This morning I decided to get up early and go on a walk before I went to work. I've been needing some prayer time, and I always pray best outside :) Something I've been noticing lately is that there are a lot of things that God is trying to work on in my life, but I get so caught up in my busy day-to-day life that I forget to listen to Him. I've been letting my friends down in ways I shouldn't, I've been ignoring little things about myself that I need to work on, and in some ways, I've acted like I was too busy for God. I'm sure all of you have been there, I know I do it all too much.. So anyways, this morning I decided to spend some time soaking up His wonderful creation at my favorite time of day- just before sunrise through about 30 minutes after sunrise. I brought along my camera so you can see some of what I saw :) For me photography forces me to slow down and pay attention to what I'm seeing as I'm looking for that perfect shot. However, my card reader is out in my van, so I'll put the pix up later. Sometimes just a short walk like that can do a lot for me! I was feeling all down about my life, but by the time I finished my walk I was happy again :)
Many of you have heard bits and pieces, or maybe even a lot of the things that I've been going through lately in my life, and one thing I REALLY have to work on is contentment. I have never been the most patient person in the world, in some ways it's been good, because I get things done quickly, but in others, I need to work on it. Particularly in the area of loneliness I feel every day of my life called being single. I see many of my friends in relationships, and start wishing soo badly that I could be there too, but again, I need to learn to let God use me right where He has me now instead of trying to be where He has other people. I find myself doing my utmost to put myself there, when really God is not ready for me to be in that season of life yet. I could use your prayers in this area in particular, because of all the discontentments in my life, this is by far the one I struggle with the most.
Another thing that really has been a problem with me lately is that if I'm feeling down I want my friends to feel the same way with me, so I'll say different things to make them be sad with me, without even realizing that that is what I'm doing. Spending time with God really helps me "learn to be content with where I am, and getting where I need to be" as Relient K puts it. Sometimes I feel like I am left out of the loop, because I don't do as much social interaction as some of my friends do, but then I have to remind myself that I always have God, and there is no better company than Him. Something that is really strange about me is that I often feel like people don't like me, or don't want to be around me. For one thing, I'm sure that's just an illusion, and besides that, I always could be spending that time with God, because He will never be too busy for me!! :)
One of the local names for this flower is hobo pea. However, I'm not sure what it's actual common name is. Lovely flowers nonetheless.
I'm not sure, but if I remember correctly these are Blue Vervain.. whatever they are, they sure were proclaiming their creator!
Psalm 19:1 ..The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft..
A Black-eyed Susan that posed for me ;)
I'v always liked daisies, even though they are not the most beautiful of flowers, they always seem to make me happy :)
I know, these aren't the best of pictures, but right now I'm dealing with a fairly cheap camera, and this was like the second time I've ever used that camera, so I'm not used to it yet.
I think something I would like to challenge you all to do is try to get up early at least once a week and go on a walk with God. Don't try to go sit on the couch with God, because you will most likely fall asleep. Besides, at least for me I feel a lot closer to God when I'm out in His creation. Maybe for those in the blogosphere, take a camera and take time to slow down and appreciate each little part of the beauty of nature, take a picture, thank God for those little things, and share it with the rest of us. I think that if everybody would do this, a lot of problems would be solved. Let me know your thoughts on the idea, I think it would be good, but who knows, maybe you won't ;)
Well, there you have it, "confessions of a teenage Christian" lol
God bless you in a special way today!! (or tonight depending on when you read it..)
