Maaawage (Princess Bride...anyone?)

As I sit here I keep thinking about the fact that Matt and I are growing up. It is a scary but exciting thought. We are S-L-O-W-L-Y figuring out what the Lord wants from us, and how to go about getting there. I often find myself day dreaming about the future, starting our CAREERS, having kids, moving away, etc. Matt and I are in this awkward in between stage in our lives. We are adults, with bills, and our own home, real jobs, and responsibilities, but yet; we are still like kids. We love going on trips, sleeping in, and staying up too late watching TV. We are still learning about marriage and each other, but we are having a blast doing it. The hardest part about growing up for me, is just that...growing up. So many parts of me want to stay in this awkward stage where we stay the night at our family members' houses, just because, where we have no responsibilities over more human beings, and where we pretty do whatever we want (within our budget.) But another part of me is ready to go back to school and become a teacher, have kids, move away (hopefully to Haiti) and start our ADULT lives serving the Lord. Finding the balance between those two things is not easy. 

Last night I went to the Queen Pageant at our county fair (I hate pageants), but I went because Matt runs sounds and I had a friend whose little girl was a Little Miss. As I sat there people watching (my favorite thing to do) I couldn't help but notice almost everyone I went to high school was carrying a small child, and it made me think, "so this is what I'm supposed to be doing at 24, I'm supposed to be a mom." I thought this for about 2 minutes then the Lord smacked in the back of the head and snapped me back to reality. This is what he reminded me "someday you will be a mom, and a really good one because you will teach your child about My Son and My love, but right now is not the time! Enjoy your time with your husband where you don't have to find a babysitter when you want to go out, enjoy your full nights of sleep, and trips you can take, just the two of you." 

When Matt and I were engaged everyone was asking "when are you going to get married...when are you going to get married...why is your engagement so long?....blah blah blah"  Now that we are married everyone is asking "when are you going to have a baby....don't you want a baby....when are you going to have a baby?...blah blah blah" Everyone is always rushing us, why can't we just be us, Matt & Sierra for awhile?  

Growing up is really hard, sometimes I feel like it is only hard for us (which I know is not true.) We are still trying to figure out how and when to get out of this limbo stage we are in right now, or even if we want to get out of it. We are loving our late night Denny's run with our friends Zach & Danny, Matt is loving is time with his band, sharing Jesus through their music, I'm loving being able to go fishing or swimming at my grandma's anytime I want, we are enjoying our late nights watching Smallville (even if we regret that decision in the morning), I'm loving my random trips to STL to play Dungeons & Dragons or my free hours spent reading, or my trips to Haiti (which would not happen if I was a mom. )We have been married 1 year and 4 months and we are loving our moments of alone time, even if we are just watching TV or taking turns playing Mario on the Wii. We are not rushing our lives together, we are holding onto each moment the Lord gives us together.

Now, don't get me wrong, I cannot wait to me a mother, and I cannot wait for Matt to be a father, but right now is not that time.

If you are rushing through life, or catch yourself wishing your life was different I suggest you take a step back and look at the little things in your life that you enjoy...things like the stuff I listed above. The little things in life are what make it peaceful and perfect. 

Thank you Lord for blessing me with a perfectly imperfect marriage! I cherish everyday I have with Matt, and I thank you for putting him in my life 6 years ago.

Until next time...Deuteronomy 24:5

Haiti Video

I finally finished my video from my trip to Haiti. I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday Five

This is a new thing I am starting. Each Wednesday I'm going to write 5 things that are going on in my life (not that my life is that exciting.)

1. VBS is this week! VBS is one of my favorite times of the year, I love the music, the kids, all of it! Matt and I are working with 5th & 6th graders again for the 2nd year in a row. We love our other team leaders with us and we have a great group of kids. The first 30 minutes we sing songs; watching Matt do the motions is PRICELESS! Next we take our group up to the mission room. Instead of crafts they are doing mission projects, the have been putting Operation Christmas Child boxes together and they will pack them tonight, they have sorted shoes the church has been collecting (the shoes are sold to provide clean water), the girls have been sewing pillow cases to send to a children's home (I'm excited about this, since I love to sew.) The girls are really enjoying it!  After missions they go to Scripture Memory where they are memorizing II Timothy 1:7 AND learning it in sign language (thanks Reha), they are also learning the books of the New Testament. After that is Snack and Rec, which is just games and food! Next they go to Bible Story, they have been learning about Paul and how be came to follower of Christ and the great things he did after he was changed. The three ladies who have been teaching the lesson are amazing! Then it is time to go home. On Thursday the parents are invited to come and hear the songs, memory verse, and other things the kids have learned this week.

