In Chains for Christ

This weekend at Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick preached on joy from Philippians 1.

A few major points that really hit me:

• My joy is not determined by what happens to me but by what God is doing in me and through me.
• Spiritual Ju-Jit-Su = using the enemy's attacks against him.
• If you are in chains you have a captive audience.
• Perceive God's purpose in your persecution and participate in HIS purpose.
• There is a purpose in whatever sentence you have or whatever prison you are in.
• Shake it of, and step on up.
• Joy is down in MY heart. Where? DOWN IN MY HEART!

I put two and two together today and realized that I have a prison of my own like Paul did. As a teenager I am in prison to going to school. That is neither good or bad all the time. When you look at the 8+ hours that I spend there everyday, what a great opportunity we have as students. People are stuck in classrooms with us for hours upon hours. They have to be there with us. What better way to be a light in your world than to do it during school hours. As high schoolers we spend on average, 1,260 hours in class per year. (That number does not even include any extra-curicular activity hours.)

Why should all that time go to strictly school time. You have a lunch time don't you? Use everyday as a chance to be Christ to your peers. We are in chains to having to be at school, WHY NOT use that as our pulpit?! Who knows what God will do through you this year if you allow Him to make you aware of your 'preaching opportunities' and to speak through you.

"Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly...I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Philippians 1:14, 20-21

Word Waterfall

"The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment."

Proverbs 10:20-21

The things we say, even in a joking manner, can crush those that hear it. Much value is placed upon the words that spur from our mouths. The people around us take great care to listen to what we say, so much care needs to be taken to the things that we let come out. I can be quick to let something fly from my mouth but I am learning, mostly the hard ways, how hard those words are to those around me and how I need to fix them. I am foolish like the unrighteous if I do not learn how to wrangle my tongue, though my words can be something that nourishes the soul if I learn to control them.

I would much prefer my words to be a nourishing word waterfall that to be dead for my lack of judgement.

The BigStuf Report

• So despite the wait, here is my Bigstuf post.
• God truly opened me up and poured into me. He prepared me for my school year. He encouraged me and pumped me up to reach my friends, my school, and the city of Charlotte. The best part is, 80 other Elevation students got to do this all too and they are just as excited as I am!
• God specifically taught me to think small. I can't go and change my whole school and set them on fire for Jesus in one day. I must utilize the spheres of influence that I have already and make an impact there.

*The Elevation group spent much time together bonding and learning much from Jesus.

*This is the view we woke up to every day.

*As you may be able to tell my project for the week was to view it via my glasses

*Sometime when you have some time ask an Elevation BigStuf attendee about Rave Ball. It's a little hard to explain but we all learned from it as a visual.

*My roomies and I got on the beach each morning as the sun was rising to spend alone time with Jesus before our day got started.

Farm Charm

"When a cow laughs, does milk come out her nose?" ~Author Unknown

I took my friend Amy (http://amyisareader.wordpress.com) out as my model to practice working with depth of field which in this case was really a field. We met up early to catch the sunrise.

Churchill

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
-Sir Winston Churchill

What can't you stop talking about?

Elevation Worship Shoot

I got the chance to be a part of the photo shoot for the Elevation Worship Leaders. I followed the photographers around, asked questions, held lights and equipment, and learned a bit. Here are a few shots that I got to take...more to come at Elevation!

We even made some new friends that night...

Lazy 5 Ranch

This is the adventure we had at Lazy 5 Ranch...love this crazy girl

A Day at the Garden

Last Saturday I got to spend the day at Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens with Sean Lyon and a few other Elevation photographers. I learned a ton and got to take some pictures. Here are a just a few...
Sean was our lovely model for the day as we practice lighting and posing

His wife Tonia joined us. I love her "fierce" face Merrie was lovely in the sun with her shadesSuch a cute face!

Tonia & I practiced with depth of field without Sean having to tell us toI got a chance to shoot some shots of a magnolia tree
It was a beautiful one!

Final Touch

This year I have had a chance to be a "charter member" of my school's newest class, Christian Leadership. In this class we have read a few great books, studied the lives of great Christian leaders, developed our strengths, and worked to improve our school. This group of students that I have had the priveledge to work with all year is overflowing with potential! I know God is going to awesome things through us all.
The main thing I gained was learning to work in my strengths. My favorite part of the entire year, to me was constructing our leadership portfolio. In this we used our own creativity to compose a profile type project on a Christian leader. I chose to create a picture that reminded me of the person we were studying or a part of their life and combine it with words that related to them personally, their ministry, and the events of their life. Some of the people, everyone in our class had to study, other times we were given the freedom to chose our own, but the very last one was to be someone who we directly knew and had directly influenced us. It took me some time to decided who I was going to chose. Many wonderful people have been in my life and impacted me for the better. Finally, at the last moment, of course, I chose Bradelyn.
She has taught me so much over the few years I have known her. She holds me accountable and prays for me. No matter where she is, what she is in the middle of, or what time it is, if I need something she is there. Bradelyn goes above and beyond what most leaders and friends do to be there for me. The greatest part is, she is there for me but also all of my small group and those she cares for. I do not have words to express my gratitude for her.
Thank you Bradelyn!

