He Caught a Grenade for US!

I've spent the last two years of my life learning about education and different teaching methods.  I was very fortunate to attend a highschool that gave me the opportunity to learn about teaching.  Although studying education brought me to the conclusion that most certainly do NOT want to become a teacher, my two years have not been wasted.  I learned so much about people and how they think and act.  Thus, I've also come to an exceptional state of self awareness.  I've learned that I am energized by people, yet I can learn functionally on my own.  I've learned that I am a kinesthetic learner and I need to move around or I will get fidgety.  I've also learned that I am a musical learner!  Music helps me learn, remember, focus, memorize and delve deeper into the meaning of a concept or situation.  I can remember homeschooling in second grade and learning ALL of the states through songs.  Music just works with me, as it does with many others.  It excites me and makes me think (as you can see because three out of four of my blog posts so far have been related to music).
Music can definitely have a negative affect on some though.  Last Sunday my pastor used the song "Grenade" by Bruno Mars as an example of how our society views love and puts it above God.  He read the lyrics "I'd catch a grenade for ya.  Throw my hand on a blade for ya... but you won't do the same" to illustrate the way our culture works today.  While he was explaining his interpretation of the song, my friend and I came to a different conclusion.  Bruno Mars wasn't singing about himself and a lover, he was singing about Jesus and us!  (Okay, so maybe Bruno didn't exactly intend to be singing about Jesus, but it definitely parallels!)  You see, God sent Jesus (his only son) as the ultimate sacrifice to save US (John 3:16).  Just let that sink in... the creator of the universe sent his PERFECT ONLY SON to save us... to save YOU!  And sometimes, we really do "toss it in the trash" as Bruno sings.  Listening to the Bruno Mars song, you may think, "how could that girl be such a jerk? Doesn't she know how much this guy loves her?"  Listen to it again and think about yourself.  How could we know about the sacrifice of Christ and toss this precious gift in the trash? I find myself unconsciously rejecting the gift of Christ.  When I act selfishly, when I run away from God, when I SIN... These are the times when reject the love that Christ has offered me.
I hope that Bruno Mars will encourage you as he has encouraged me.  He reminded me of the blessing that God has sent to us!  I don't want to be the girl in the song anymore.  When we accept the love that Christ offers us, he will use us to glorify him and further his kingdom far more than we could ever imagine!  It is my hope and prayer that you would find true passion and joy in him!

How high does a sycamore grow?

I, like many other teenage girls, am a Disney princess fanatic.  I'm one of those girls who takes pictures with the princesses at Disney World and has a Disney princess calendar.  I've watched all the movies, worn the costumes, and know every word to every song.  I'm the one who gets mad when people try to recreate the classic stories, because nothing beats the originals.
Today I put my ipod on shuffle while I cleaned my room.  As I cleaned, "Colors of the Wind" from the movie Pocahontas came on. (Yes, I do have most of the princess movie soundtracks on my ipod. Don't hate.) In the song, Pocahontas is singing to John Smith, an Englishman who has come to America to explore the land.  In the bridge of the song, Pocahontas sings "how high does a sycamore grow? If you cut it down, than you'll never know."  At first I sang this line as I usually would, letting the words roll off my tongue without really thinking about them.  But then, I paused.  I rewound the song, listening to the wise words of Pocahontas again... this time more carefully.  "How high does a sycamore grow? If you cut it down, than you'll never know."
I began thinking about leadership in the church.  A lot of times, young Christians are "cut down" before they are ever given a chance to grow.  So many new believers start out so strong in the Lord, but because they are not discipled and encouraged by more mature believers, they fall.  They are "cut down" and never really mature past an infant level of spiritual maturity.
This week I witnessed an amazing revival among the students in my youth group.  I realized that I had been cutting most of the new believers down.  They would fall, and instead of encouraging them and praying that God would build them back up, I would write them off as a faker and give up on them.  But this week God showed me that He will NEVER lose any of his sheep (Luke 15:3-7).  He has a firm hold on each one of us and will do whatever it takes to bring us back to Him.  It is our job as mature believers to build up those struggling in their faith.  I have seen this week that God has a huge plan for each one of these new followers!  If we cut them down while they're young and lose hope, we will never know how high they will grow!
I'm still learning.  And I know I'll still struggle with being persistent with young believers.  But it is IMPERATIVE that we don't give up on them!  God will use them, he just needs to use YOU to encourage them first!
"So encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are already doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11