Hello everyone, I first want to let you all know how sorry I am that I have not been as faithful with this as I have wanted to be. But, I do have a post for everyday of my life for the past four weeks. I wanted to talk to you all about the things of the Honor Academy, and Maybe I will at a later time, but for right now, I am going to post on things I have learned in the last month of my life. This is rather long, but It will give you an insight to what I have been thinking. Also, there is a lot of abbreviations like IET, LTE, Endurance, MP, and a bunch of others, I will try to pick the first one I see and explain it, but if I miss some, please feel free to comment, and hopefully I will be able to answer your questions.
2/25/20114What do we look to when we think about a great leader? We look to their wisdom, or their power or they great honor that they have earned, or the great accomplishments which they have achieved. Through the past few weeks of IET (Intensive Executive Training (training in excellence)) we have been learning about how to be servant leaders. I learned one of the most important parts of being a leader is to be a servant to all. Jesus is the greatest leader that there is, and He said that if we want to be a leader, we have to be servant to all. Jesus told His disciples only once to follow His example, and this was when He washed their feet. John 13:14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet. Jesus, the greatest leader in all of history, the perfect leader, washed His own disciple’s feet. He led by example. To be a servant leader, we must not only give out commands and orders, for how business is to be done. We must be willing to get down on our knees, and do the dirtiest jobs, to show those who are following that we are not greater than they are. We only have more experience. We are to show them how, when we need to, and let them take initiative when they need to. Yes we can lead them, by showing them, but that doesn’t mean we are to do everything for them. If we are cleaning toilets, we should hand them a scrub brush and let them work right along side us, knowing that that will probably be less productive in the beginning. But in the end, we will get more accomplished together, than we could apart.​2/26/20114Today was a long day in ministry placement (AKA serving God through work). I am an ATF(Acquire the Fire) Caller, and I work in the encouragement side. Which means that I call for one specific city Nashville in my case; to invite youth pastors to bring their youth to this years Acquire the Fire. I also let them know what the theme is and how it can relate to their youth. My event is over actually it happened this past weekend. I have the privilege of calling the youth pastors again and asking them how their experience was at the event. I have been hearing some of the cliché or expected responses of it was a great event, the students grew, and they are know really excited about their faith, and look forward to coming back next year. This, however, is not the only stories I heard. One particular group had a young lady who was almost not allowed to come because she was participating in activities which were not honorable to God. They ended up allowing her to come, and Friday night she went down to the Alter and repented and now she has completely turned her life around and has dedicated it back to God. I was wondering why I am still calling, because technically my event was over, and I don’t really have a reason to call. But I am an encouragement caller, and God decided it was time we got some encouragement. Because I called today, I got to hear of how an ATF event changed a youth’s life. I was reminded through this why I am and all of you are here. We are here to change the world, and it may just be one person at a time, but every person is worth it.​2/27/20114Today, I had the great honor to meet with Mr. Pruett (director of the Honor Academy) for lunch. First of all, I learned about dedication and integrity. Mr. Pruett is sick and has been for the past few days, yet he still made sure that he didn't miss his lunch meeting with me. I got to see into the heart of our director of the Honor Academy (HA). I went into the meeting, wanting to know more about him, yet we didn't really talk about him. Yet I still learned a lot. For one, he really does care about the interns, and wants to make sure that they are doing not just okay, but the best that they can be. Number two, Mr. Pruett prays for each and every intern. He asked me how I was doing and I told Him I was a little stressed. He encouraged me not to be stressed and to give all the pressure that I am feeling up to God. Another subject that we talked about was the move to Dallas. We talked about how the move was going to affect how the HA was run. Honestly, the only thing that is really going to change is how much better it will be for the interns. We will have apartments, with their own kitchens and living rooms. It will also be more of a dedication, because we will have easier access to break the rules of the HA. Mr. Pruett is not afraid to admit that he will need a ton of help in this coming year. Without outright asking or seeming desperate, he poured out his heart saying how much he need good strong GI leaders for nest year. Whether we want to be a CA (Core Advisor), MA (Management Associate), or even MT (Ministry Team). Through my meeting with Mr. Pruett, I learned that some of the best leaders are the ones who are willing to show that their weakness to the ones who are following behind.