The sea remains the sea

Throughout my life tragedy after calamity has hit my life, my family, my friends, the church and this past year has been no exception. In fact this past year has been the biggest emotional rollercoaster placed in the Bethany Pease Theme Park.

 However after an amazing morning at Hook Evangelical Church I stumbled across the words of Vincent Van Gogh; "It is true that there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea"

God is the sea. Although I  have experienced and will still experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shifts in my inner life, God remains the same. There are days of sadness, days of joy; there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude; there are moments of failure and moments of success; but all of them I embrace with Gods unfailing love.

My biggest temptation, and my biggest failing most recently has been to doubt God's love, I removed myself from the healing radiance of his love and by doing this moved myself into the darkness of despair.

The Lord is the sea of love and goodness, and with him I do not have to fear too much of the storms and the winds of my daily life.

In life there will be ebbs and flow, but the sea remains the sea.



 P.S: As its only 3 weeks till Christmas, listen below to my favourite Christmas song!

Thankfulness

The word thankyou can be one of those words that is just thrown around in todays society. Other words that are thrown around are "I love you" and "I'm sorry." Many of us say thankyou out of good manners and respect, and also to make us seem like people with polite personalities. But how many of us actually say thankyou and mean it from the bottom of our hearts?

True thankfulness is where you acknowledge the wonderful people, things and places that make up your reality. True thankfulness stems from a powerful comprehension of the gift of simply being gratefully alive. It is difficult for Western society to access this level of thankfulness as we are caught up in the ups and downs (drama) in the world.


If you only feel thankfulness when it serves your desires, this is not true thankfulness. No one is exempt from the vicissitudes in life, which may, at any time, take the possessions, situations and people we love away from us.  Ironically, it is sometimes a loss that awakens us to be thankful for everything instead of only when things go our way. Illness and near-miss tragedies can also serve as a wake-up call to the deeper realization that we are truly blessed to be alive.  

I believe we should be a  lot more grateful for our lives and the people  that share our world. It is always a case of when you lose something - that you realise what you had and sadly, it is too late ...... I guess it is a question of being 'mindful' of showing thankfulness and really being grateful for what we do have.

So what has brought on my sudden burst of thankfulness? Death & My Birthday.

Last Tuesday a lady at my church died; she was young, married and had 3 young children. What a sad situation to be in! None of us, unless we have been in that situation can comprehend those emotions that family will be feeling. But it made me thankful, thankful for my protected childhood and the fact I still have both my parents alive, my sisters alive and all sets of my grandparents alive. I have a family that love me, and care for me so much and this was proved to me recently on my birthday.

My parents, sisters, bestfriends and grandparents worked so hard to make my day as special as possible. I recieved thoughtful, time consuming gifts and cards with beautiful words  written inside. To me it wasn't about the expensive presents, it was about all the little things that people had spent time thinking about and creating to make me happy.

You say  a grace before meals.  All right.  But from now on I am going to  say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I put my fingers to this keyboard to type. Why? Because I'm thankful & remember, in every circumstance you have something to be thankful for.

Friendship

I apologise in advance for the soppiness of this blog

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out."  

                        

"Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you." 

"Truth and tears clear the way to a deep and lasting friendship."

"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." I was hurt last year - not physically, but emotionally. I felt like my world had ended. But, at the same time going through emotional suffering really helped me to see who my true friends were. My "world" had walked out, but some amazing friends walked in - right when I needed them the most. I want to mention a few in particular:

Sarah Brown: My best friend, practically my sister. Sarah would come and visit me whenever I needed her. She would let me call her up and cry down the phone. She baked me cookies. She gave me hugs. She slept by my side one night so I wouldn't have to be alone. She even cried with me, saying how upset she was because I was upset and hurting. Sarah is beautiful.

Joseph Murphy: Thankyou for being Sarah's boyfriend, you really have brought out the best in her and I believe you encouraged her to help me through that difficult time. Joe makes me laugh  and never has any negative words about anyone or anything. Joe helped Sarah bake some cookies for me...which I appreciated even if they weren't edible!

Nick Logan: Nick is like my brother. He knows everything about me, I tell him everything. Nick lets me have deep, meaningful chats with him anytime of day and I don't think he knows how much I appreciate them because they were partly what helped me heal.

