Enjoying Worship.

Worshiping is not just a one time thing that happens at church. You should be worshiping everyday. The question sometimes is how?

God wants us to honor Him everyday, and one way of doing that is through worshiping. Some think you just need to go to church on Sundays, and maybe Wednesdays too, and you're set. That's not true. Yes, you should be going to church, but it doesn't stop there. You can worship in the car, your room, even in class. God wants us to be praising His name and bringing glory to Him. 

Another argument is whether or not that's an appropriate way to worship. No, He doesn't want us to be kneeling in the middle of the building, praising so loudly just so you can get attention from other people. If you want to do that, but not mean it in any attention drawing way, then go for it. God just wants us to praise Him for who He is. Some may argue that putting your arms in the air, or waving them is a sign to draw people to yourself. That is absolutely not true. I've grown up going to churches where people didn't do that. I never really thought it was wrong; I was just never taught why you should or shouldn't do it. I've learned over the past week and a half that people are just so excited about glorifying and singing to God that they raise their arms to show it. You should be delighting in Him and singing to bring praise to His name. If you feel led to raise your arms or sway or whatever type of gesture, go ahead. If you're excited about your God and want to show Him that, go ahead. No one will judge you. Why should we anyways? Isn't God the final and only Judge? We all make mistakes, and no one is perfect. 

I'm proud to say that I am excited about going to Convocation, aka chapel, every other day because I get to praise MY God and be with thousands of other people who are doing the same. Those are the most amazing mornings. I look forward to standing, singing to God, and praising with other Christians. The music is uplifting and powerful I can't even begin to explain. Our God's love for us is so big you can't even put it into words. Even when you do, you can't fathom it all. He is great and worthy to be praised. You know when you hear a message or song and it brings tears to your eyes? Pretty sure that's happened almost every time I've been at Convo{and that's only been a handful of times}. In just 1 day, over 100 ,maybe 200 I don't know, people accepted Christ. Isn't that amazing? Doesn't that bring joy to your heart? I know it did to me. I almost started crying just watching so many people make their way to the front of the building, wanting to accept Christ. That was from just hearing 1 man speak. Imagine what could happen if there were 5 of us? 10? 20? God could do wonders. That all happened in a chapel service...where we were worshiping God..singing praise to Him...joining with other Christians. It's just so incredible what's been happening here at Liberty.

So, I know everyone has his own opinion on worship and how you should. Remember this though, God doesn't care how, or what you say, or where you're at. He just wants you to go to Him. He's there for us each day, every day, ever minute and second of the day. He NEVER leaves us nor forsakes us. Isn't that great to know? You could be all alone and lost in the midst of 10,000 people...but God is with you. So you're not alone. He wants you to sing to Him and worship Him. He wants you to grow in Him through His Word.

 No matter what it takes, be willing to sacrifice anything to live a life with Christ. It's so worth it all.

Thankfulness Put Into Words.

Remember that first time you go to youth group as a teen and you're like scared to death? Ya I remember that. I was one of 'those'. Remember thinking, "Oh I hope I make friends and that my youth leaders are nice." Well, from the first time I went to youth group at UGBC the youth leaders made me feel right at home. They were so welcoming. 

I remember the first night at youth group(ya I know I pretty much repeated myself there), people were calling the youth leaders Randy and Beth. I'm thinking like wow that's different. That must mean their pretty close and comfortable with that. 

That's for sure!

They would make you feel comfortable, welcomed, and make you laugh. When you need someone to talk to, they always make time for you. Whether it's 5 minutes or an hour. You can email [facebook/text] them for anything, and they'll be there to answer you and show you kindness. I remember numerous times where I may be down about something or whatever and by the end of Wednesday night my mood would totally be changed. They always have a smile on their face. Randy would most always have some sort of story or something to make you laugh/smile.

There are numerous memories I have of them giving encouragement. For one, It was freshman year, and we were working at a camp as our youth work missions trip. At first it was really hard because I grew up going to Camp Calvary in PA all my life, and having my best friends there, and when I was at a different camp with different people it was so hard. I remember just sitting at the table crying, and Beth came over asking what was wrong and just sat down for awhile talking to me. It totally helped. I was able to let it all out and later talk to God about it asking for strength to get through it. It was such an encouraging moment.

Another one happened a few summers ago. I was really discouraged about something, and both Randy and Beth pulled me aside asking what was up and telling me it was okay. I was probably being stubborn thinking no I'll be ok don't worry about me. But no, they sat down with me for the longest time praying with me and showing me a passage of scripture that has been such an encouragement to me since that night.