Both of these girls hold a special place in my heart and always will! The one standing is 12 and very skilled sewer, she is giving a quick lesson so they can get their pillow cases done!

2. In November I asked for a bike for my birthday, but Matt asked if I was okay with waiting until it got warm since I wouldn't be able to ride it anyway, so I agreed. Then when it got warmer I was planning my trip to Haiti so we decided I would wait until I got back. I GOT IT MONDAY!!! I love riding bikes! For my eighth grade graduation when my friends were asking for phones, camera, and new clothes I asked for a bike. I got to go on a 15 minute ride yesterday and I plan to take one again today! 

Meet Luna! She is so beautiful

In honor of my first ride, I wore my shirt with bikes on it!

 3.You're Timeless to Me! I finally talked Matt into auditioning for a musical (well I had some help from a few friends.) Matt is Wilbur in Hairspray! Not only is he in a musical, he is in one of my favorites!!! He had his first read through on Monday and last night he was working on his song, but since he can't read music and I know every song by heart, I got to help him on a few parts. I can't wait to see him in it, he is going to rock it!

4. I'm reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix right now, and it is intense.  It is hard for me to explain to people how anxious, nervous, and attached I get when reading books (especially really intense ones.) Right now I'm really mad at Harry because he is being mean to Ron and Hermione, I understand he has a lot going on, but it is uncalled for. Matt thinks I'm crazy because I talk about the characters like they are real people, but I'm not ashamed!

5. Matt and I are hoping to go on a mini vacation to Chicago for Comic Con in August, but that is if our funds allow it!    

Love this quote!

Just Be You!

 I want to empower teenagers (especially girls) in a positive way.  I want to show them that you don't have to be skinny to be beautiful. You don't have to wear short dresses or low cut shirts to be noticed. I want to show girls that class and brains are more beautiful than dark makeup and high heels.  I'm not saying dark makeup and high heels are bad, because if I wasn't already tall (and not a klutz) I would wear heels more often.  What I'm saying is that I hate that girls feel that they need to be someone else in order to feel beautiful or popular. I want to tell girls that reading is just as cool as texting all day. I want to show them that they don't have to change for a boy because the right one will not want them to change. 

I know all of these seems so cheesy but I am really passionate about this subject. I wish girls could see that the way the celebs act is not the right way to treat people or yourself. Don't use people for your own good, do things for the good of other people. Don't belittle people to build yourself up. And stop judging girls by their clothes and accessories.

Self-respect, respect for others, being passionate, & daring to be different is important in life. I never really fit in with people my age in school. I didn't like to music or TV shows or clothes that they liked. It took until about my senior year that I realized I didn't want to be like everyone else, because that made life boring. I decided that I would be me and I would find friends who we okay with that. When I got to college I met people who were different just like me, but in a different way. 

I would love for young girls to see their beauty through their pain and distorted view on their bodies. God has created us all differently, how he wanted us. 

Don't be afraid to be different....just be you!

God is good, all the time

The past few days Matt and I have been feeling the hit on our checkbook because I was off work while in Haiti for three weeks. Three weeks is a long time to not be working if you are dependent on that money. When I first had the opportunity to go for three weeks I didn't hesitate at all (I'm all about doing things without thinking) so I agreed. Then as the time came closer I started to get nervous about not making that money. I prayed a lot about it and just had to have faith that the Lord would provide for us. Wednesday when our checkbook was getting smaller and smaller we really started to worry. We were both on edge and was very careful that what we did buy was a must have. We had no food and not enough money to buy any but Matt's mom surprised us with several bags of groceries. Neither of us knew she was going to do this but we were very thankful. I finally got paid but my check was still smaller than normal because I had a the flu and missed a day of work. After we paid rent we would only have about 90 dollars left for everything else to last us two week and we needed to get several things for the house (toilet paper, trash bags, etc) and more food. I called Matt really upset and he was very short with me on the phone "I can't talk right now, but don't worry okay?" I figured he had someone in his office or something. About 10 minutes later he text me and said "don't worry, we have just been blessed, I'll explain later." I had no clue what he was talking about. Later he called me and told me someone walked in his office asked about the issues we had with my trip (paying for a hotel we didn't need, the extra money for the rental car for insurance and gas, etc.) Matt explained what happened and this person handed him a check for quite a bit of money. This person said "you two are like our children and we want you to have this, use it for whatever you need." Matt was so grateful he started crying in his office. 