​2/28/20114Today was a good long day; I honestly was not as faithful as I should have been with my calls, but I did power through and reached lives one phone call at a time. I was reminded once again how important it is to live our lives with a plan, and not just run around like chicken with our heads cut off. I finished making my 7X24 today and even though, I haven't really done anything else besides that, just having a plan has given me so much peace. I also was reminded that if we sit here and try to get all of our homework done in our own strength, we might be able to get it done. But Guys, we will not have the satisfaction of knowing that we could have done it with a team/ as a team. Most important is that we cannot do this on our own and have the joy or strength, or peace, if we do not ask God for help. I am going to be honest. If I was doing this to prove that I could do it on my own, I would have dropped out a few weeks ago. But every time I was thinking about it, people came around me and told me, you can do it. Or God reminded me that I was trying to carry the burden by myself. The funny thing is even though we chose to carry the load, God never stops walking along beside, ready to catch us when we fall, and picking up the trail of things we have lost along the way. So just a reminder, we have to stick together to get the most out of this, and we have to trust in God to get out of this as Puma’s in the end.​3/1/2014I am an INTJ or an Introvert Intuitive Thinker Judger because of this I value clarity and efficiency. I am quick, often times to the point of harm to call other people out on what they are doing wrong and to judge them. If they are goofing off when we are supposed to be working, I will get very ticked with you, and my words will usually bite, because I do not think before I say something. I have set high standards for myself, and I often hold other people to the same High standard. In my ministry placement, I work much better when I have a visible goal to reach. If you tell me that I need to make 225 calls and talk to 40 decision makers (DM), I won't be as driven as I would be if I had it set out in front of me with a breakdown on how to achieve that goal. In fact I will get stressed out because I feel like there's no possible way to get this accomplished. If you break it down day by day and tell me that I only have to make 45 calls, and talk to 8 DM per day, I see that the goal is easily reached. Often, I over think. I have a great idea in my head, and I can tell you exactly what that plan is, but I don't know how to break it down all the time so others can understand what I am trying to say. In my ministry placement, I will never give myself 100% on quality because I will always see areas where I can improve, and always think that there are areas which can be improved upon and made better. In my work and in doing Homework, I tend to waste time planning because as an INTJ we tend to sit back and observe before we execute and we don’t leave enough time to execute the plan. I do not like taking control, and giving orders so that things can get done, but I am willing to step up and take the reigns if I see that nothing is getting accomplished. I do not function when there is chaos. If it is loud and there are multiple conversations going on in the room, I can not focus and get my work done. I don’t always see a new way to get things done, I will follow the old path because this is a tried and true way, it may not be the best, but I know it works. If you have a better plan than this though, I will jump on board as long as it gets things get accomplished. When I am talking to people over the phone, I am quick to judge them, and usually think differently about them after I have built a relationship with them with the next few calls. A downfall I tend to have is that I focus inward and don't really care/ am uncomfortable with other people’s emotional roller coasters. I enjoy putting concentrated effort to achieving my call goals to get them done. We have what are called power hours, or holy hours where we focus and get as much done as possible and this is usually the best parts of my days. So basically the times when I am working the hardest are the times when I have the most fun, because I have a sense of accomplishment. I am so curious about the world; want to know the principle behind what I see. When I am talking to a youth pastor on the phone, and I end up liking what they are saying, I want to research their church, and find out all I can about them. This helped me a lot to realize not necessarily the reasons why I do the things I do, Understand that I do them. This has enabled me to better see the areas I can improve upon in my ministry placement.
