Glory

Me: God, I wanna see You! I wanna see Your glory! I wanna see Your glory.

God: You’re gonna have to get rid of some of your glory to make room for mine.

Me: *cry*

God: Even when you’re doing something for Me, you’re doing it to glorify yourself. You want people to look at you and be amazed by how good of a Christian you are, by how much you love Me. I want people to look at you and see Me.

Me: *cry*

Song: Your love never fails, it never runs out, it never gives up on me..

Me: God, I wanna love people like you love them. I want my love to be like Yours!

God: No. You just want more of my love.

 

I don’t need a better Michaela.  I just need a perfect God.

In His Presence

   When you come into the presence of God He becomes so real to you.  You're breathing so hard that only half the notes you sing come out - and when they do they flat.  Still you sing, because you just want be heard.
   Your pulse jumps and you are overcome with emotion and you can no longer stand in the presence of your Lord.  You fall to your knees, but still you feel presumptious, because there is no way you deserve to know this awesome God.  Finally, you end up flat on your face, prostrate on the floor.  The tears are flowing and the snot is running, but you don't care.  He is all-encompassing.  He is all that matters. 
   When you surrender yourself to the presence of God, He takes your heart - your dirty, abused, hard-as-a-rock, scribbled-upon, torn-to-shreds heart - and He washes it white as snow with the bright, red blood of Jesus Christ.
   After you have experienced the presence of God, you cannot stop smiling.


Based on my testimony after going on retreat with my youth group.



His Love

   His love is true.  More than a feeling, this love won't fade.  It will never leave, it will never decide you aren't good enough.
   His love is overwhelming.  It is beyond anything you can imagine.  It is more than you can ever understand or comprehend.  This love will blow your mind.
   His love is intimate. It's not just an emotion or a routine. This is relationship with your Lover, the ultimate groom.
   His love is powerful. It conquered death and defeated sin. Because of love, we are more than victorious. Because of love, all things are possible.
   His love is loud. It's like a rock concert in your soul. It cannot be contained. It is so much that you have to share it.
   His love is here. His love is now. His love is for you.

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!

Youth Encounter Testimony 2011

   I almost didn't go to this retreat.  I was in Rochester, NY with my mom taking care of Grandpa on Thursday, and we weren't gonna make it home until Saturday night - too late to make it to retreat. But that night Mom and I just had a strong feeling that we were supposed to go home.  We listened and I joined the RU 2:20 youth group on Saturday morning.  It was well worth it.
   Lately I have felt like people think I'm perfect, and I've been struggling with that.  I felt that everyone says, "Oh, Michaela's the smart one, Michaela never messes up, Michaela's knows everything, Michaela is just perfect!"  The reason this bothered me so much was because it's simply not true!
   At the end of Rachel's teaching on self-image (which was sooo good, btw), she asked us to write down things people have said, embarrassing moments, and thoughts we've had that made us feel bad about ourselves, worthless.  Then we would get rid of them at the cross.  As I struggled to think of something to write down, God spoke to me.  He showed me that even though people's perception of me as perfect bothered me, I fought and tried my hardest to avoid anything that could potentially be embarrassing, or ruin my reputation.  He said, "What's the point?  Don't you know you can't achieve perfection without me?"  I realized I could never maintain my facade, no matter how hard I tried, and that's when the tears came.
   God is teaching me to fully and completely depend on Him.  I have to stop relying on myself.  I'm learning to be confident in who God made me, not what I've made myself.  I have to do what He's asking, be willing to put myself out there and take chances - for Him.  I will never be capable of perfection, but He is.