The World According to Hillary

The world according to Hillary. Hmmm. Have you every truly thought about what this means (well exchange Hillary for your name of course.)?I have to say that I haven't until a recent conversation with a friend when discussed me writing a dictionary so that everyone around could better understand what I mean. Then I really started to think about what it could mean. I think that the world according to Hillary should match up with the world according to God. My world shouldn't be filled with what I want, what I think is right, or what I think everyone around me should be doing. My world should be filled with what God wants, what He says is right, and what I know He has told me to do. Like the saying goes its easier said than done but does this really have to be our mindset? I think that if we as Christians went from it's easier said than done mentality to it might not be that easy, but I know its not that hard! I think that so much more could be accomplished for Christ. So, when the thought of its easier said than done comes to mind just think this instead it might not be that easy, but I know its not that hard!

generation to generation

This post was inspired by the message Pastor Gaddis preached last Sunday (8~7~11). One part in particular really stuck out to me. He talked about your religion and relationship with God can be passed down generation to generation. Also, he talked about sticking to visiting your Sunday school class and your bus route and keeping up with the kids. If it wasn't for a couple that knocked on my grandparents door in Vermont asking if their children (my mom and uncle) wanted to ride the bus to church then my grandparents wouldn't have gotten saved and they never would have moved to Illinois and went to FBC. While my mom was at bible college so was my dad. There they met and well the rest is history. Because of one couple decision to knock on their door and keep after them my grandparents and my mom's  faith was passed down to another generation. Now for my dad. My dad and I have a lot in common not just our amazing sense of humor or our good looks :) but also that we graduated from the same high school and went to the same church camp. When my dad was at church camp he got his heart right with God  and decided to go to FBC. While he was at bible college he met my mom and like I said earlier the rest is history. Because of my dad's decision to follow God's leading, his faith was passed down to another generation. Now, I'm attending Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Although, my brother isn't really living for God, he knows what is right. All of this is because someone took the time to visit and to keep tabs on my parents and made it a priority to see them live for God. We serve an awesome God! He can take any life and turn it around for His honor and glory. Make sure that you stick to your Sunday school class or your bus route you never know just who might be listening to you teach or watching to see of your really living for God. Don't give up! Their just might be a future pastor riding your bus or maybe a youth pastor listening to your Sunday school lesson. Keep the faith! Press forward! Never give up!

Sweet Summer Time!

I can't believe that summer is almost over! I looove the summer! It is most definitely my favorite season! With this summer has come many changes. More than I thought. Well, maybe changes isn't the right word for it, but it has been interesting. So, this summer like most summers I made tons of plans to do alll sorts of things and I followed through with almost none of them. haha. This summer I made different plans, like go visit friends from school, go to a different camp and visit a friend, WORK, and go to Oklahoma to see some other college friends. Um, well, none of my plans worked out :( tragic I know. I looked for a job for two months and found nothing. I made a grand total of $50 this summer. Woo hoo. Not that I'm not grateful for that money but that doesn't really cover tuition. I spent most of the summer worrying about how in the world I'm going to pay for school. Of course I prayed about it but I kept putting it before the Lord and then picking the burden back up. Crazy I know. It wasn't until I went to Senior camp at Sagmount in Joplin, MO that I realized that me worrying about everything isn't helping and its not really helping anything at all! I can't believe that it only took me nineteen years to figure that one out. haha. I know that I don't have this down but with God's help I can do anything and He will help me if I keep my hands off when I give it to Him completely. God is good!

Ahhh!