3/3/2014So today, was a challenge. I am crunching right now for time, because I waited to until the last minute to read the book. I am so stressed right now, but God has been teaching me that I need to trust in Him completely, and He will guide me to where I need to be. One of my mentors told me that I need to trust that it is all God, but work like it is all me. Which I took as, that God will give me the time I need and will provide for me as long as I am doing all I can be doing to get it done, as long as I am working diligently. So I know that whatever happens God will provide, because He is in control, and He will enable me to finish all that I need to. Today, I had a moment where God told me to trust Him completely. I am going on a mission’s trip to Brazil this summer, and I need $2,060 by Friday. For some reason, I have not been able to post on Facebook about my trip and I was getting stressed because I knew this was a way for me to raise money for the funds I needed. Today at lunch, I still could not post, it wasn't letting me type. and I broke down under the stress. My CA then asked me if I was trusting God, and I had to admit I wasn't. Why do we always try to do the impossible on our timetable? We need to trust God that the impossible will be completed in His time and under His direction and power.​3/4/2014Wow, what a day. Where do I even start? My day was a whirlwind, it seems to have come and gone in a flash. At times in my day, I have been in the middle of the whirlwind, where there seems to be peace and tranquility. Such as on the phones today, I didn't seem to be very overwhelmed, and to my shame, didn't strive to be the best I could be today. But this was the calm after the storm. I woke up at five and I was spinning on the outside of the tornado, I was going so fast, extra training for our Hall, IET. The whole bit. Then we worked for a little, then class, and it was peaceful again. Then we had chapel. So many times we think that the day is done at close of business, but often it is only just beginning. We had a lady come and teach to day on the Holy Spirit and her testimony. What I learned from it was that no matter where we are whether in the eye of the storm or on the outskirts about to be drug under. God will always come and find us right where we are, and will pick us up and lovingly place us into the position He has laid out for us to be in. In Ministry Placement, for tomorrow, I will remember that I am not here just to sit and wait for the phone to ring, waiting for God to call me to my purpose, but I am supposed to Heed the call that is already being made, and work unto God and not towards men.​3/5/2014Today was a good day. My day started very early this morning a 5:45. And we ran, around in circles in the student activity center. I actually enjoyed myself this morning. Through corporate, I found I take a lot of pride in feeling like I completed something, or I made it through. To feel accomplished is a feat which I can relish in. I think this is why I enjoy checklists. When I get to check something off my list, I feel a sense of power. A lot of times this sense of power is what gets us as humans in trouble. I have an example of that today. I was calling for the Year in Advance tickets for the San Antonio event next spring, and I was calling through and I was sitting there thinking to myself, I am an amazing person. I can call for an event which I have hardly any information on and I can feel like I own the event. I was just plowing through those leads. Or so I thought, in reality I only called about 30 people today. When I did speak to someone, I almost plowed through them as well; I was not being the encouragement representative that I was supposed to be. When I call one of my goals is to make sure to make the person on the other side of the conversation feel valued. I know that if I had been speaking to me today, I would have thought, she is just trying to get done with this call so she can make another call. I was impatient without being rude, yet I still did not value the conversations I was having. So many times I see the goal and plow through the stuff in front of me so I can reach the goal, and I don't realize how many lives I am just walking through. I need to be making a difference with every person I meet.​3/6/2014Nugget of the day, have you ever thought about the words you say? Do you realize how much power we have in our words? The Word of God says that our words hold the power of life and death. Also in Matthew 12:36-37 says that we will be judged for every idle word we speak. What does Idle mean? Idle means to be thoughtless, careless, worthless, inactive, unfruitful, barren, lazy, useless, or unprofitable. So for every word we say to someone in a joking matter it could be considered an idle word. The bible does not say that every meaningful word we say has life and death, but that every word has we say holds the power of life and death. Another thing about words, God spoke, and because of His words, the world is still in motion today. His words had/have power. We were made in the image of God, so our words have power. God cursed the ground in the time of Adam and Eve, yet the ground, and earth are still losing their nutrients, and we as humans are still dying today. Even though God spoke that curse thousands of years ago they still have power. Can we even imagine how much of affect our lazy words are having on the generations to come? When our parents say "say something nice, or do not say anything at all." Maybe they are trying to get the point across to us that our words have power. Take your words, and make them matter.