God Bless the People - and the President

Dear Father God,
   It's election day down here in America.  I suppose You already knew that, didn't You? Along with knowing how big of a deal it is.  In this place I call home, it's already 6:51.  That leaves 9 minutes of voting left in my time zone, and still two hours for those on the West coast. 
   I ask that You would stir the hearts of the people standing in line.  Touch them in such a way that it will remind them of You.  I pray that they will think of You, think of Your word, and think of our country.
   God, bless all those elected tonight.  Give them sound minds and hearts for You.  Give them visions for the future and memories of the past.  I pray especially for our president of the next four years.  Put Your hand on him and give him peace and wisdom.  Bless our nation, Lord.  Your will be done, in all things. 
   I know that no matter who wins tonight, You remain in control.  Thank You for Your sovereignty.  Though You have all the power, You still take the time to love me.  I love You, Father.
   With all my heart,
     ~Michaela :)

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Psalm 33:12

 

 



To Be a Leader



   In the Marine Corps, officers eat last.  I kid you not.  Ranking officers let their soldiers eat first, while they wait at the end of the line.  The best way to lead is to serve.
   Jesus Christ came to this Earth knowing that people expected the Messiah to be a kingly, overbearing, take-over-the-world type of guy.  They wanted someone who would overthrow Rome and be their all-powerful leader, not someone who would take the job of the lowliest soldier and wash his disciples feet.  Christ was a leader, but only of those who chose to follow.  He broke the rules and went against the grain.  He led by serving.
   Jesus served selflessly.  He considered others more valuable than Himself.  He served endlessly.  He was never too tired, too busy, or too stressed to help someone.  Our God served regularly.  It wasn't something He did whenever He remembered, it was a continual habit.  The savior served voluntarily.  Not because He was forced to, but because He wanted to.  Christ served emphatically.  He gave it all He had and focused on it.
   If you want people to think highly of you, think of them as better than yourself.  If want respect, give respect.  I you want others to work hard for you, be willing to make sacrifices for them.  If you want people's time and energy, never be to busy to listen and to help.  If you want to be a leader, you have to serve.



Take God Seriously

   Do you take God seriously?  Now, stop and think.  Hold in your indignation and your questions and your confusion and your outrage that I should even ask such a question.  Before you decide never to read anything of mine ever again... stop.  Take a moment.  Really contemplate the question. Do you take God seriously?
   Now, I know what you're thinking.  "I'm a Christian.  Of course I take God seriously!  I love Him.  I do my best to please Him.  Michaela, what in the world are you trying to say??"  But here's another question: What are you willing to give up to follow God?
   You see, "whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it."  To follow Christ you must pick your cross daily and die to yourself.  To follow Christ you have to make sacrifices.  To follow Christ you have to make Him #1 and let nothing get in the way of your utter devotion to Him.
   Jesus might ask you to sell everything you own and give away the profit.  God might tell you to pick up and move to another country to spread His love.  Jesus may want you to do things that you're friends think are completely crazy.  Christ may tell you that your father's funeral doesn't really matter.  He might ask you to abandon your home, your business, your family, and your reputation.  He might ask you to give your life.  Truth is, Jesus might -no, scratch that.  Jesus absolutely will ask you to do something that you really won't want to do.
   But this is the moment of truth.  This is what Christianity really means.  This is truly following Christ.  How far are you going to follow Him?  You've gone to a certain point with Jesus, but when will you cross the line?  When will you realize that following Him means sacrifice?
   Jesus has said, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”  He promised us that we will be persecuted, killed, and hated because of Him.  He specifically commanded us to "go."  We -you, me, and every believer- are the church, and we are meant to be teaching, loving, baptizing, and making "disciples of all nations."  We are to proclaim the good news, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and "freely give."  Jesus said, "Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things [!!] than these."  What will you do for Christ?
   We, as the American church need to make a change.  We need to examine our own hearts and lives and seek the will of God.  We need to take the advice of David Platt and "take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible and dare to ask what the consequences might be if we really believed him and really obeyed him."  We need to dare to take the words of Christ seriously.

To the Students of America

   Have you heard the talk about how our country has taken God out of our schools?  Kids don't say the pledge of allegiance anymore, much less pray as a class.  Teachers aren't allowed to share their Christian beliefs with students.  We learn about the big bang theory, and that evolution is the only way things could've happened.  You've probably heard your parents or other adults complain about all this.  They say their kids deserve better, that school is a bad environment.  They claim America is speeding downhill.
   And maybe all this is true -  it probably is.  Maybe we have a real problem in the US.  Maybe God is absent from public schools, maybe He's been kicked out.  But what's being done about it?  Is it being changed, is the problem being fixed? 
   Maybe the grown-ups can't fix it.  Maybe legislation, government, and politics won't change this.  Maybe this isn't about the adults. Who's problem is it, anyway?
   What about us?  We the young people of the United States are the ones really affected by this - and in turn, so is the world.  We are the ones who can, should, and will change this.
   We can take a stand.  We can be different.  We can share the truth.  We can bring the Lord, the Creator, back into our schools, back into our lives, back into our nation.  We - you - can make the change.
   We are not just kids, we are the future.  What is America without us?  The world is headed nowhere without the youth.  The adults may recognize the problem, they may see that it needs fixed, but they can't do it without us. 
   The revolution must start with us.  We make a change in our own lives, and our friends see it.  Our friends change, and our class notices.  Our grade is changed, and our school wonders what happened.  Before we know it, all the kids in our school know God.  We share Him with our teachers, principals, and coaches.  Our school has been transformed, and it wasn't because of rules, regulations, it wasn't forced upon us.
   The shift has to start inside our schools, with the students, with us, with you. The change will spread, but it has to start somewhere - with the kids of America.  Together, we will change the world.