Charlotte Henderson: Once again, knows everything about me. Lets me cry to her often even though she has gone through a worse time than I ever have experienced she is strong - a role model of what being strong looks like.

Sophie Henderson: My personal beauty assisant. And I must say how beautiful she has become recently, because I don't think I have told her. One time, Sophie let me sob - LOUDLY to her in the toilets. I really appreciate that.

Maisie Hudson: My fun, beautiful friend. I have the best times with Maisie. We stalk people, we take too many photographs and we have too many inside jokes. I wouldn't be Bethany without having of met Maisie.

Heather Boardman: Heather came round straight away when I was hurt. She took away all the memories away that would make me hurt even more. I know this girl would hurt anyone that hurt me - not just say it, but actually do it. That is a true friend.

Jeremy Barclay: This may sound odd but I have only just started to really appreciate Jeremy. He cheers me up, he knows the right words to say in a situation and we can have deep, heart to heart chats.

Becky Reisinger - Oh what a lovely girl! I can talk to Becky about any troubles in my life, and she nearly always has the same problems! We drink tea, and eat chocolate and percy pigs, have a laugh and have deep, philosophical conversations. She is my peculiar treasure.

"Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you."  I touched on this topic earlier - most of my closest friends know all about me, and I'm suprised they like me still. I can be such a downer sometimes! I mope around, complaining about my life when really it isin't that bad. I lie sometimes. I cry ALOT. But through all of that, I know my friends won't judge me.

"Truth and tears clear the way to a deep and lasting friendship."

I want to mention Sarah again here. We have not had the easiest friendship.We used to be very close when we were younger, and saw eachother alot. We had our fights, but always made up. Then we grew apart - it made me sad, and I don't think Sarah knows how many tears I cried over our friendship not being very strong. But then, as soon as I needed her she was there again. I think I speak for both of us when I say we are now closer than ever, and I treasure her very much. We are always truthful with eachother, and there have been many tears over the years we have been friends. But isin't that the sign of a true friend? When the truth hurts, you tell it. When you need to cry, you can and you don't have to hide the tears.

Now I want to tell you about a friend who is always there, always next to me and always ready to listen.

His name is God. You probably have heard me speak of him before. God's the only friend who has sacrificed his life for me. God has been with me my whole life, not just when I needed to cry - but trust me every tear I have cried, God has cried too. God feels my pains. God rejoices in my sorrows. He walks by me, and directs me down the right path. God has given me the best present ever - his forgiveness. I could be the worst person in the world, but God has taken every single bad thing I have done and placed it on himself as if he had done that bad deed. God knows my deepest, darkest secrets - the ones I am too ashamed of to tell even my closest friends. I love God, and I want everyone to know that. Do you have a friend like that?

I'm sorry for the soppiness of this blog - I'm sorry if you have been offended by anything I have said, and I am sorry if you are reading this but your name isn't mentioned and you feel hurt by this blog. But I love every single one of you reading this, you are all beautiful and I wish you all the best in life; you bring joy and happiness, and yes sometimes you bring drama; but what fun would life be without drama? ;-)

Desiderata

The Desiderata poem means alot to me - and what it says about how a person should be is the type of person I would like to become. Of course, this is very difficult and probably impossible.
However, the main sentence that has been sticking out like a sore thumb to me lately is; "If you compare yourselves to others, you will become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself"

Lets break this sentence down into sections:

1) "If you compare yourselves to others"

Already we are on dangerous ground. We know from endless scientific research, and also just from looking at people that no 2 people are the same! Yet ALL of us still look at someone else and compare ourselves.Comparing yourself to another can come under many categories: Firstly, "Are they better looking than I? Or do I not need to worry about competition here?"  Secondly, "Do they have more money than me? Or are they poor?" Thirdly, "Are they really intelligent? Or, are they really stupid?" The list could go on and I'm sure you know what you are most likely to compare yourselves to another about.

