People In My Life

I'm feeling a need to be around people.
I miss people.
I want to talk to people.
And yet, when I'm around them, I usually feel shy, or unwanted.

Lately the people in my life has really been changing dramatically from month to month. And this has been difficult for me because I'm someone who doesn't like change very much.

Lots of people, keep leaving, and sure, God tends to fill in the gaps and bring someone new into my life, but I hate that because I'm so shy! By the time I feel comfortable with someone and finally open up to them...they seem to come to a time in their lives where they need to move on or leave.

And then I get to start the process all over again. :(


But lately...I've really been missing some people. Mostly because of CIY. There were a lot of people who came last year, that I missed having there this year.

Shey Jones use to be a good friend of mine..but after a short few months of talking and hanging out, we just stopped. He went one way, I went the other I guess. And I really miss him.

Dyelawn actually inspired this note, because I seen on my last post he'd commented on it at the end of last month telling me to update. lol. He was probably the first person other than my two friends at the church to try to make me feel comfortable and welcomed there. And I owe him a lot for that. But he's since then made the decision to move to south carolina. And I miss having him at church to make me smile, or at CIY to make me laugh. :)

Ben Potter and Dusty Henderson weren't super close to me...I mean, they knew my brother, so they're friendly, and they have come to some bible studies and helped answer a lot of questions for me. But again, they're just people who could easily make me smile, listen to the tough stuff, and entertain me at CIY. :)

Ryan Sharp is someone who was most definatly there for me in a very hard point in my life. He was the only person who understood what I was going through and was more than willing to just listen, and encourgage me constantly so I could get through it. And it was tough...a lot of people just didn't know what to do for me anymore or what to say, and somehow, he figured it out and knew how to make me smile no matter how depressed I was. But over the summer he's gotten a new job so his work schedule doesn't allow him to come to church anymore, so I hardly ever get to see him or talk to him. Though when he does slip into church I love talking to him and bothering him for a good hour :) I most definatly miss him.

I miss heather hula too. We ran track together, and last year she played volleyball with me. She's such a sweetheart, and I'm gonna miss her 110%. She's going off to college, and I haven't seen her all summer. When you're around heather, everything is funny, everything is light, and you can most definatly relax. I really miss her.

I miss Nessa too. It's not that she's too far away, but she's in springfield now, so she doesn't get to church too often. And she was always fun to talk to also. And an easy smile. :)

I could say I miss Marilyn, but after CIY she's started to show up more and more at church, and I believe she's even bringing a message soon, so it's nice to have her sneaking back into my life.



But as I said before...God is kind enough to bring people into my life to fill in those gaps.

At first, I turned to other aquaintences, and just started to bother them more :) People like Randell Boggs, and Tyler Boggs. Other times, it was the people above that filled the gaps.

First I talked to dylan..then he kinda left, so then I talked to ben some and dusty..then they disapeared for a while...and soon ryan came into the picture...so on and so forth.

Lately a new face has crept into my life, his name is Cody Devers, and this kid is high entertaining :)

He's probably one of the first and few people who has spent a good chunk of time with me...and still walks over to say hello to me at church. (Usually after a bit I have to chase down people before they can run away from me. lol)

Oh! Not to forget my good friend Josh Burchell! He's soooo amazing! We're like...best friends man. (I'm going to be his 'best man' at his wedding next summer)

And a lot of old friends that I tend to drift in and away from throughout the months tend to work their way into my life just when I need them: Sara Spoering, Brittany Canole, Ryan Crouch, Tayla Cooper to name a few :)


And if all else fails...I've always got my sister :) Who is and shall remain my bestest buddy.




Anyways...this is a chunk of the stuff playing on my heart right now... I hope I didn't bore you too much. But these people have meant so much to me in the past couple years, and I had to give a shout out. :)

Time slips by my finger tips

I


just


wasted


ten


seconds


of


your


life.



And it's gone. Nothing you can do will get that time back.

So what? 10 seconds won't kill you.

But maybe it could?

Maybe you'll be in an ambulance being rushed to a hospital tomorrow after a collision with a drunk driver. Seconds tick by, and so does your last heart beats. 10 seconds could mean life or death.

So why should those 10 seconds be any more important than the 10 I just wasted?

You could have done countless things with that specific time span of 10 seconds.

You could have brushed your teeth, scratched your nose, started a prayer, texted a friend, called your parents, put in a cd, done some sit-ups, changed your sock, and so on and so on.

10 seconds gone.

What will you do with the next 10 seconds after you're finished reading this? Will you comment me? Give me words of encouragement? Words of Anger? Words of frustration?

What are you going to do with each 10 seconds of your life?

Are you going to drink? do drugs? party? procrastinate homework? What exactly are you going to do? Are those things going to be worthwhile?

Or are you going to take every 10 seconds and make them count?
Will you pray? Be a servant? Help a friend out? Give someone advice? Do some extra chores for your parents? Be a guiding light and show God's love? Praise God? Worship God?

