leave you with a thought about purity. Robert Frost once said "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." What if we were to apply this to purity. Not many people take the high-purity-standard-road these days. What if we were take the road less traveled, and make the difference for Christ? Would that not be worthy of our time and patient waiting?
Love In Christ,
Kat
Love In Christ,
Kat
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