2) "You may become vain and bitter"

In my opinion you WILL become vain and bitter, not just "may". If you are constantly looking at others and seeing what they have or havn't got its going to mess with your head, and none for the better - all for worse. Say you meet a girl in the street who is very overweight, has a face covered in acne, has to wear glasses and has greasy hair - already you are thinking "I am glad I look better than her" Right? This is being vain! Who say's that you are better than her? To somebody in the world she is beautiful. Becoming and being vain can also work the other way round. If you compare yourself to someone and think "They are so much better than me, I must try and become as good looking/intelligent as them" then you will spend a lot of time on your appearance and trying to be "perfect" and this too will damage your mind. I'm no stranger to being vain - I've spent a fortune on teeth whitening, hair cuts and make-up to cover my spots. Does it make me any happier? For a while, yes - but its short term.

Next, you see a girl in the street who has perfect skin, shiny hair that falls perfectly, a good figure, she's dressed well and has a smile that lights up a room - now you are thinking "I want to be like that" But, if you constantly look up to these "perfect" looking people you are going to become bitter, because NOBODY is perfect. Even those who look amazing 24/7 will have something wrong with them, it may not be noticeable but there will be something.

If you become bitter, this is not going to make you beautiful if beauty is what you are striving for. Its going to ruin you inside, and damage your heart and mind and that will eventually show through on the outside.

3) "For always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself"

My mum always tells me this whenever I am throwing a strop about the way I look. She says to me, "Bethany, somebody out there looks at you and wishes they could look and be like you, and somebody out there will love every little thing about you - flaws and all"

And this is the same for all of you reading this!

We shouldn't take this last part of the sentence the wrong way however, as if we are walking around saying to ourselves that there are lesser persons than us, we will once again become vain. We need to remember that God made every single person and he love all of us equally, no matter what we look like and what our abilites are.

The closing part of the poem also really touches me...

"With all its shams, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy"

Instead of striving for beauty, why not strive for happiness? After all, happiness is one of the most beautiful things in this world.

Watch who you are calling retarded

Last week was Special Educational Needs Awareness week and so I wanted to bring your attention to a certain special need that I feel doesn't recieve much attention. I feel like I can write a blog about special needs as  I am dyspraxic. I only have a mild form but it still affects my everyday life, and I want to bring awareness to it, as I was only diagnosed with it when I was 15, and life would have been so much easier if it had been picked up on earlier!

What is dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia is an impairment or immaturity of the organisation of movement. It is an immaturity in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted. The term dyspraxia comes from the word praxis, which means 'doing, acting'. Dyspraxia affects the planning of what to do and how to do it. It is associated with problems of perception, language and thought. Dyspraxia can also be called clumsy child syndrome - which I personally find rather amusing!

What causes dyspraxia?

For the majority of those with the condition, there is no known cause. Current research suggests that it is due to an immaturity of neurone development in the brain rather than to brain damage. People with dyspraxia have no clinical neurological abnormality to explain their condition.

People who have dyspraxia often find the routine tasks of daily life such as driving, house work, cooking and taking care of themselves difficult. They can also find coping at work is hard. People with dyspraxia usually have a combination of problems, some including:

• Poor balance
• Tendency to trip & fall over (clumsy child syndrome)
Lack of manual dexterity. Poor at two-handed tasks, causing problems with using cutlery, cleaning, cooking and ironing
Difficulty in following a moving object smoothly with eyes without moving head excessively
Over- or under-sensitive to touch. Can result in dislike of being touched and/or aversion to over-loose or tight clothing - tactile defensiveness
Poor sequencing causes problems with maths, reading and spelling and writing reports at work
Tend to get stressed, depressed and anxious easily

These are just a few problems dyspraxia can cause - but help is at hand for people with it!

I just wanted to raise awarness to this special need, as I am not afraid to say I have one, but sometimes people call me "retarded" for not being able to do something very well, and it bugs me when I try to explain dyspraxia  and nobody really understands.

So next time you are about to call someone stupid or retarded for not being able to do a certain task, just take a while to think about that person and if your words will affect them.

Oh and a random bit of information - Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is dyspraxic!

Please visit the dyspraxia foundation website below!

Dyspraxia Foundation 

Approvaholics Anonymous

Hi. My name is Bethany and I am an approvaholic. (This is the part where you say - "Hi Bethany")

For many of us, the need for approval is as strong and insatiable as an addiction.  While you may not call yourself an approval addict, perhaps you’re known as a people-pleaser, someone who will go to great lengths to keep everyone happy. But, if we belong to Christ, the Bible says that we cannot live to please both people and God: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Galatians 1 v10)

An approvaholic may seem like they’re working for God and others, but the heart-motivation is often about their emotional security, their reputation, and their standing in the eyes of others. It’s not about God’s glory and obeying His Word; it’s about their own glory and others’ opinions.