   What will you do?

Merry CHRISTmas!

   Merry (day after) Christmas, everyone! 

   I have had a wonderful holiday - and it's really not over yet!  My aunt, uncle and their two kids, and Grandma Ginny came to spend Christmas with us.  We have played fun games, eaten yummy food, and just hung out.

   Our Christmas Eve is to have a telent-show-ish thing.  Everyone has to present something to the rest of the family.

Elaina played and sang "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

This is me showing my power point about the meaning behind "The Twelve Days Christmas."

Grandma played "O Come All Ye Faithful," and Morgan sang super quietly all by himself!

Dad read "The Legend of the Candy Cane."

We all listened very attentively.

At least most of us did....

Most of the time.

And Bekah just played on the slide.

Bethany sang a song for us about how she loves Christmas, God, and all of us.

Time for presents from Grandma!

Jonathon got Tim Tebow's book, "Through My Eyes." (I get it next!)

...And then he realized we were taking pictures.

Titus loves to play with the bike.

It makes everyone laugh so much!

Here's my sister and I with our gorgeous necklaces from Grandma.

   Mom and Dad hide all of our gifts on Christmas morning, and we have to find them all before we can open them.  The older you get, the harder Dad hides them, and I have to admit I had some trouble this year.  We were too busy to take pictures (sorry!) but it was great.  I got a beautiful scarf, a book, stationary for my letter-writing ministry-ish (it's waaayy prettier than notebook paper), and a new subscription to Susie magazine.  All the present were amazing, but really I just love spending time (not in school) with my family - not to mention the fudge. ;)

   So how was your Christmas?  I hope it was just as wonderful as mine - and I still have more!  Did you get any especially special gifts?  Do you have a unique family tradition?  Did you have a performance?  Tell me about it!

~~~~~~~~
P.S Thanks to Aunt Chelle for the camera and most of the pictures!!

P.P.S.  The pantomime team at our church did two songs yesterday, and they did a phenomenal job!  They did "This is Christmas," and got a standing ovation. (We held service at our usual time, and the church was packed!)  Then they did "Christmas With a Capital C," and was hilarious, but also thought provoking.  Before you go, watch this video.  Enjoy!

Are We Sleeping?

Yes, you have to watch the video before you read the post. Listen to the words!!

   Are we sleeping here in America?  We're supposed to be advanced, privileged, smart, and progressive, but what are we really missing out on?  Have we deceived ourselves?

   Bethlehem slept while God's Son became human.  They dozed on the night off Christ's birth.  What should've been the greatest of celebrations was just another silent night.

   Where was Jerusalem when their Messiah was crucified?  They shunned and ignored Jesus during His ministry.  They were silent while He bled and died for their sins.

    What about us?  United States of America, will it be another silent night?  We call ourselves "Christian," but we are far from Godly.  We've been duped into doing, saying, and believing whatever sounds and feels good at the moment.  What lies and tricks are really behind it?  We accept whatever new philosophy is out there.  "Save the trees," but kill the children?  We pay God no attention, but He is coming - soon.  Will we be sleeping?

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping
United States of America
Looks like another silent night 

-Casting Crowns

4th of July Weekend at Home Vacation and Celebration Part 2

We had lots of firecrackers yesterday.  A tradition among the kids is to demolish a piece of fruit using only firecrackers.  It really is more fun than just the noise. ;)  This year all we could find was this already rotting squash.

On a much nicer note, we really enjoyed our ice cream.

Morgan seemed to think it was really cool that he could lick all the ice cream out of his cone.

We had our "Stars and Stripes Show" after supper.  I helped with the costumes. Here's Titus' outfit, which was the favorite.  (Plus, he had 7 headbands on his head)

It gets dark in NYC way before it does here, and we watch the Macy's spectacular online.  Did you know they had fireworks that explode into smiley faces?  :)  We provided our own background music of 1812, The Star-Spangled Banner, and Your A Grand 'Ol Flag.
Then we set off our own fountain and two roman candles, and the boys really enjoyed their sparklers.

 

 The grand finale was sleeping out on the deck.  This was my sleeping area.  (Yes, that is my teddy.  I still wuv him.)

We watched our neighbors fireworks for a long time.  The actual sleeping part wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but at least now I can say I've slept under the stars.

I hope everybody had as great a 4th as I did!  Why don't you tell me about it?  Comment away!

4th of July Weekend at Home Vacation and Celebration Part 1: the Cookies

Patriotic cookies began with the job of baking.

Then Dad made the icing, and turned it red, white and blue.

 Then, we all got to work.

Here are some of the masterpieces.

We all voted on our favorites, and this was the winner.

This was the runner-up.

And then - we ate them.

Making - and eating - the patriotic cookies was really fun, and I think we have started a new family tradition.

Have a Patriotic 4th!

   John Adams once said in a letter to his wife, Abigail, that there should be "pomp and parade" on America's birthday, and "illuminations from one end of this continent to the other."

   This 4th of July, remember that we are "one nation under God," and pray for America, her leaders, and her citizens.  We need to turn back to the One who holds us and our future in His mighty hands.  To go back to "In God We Trust." 
   Show off your patriotism this  Independence Day.  While you're enjoying fireworks, food, and family time, think about our nation, and how it came to be.  Be proud of America, and her history.