​3/7/2014Yesterday, my sisters (The women I room with, are called my core Sisters) and I had a room meeting and we discussed Colossians 3: 13-17. We realized as we were discussing how unity was made possible. For us to be one we have to bear with one another. Bear with, not bear against, not bear up, and bear with. We are supposed to reach out as children of God as the church, and serve together. We are not meant to do things alone. It is a great verse to show how important teamwork is. Next it says forgive one another. How many times do we let past hurts get in the way of what we are doing now? What relationships are we keeping from happening because we are holding past grudges, or getting angry at the little things they do now because of the hurts they did against us in the past? We can not let unforgiveness get in the way of the unity we could have as a team. Overall we are supposed to love. Because of Love, we can have unity. With love we have compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We have the virtues needed to have unity. Not only are we supposed to love, but we are supposed to let the Love of God rule in our hearts. I don't know about you, but I tend to let my projects overwhelm me, instead of making a plan, and following it. Even though I know, if I put effort into getting things done, God will provide a way for that to happen. A very wise person who is one of my mentors and one, whom I look up to, said "Work like it is all you, but know that it is all God." We usually only get the first part of that statement right. We work like it is all us, and all of me, is not going to be enough for me to get everything done.3/8/2014What are we thankful for in America? We have so much that we should be thankful for, but we seem to let it slide. We complain when it is dark and gloomy outside, but in reality, we are inside with electricity, light and heat. But all we seem to think about is that it is dark and dreary outside. To me I think to myself, what constitutes a good day? Well for one, I woke up this morning, in a warm bed. I have the opportunity to go read my bible, which I have about five of. In at least three different versions. Do we really understand how free we really are? Yet I hear So many people complaining. Maybe we complain because we have time to complain. What if instead of complaining, we would do something about it? If we have a problem with how the government is being run, why are we not making a petition and having people sign it. So many times we say to ourselves we will not make a difference, but how do we know, if we never try? Our culture is so Lazy. I am glad that we as a Puma Class (Part of IET) have decided, we will rebel against our culture and become the servant leaders we are called to be. To make a difference and change this world. By showing how thankful we are by sharing what we have and giving to those in need instead of beings so Lazy. I am proud to call my say that we are determined to change this world.3/10/2014Have you ever thought about how much determination has an impact on how much you get done? I can sit at work all day, and look at all I have to get done, and say what I am I even doing right now? Or I can sit down at my desk see the amount of work I have to do, break it down into reasonable goals and get it done. I was sitting a work today and I thought to myself, wow, how the time has flown. I was thinking we hadn't had lunch yet, then I remembered that we had. When I looked at the clock, I realized that it was already 3:30 and I was almost done with what I had planned to do today. I walked into work today and planned in my head, I will finish all the calling I need to do for Year in Advance ticket for the San Antonio event.​ By 3:30 I looked down and all I had left was three more people to call then I was finished. I finished today, because I walked into the office this morning, and was determined that I was going to get it done. Even though things popped up that I needed to do between 3:30 and Five I did finish calling for Year in Advance, and I ended up registering 131 people for next years Event. We need to be determined when we walk into a situation, some people call this vision. We can have all the dreams we want, but if we don't have vision to back up those dreams, nothing will ever get done.​3/11/2014To follow up on my blog post from the other day, another art of getting satisfaction from your job and getting things done is doing it with excellence. We can go through the list of work that we made, and get everything done, but how much better would it be if we did it and completed our work with excellence? What would we have if every day we finished our top five and knew that there was not anything that we cloud have done to make it any better? What would happen if we all did our work with such passion and commitment that our managers did not have to come by every few minutes or hourly asking how we were doing making sure that we are getting our goals completed. Excellence defined by Webster’s dictionary is a standard of perfection, or the quality of being excellent. We have the ability to make it better. We do not have to trudge through our work, only barely surviving under the workload. We can stop take a moment, and evaluate the situation. Make a plan, and then once we have succeeded at doing it, we came to do it well, doing it with excellence. We as a PUMA class are setting ourselves apart; we are striving to make it better. How many of us are actually just checking off a list? Or are we challenging our peers our class to make things better? Are we setting the example? Or is an example being made of us.