There are 4 main symptoms of being an approvaholic.

Symptom 1:

An Approvaholic confuses pleasing people with honoring God.

Think of the biblical character Martha, who resentfully took on all the work she considered so important. She was so focused on getting things done the “right way” and meeting a perceived expectation that she almost missed her one real priority of knowing Jesus more and learning from Him (Luke 10:38-42). While what she was busy doing was not wrong in itself, as Jesus told her it wasn’t the one thing that was needed.

Symptom 2:

An Approvaholic seeks to validate the leading of God with the opinions of others.

The Apostle Paul probably had good reason to feel the need for validation. Before his own conversion, he was one of the early Church’s greatest enemies. In one life-changing encounter with Christ, the very people he was working to destroy became his peers. But unlike an approval addict, he didn’t seek the confirmation of other believers to validate what God had made clear to him, He acted in obedience upon what God had said, without needing the approval or agreement of other people.

Symptom 3:
An Approvaholic views the opportunity to serve God as an opportunity to gain personal praise.

Judges 11 tells us the tragic story of Jephthah. Motivated by gaining the respect and approval of those that had mistreated him, he made a rash vow to the Lord that revealed his own heart: “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.” (Judges 11:30-31). For Jephthah, and for the approval addict, the motivation for success wasn’t for God’s glory, it was for his own (“If You will deliver…into my hands). This is the same attitude that Paul spoke of in his letter to the Philippians when he said that, “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife…from selfish ambition, not sincerely”. For the Approvaholic who thirsts for people’s high opinions, even good and godly things can be distorted for self-centered motives.

Symptom 4:
An Approvaholic’s self-worth is based on their performance and motivated by pride.

At the heart of a huamn who is afraid of disappointing others is the belief that we can make everyone happy with us. Underneath the fear of saying no, letting someone down or falling short of a goal, is the lie that we can fulfill people’s expectations, do things the right way or achieve outer perfection. In fact, when we boil it down to the condition of the heart, feeding the approval addiction is just another modern-day idol.

You don’t have to be an Approvaholic. You don’t have to live in fear of being rejected, being punished, making a mistake or not living up to some perceived expectation.  Because with Jesus,  you are completely – and already – accepted.

Life & Death

Today the World recieved the news that Amy Winehouse died. Yesterday, many were murdered in Norway. Amy Winehouse's death was self inflicted but still very upsetting as she had a family, and it is sad that nobody was able to help her through her dark moments & I am angry that she never got to hear about the word of God, as this may have given her some hope. The people in Norway - no words can describe this tragedy. What makes someone kill people? Sadly, I am not bright enough to answer that question but all I can say is my heart and my prayers are with the family of those victims.  Surely all of  this should make people stop and think about the way they are living their lives and start questioning life after death.

As a christian, I believe in a heaven and a hell. I believe that God sent his son to this earth, to live as a normal human being and then to die for us to save us from our sin which would send us to hell. However, as Jesus was sent to die for us and take our sin away we have a choice. A choice of whether or not to go to heaven or hell. But to get into heaven we must thank God for sending his son, ask for forgiveness of our sins and live our lives according to Gods word; The Bible.


The Bible gives us a description of what heaven is going to be like...


Revalation 22 says: "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. The angel said to me, "These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place."


Revalation 21 v 4 "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."


Doesn't that sound amazing? In heaven we will no longer cry, no longer be in pain there will be no more death and we won't even need light as that light will be provided by God constantly.
The bible also gives us a description of hell...

Hell is conscious torment... 
Matthew 13:50 “Furnace of fire…weeping and gnashing of teeth”
Mark 9:48 “Where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched”
Revelation 14:10 “He will be tormented with fire and brimstone”


Hell is eternal and irreversible
 Revelation 14:11 “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they have no rest day and night”
Revelation 20:14 “This is the second death, the lake of fire”
Revelation 20:15 “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”


Hell sounds a lot worse than heaven doesn't it? Weeping and gnashing of teeth - torment with fire and no rest but, theres an escape from it. It is now up to you to choose what will happen to you after death - and if you choose Jesus, and love him and do your upmost to follow him you will not have to fear death.


