Beautiful to Me.

We all have things we struggle with on a daily basis. True? Whether they are big or small, we all struggle with something. Here lately I have been struggling with this certain thing that I am sure alot of teenage girls, like myself, and even some adult woman also may struggle with on a daily basis. That struggle is this- My outward appearence.



Im sure we have all heard comments similar to these: "Your looking a little chunky in that dress, Erin.", or "Lesley, I have some Pro-Active Cream if you need to borrow it?" You also may hear a comment such as.. "Mandy, I think its time for you to take a visit to the tanning bed? Your looking Albino, girl." or "You dont need to wear skinny jeans, your not skinny." The comments you have recieved may not be that harsh, or whatever.. but the point is we have all recieved some sort of comments that may have torn us down, or upset us alot.



I have been there before, and I have been there lately. Wanna know something that helps out alot when your down in the dumps, because maybe what someone said about you, or some feelings of doubt you have about yourself? Here it is-- YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! You may not think so, and some others may not think so, but the one and only person who mattters does. That person is the Lord. He thinks you are beautiful, and every single way. He made you the way you are, and wouldnt change it for the world.


MercyMe has a song thats talks about this, and its amazing!!
You should go listen to it! Remember who loves you this week!

Much love, Erin

HIS time, not Erin's time!

I have always heard that God speaks to people in different and unique ways.. But, never have I really noticed too much in my own life. Today that changed. The Lord definitely spoke to me in a unique fashion this morning. Not only in a unique fashion, but at a strange time of day. God spoke a message to me at 3 am this morning.. Not usually a time I would expect God to speak such an awesome message to me, or anyone else in that matter. I'm sure you're wondering what the awesome message was that the Lord decided to share with me, and why he decided to share it with me at the time he did. The unique thing about the lesson learned today, is that God actually opened my eyes to something about "Time", HIS time.

I'm a person who LOVES sleep! Without sleep, I can be a little grumpy.. Just ask some friends of mine! I'm not usually a person who wakes up in the middle of the night or anything, but today was a different story. About 3 am, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I tried and tried, but just couldn't seem to go back to sleep. As I laid in my bed, trying to decide what to do since I couldn't sleep, I decided to pick up my bible and do a little reading. Reading usually helps me go to sleep, so I thought this idea was perfect. As I began to read in Ecclesiastes, this is what I read:

"There is a an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-- A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what had been planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time for love and a time for hate; A time for war and a time for peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

"He has made everything appropriate in HIS time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

As I finished reading this passage, a passage I have read many times before, I was in awe. I finally realized something I have never fully been able to grasp. That is that the Lord has a time for everything in HIS time, NOT our time. So many times we try to live by what we want, and not what the Lord wants. I do things so many times on Erin's time schedule, and not on the Lord's schedule. It's something we all do. I'm not alone on this one. I think we can all agree that time flies by! So many days, I wish I could have just a few more hours so I can get done what I want to get done. I know I would feel much more accomplished at the end of the day if I did. Life doesn't work that way though, and never will. But, the truth is life works in a way better than we can understand. As a Christian, we live by faith, hope and love for the Lord. Also, we live by having trust in the Lord.

"Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

With everyday, comes good times and bad times. We all face struggles--that's life on earth. We must face our struggles with TRUST in the him, and him alone. Acknowledging him is what makes our days accomplished. It allows us to see him and thank him for the good things he has blessed us with in our life, rather than focus on the negative things in our lives, and things we want in our time, and not his. I haven't been alive on this earth for too long, but I have been here long enough to learn something important-- When we fully let go and let God take control of our lives, he will fully guide and direct us in the right direction. HIS direction. He will lead us on HIS time schedule, and not our own. He will take full and complete care of us, freely.

That is pretty awesome, huh? I thought so too! Let go and let God. I encourage you to also keep open eyes, open hearts, and open minds to what God may be trying to show you. You never know in what ways he may be trying to use you! And who knows? Maybe he will even share it with you at 3 am.. Its definitely possible! :)

- Erin

Blogging... This should be fun!

Well.. This is my first blog post. I'm pretty excited about starting a blog for a few reasons. One reason, starting a blog will allow me to share what is going on in my life with other people. I love sharing things with other people, as well as learning about what is going on in other peoples lives. Second, I'm always learning things that I could post about that could benefit you, hopefully anyways. God is always teaching me things that are so awesome! That's basically my number one reason for creating a blog, to share those awesome things with you.

To begin, I guess I should tell you where I am in life right now. I'm in my sophomore year of high school at the moment. Being a sophomore is cool, but at the same time not so cool. Its cool to be driving now, and somewhat independent..Ha ha. But throw in the text books, homework, tests, and projects.. That's when being a Sophomore starts to stink. But, on the bright side I try to remind myself that collage is only two years away. Don't get me wrong though, I'm in no rush to get out of high school, even as much as I think I am, I'm really not. School takes up the majority of my day, but after school I recently started a job at Ja'nel's Flowers and Gifts LLC. I never imagined working at a flower shop, but can I tell you I LOVE IT! I haven't mastered making beautiful flower arrangements quite yet, but I have time for that. On the other hand, I have mastered making Candy Bouquets! :) That's all that counts right? Ha ha. I work with a wonderful group of ladies, who are always teaching me something! Couldn't ask for a better job. Outside of school and work, I'm not too busy, but I'm busy enough. I spend a lot of my time in one of my favorite places.. First Baptist Church. This is what I call my "Hiding Place". That's weird to some people, but to me it's not. My youth group is my family. They mean so much to me, and affect my life so much. I cant even begin to tell you how much they mean to me. My youth minister, Dan Ratcliff, is an awesome man of God. Without his leadership and guidance, I definitely wouldn't be where I am right now. He loves our youth group so much, and does all he can for us! That's a gift from God, right there. Speaking of gifts from God, I'm beyond blessed. God has been teaching me so much, and it's incredible. I'm real excited about being able to use this blog to share some of those things with you, and hope and pray that God will use them to teach you and use you for his glory.

Well, that's about as brief of an update on my life as I can give you.. I don't think it was too long. Ha ha. Like I said before, I am excited about being able to share things with you from now on. It is gonna be a fun journey I think. I pray that God will use this blog to do his will and help others in different ways. I am looking forward to posting more! Thanks for reading!

- Erin

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." - Hebrews 13:8