Big, Scary, Black Dogs and a Fence

Before I begin let me set this up for you, I do not like most dogs. I have a dog, but it weighs 8 pounds and is really quiet tempered, loves all people and is just a great dog! I am not against big dogs I guess, but I am a tad bit scared of them. In fact, there is a house on the way to town that I walk on the other side of the street to avoid because they have two very vicious dogs that bark at the fence at anyone who passes by.

I was walking down the street the other day and a dog started running at me – a huge dog. It was black and it was growling. I was so scared and would have run if I was not aware that I was in public outside. But I kept my cool and kept walking straight, but I quickened my pace… a lot!

My mind, my cursed, over thinking mind, quickly related the big scary dog to life because sometimes life has big scary things in it. I don’t know about you, but I can think of many situations that I have felt like I was in a huge pickle and I could not see anything but the big, scary, black, growling dog that was coming at me. It’s not pleasant at all, is it? I believe because of personal experience and from watching and listening to other people that when something bad happens sometimes people are blind to the good things in their life, like family, friends, but mostly God.

When that scary Dog was running at me I was so scared that I wanted to run, but I pretended to be strong for the people who could possibly be watching me from there window. My mind could not see anything but the big black dog, but when the dog got really close to me he jumped up and stopped. My hand raced up to my racing heart and that is when I realized that there was a fence there the whole time. The dog couldn’t get to me if he tried and he sure did try!

You see God is like the fence, the protection from the scary things. He is easy to overlook when the dog seems so big, but God is not going to throw anything at you that you cannot handle and he sure isn’t going to leave you alone to the Dog. He is the ultimate protector, the fence and unless you choose to cross over the fence the mean dogs can’t get you. God won’t let them!

So next time a big, scary, black, growling dog is running at you remember that God, the fence, will protect you from it and that he has not left you to fend for yourself.

You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. – Isaiah 25:4 (NIV)

A+ paper anyone?

I had almost finished my final project for world history. It was perfect, the pictures, the facts, everything. Well, at least it was perfect... untill my mother holepunched the wrong side of one of the pages.

My perfect A+ paper ruined by my oh so "helpful" mother. I wanted to cry. I had worked so hard on my paper to have it ruined.

Makes me think about how God feels when we mess up the life he has worked on for so long. It has to make his sad. He walks with us all our lives and teaches us to be like him and all of a sudden we mess up. We mess up, we back away, scared that He's going to be mad at us. We try to hide our imperfections from the one who sees all, the most Holy God.

But He's not mad. He still loves you. If anything he is sad. Sad that we made a mistake and fell away. Sad because we are afraid to go near him. Sad because sin got in the way or His relationship with you. Sad because He didn't create the world to be that way, but it ended up that way.

Sad just like I was sad when my project was "ruined". The same heartsick sadness He got when Adom and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But never mad.

But the story can't end there. "We make a mistake, God is sad, we go to you know where." If that was so, there would be no point in this post. It would be a terrible story because there is no hope, people walking around feeling guilty for past sins that hang over there head never feeling relief from the heavy burdens that lay on there back. Thankfully, it doesnt!

God loves us so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to live in the world with us and one day take our sins upon himself. Jesus offered hope to us. He told us that we could be free of the mistakes we had made, big and small, and that he would make a way... and then one day he was killed and hung on a cross without a sin to his name, He lived a perfect life. That's a huge downer, right? We finnaly feel good about something and then all hope dies, but it doesn't end there either. Jesus died, but he rose again. He defeated death! You see, When Jesus died he took all of the sins we confess to God with him to death. They are completely gone, erased. As far as God can see they did not even exist. Jesus made a way for us to be A+ papers again when we are finished!

I imagine God singing up in heaven "I will fix you, I will fix you," when we mess up. Realize though that he can only fix us if we truly want him to

Now, of course, my paper wasn't completely ruined and I was able to fix it. It wasn't perfect, but it was still an A+ paper. God loves you and he wants to fix you when you mess up! Are you ready to be completely whole again?

Sticks and Stones

Words are powerful. The cliché "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," is commonly used by people who have been wounded many times by words. These people may not come off as hurt, but deep down they are. The world has been so mean to these people that they get defensive; a lot of times they are the ones that trash other people.

Have you ever wondered why there was a growing rate of murder, suicide, rape, and other hate crimes? I have, and the conclusion I came up with is this... The people that are committing these horrendous things are so used to being picked on they get a low self esteem causing them to put down others to make themselves feel better.