Philippians 4:6-7(NIV) 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It was such a blessing and encouragement to me. They told me everything would be alright and God is in control of all that happens. It was just a huge moment in my life that I would never forget.

I read in a devotional book a few years ago that mentioned it's a good thing to have a woman who is older than you to be like a mentor. Someone that you can go to and get advice on stuff or just to talk to. If you ever need someone, Beth is the one to go to. She is great to talk to. She will be there to not only listen, but also give advice when needed. She can make you laugh when you least expect it. The best time is when you're in her car with the sun roof open, music blaring, and singing on the top of your lungs late at night. OR having people hanging out of every door and window in her car driving through a camp. Oh but don't ask how to spell 'birthday'....she may forget the "r". :) Either way, she's such a fun person to be with. Such a good godly woman to be encouraged by.

Randy, well if you love fishing he's the one to fish with. He's pretty good...so I heard. He's also very competitive. Apples to Apples, card games..ya it's very entertaining when you play with him. Don't even get started on Duck Dynasty. CRAZY. But with that said, he is a very encouraging godly youth leader. I don't know how he finds time to not only work 5 days a week, but then each Wednesday come speak to us teens. It's crazy. I've had numerous times where that night he spoke on something, and it's exactly what I needed to hear. He is just such a fun leader. Also, another great example to follow.

We do have other leaders who have been very encouraging and fun. Those 2 are the main ones who I wanted to point out that have made such a huge impact on my life and for that I am forever grateful.

Thank You so much not only Randy and Beth, but also Bryan, Sarah, Steve, Ashley, and Dave. You guys have been so encouraging over the years. I will truly miss you. God has blessed me as well as the other teens with such great leaders as you guys. Thank You again.

Sisters? Forever Friends.

   So, as August has quickly approached that means my sister will be coming home in a few days. She's been away in China for a month doing what and being where she loves. I've missed her. It gets lonely and quiet at night. You know, parents get tired from working so they go to bed early. Then I'm up. By myself. Wishing Jamie would be home soon to talk to, watch movies, or fall asleep on the couch. Anyways, I'm excited to have her home. After all she is my [only] sister:) We always have fun together. Ya we have our ups and downs but doesn't everyone? No family is perfect. We love doing many things together. Shopping. Taking pictures. Playing piano. Watching movies/television. Eating. Talking. Photoshoots. Laughing. Being quirky. Wearing each others clothes. Ya etc. I love her. God has blessed me with a loving, fun, caring, awesome sister.  I know I'll always have her as she reminded me once, "You know Jess, with friends you know they can come and go, but with me you have a friend for life. We're stuck together as family forever."

Here's some random pics of us growing up together:)

aren't we just so adorable?

always got each other's backs.

 playing piano together.and matching together.

ha this picture always makes me laugh. like I said, we got each other's backs.

camping.another thing we love doing together[as a family].

Rainforest Cafe's AMAZING volcano chocolate dessert!

our first photoshoot together.

3-in-1.Florida.New Years.Christmas Eve.

our annual Thanksgiving mirror pictures.first year.

ya....crazy hair.crazy jewelry.crazy pictures.

annual Christmas day walk. 3 years in a row.

Birthday photoshoot. it was a freezing November day so we were literally wearing gloves between each picture. but we still enjoyed it.

Summer photoshoot. beautiful day for pictures.

most amazing trip to Arizona. love this state. went to awesome Mimi's Cafe. showing sisterly love here.

attractive..lovin this Michigan trip with the family.

again, another photoshoot. can you tell we like taking them?

 4th year in a row Christmas walk. we love to be colorful.

Jr/Sr Banquet: Senior Year. yes we wanted to match.yes i love her.

GRADUATION. we have gone through lots together.

Thanks Jamie for being an awesome sister. God has blessed me greatly. You really are such a fun older sister. It's been fun seeing us grow up and closer together. I LOVE YOU.

A Journey.

For anyone that has ever chosen a college, you know it's not the easiest decision. 

For me, it's been such an up and down thing. A long time, I just pushed it away thinking oh I'll get to it. Sooner or later I didn't know where to go. One day I remembered that my dad had picked up a packet of college info from Baptist Bible College. When he gave it to me, I ended up just stuffing it away thinking "Oh I won't need that. I'm not gonna go there." For awhile I had my mind set on other colleges. But when I picked up that brochure again, I started looking into it, and it seemed like a pretty cool college. I started talking to my parents about it more, and decided hey we should make a trip out there. So, we ended up driving there a few months later to Pennsylvania. 

