Toe-Stepper.

This entry will be exactly about what it sounds like its gonna be about. I am not judging the lifestyle that any one person chooses to live, I am simply stating what I observe and the opinion I have. I am going to vent, so if I hurt your feelings, just stop reading it. I won't really be sorry, because this is my blog, and I need to be honest. You are more than welcome to click the big red X at the top of your screen at any moment.

Our world is so ridiculously backwards it's not even funny. I was having a conversation with Nathan about this the other night. What we used to think was acceptable and right a few years ago, has completely changed today. The same thing goes for what we thought was absolutely repulsive and unimaginable...it is now our reality. I believe we have allowed the "world" to influence the way we think, speak, dress, and even carry ourselves and that is just not ok.

We have become content and okay with sin, and it being around us. Not saying that we can't love the people that are sinning (Which is all of us) but we have almost come to the point where we condone it. We feel like if we speak out, we might hurt someone's feelings, or come off too judgmental. Oh no, God forbid we speak the truth into people's lives. We are hurting them more by being okay with their sinful lifestyle; by not letting them know that they are living their lives completely outside of God's will and God's blessing. I would so much rather someone come up to me and tell me I'm being an idiot, than just let me keep being one because they "love" me, and then never truly live out my life to its fullest potential. By no means I am saying to just tell everyone off that we meet, but come on, lets be a light where it seriously matters. We say all the time at church and we hear in sermons "Be the light in the darkness" and "God wants to use you to be a light" but what good is a bunch of light in the same place? What good is being "Godly" in front of all your church friends because you have to? What good is a bunch of light bulbs on at the same time? Eventually, you don't even know what light is coming from which bulb, it all just becomes one big blob of light. Why not use the light that we have inside of us where there is none. Why not shine it to those that are in utter darkness, and really be useful with it. Otherwise, all we are doing is shining when it's "the right thing to do." That, my friends, is not what we are here to do.


Another completely backwards thing I have noticed around me in the past few months (Especially in the summer, my goodness) is that so many young ladies are completely compromising their purity for the sake of fashion. What is that? When did looking cute become wearing the shortest shorts you can find, and the tightest blouse, and the highest heels? I know plenty of women, beautiful beautiful Godly women, that have an incredible sense of style, but do it with modesty. Why look like everyone else out there? Seriously? Shouldn't our standards be higher? Why don't we look any different than the world does? What sets us apart? The way you dress says so much about you. It can give someone that knows nothing about you, an outlook into who you are, just by one glance. What message do we want to portray? I'm going to be honest. I am not okay with the way some women dress, especially to church, where men shouldn't even have to worry about being tempted. And many people would say "Oh, well maybe they just need to watch where they look, and not focus on that but focus on Jesus" or maybe you should watch what you wear and how you wear it, especially if it becomes a distraction for the opposite sex. Seriously. The saddest part is that some people do dress like that to church and do carry themselves in that way, and then have a problem when people speak up, and say something. I asked myself this question the other night before going to bed...."Are my standards too high, or something?" Why am I not okay with showing everything off? There are certain parts of me that I only want my husband to see one day. Why would I go around flaunting it for everyone to see? Our bodies are sacred treasures, so beautiful and different, and it just saddens me to see that the standard has dropped, that people are suddenly okay with it, and I am not. We need to be more mindful and respectful not only to our own selves and our own bodies, but to the people we come in contact with every day.

I leave you with this challenge, let's look and think differently than the world. The term "What Would Jesus Do" is so cliche, but why don't we put ourselves aside for one second and try and live by it?

"And As I Wait For You, Maybe I'm Made More Faithful."

(This is going to be more of a journal entry than anything, so bare with me.)
The past few weeks have been...interesting. I recently moved out of my parent's house into Nathan's grandparents' and it's been quite a change. First off, there is no internet. If you know me at all, you know how absolutely horrifying that is for me. I haven't been able to blog (Which has been killing me), and the only way I can really keep up with any form of social networking is on my iPhone screen. I have had to learn to pretty much fend for myself. I have to buy groceries if I want to eat, do my own dishes (by hand, no dishwasher), and pretty much every thing you wish your mom would do for you, but isn't there to. I haven't found a solid job, therefore I've been living off of random babysitting jobs and things that come up, and that alone can get stressful.

Where am I going with all of this? God is still good, even if this season of my life isn't the best. I have learned from past experiences, that there is no such thing as a comfortable season with God. If I even start thinking that my life is perfect in every aspect, He is quick to get me back to reality. Now, God isn't a cruel monster that just wants you to suffer. And I think so many times we see it in this way, because we don't understand where our hardships come from. We say "God, I serve you wholeheartedly, I have given you my life, and still you choose to give me problems to deal with? I thought you loved me." And you are correct. He does. He gives you hardships and hard seasons in life because He DOES love you. Think of it this way....A parent that just lets their child do whatever they want, without consequences or rules or spankings (yes, kids these days still need them) would probably end up with a wild child; doing whatever they want, whenever they want, with no fear of authority. Not that they would stop loving their parents any less, but there wouldn't be a trust that the parent has everything under control. It would almost not give the parent a chance to "show off" their love, even if at first it comes off harsh. The same thing would happen if God just allowed us to do what we wanted. Our love for Him would probably not change, we would still think He was a good guy, but there would be no opportunity for him to show off how merciful, wonderful, faithful He is. I am taking the season that I am now with that perspective. Yes, things are hard, money is tight, and I don't understand why things are the way they are, but I know He does it all because He loves me and wants me to continue to grab a hold of how faithful He truly is. He wants me to trust Him for everything, and never ever think that things will just come because I make them happen. He wants me on my face, praying the mess out of my situation, and trusting Him even when the door seems slammed shut, because then, He gets to show up in my situation, completely rock my life, open a crazy awesome door, and do it in a way that I could've never done it. That is the God that I serve.
 Waiting for Him to show up can be tough, but it makes me trust Him and have even more faith that He will. :)