That night I called this person to thank them. They said this to me "when we were your age a lot of people helped us out and you will do it for someone else when you are our age. But it isn't from us it's from the Lord."

I am still amazed about the faithfulness of the Lord. He provides for those who are obedient, He called me to go to Haiti for three weeks and He blessed us for that. Please remember that God is good, all the time!

Until next time...Romans 8:28 

Read a Book, or Two, or 50!

While I was in Haiti I borrowed some books from Angie (it got boring at night.) I read four books in a week and a half. That was just reading late at night after the internet was turned off. Once I got to FL I went to WalMart to get a book to read on the way home (after being stuck on a plane for 3 hours without moving I was glad I did.) Once I got home I decided I was going to try and read 50 books this summer. I am almost positive I will not be able to reach that goal (I'm expected to cook, clean, do laundry, work, and spend time with real people...LAME!) Right now I am almost finished with book nine it is is already July, so I am not going to make my goal, but that is okay, I am going to see how close I can get. I got a library card and have been going to town on reading. I have found some new authors I really love and read some new books of authors I have read before. I want to rate each book I have read so far but I know I'll just give them all 5 out of 5 so there is no point. Here is the list:

Island Inferno by Chuck Holton
Against All Odds
An Eye for an Eye
In Harm's Way (all three of these are by Irene Hannon and are The Heroes of Quanitco series.)
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Along for the Ride
This Lullaby
Lock and Key (all three of these are by Sarah Dessen)
There You'll Find Me by Jenny B Jones (not done with this one yet)

I hate how many teens don't read anymore. When I told my youth group about my goal one kids said "Wait! 50 books!!!??" and another one said "I don't think I've read 50 books in my life." Breaks my heart! Reading is the best way to pass time (or keep you from getting house work done)

Until next time..."The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”-Dr. Suess (the best author in the whole world)

Now....go read a book!

Jesus' Love

I read a quote earlier on Facebook and it really made me think. Here it is: 

"Jesus loves pagans and witches a lot, it's just unfortunate that sometimes we don't." -Furious Love

I think that as Christians we believe that we cannot associate with people who are not. Too many people think we should only be around other Christians. Yes, it is important to spend time with fellow believers, but that doesn't mean we cannot love non Christians. 

Did Jesus only hang out with the apostles? Of course not, and if you think He did you might want to read the Bible again. 

¹³ Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.
¹⁵ While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
¹⁷ On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:13-17. 

God loves each one of us the same, Christian or not. John 3:16 doesn't say, "For God so loved the Christians that He gave his one and only son." God so loved THE WORLD. All of it! Sometimes I think Christians have been Christians so long that they have forgotten they weren't born that way. There was a time before we were saved. For some of us it may have been a longer time than others. 

We have gotten so wrapped up in our outward appearance and what others think we have forgotten about what God thinks.  How would you feel if your fellow church members caught you having lunch with the town drunk? How would you feel if I told you God sees you with the town drunk?

Jesus hung out with the outcasts, the people everyone had pushed out the door. He loved them, just as He loved the apostles, and how He loves us. We should love others by thinking about how God loves them. What does He see beyond the "broken" outside of those people? 

Stop adding more to the walls of your building and start taking the church to the broken. If we are not bringing more people to Jesus we might as well burn the building down! We need to leave the walls around us and love the people we don't think deserve it, because I promise you, they do. And they may need it more than you'll ever know. We need to stop judging people from the outside and get to know their heart. 

Love them in the same way Jesus does. 

Until next time...John 13:34-35