3/12/2014Because of what was said at tonight's session, I was thinking, why don't we live lives o integrity? Are we just following the easier path? I myself was thinking, I am doing the hard thing, for crying out load, I am doing IET. But just because we are doing the hard thing, doesn't mean we are doing the right thing. I enjoyed tonight session. I enjoy the story of Joseph, and it is one of my favorite Bible time stories. Joseph did the right thing in His job. He did not do what he could do get to a higher position. He did what was required of Him and honestly worked hard. He was given a higher position because of His integrity. Now to apply it to our work, our Ministry Placement. Are we brown nosing our bosses? Are we doing all we can to get out of work? What are we doing so that we can get out of calling in my case, but still stay on our managers good side. We need to have integrity. We need to study hard, and complete the tasks that are given to us to complete. When do we accidentally log a call twice and count that accidental log as an actual call? Do we call an extra so that we can have an accurate score? What about in our homework? Are we accurately doing our homework, or are we just saying that we are doing it? I don't know about you all, but I need to work on my integrity, and make sure that I truly am doing all that I am supposed to do and not cheating in any way.​3/13/2014Multitasking is something that we have to do to get from one goal to the next. I use multitasking everyday while I am on the phone. When I get in contact with a youth pastor, I have to have three things going on at the same time. Number one, I need to be listening attentively to what the pastor is saying, especially because I am asking the pastor the questions that are being answered. Number two, I have to be taking notes, so that I can make sure the person calling after me, is prepared to make the next call. And one of the last things that I have to do as an Acquire the Fire encouragement caller, is I have to memorize multiple scripts and keep them in my mind as I am calling these youth pastors. Currently I am calling for 4 different cities and each one has a different script. I have to call for Year in Advance for Nashville and San Antonio, both with different deadlines. I am also calling for two events which haven't happened yet. Eugene has a four week deadline coming up, and Everett has an 8 week deadline coming up. I also have to know each of the dates for the events. Multitasking is a part of doing our job to the best of our ability. I enjoy my ministry placement, a ton. I enjoy talking to youth pastors, and letting them know about the different events. Even though it is a challenge to call for all four of these events, I relish the fact, that I am reaching youth in my generation all around the United States for Christ.3/14/2014Why do we not stop? Wait what, did I just say that? Stop, are you crazy? Yeah, stop. Yes, having a plan and following that plan is an important thing to do. But taking the time to stop when we are stressed and think about what we are doing is a good plan as well. Especially when we are taking those few moments and spend time with God. I need to confess coming into the business faze, I was not doing my quiet times. I know right, coming out of the Spiritual phase, and I was not doing my quiet times. I was telling myself that I was to busy to spend time with God. How can we be too busy to spend time with the one who created us. If any thing, we should be asking Him what we are doing here. He is the one who gave us this purpose, yet often times we try to figure it out on our own. And we have a God above whom for lack of a better word dying to tell us what we are created for. ​In 1 Corinthians 13:6b. Says that Love rejoices with the Truth. Jesus Says He is the way the TRUTH and the life. My CA had us do memorize this verse, except she asked us to replace the word love with I. Then this verse says, I rejoice with the TRUTH. I rejoice with Jesus. Yet, if I am not taking time off from IET, HA, and even my relationships, I am not taking the time to rejoice with the Truth, I am not rejoicing with the Jesus.​3/15/2014When the going gets tough, the tough crumble, and then trust God. So I am struggling tonight. It is not that I don't want to get things done; I just keep having interruptions, and wonder why I am still In IET. Often, I honestly don't have an answer. Something I have been learning through being in IET is that God is sovereign, and If I remember to trust Him. He will take control and help me get everything I need to get done, done. I am starting to lose my drive to complete IET. I look ahead and say, I have 9 more weeks. I am struggling now, what am I going to do in the next 9 weeks. Then God steps in speaking through people, and he says trust me. Karri, give it to me. Stop trying to do this in your own strength, you are failing. Without God it is impossible to finish. Guys, we have to depend on God if we plan on finishing IET. But not just while we are in IET. We have to depend on God after IET, in the summer when we are going on our mission’s trips, or helping with extreme camps, or even when we are having a "slow" day, we still need to depend on God. In our relationships, depend on God. In our work, depend on God. In all that we do, depend on God. He is the only being which is keeping this world together. He is the only one who is keeping me together, because honestly I am falling apart 99.9% of the time.​ But God says when we are weakest, and then He is strong.