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1Corithians 2:2
A lot of things God says, seem like a bad idea at the time.
Everyone’s going somewhere, are you going with a purpose?
There is a difference between passion and maturity.
How did I get here? Oh, yeah, Jesus told me to be here!
If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.Romans 12:7-8
Up close ministry, along the way
By HIS stripes I am healed
Do your best work all the time, even if no one will see it.
Never get into a fight with Jesus. He will always win.
"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."1Samuel 14:7

A Little Late Never Hurt

Easter was a great weekend. I know, I'm way late for an "Easter Post" but too bad!
Usually our family dyes eggs some time before Easter Sunday but this year we were a few days late. As the old saying goes, "better late then never."
So the ladies got together to makes some eggs beautiful. My cousin Raven had a blast and the pictures tell it all. It all started well but it did turn ugly. We added a few "protective" layers. She has found the newest way to dye eggs! Forget the spoon, just dive in with your hands! Needless to say we had a ton of fun, got a bit messy, captured many unforgettable moments, and possibly ruined a shirt or two! AND yes I was a little concerned for the well-being of my camera during this process.

Learn From Others

People always to learn from others and they are so smart. If we take a look around and can learn from other people's mistakes, we do not have to make them ourselves. In my Christian Leadership Class we study Christian leaders and create portfolios to portray those people's lives in a way that means something to us. I have chosen to make a word collage on one of my pictures for each entry. Here is my entry for Joni Eareckson Tada:

Great Friday

Most would call it Good Friday but I had a great Friday! I spent the evening with some of my small group eating, in fellowship, praying, watching the Passion, and taking Communion together. The stormy night added to the effect of watching men torture and crucify my Saviour. It was very hard to watch and I know all our girls would say that too. For minutes we all just sat in utter silence. (How often does that happen with high school girls?) That was a great time of being together and celebrating what Christ did for us!

Then came my excitement for the night. As we were finishing up and saying goodbyes, the storm let loose. One girl even fell in a ditch...but the heavens defiantly let loose and poured on them as they ran to the car. I of course got the great idea to go shoot some pictures in the rain to see if I could catch some lightning. By the time I had found someone to come with me, so I was not running around in the rain at midnight by myself, most of the actual lightning had passed. We still decided to venture out and see what we could see. My dad, my faithful random scenario assistant, and I packed up and headed out. We only saw one strike of lightning while we were out and even that one was muffled by clouds. So we did not catch any strikes but did get some fun night shots and had a ton of fun!

*All this shots were taken in complete dark

A playground...

Through the trees...this is the lightning we saw...looks like it could be day

Not quite sidewalk chalk...

God Leads

I am so thankful God leads us. He puts us right where we need to be.
This weekend I visited a college. It is a great Christian university. It has great stuff going on and God is moving on their campus but he made it so clear to me that it was not to be my school and home. There was not anything necessarily wrong with the school and I could not tell you one thing that just was a total 'no' but I know the answer for there is no.

He has given me such a strong call on my life that I could not settle for anything less than what will prepare me best for that.

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He
makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he
restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his
name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they
comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

Psalm 23

This is what our windshield looked like coming through the mountains today. We had some snow too!

I LOVE my small group

These girls are amazing. I really do not know what I would do without them. We have been together almost a year now! I can't believe that. These wonderful ladies hold me accountable every week. On Monday we had such an honest time of sharing.
Thank you girls so much for being there for me!

A Photo^vation Night

The Elevation photographers, aka Photovation, got together and did a fun shoot at the Music Factory. We learned all about lighting and actually got to put it into practice.

An e.e. cummings Quote Day

India 2008

"It take courage to grow up and become who you really are."
"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit. "
"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."

To Beautiful Feet

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"
Isaiah 52:7

This verse was given, well more like thrown at me by a friend during a long bus ride in India. I was complaining, like we girls do, about my feet. The conversation took a sharp turn up when he quoted this verse to me. I now have absolutly nothing to whine or complain about. Even if I view my feet as ugly, God views them as beautiful as they carry the good news!