Why would you reject someone who died for you & loves you even after all the horrible stuff you have done?


Even if you do not agree with my view, please treasure your life. Tell those you love that you love them, try not to hold any bitter or angry feelings against anyone - what good does that achieve? And try to make people happy. Lifes too short as this past week has proven to be anything but happy.


Below is a link to a band called Addison Road - please watch and listen to the lyrics of the song! It may help get across the message I've been trying to give out in a new way.

Why women love jerks

I love holidays - I have just come back from Barcelona with my friends, and even though it was only for 3 days it was so good to get away. My last day in Barcelona, I escaped to the beach for a bit with my friend Becky. The beach is beautiful, I lay down on the sunloungers and look up and feel like I am trapped in a sphere as all you can see is the sky merging in with the sea. The sun beats down on you and all your worries float away as you close your eyes and take forty winks.

I also love holidays as it gives me a chance to read! I love to read, I like to relate everything I read back to my life somehow or try and apply it to my life, or use qoutes from books. At the moment I am reading a series of books called "The Christly Miller Collection" all about a girl who becomes a christian and her battles with her image, boys, friends etc. These books have really encouraged me, not just in my faith but encouraged me to "hold out for a hero." In the book Christy (the main girl character) is starting a relationship with a boy named Todd. Todd is a young christian man, who treats Christy beautifully, romance and all, but still puts God first. I truly believe that out there somewhere, there is a "Todd" waiting for me. I don't want to settle for anyone anymore, as I believe when you settle for anyone, you can end up falling for the wrong type of man.


This brings me on to my next topic in this post; "Why do (some) women love jerks?!" When it comes to romance, I get so needy, and get emotionally enmeshed so quickly, I throw my brain out the window. I foolishly make excuses and rationalise giving my heart away to guys who are jerks.  I have been that girl who ignored unbiblical behavior, rationalised red flags away and scratched things off my “list” because the object of my emotional attachment didn’t have those qualities. As a women, when my heart gets involved, I tend to lose all sense of logic. We all know of, or have ourselves been, the woman who dates the cheaters, the beaters, and the jerks. But she sticks with him because she loves him.  She tells herself that he has such potential, she can help him change and then she believes her own lies because she is emotionally connected to him. The book of Proverbs in the bible has alot to say about jerks, and I think it is important for women to read these proverbs before getting emotionally involved with a man to make sure he is not a jerk.

• Proverbs 1:7 - He is arrogant, ignoring the instruction, teaching and counsel of godly people
• Proverbs 14:16 - He is reckless and careless
• Proverbs 14:17 - He has a quick temper and argues over anything
• Proverbs 11:29 - He laughs at his sin
• Proverbs 18:2 - He has a lot of opinions, but they are not founded in scripture

So, why do women love jerks?

Because jerks – men who Proverbs calls a fool – do and say things to establish an emotional bond quickly, before their true nature is known. They make emotional promises that are not theirs to keep and in doing so sweep women with unguarded hearts off their feet. And once the emotional connection is there, very little can make a woman leave a fool… because she loves him.

Just because there have been fools in your past does not mean there cannot be a wise man in your future. But you must cut off ties with fools and surround yourself with wise, godly people. Because “whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.” (Prov. 13:20)

So what does a wise man look like?

• Proverbs 29:11 - A wise man holds his temper
• Proverbs 19:11 - A wise man is patient and forgiving
• Proverbs 14:16 - A wise man fears the Lord and turns away from evil
• Proverbs 28:26 - A wise man trusts in the wisdom of the Lord, not in himself

I want to encourage every women to look out for a wise man, a "Todd".  Below, is the link to the website where you can buy the Christy Miller books as I really recommend them!

Christy Miller

Handing over the pieces

I want to assure any of you that are reading this blog, that this is a positive blog that is helping me and hopefully will help others. I may be talking about some emotional things, but bear with me and do not worry as the conclusion is a great and true one.