Picture this with me... The man who robbed a bank last week was once a little boy with nothing but love for his father, until his father left and the other kids teased him for being abandoned. The girl who died because of anorexia was once a beautiful girl with a healthy body weight that one guy teased her about. The boy who is going to get into lots of trouble and murder someone could be that kid that no one likes. They talk behind his back, call him names, trash him giving him a low self esteem causing him to be full of hate towards the world.

Get it? It is all one huge cycle. The words you say could change someone’s views completely

 I sat in a new seat at lunch today and I turned around when I heard a girls voice yelling. Her name is Heather. I tuned into what she was saying, "That boy over there is my friend, you better leave him alone! You think your cool with your mulhawk, well you’re not. It makes you look gay, if you ever say anything about him you will have to deal with me." I watched to see the boy's response, but all I saw was a red face. She walked away and the whole cafeteria was laughing saying good job to Heather. A few days later I looked back at the boy, his molhawk was gone. Her words hurt him enough to change who he was on the outside and how he felt on the inside.

I am not saying the boy was completely innocent. He probably was saying some snotty thing to Heather’s friend. However, Heather should have dealt with it differently. Telling someone to stop picking on another person and picking apart what a person looks like and their personality is completely different. It may seem hard at first, but it makes a world of a difference for both you and the other person. Your response could lead the other person onto the road of destruction, both self destruction and the destruction of others.

When you take a step back and look at where other people are coming from, a lot of times you feel bad for them. The words you hear affect the way you act and the words you say affect the way someone else acts.

Words are powerful. I think we all need to take a moment to step back and think about our words. Are they affecting people in a positive way or negative way? That kid that you pick on every day might not be the nicest person, but they are human and they deserve to be treated with respect.

Though the kid that sits across from you is rude, cruel and mean, you have to be the better person or you too will be like them.

"Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but words, they hurt the most"



"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:20, 21

Feeding of the 5,000

I was recently reminded of a trip that I went on with my church. There was about 10,000 people that went and gathered in St. Louis, Missouri. We all brought a box or suitcase full of food for the homeless around the world. We planned on feeding 5,000 families for a week. However, we ended up packing 10,000 boxes, feeding 10,000 families or 40,000 people for a week. Packing my box of food for that family that I will never know or be able to know is something I will never forget. With every can or box I put in my box I was blessed more and more. I had this connection with God that I can't explain. I had a wordless conversation with God. It was then that I realized that I will not be truly happy in life unless I am helping people because people are worth more than money can ever buy.

I guess my reason in saying this is, if you have never had the joyous experience of helping feed someone who can't afford it, or you have never been a friend to someone lonely in a nursing home, or you have never spent a day passing out school supplies to kids that can't afford it, then you are missing out. We are all just people without a purpose, until we get over ourselves and realize that other people are dying to be heard, be seen, be fed, be helped and we act on it.

Of course, sometimes fully giving of yourselves is hard or even painful because we are human, but at the end of yours and my life I think that it will be rewarding.

Packing my box was a defining moment for me, because that is when I realized unless I am reaching out to people and showing them the Love that Jesus Christ has poured out on me, I am nothing. I am nothing without the love that Jesus Christ has poured out on me.

1 Corinthians 13

Joy Unspeakable

Hello Blog World,
I was thinking really hard about what I should post first, and I think it is appropriate to put my personal testimony first to show you a little about who I am.

I grew up going to church. I was always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. I can't say that I always enjoyed being at church that much, at least when I was younger.

When I was seven I asked God for forgiveness for the first time at V.B.S.. I can play out the night perfectly in my head, I even know what I was wearing. It was a huge defining moment for my life. I asked God to come clean my heart, make me new. I felt so happy I wanted to sing and jump. I was filled with Joy that is unspeakable. Of course a little seven year old can't fully understand a true relationship with Christ so I eventually fell away.

When I was 13, after my grandmother had died, I fell away from God and people. I held back all of my emotions. It was my desperate need for help that led me to Jesus Christ, my savior. Soon after my freshman year of high school, I rededicated my life to Christ, and became completely new.

Since then I have been a totally different person. God is using me in ways I never imagined. It is scary sometimes, but always I am amazed that a God so great would use a girl like me. I owe everything to God and so much more, He is the Joy Unspeakable in my life and I pray that he becomes or already is the Joy in your life. He has wrapped me, a sinner, in his arms and has healed me and I never ever want to leave!

My life would not be an adventure without Christ in it. He is sending me on a new adventure every day...  but those adventures are for another day and time. Thanks for reading. :)

Sincerely,
Breanna Rose