Have you ever had an Ahhh! moment? I seemed to have a lot of those this summer. Sometimes my Ahhh! moments were like a light bulb going off in my head and sometimes they were like Ahhh! I can't believe that I just did that. Well, unfortunately life is a learning experience and not all "life lessons" turn out the way that me or you expect. I have recently had one of those moments. The Ahhh! moment wasn't like the light bulb Ahhh! or the can't believe I did that Ahhh! It was like Ahhh! God why can't this just work out the way I wanted it to.Well, the funny thing about praying for something and taking your hands off the situation is that God becomes the controller and not you. Even though your not seemingly "in control" me/you still expect the same outcome that you were hoping for. Sometimes they way that I think it should all work out is the way that God sees fit honestly, this rarely happens. Something, that I learned at camp last week is that when I pray for God to handle the situation and then I don't let Him have total control it never turns out right. I have yet to perfect this haha! Before I left for camp I asked one of my dearest friends to pray with me about getting the money for school this semester and of course she said she would pray with me about it. While I was at camp we tool some time together to pray about it and ask the Lord to work the way He saw fit. After we prayed together I decided that there was no way that I could make this happen so I took my hands off and let the Lord work. Now, this is where my Ahhh! moment kicks in not the good Ahhh! moment either it's the Ahhh! this is not how I wanted this to work out moment. I came home from camp and was informed of how my school was going to be payed for. Lets just say I wasn't a happy camper. First thing I did wasn't pray about it. I called my friend Joellen and she quickly put me back in my place and told me that this is what I prayed for and I need to let God lead. So, since that time I have come to grips with the fact and yes I'm kinda being a baby about it. Oh well I'm human right? God's still working on me and someday when I'm in Heaven I'll be perfect :) Just remember that when you pray for God's leading and guidance remember that the outcome isn't always the way dreamed and hoped for and pictured in your mind. It is however the way that God sees fit and it's perfect in His eyes even if we don't think so.
Love,
Hillary

And We're Back!

Well, camp has come and gone and we had a great time! Of course the food was good, the preaching was amazing, and it was extremely hot! Despite the heat we had a great time! The preaching was right on this year! Bro. Webster had some great sermons! He preached on having five smooth stones and how salvation was awesome and all that but the relationship with God is vital.Without our relationship with God honestly, we have nothing. This couldn't be more true.The youth group was very responsive to these messages and one of our kids got saved! We had a great group at camp this year. They had great attitudes and were very tender to God's leading. What more could you ask for? Along with having great attitudes during the messages, they had great attitudes on the ball field as well. We won first place in every sport except water basketball and water volleyball! I'm so proud of them!! What amazes me more than the fact that we won sports and stuff is that we all had a great time even though it was incredibly hot outside all the time. It didn't matter how good you looked when you left your room because by the time you got down the hill you were all nasty and sweaty again. No matter how uncomfortable camp can be the Lord always moves and always changes lives! Thank God for another year at Sagmount!!

My Salvation Story

Well, its about that time again. That's right camp time! To some camp may mean meeting up with old fiends, seeing which church brings the most campers, seeing which church brings the cutest campers or just hanging out and playing games. Now, to be completely honest, I have been guilty of all of this! Camp Sagmount has a very special place in my heart. Not just because that's where my dad and my brother went to camp but because it means something so so much more. I got saved at that camp almost 3 years ago (July 17, 2008). That Tuesday morning the Lord really spoke to me about my salvation. Salvation wasn't really something that I ever struggled with until that day morning. I just brushed off the feelings of guilt and worry and went on with the daily activities. The night service rolled around and before I even stepped foot in the Tabernacle the conviction and all those feelings came flooding in! I couldn't wait for that service to be over. The invitation couldn't come soon enough. At the first sign of invitation I went to Mrs.Eidson and it seemed like we talked for hours! In reality it was probably like 20 min. After we prayed together Mrs. Eidson made a card on me and she handed it to me and she said that she wanted me to give it to my pastor. Even after I prayed for the Lord to come into my heart and forgive me from my sins the devil instantly started fighting. It was no more than 10 minutes after the service that I was struggling with my salvation. I was holding on the my card for the rest of the evening. Already the devil was trying to fight my salvation! It was very difficult for me to go to my pastor and give him my salvation card. Why was it so hard? Why couldn't I just give him the card? The devil wanted nothing more than to see me doubt God right after I gave Him my heart. Well, as the night went on I swallowed the fears and gave it to my pastor. At that moment it seemed as though the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. It was an amazing feeling! I was so happy! Guess what!?! The story doesn't stop here! The same night one of my bestest friends got saved! Amanda O'Dell got saved. She said that she was just waiting for someone else to get saved that she thought was saved and then she would go forward and get saved too! Praise the Lord! No matter what your facing stop. Thank God for your salvation. It's the most precious gift you can receive. If you haven't made this decision find someone who can help you better understand salvation so you too can feel free from your sin and have a story that you just can't keep to yourself!