If any of you don't know, I grew up in Pennsylvania. That's another reason why I felt God leading me to this college. "Yeah He's leading me back to my home state!" When we got there, it felt so right. The campus was beautiful, the people were so friendly, and the best part...Rita's was just a few minutes away.. :) Well, we were there for a couple days checking it out, and I loved it. After the visit my parents would ask me, "So Jess, what do you think?" I would tell them I need more time to decide. I didn't think it would be the best idea to go ahead and just decide without really thinking and praying about it. 

A few times my mom had mentioned that she wasn't totally sold on it. She didn't know if it was the right college for me. I just thought ok whatever that's just your thinking. I mean I am the youngest so that makes it a little difficult:) Anywho, she and my brother kept mentioning Liberty University. I thought, oh that's too big for me and stuff like that. As I started praying more and things come up I felt "Ok maybe God is really having them feel this way for a reason." After praying about it for awhile and asking God for a sign, I finally decided to go for it. Maybe this is God's way of showing me that I need to go here. I ended up applying and wondering where God would take me.

So I waited for awhile to get answers back about being accepted or not. I kept praying and praying wondering if this is really what I'm supposed to be doing. But the weird thing is, I had a big peace about it. I was getting excited thinking about going there. So, they finally contacted me and I was able to make an account and start working on paperwork. 

As I'm working on LU stuff, I wonder,"Why did God allow us to go through all this stuff and lead us out to the college with high hopes thinking it was the college for me, just to end up not even going?" I know He had some reason for it. Maybe it was to open my eyes up to something different. My mom thinks it was for my Jr./Sr. dress(long story). Whatever it was, I'm happy that He led me where I'm at now. 

Then the email came.....CONGRATULATIONS JESSICA!! I literally screamed when I read it. I was super duper excited. I couldn't believe that God had answered my prayers! So, after that I thought ok I just need to get some paperwork done for them and I'm all set. 

NOPE.

I did paperwork, yes, but not as easy as I thought. I would send something in then get an email saying I had something else to do too. Oh man. When will this end?? I kept being patient, and I finally got all my stuff sent in. So, now was the hard part. I had to wait.

And wait...

And wait........

And wait.............

Finally, everything went through. I was overjoyed[again]!! I got all checked in, and finished registering for my classes. Now another trial: paying for it. UGH! I literally hate money. I know God will provide I have to keep that in mind. It gets discouraging when you don't have a job, and have no idea how you're going to pay for college. Everyone keeps telling me it will work out it always does. I have to keep that in mind. At youth group, we talked about leaving everything to God and having Him take care of it because we literally can't do anything on our own. We need God, PERIOD. One thing I've learned is that God is really testing my patience and how I will learn to trust Him completely and not worry about it. Let me tell ya, it's not always easy. But in the end I know God's plan will unfold and I'll see why He allowed me/us to go through all this.

In the end, I'm so excited to be attending Liberty University in the Fall. I know God has great plans for me there, and I can't wait to see what they are.

Happiness In A Little Package.

My mom has the privilege of taking care of a little 3 1/2 year old girl. She is the sweetest thing. Ya, she's 3 so of course she's gonna have her 'moments'. 

It was a rainy day, so we were stuck inside pretty much most of the day. I had gotten a paint set from my best friend a few years ago, and I knew I wanted to save it for the perfect day. Like today. Well, I brought it out and painted my first painting. (wow that sounds really dumb :P) As I'm painting of course Carra wants to too. So here we are on our kitchen table, painting together. It was quite fun.

Once we got done we decided to have some "tea". aka.water. I got out the camera and she asks,

"Jess what are you taking a picture of?"

So, we ended up taking some pretty quirky pictures together. All of them her idea of course:)

She is just so much fun to be with. I would get home from school, and she'd always run saying my name and giving me a big hug..and sometimes a kiss:)  Whenever you may have a bad day or whatever, she is always the one to go to to cheer you up. It may sound corny, but it's true. She would always cheer me up. 

That's the reason behind the title of this blog. Because it says it all. The best things in life really do come in small packages, and they make you very happy. Kids are the best example of that. They are always so full of joy, and it's so much fun being around them because you're able to be and act like a little kid again and it doesn't matter. You can be as silly and crazy as you want, and no one will judge you.

So, step back and really enjoy the precious little miracles from God.                             

Week of Encouragement.

    Do you ever have those times where you feel so discouraged? Like nothing is going right? Well I've felt like that a few times lately. 

   You see I'm going away to college in the fall. And well everyone knows that in order to go to college you kind of need money. I've been praying and praying lately for God to provide me a job, but still nothing. Yes it gets very discouraging, but I know God has something planned. I just have to wait. That's the hard part. I've applied at who knows how many places, but still nothing. 