What are you going to do with each 10 seconds? Decide.
Then ask yourself, is it worth it to waste the 10 seconds doing that?

I know I'm trying to live and breathe in a messed up world where seconds slip away too fast, and all I can do is cling to Jesus, and try to make each 10 seconds count. Every second of the day.

And I pray you'll make the right decision too.

God at Work

Amazing things are going on right now.
You may or may not see them happening around you.

People are loving one another more, and trying to be more respectful.
Other’s are stepping outside the box, and trying to become positive leaders.

I watched kid after kid walk up in front of their peers,
And give a short testimony as to what God is doing in their lives.

I see kids making drastic changes, to try to be better people.
They are just dying to be a light, and to show this world some hope.

But keep in mind, that things are always painted gold, with a silver lining.
I talked to a girl tonight who was hurting herself because she felt like she deserved it.

I watched several kids cry at the alter because they didn’t know what to do with their lives.
I listen to kids spill out their frustrations with parents on Sunday, and hate themselves for thinking so lowly of the people who care for them and provide for their needs.

I promise you, that every single person you pass in the halls, on the street, or in the store have their own hurts, and problems going on in their life. Anyone can slap a smile on their face, and say that they’re doing great.

But I just want to challenge you, to step back and think about your choices.

Are you going to let the circumstances make who you are, Or are you going to be the one to make the circumstances?

I don’t just mean, slap a smile on your face, and pretend to be okay, but really, truly, accept the circumstances, and move on trying to make the best of the situations (Hopefully with God’s help).

It’s okay to have hurts, but it’s not okay to let them rule your life. Step up, and be a leader, let your joy and your light shine in this hopeless world, and show people that even in the midst of troubles, you can still live a joyous life.

Well, that’s all the “words of wisdom” I have for you for now. Just think about it. Because I think everyone has the strength (with God’s help) to rise above their circumstances, and to be a happy person.

God Bless you in your troubles, and I pray He brings you joy.

-Amber

[At that point, I realized there's still good in this world.]

I'm a believer that people are naturally good if given the chance to do the right thing.

Today, I was standing in the check out line at woods, and I seen an older man, maybe in his late 30s possibly 40s.The thing that brought my attention to this man, was that he was pushing in a row of carts, but he wasn't wearing anything that told me he worked at woods.

I was so confused, here was an older man, in jeans, a flannel t-shirt, and a denim jacket, pushing carts in for no pay, no profit, no reward. He pushed the row of carts to their place, then pulled one out for himself. He made eye contact with me, and smiled nodding at me, then walked off into the store to do his shopping.

How amazing was it for me to see this man step out of his way to make someone else's job a little bit easier! He asked for nothing, and got nothing, but a smile from me. And he seemed perfectly content with that.

It warms my heart to see someone step out of the norm to do someone a favor. Someone they probably don't even know.

How amazing.

Called to Share God's Love

My life right now, is relatively content.
Some huge, stressful, things happened to me a few weeks ago..and really put me between a rock and a sharp place...
But somehow, I managed to turn to God first, and cling onto him for dear life.
And I've been really blessed.
Granted, like every teenager I suppose, I've been frustrated with my parents.
I've also been feeling very insignificant...almost worthless...
I just feel like I'm missing out on something....Some big secret that makes life so much fun. Or maybe that I have some courageous gift that God has bestowed upon me, but I just can't seem to figure out what it is...
But, my church has been doing things extremely different. We've captured the vision of a church service on wednesday nights, that is ran by the kids.
No more of this force feeding crap, where the youth minister tries to convince everyone to love Jesus.
The church, Calvary Chapel, Is a building. A building with tools. And Mark, is one of our wonderful Youth Ministers who is there to help us.
But it's not the church's job to force Jesus down our throats.
We as students need to step up and be a guiding light. Because no matter what Mark says, or Doug, or Brandon, or any of the adults....It doesn't matter if those of us students don't go out, show love, and bring kids to church to hear the good news....Or maybe just give them the good news our selves!
It's not until we start OWNING this ministry, that we really believe in it, and that we begin to see change, and hope in this messed up broken world.
At church, we've created a prayer wall, where kids can write one or two words, draw a picture, or just write a name, or verse that means something to them. So that others can pray.
We're doing worship different...and we're striving to make worship more intimate..none of this "going through the motions" crap.
We're challenged to stand up and speak what we believe. To show love.
To honor God with our talents whether its painting, drawing, writing, speaking, singing, playing music, writing a blog, making up a catchy metaphor, or maybe doing a little dance! All that matter is that we're doing it for God, and we're trying to show God's love and grace to others.
And that's what I've been challenged to do.
If you wanna talk to me about, send me a message! Catch me at school! I'd love to chat.
If you wanna visit the church to see what we're all about, again, ask me. It's Calvary Chapel, the phone number is 345-6418. I can give you directions or draw you a pretty map :)
You're always welcome to come.
I figure I'll leave it at that.. Just know that I love you! Who ever you are!And I'd love to share God's love, peace, joy, compassion, understanding, comfort, and grace with you!
Blessings.