Hero

A hero is still a hero, even when he's lost his shine
Even when his cape is gone and his hair isn't all in line
A hero can learn to fly again, even if he faced defeat
All he needs is a helping hand, to pull him to his feet
He's not a hero for personal gain
But a hero for all the ones crying in pain
While he may have spent some time pondering what to do
One day he'll find help, and you'll find the hero in you
A speeding bullet shall not kill him and make him bleed
He has The Shield of Love protecting him in times of need
When the poison sinks in, he'll find it hard to resist
But the hero in you helps him; will always insist:
That Love will overcome the evil that festers inside
That the Hero has rules that he must abide
A hero with a hero is two-fold strong
Solid as a diamond, always ready to fight a wrong
When you fall, he'll be there as you were
Standing by your side, so ready to serve
The Shield of Love is not ever to be felt by touch
But is the bond of heroes, it's love abounding much

The only Me

I'm not the smartest girl out of the bunch
And I'm not good at geometry
I hate most green foods as well as most beans
My favorite words to say are "I don't know"
And "Like".... but, like, whatever... I don't know
I'm not sure of what life is going to be like in twenty years
Or if I'll always have bunions
I know that I have some rad curly hair
And rosy red cheeks
I can't stand hypocrites
And that means that I sometimes can't stand myself
I'm happy with who I am
I don't need to lose 20 pounds to be happy
If I do, I'll just look better in a swimsuit!
I like peanut M&M's and gummy bears
Along with cookie dough ice cream
My sisters drive me crazy
And I can't play guitar hero
All I know is that my God is ALWAYS going to be there
And that I can talk to him about anything
Things get tough, but I'll deal with it
I'm just plain and ordinarily Me

I have found my silver lining in Jesus

For a while now, my life has been nothing but messing up and asking for forgiveness from God. It's exhausting, following the same pattern every week... never making things right like you've been telling yourself you would. Hawk Nelson has a song with a line in it that says "Nothing from nothing gets you nothing at all", and while that song in general has nothing to do with what I'm going through, the line does. I've been struggling a lot with the same sin, and I kept telling myself that I wanted out of it... but I kept going back to it. In my heart (though it may damage the image some people have of me), I never wanted to sever all ties with it. A couple of weeks ago, I met my breaking point: get away from this sin... or die inside. God gave me a smack in the face then and made me realize that I was tearing apart the piece of art that He had made me.Where had my real faith gone? Why did I follow Satan's path, when I had proclaimed my love of Jesus Christ only a few years before? I don't have any bible verses for you in this blog... but God told me to write about it. Is the person you are now, the person you want to be? I've finally let go of what held me so tightly... and the silver lining has appeared. Just putting your heart in the hands of God changes things so dramatically that it feels like you can breathe better, see better, believe in more things... just let it go, once and for all.

This is for the anyone who has gone through the same thing.

The Three Gifts

God gave me a very profound message for you guys today on the way to church this morning. It's about three gifts that God has given us that are so easily looked over. Now, these three gifts may be the most important things that god has given us in my opinion.

Prayer: Prayer is hugely underestimated today and is often passed up as unimportant. But the power of prayer is ridiculously strong! A lot of the time it seems like your prayers drift off into space and are forgotten. You're not alone because I've felt that way a lot in my life. But we've got a big problem presented to ourselves as well. We don't truly believe that our prayers will do anything at all. No you might say that you mean everything you say to God, but do you really? How many times have you asked Jesus to come into your life again? It's the classic crime of Christians today, we don't mean what we say. We pray in a moment of need, but then forget what we've prayed and go on with our daily lives. Matthew 21:22 tells us "Jesus said 'If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." The key word there is believe. This is when faith really kicks in. When you pray, do you have faith, do you believe that God will give you what you ask for? I'm guilty of this on several thousand occasions and I can bet you aren't clear of it either, no offense or anything!

The Truth: God's holy word is our tool to guide us through life. It's our manual, if you will. I know that a lot of the time it's difficult to read it, especially in the Old Testament, but it's filled with many good stories that will help you, really. Faith comes into this as well because you have to have faith that God will teach you something. Don't read is just because you feel obligated to or are told to, but read to learn something! I mean, before I open it, I pray to God to give me something that will help me with what I'm going through which is amazing because he usually does.

Fellowship: I know that it's difficult to stay strong sometimes by yourself, but God gives us the gift of fellowship. We weren't put on earth to be alone, but to spread the love of God. To make friendships and to be happy. Even Jesus had friends, take Lazarus for example! And didn't his disciples often go out in pairs? He knew that we could be stronger with someone else! Ecclesiastes 4:10-12 says that "If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man that falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Two are stronger than one! Do you get it? You have friends to help you! It's pretty rad and really does NOT need to be looked over.

Don't overlook these things. They're truly importand and will help you in your life. They will help keep you from stumbling. Print this out and hang it on your wall maybe, remember it always though.

What happend to us?