   Ok, I don't want this whole post to sound depressing almost. Yes, it's been hard, but good encouragement came out of this week. For starters, on Monday I was having a really tough day about the whole job and money situation. So, I ended up going with my mom to Milwaukee to get some things done, and we decided to shop around some while we were down there. It was so nice to be able to just get my mind off of the whole thing. Because as pretty much anyone who has ever tried applying for places the first time, it's tough. Well, we shopped then decided to go to this AMAZING burger and frozen custard place called KOPP'S. oh my goodness. SOOO good. Well, as we're out I get a text from my best friend saying he got a surprise waiting for me at home. I'm like okay cool! So, I get home (not knowing what to expect) and I find half a dozen of red roses sitting on my dresser. It was so sweet.It TOTALLY made my day!!:) He just always knows how to brighten up my day:)

here's the flowers and our jr.year fall formal picture together:)

   Tuesday was another nice relaxing day. You know those rainy days that you just wanna stay on the couch and watch movies all day??? Well, ya I didn't do that haha:) It was a rainy kind of day though. My sister, mom, and I went out and did some shopping so it's always fun being able to do that together. Especially since my sister, Jamie, left for China in a couple days. We went to Plato's Closet, aka amazing store!! If you have never been there, I encourage you to go. It's mainly for teens and young adults, but you get nice name brand stuff for like half the price. So nice!! ANYWAYS, it's always good being able to hang out together just us girls. And you know when you get that 'I-wanna-bake-like-everything-I-see-on-Pinterest' times? Ya well I've had those lately. So I made this really good lemon loaf. Scrumptious:)

Wednesday, eh not too much going on. Oh, besides the fact that my family and I spent who knows how many hours inside the car driving to Ohio. Ya it's only about a 6-7 hr drive....it felt like 12!! Not even kidding! So, we spent the night at a hotel in Columbus, and was able to swim and work out. So relaxing! Also, another thing to get my mind off of that terrible 'M' word...[money}...

  Thursday,we had to drop off Jamie at the airport for China. She'll be there for a month. Sad day! But she's where God wants her to be so I can never argue with that. The rest of the day I got to spend with my parents exploring downtown Columbus. Well sorta downtown...more like Germantown, OH. :) It was so cool though with the cobblestone roads. Ate at the famous Shmitz...or somethin like that...which is a German restaurant out there. Of course we had to do the usual: drive around forever trying to find a Caribou. Ya, GPS's are nice...when they tell u the right place to go. 

   Friday and Saturday were so much fun. I got to help out with my best friend and his family's yard sale. I also got to make friends with a little baby boy. So cute:) Saturday was a little discouraging. Went to go see a lady about a perfect job opportunity. Well it ended up being a bust. But God does have something planned, so I have to keep reminding myself that. Went out to dinner with his family to Asian Buffet. WOW! Another 'must' place to eat. Their food is super duper delicious.

   All that to say, God has a special plan for each one of us. It may be hard to see it, but He knows. Yes, He brings little trials and ups and downs in our life for a reason. Then you surround yourself with people that will just encourage you along the way. Yes, not being able to have a job yet has been real difficult. Very discouraging where I've cried over it wondering how come nothing has come up. I gotta just reminding myself and praying to God knowing that He will work everything out. I don't need to worry about a thing. We all have to do that. Lately, I've been finding myself  a lot just sitting somewhere and just praying to Him. I may be just walking my dog and the whole time I'm just talking with God asking Him for guidance in my life. He is an all-knowing God that works everything out for His good and glory. No matter what make sure to bring your requests to God first. Ya sure you can go on google or somethin for answers. But you won't get the best answers that you need to live day by day. He is the one that gives you the best and most important encouragement and love. Learning more and more each day to bring everything to Him and leave it all in His hands. 

   So, surround yourself with people who will love and encourage you and bring you closer to God. Yes, at the present moment things may look real tough. But they will get better.

New to This.

::Hello Blogger World:: 

Well, for awhile now I've been wanting to start a blog. I thought it would be fun to be able to express my thoughts and ideas out loud. Most importantly, my Lord will be shared a ton because without Him, I literally would be nothing. He has gotten me to where I am today and I am sincerely grateful for it. 

           Again, I wanna thank my God for being there for me no matter what. I'm excited to share my love for Him. He is an all-powerful amazing God that has such a wonderful plan for each one of us.

          I also love fashion. LOVE. You will see {many} posts about my ideas and how that plays out in life. Color is the main thing. Without color, this world would be dull and boring. I once read a quote that said "the 'earth' without 'art' would be 'eh'. " That is so true.

            Also, if I ever have something random that comes to mind, either about my family or friends or even a random idea, I would love to share it.

         I know this is a short one, but it's my first post I have ever done so bear with me. I hope you enjoy this as much as I will.