There it was glaring out from the computer screen.  The words I never thought I would see.  I had been so confident in this and believed it was what God had wanted.  For a moment I could not breathe. “I don't think I can do this anymore"   I couldn't read the rest. The tears suddenly gushing down my face had obscured my vision. That email shattered my dreams. My heart, that had thought God wanted this, and would never let this happen, crumbled into pieces.

Maybe this has happened to you. You feel so sure that God has given you this chance, you pray about it and you really feel that God is telling you to go for it. Then it doesn't happen. It can happen with many things,whether it is a relationship, career path, academic degree, status symbol, or to-do list we are determined to complete. And if we really believe it is what God wants, and then it doesn't work out it can feel like our World is tumbling down and our hearts become heavy.

Why does God break our hearts?

1. Because our hearts lead us astray.
 Humans are very goal oriented…. It is how we make it through the day. So when God gives us a future goal, we work toward that point as if our life depended on it (because we think it does). And somewhere along the way, the goal can become our god. And God becomes an afterthought that we occasionally ask to bless our efforts. And just like that, our hearts have led us astray. “The heart is deceitful…who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

2. Because God is a jealous God.

Often, the goal becomes our God. We make it into an idol and organize our life in worship to it. That relationship, career path, academic degree, status symbol, or to-do list we are determined to complete, when that goal becomes the ruling authority in our lives, it is an idol. And God is a jealous God. He wants to be number one in our hearts and lives. Because He is God – that is His right. That goal or list may be your security blanket, but it is powerless to save you from the sentence of your own sin. “You shall have no other gods before me…for I the Lord your God am a jealous God.” (Exodus 20:3-5)

3. Because God LOVES us.
In breaking our hearts, God is rescuing us from ourselves. God breaks our hearts, not to hurt us or because He enjoys our pain! God breaks our hearts when we have become so focused on some goal, rather than on Him. He breaks our heart because it is the only way He can save us from ourselves. He breaks our heart because it is the only way to remove a dream that is not best for us.“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Prov. 16:9)

4. Because God is seeking a relationship
When I finally stopped crying, I remembered that God had set me on this path, but had not promised the endpoint. In my itty-bitty human mind, taking a path only had one outcome - reaching the goal. But God is not bound by my small-mindedness. He guided me to work toward the goal, but He never promised I would achieve it, I just assumed “For my thoughts are not your thought declares the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8) Many times God may lead us down a certain path toward an unknown door.  We, of course, are focused solely on the door at the end of the journey.  When we reach the end, we may find that the door is locked.   We may be distracted by the human goal, but God was leading us toward an eternal goal – a closer relationship with Him.

So, what do you do when God breaks your heart?
When God breaks your heart….hand Him the pieces.
Because He is good and trustworthy and He will always do the best thing.  God is good, and even though my dream is dead, my heart rests securely in the arms of my Savior. Looking back, I see now that God had to break my heart to remove that dream so that He could guide me to a far better dream. God was acting in my best interest, even thought it hurt. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” (Prov. 3:5 - 6)

Happy Thoughts

This morning I woke up in a really good mood and I have no idea why! But, isin't that a great thing? That we can feel happy for no particular reason, and hopefully spread that happiness onto other people who may be having a bad day. Here are a list of things that make me cheerful...

The sunshine

Sunlight is believed to affect the production of Endorphins. These hormones play a role in giving us a sense of "well-being". I love the sun, I love reading a book in the sun or even just laying down and letting the sun warm my back.

My friends

I adore my friends. Both the guys and the girls. They make me laugh, they know how to cheer me up, we can have deep meaningful conversations or just abit of banter. I do not know what I do would without my friends.

Music & Singing

Music can make anyone feel better, as long as the lyrics are happy! My favourite song of the moment is Demi Lovato's new song "Skyscraper" it's all about her recovery from emotional disorders, and how people can break her, and take everything she has but that she is still going to "rise from the ground, like a skyscraper"
Singing makes me feel good - I love to sing a song with emotion and release everything that I've been feeling.

Holidays

I'm going on holiday on Sunday to Barcelona! With most of my school friends! I am so excited to explore a new city, to get some SUN and to be away from Tolworth. Then I am going on holiday to Crete with my family, a time to relax by the sea...

Psalm 118:24 - "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Proverbs 17:22 - "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-TvmCZxc38 - please watch this is Demi Lovato's new song, if you feel the need to be encouraged listen to it.