High school can change a person dramatically if you let it. What sucks is having a front-row seat to it all. I used to have three AMAZING best friends in eighth grade, but we've drifted apart since the summer after it. Summer was great for each of us, but it changed us all as well. We became different people and it seemed like we were almost in different worlds. We basically stopped talking completely. I wanted to move in with my dad and the others weren't so hot about it at first but they said that it was fine. I had to move back with my mom where they were but we never hung out. I did once with Paisley but Samm and Sams I never saw a glimpse of. I miss them tremendously and I wish we could laugh like we used to and talk to each other. Those three don't even talk to each other at all. My heart feels broken because our friendship is broken and I'm afraid beyond repair. I wish we could go back to trying on Prom dresses with each other in JCPenny and going to the park on my birthday. Back to making fun of Samm and all the boys she liked and being in awe of Sams and her intelligence. Back to wishing we were as tall as Paisley and if they wanted t be like me at all. As tears fall down I pray to God that he'll somehow keep us together. We said we'd be friends forever and go to each others weddings, but I'm afraid that that won't happen. I need you guys, but you're not there.

Shut it down before we're all out of time

I've most likely written a blog on this before, but you know how I am, I like to repeat myself because I have the memory of a tank of goldfish! Today, with all the cool new gadgets we're surrounded with, they practically consume our lives. Think about it though. How many hours do you spend on the computer, texting, or watching television? Compare that with how much time we spend with our families! Does the scale tip towards technology? Well, I love the song by MxPx: Shut It Down. There's a verse in the song that I simply love because it criticizes the way America has turned to.

It says: "Throw away your cell phone, you can talk to yourself. You need a real friend, not some digital image. So what's it gonna be? A chat room or your family? Don't let the TV screen turn into your reality"

There's a HUGE nugget of wisdom in those words. We become so wrapped up in our worldly goods that we forget about really living. It says later in the song "I don't want to die but I'm having trouble living." Our attachment to the world is slowly killing us because we aren't relying on God anymore. Matthew 6:24 says "Jesus said, no one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Are you more devoted to your possessions than to God? I find myself in the position all the time when I could be studying God's word instead of sitting online talking to my friends or just doing absolutely nothing because I'm to lazy to do anything for God! God offers things for us that won't wear out which is eternal life in Heaven. Why is it that we're willing to earn money for an iPod or a laptop and not willing to earn our place in Heaven. Sure, when you're saved and baptized, you reserve a room up there, but does it feel right to be working for worldly things and not for something even greater? I challenge you as I challenge myself to give up something worldly that you could live without like TV or your cell phone and instead spend that time doing something for God. Spend time with your families because you don't know how much longer you may have with them. Be a friend that's there instead on the other end of a computer.

Playing too many games

I never meant to hurt you
It seems as though I've tried
You're the one who sent your Son
Sent him to die
I've taken you for granted one to many times
But still you forgive me
Even though I deserve nothing

Please save me once again
I'm tired of these tears
Gone through way too many years
To give up on you now
And I may not know how
To ask this again
But Lord I need your hand
Please guide me once more

You're the hope of my life
Gift of my heart
I know I've messed up
But I need you here
I know you alone will dry my tears.

Love conquers all

Valentines Day is coming up here soon and you'll be busy giving boxes of Chocolate to your sweetheart, roses and teddy bears too. But I don't want you to think that that's all love is. Love means caring for someone without end and accepting them for everything they are. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 says " Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." This is exactly what love is, and only God could sum that up. When you say you love someone, you should remember that verse. Thinking someone is hot is not love, and neither is wanting to hook up with some one. To me, when you love someone, you want to make them unspeakably happy and not want to bring them down in any way. When you love someone, they should be like your best friend. When you love someone, let them know it! Tell them they are handsome or beautiful; smile when you see them. Don't let love pass you by because you are shy or modest. God gave us love and we should be thankful! It's a gift to us!!!

Always knowing

Good things happen
Along with the bad
It's the way this world works
We look to much at the bad
We focus on the negative
Why not look to the good
And start each day with the son in our hearts?
How is that we are almost programed
To hate what opposes us
To hate the challenges
Why not embarce what you are given
Take it as a chnace to grow
Our hearts slowly grow cold
Until there is no feeling left
And you lay there only numb
Don't let your fire go out
Don't be left in the shadow of death
Revive the fire that once lit the world
Bring it back to dominate the ice
Hold tight to what you believe in
Don't be swayed even though temptations are strong
You're stonger with the son lighting the world
Step into it with a knowing heart
Always knowing that things can be better