3/17/2014The subject of Time management. How do we plan out our day, follow the plan and not run around like chickens with our heads cut off. We look to our experiences in the past and we determine that we need to change and actually get a plan together for our life to follow, so that we have a purpose. So many times in my day today, I have had interruptions. One thing I need to do for my 7X24 to work is to get my Family and friends copies so that they know when I am available. This is hard for me to plan out my relationships; it makes me feel that I am not available at any time for my family. I do not like making a plan, this is not my personality. My personality is to reach out and do whatever comes my way. However, I find that I am much more productive when I have a plan, I don't want to have a plan, but to make life work we have to have a plan. God says in His word that He has a plan for us, that he has planned out our path. God is the one whose image we are made in. If God has a plan, we need to have a plan as well. Even though we often have a dream about where we want to go, we need to have an execution plan for how to reach those goals. No matter how hectic this life gets, God is in control.​3/18/2014What does peace feel like? Peace is being able to know you have a deadline to meet, and not worrying about it. I am not saying that we should slack off when we have a deadline and not even care about it. But I am saying that we need to just trust God. God has told us that His burden is light and His yoke is easy. His yoke is only easy if we let Him carry the burden. If we are constantly trying to pull the burden back onto ourselves, His is not going to pull against us, He will release His grip because He is such a gentlemen. I learned a lesson today on the importance of trusting in God. Today, I was getting overwhelmed by the fact of my not being able to get everything I had to done. I have had meetings upon meetings since right after work today. I have been getting supplies for my IET homework, roads, and also for the missions trip I am going on this summer. Today, I had a meeting with my Representative for my trip, and I found out that someone I haven't even talked to in about nine months at least, donated towards my mission’s trip. I learned not to worry about it because God is the one who will provide. We may work for it, or even ask for it, but in the end it is God who gives. He gives us provision, He enables us to have focused so that we can get homework done in short amounts of time, God is our provider, and His grace is sufficient for me. Peace, is believing that He will take care of us, even when we are not seeing the results. Peace is complete trust in God.3/19/2014I am learning a lot about trusting in God lately, I have been thinking about how much we don't deserve his help yet He still reaches out and chooses us. Our life is not about the plan that we have for it, But the Plan God has and how we fit into that plan. Today, I was reminded about humility. It isn't about me. What a concept. I think this is a very important part of being a team. We need to be able to lay down our own pride, and lift each other up. We are all just a small part of God's complete and great plan. So many times we think to ourselves, if I was doing this, I would do this so much better than that person, or I wish that this person was not on our team, because they hold us back so much. Guys, this is not being a team. A team is made up of people who realize that it is not all about them. Guys as a team, it is our responsibility to serve God as one body. It is He plan that we are following. He may use different voices to let us know what His plan is, but ultimately, it is up to God. In Proverbs 16:9 it says, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." We can plan all we want, but ultimately it is Gods plan. I am sorry, that I repeated myself so many times today, but we are not something, God is The mastermind, and we are the pawns who are privileged enough to get to do His bidding.3/20/2014Have you ever felt sick to your stomach, but know that you are not sick? Today, I have felt like that all day. I have laughed, and smiled, but on the inside, I have felt empty. I have felt like I am invisible. Today was a good day though, I have taken time out of my day, multiple times, and spent time with God, and I find myself more and more wanting to run away into the secret place of His arms. I constantly wish that I was in heaven with Him so that I can just sit at His feet and soak up all He is telling me. Also, I just wanted to stop and feel what it is like to truly and totally live with abandon unto God. I have a lot on my plate; I am not even going to lie. I have IET, which we all know that in and of it are hard but I was crazy enough to go down roads, at the same time. In doing this, I have discovered that I love to be challenged, until I become bored, with the subject, then I stop pursuing the challenge, and let it slide by. I wait to the last minute to get things done. This is not how we are supposed to live our lives; we are supposed to live our lives to the full for God. Turning to Him and living for Him. God said to Adam that it is not good for man to live alone, and He provided a wife for Adam, but I feel like this was not all that God was talking about when He said this. I feel like He was also saying, man cannot live without His creator. We can not truly live without God. Without the breath of God, we are spiritually like the dead bones of Ezekiel 37:1-14. My favorite verse is verse 5 where it says the Lord will make breath enter these dead bones. Without the breath of life, the breath of God, we are just bones in a flesh bag. This is why I have felt empty today, because I have not asked God to breathe in me, to fill me with His breath that I can be made alive again.​3/21/2014