A lesson on purity

Issues with purity have never been things I wanted to know about. But here I am writing to you about it. Staying pure nowadays isn't easy. In fact, it's really tough! I'm not some perfect girl, and I'll never claim to be. Now you may even ask why I'm writing this, since it'll get personal, but I'm writing this because it's something we all have or will struggle with in our lives. There are hundreds of ways to be impure , but really only one way to be pure: to follow God and obey his commands. Psalms 119:9 says "How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word." In 1 Corinthians 6 it talks about sexual immorality. There's a part that I really liked in verse 15... "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take members of Christ and unite them with prostitutes? Never!" Think about it... are you going to be looking at porn with Jesus looking over your shoulder? Are you going to be sleeping around with Christ with you? Are you going to be messing around with Jesus sitting right there? Honestly, if it can be labeled as impurity, you shouldn't be doing it! In my opinion anyway. You know how I said I wasn't perfect? Well, I've struggled impurity a lot before, and it sucks. Being impure covers lusting after someone and thinking impure thoughts. Now how many of us can truly say something like that has never gone through our minds. Scriptures says to flee from sexual immorality because you're sinning against your own body! (1 Cor. 6:18). But then look back to verse 15: not only are you sinning against your own body, but Christ's because you are part of his body. When it comes to impurity... let your "yes" be yes and "no", no.

Bless y'all,
Emily Elizabeth

The not so great compromise

I find myself trying to compromise with God all the time. I pray to do better when I know in my heart that I'm going to do it again. I basically say to myself "I'll do this, then ask God to forgive me" which is the WRONG thing to do. What kind of chosen people(1 Peter 2:9) are we if we're going to preach the Good News then do the opposite. A lot of us as Christians are a bunch of hypocrites, we don't do what we tell other people to. It's probably my biggest problem. I love to help people, but I really couldn't because I was so far away from God. It's like I was letting Satan further and further inside my heart. The heart I had claimed belonged to God was pretty much being handed off to the Devil. I knew I had to fix something and learn to speak up about what was going on, I hated being so far from God. I prayed to Him for the words to speak, and he gave them to me and helped me find the courage to get it out. If we keep everything inside it's going to fester and begin to tear us apart slowly. Scripture says to obey God's word. So quit doing what you're doing, take up the cross and follow Jesus.

Do what you know in your heart is right,
Emily Elizabeth

Be thankful!

You might pray a lot... you might pray a little, I have no idea. But do we thank God when you pray? Heck, do we even realize all that He has done for us? We pray for something... then we get what we prayed for, but we don't turn and go "Hey God, that was awesome! You've done some pretty spiffy things for me. Thanks!" It's more like, "Wow, imagine that luck!" We've got to realize that God is behind all of these awesome things that happen! He is the ultimate good guy! He's like Super Man... but better! 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says to thank God in all circumstances. Which means even if you've just been punched in the face... don't mope around and think about how unfair it was, but thank God that you did not just have your arm chopped off. Look for the positive things in a world of negative. God thinks that's really cool!!! If you have the respect for God to thank Him for the small stuff, you're awesome in my book and I should hope in God's book too! So yeah...

God bless you cool people,
Emily Elizabeth

Friends and family

Sing a song to match my thoughts
But in my my throat my voice is caught
The tears they come, a smile I'll wear
It's happiness beyond compare
Insults come, they bring me down
My cries from the floor make little sound
My Savior comes to rescue me
He reminds me of my family
And angels sent from heaven as friends
Always a hand they offer, a shoulder they lend
Why beat myself up so instantly?
They're blessings that help me see
Thank you for always being here
You mean the most, my dear, my dear
In my heart you hold a place
It's no longer locked inside a case
God came to you and gave the key
The key that let my heart be free

It's a head on collision

No really. I've been pretty uninspired lately... I was at a writers block until five minutes ago. I was packing my backpack ad I saw my Bible in there. I prayed to God, "Lord please inspire me to write..." I got that far and the verse Isaiah 22:3 popped into my head. I mean... I knew God knows my thoughts, but that was hardcore. It was like... whoosh. It goes something like this... "All your leaders have fled together, they have been captured without using the bow. All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away." Now I knew what I was going to write the moment I read it. I was like, dude... no way. We all run away from our problems so quickly if there is an escape route, but it's almost like we're running towards our problems! Don't things seem to hit you more quickly by trying to flee? Maybe it's just me, I have no idea. That was a prophecy about Jerusalem. They were trying to run from the enemy, but got caught that much sooner. If running doesn't work, try God.And that never seems to work. We've got to greet our ordeals face to face. A line in Isaiah 14:2 says "They will make captives of the captors and rule over their oppressors." When we face our problems... that's what is going to happen. We will overcome them and stand high over evil. Isaiah 14:7 says "The lands are at rest and at peace; they break into singing." So basically... you're going to be overly happy about it. Once you deal with your problems... things are pretty snazzy! Say a silent 'yay!' now. Please don't run, but turn and stand on the battle field ready to fight.

Behind the mask

I wish you see who I really am
I'm not some washed up version of you
I'm a girl who wants to change the world
A girl who's heart hurts when others do
I just want people to treat me right
And not pity me or laugh
Just see the girl behind the mask...
See the girl who cares
Don't give up so easily, I'm there!
But with me you have to do some digging
I've kept my face hidden for too long
If you really know me, I laugh a lot
I cry, I sing
I hurt, I bleed