3/22/2014
​Today was such a good day, We started bright and early at a beautiful 7:00 in the morning, It felt so nice to sleep in. sometimes, we get so busy with life, we forget to take the time and enjoy the little moments in life. One of my most favorite times, is when I just get to go to the prayer room and soak for a small amount of time, maybe just like 15 minutes, and just soak in the presence of God. Never before, have I taken time out of my busy life, and just sat in the presence of God. Before I came to the Honor Academy, I was just doing for God, I would run around all day, looking at the things I could do, sometimes for myself, not listening to God. Other times, I would sit down and ask God what He wanted me to do, but then I would not listen to the answer, and walk away from our one sided conversation, expecting something good to happen, even though I had been doing my own thing. I believe that God is our number one priority; we need to take out day step by step and listen to what God is telling me to do. Also, we need to have a plan as to what we are going to do during our daily walk, we need to dedicate certain times to Family, Friends work and homework, But God should be our Number ​​one priority. When the Bible says to walk by faith and not by sight, how are we supposed to live by faith, it we don't take time to find out who we are having faith in?
3/24/2014
Value. Where am I finding my value? Well, I was finding it in my friendships, my possessions, in my personality, and work. I was finding it in what other people thought about me. This was not being fair to me, because people are so different; of course they are going to have different opinions. What was hurting me the most though was that I was finding my value in where I measured up to other people? Again, we are all created differently. There will always be someone you can find who will be better than you. But this is only if you let them be better than you. They can not be better than your best to you. If you are doing your best that is the best you can do. I have found, the only reason other people get to me when they are “better” than me is I let them be better than me. I used to find my value in what I wore, how I looked, and what I ate, and how much I ate. Now I know that all things will fade. Our very lives are like a vapor. The faster and more that I realized my life was vapor, the more I realized that my value should not be in things that I am going to get bored in, and that won't satisfied, but in things which last. In God's word Jesus says He knows the number of hairs on our heads. I don't know about you, but I have not sat around and counted each hair I have on my head and all the ones I have lost, but God knows each and every number. This in itself shows me that God truly cares; He cares more about me than I do. Honestly, most people do not care more about me than I care about me. I now know that my value should come from the one who cares the most, and that is Jesus Christ, Father God, and the Holy Ghost.

Passion, Confidence, Development and Value. What do these four things all have in common? They are part of my life message, also known as, my life’s elevators pitch. I need to present my life message with passion. If I have no desire for my own life, I won't be able to inspire others for theirs. Confidence, be confident in who I am in Christ. Know that God created me for a specific purpose and when it doesn't look like someone else, which is okay, because I am me. And that makes me free. My dependence on Christ is what allows me to live a life of freedom in Him and through Him, and it is because of Him that I can live my life to the fullest. Development. My life story is still developing, until the day I die, I will have a developing story with trials and pains, mountain tops and valleys dry. But it will all be upward toward the goal of Seeing Christ my Savior. Also, I need to develop the presentation of my story. I need to be able to go up to a random stranger and without any fear at all, be willing to look them in the eye, tell them what Christ did for me, lead them to the cross, take them to the grave, and then lead them to the life they can have in Christ. Last but definitely not least, value. Take value in what has been given to me. Value is a lot different than pride. Value says this is were I have been, and this is what God has given me because of that, taking this message to heart, and depending that God will guide me through off into my future. Value is what gives us purpose in our life, where am I finding my value.