After many days of dreaming and planning of starting my own YouTube channel, I can finally say....
I have finally posted my very first YouTube video!! :D I am so very excited about this opportunity and adventure God has asked me to take. In the coming weeks you will see more videos from me on this channel as I share my heart with all of you through videos and not just my writing. =) So go check out the video at: https://youtu.be/gN8iMG7Lm2s Comment and let me know if you enjoyed the video! =) Can't wait to post more in the coming weeks!! Thank you all for being amazing readers and viewers. <3
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A year ago today, God gave me a gift I'd dreamed about for more than half my life.
The gift of being an author. A year ago today "I Dare You" released for the eyes of the world to see. I typed the words "I Dare You has been released!" onto this blog. My heart and soul on paper became available for people to read. And to be honest, it was one of the most beautiful, amazing, and yet terrifying feelings I'd ever felt. On that day, June 26, 2015 I had no idea what God was gonna do with this book. I had no clue how He would use it. All I knew is that He wanted me to publish it and I was going to be faithful to what He had asked of me, no matter what. A year later, I stand looking back on the incredible journey He led me on. Not only did I become an author that day but in this past year, God allowed me to release another book too! Wow... So let me tell you today. Whatever your dream is, place it in the hands of God and pursue it with Him. Pursue it with all of your heart and glorify Him every step of the way. Because when you do that, He will do amazing things with it. It won't be easy, but it'll be worth it in the end. Holding my published copy of "I Dare You" today is so worth all of the tears, prayers, and frustration. It is one of the most beautiful gifts God has given me. Thank you for reading. Thank you for encouraging and inspiring me with your comments and feedback. I am so grateful for all of you. To God be the glory! Great things He has done! Today the world lost a beautiful, amazing voice.
When I heard the news of the tragic shooting that killed Christina Grimmie, I was shocked and sickened. She was so young. She was an amazing, beautiful singer and person. I watched her journey on The Voice and voted for her the whole way through to the end. She could sing like no one else. When I heard the news, it hit me how fragile life is and how precious it is. How quickly it can be taken, even when one is so young. All the time you hear the phrase "YOLO: You Only Live Once." It's a phrase meant to give teens the permission to waste their youth and do stupid things in the name of "having fun," while sometimes damaging their future. It gives them the permission to do whatever they want to do when they are young, even wrong things, because you know, "you only live once," so you might as well do it now. And in this way "YOLO" deceives the youth of today. Because you do only live once. But shouldn't that stop you in your tracks and make you wonder? Wonder what you are doing to make this one life count? Wonder what you are doing to leave your mark on the world now? We only have one life to live on earth and we aren't even guaranteed how many days or years that life will be. It could be two years. It could be fifteen years. It could be forty years. It could be one hundred years. We don't know. And that should cause us to look at this one life we have to live and cherish every moment. To count every moment worthy of being cherished and loved and appreciated. You might not wake up tomorrow morning. You might not make it through this evening. But you have this moment right now that you are living. So live it to the fullest. Tell someone you love them today. Give them a hug and make it last. Take a walk with your family while the sun is setting and stop to smell the flowers alongside the trail. Call your best friend, tell her you need her forever. Share a smile with a stranger. Listen to the wind blow through the trees. Appreciate the smell of fresh laundry. Enjoy the little things and make them all count. Love the people God has put in your life and show them that love every day. Don't take them for granted. You never know when God may take them home. Appreciate the things you have. You never know when you may lose them. You only live once. You only have one life. What are you doing about it? Don't waste it, please. Don't waste it doing something stupid with your youth and don't spend your days goofing off. Don't spend your life with no purpose or meaning. Make a change. Speak out. Do something worth remembering in ten years. If you were to die tonight, did you leave anything behind that people will remember you by in 10 years? Something that will inspire others in 10 years, maybe even someone you don't know? Write that book and publish it. Sing that song and record it. Draw that picture and display it. Raise your voice and speak out. Be bold. Chase your dreams. Love radically. And above all, love Jesus with every second He has given you. Love Him more than the one life He blessed you to live. Cherish this one life. And do something amazing with it. A year ago today, my blog Worth it All was born! =)
It's hard to believe that it's been a year since I began writing this little blog and sharing my heart with all of you. Thank you beyond words to everyone who continues to read every article I post and encourage me with your comments. It amazes me whenever I check the blog stats and see that the average weekly website visits for my blog is 267 views. Just wow. It means so much to have your support. It blows me away and humbles me. Thank you. I love each of you. If there's one thing this past year has taught me, it's that truly nothing is impossible with God. If you work hard and chase your dreams for His glory and to honor Him according to His will, He will bless you. So here's to another year of pursuing dreams and chasing after God. Another year of blog posts that you may or may not love. Another year of writing for Him. Soli Deo Gloria--To God be all the glory! I could never have imagined on June 3, 2011 when I began my Bible Bee journey, the way it would feel to walk out of that hotel in San Antonio, Texas five years later on November 21, 2015.
To step out of that hotel and walk away from that incredible week we spent together worshipping God and rejoicing with each other. Walking away from that amazing time with the people I couldn't imagine not knowing. Walking away from what could be my last time with all of you since I was stepping out into a new life of Alumni. When I first signed up for the Bible Bee in 2011, I didn't know I would meet all of you. I didn't know then how much you would mean to me now. So if I've never told all of you how grateful I am for you, this is for you: You have edified me, you have built me up, you have encouraged me. You have inspired me, challenged me, and picked me back up. You have laughed with me, cried with me, prayed with me, rejoiced with me. You have cheered for me, pushed me on, and never let me give up. You have loved me and run the race beside me every step of the way. You have been my second family. The second family that will always be a part of my heart and life even as I step into the new race of being Alumni. I look back on all the moments we have shared and I can't help but smile. I cry too, because the loss of not having all of us together now still stings some. And I would give anything to have us all back at Nationals together just one more time, to sing just one more song, or pray just one more prayer in a group. But think about all we've shared together.... We have counted down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until registration, summer study, and Nationals. We have raced to register for Bible Bee in April to see who could register first. We have stayed up until midnight on May 31st, watching the time on our clocks change to June 1st as we excitedly rip open our Bible Bee boxes to discover our new study materials. We have tried to guess the study books (most often we've guessed wrong, haha) over and over and we've tried to memorize as many verses as possible in the shortest amount of time. We have taken practice tests, written practice questions, and shared resources over and over on google study docs. We have had signature and photo contests at Nationals. We have all had nervous attacks at locals and Nationals where we needed a friend to smile at us, reassuring us that it would be okay. We have stood onstage together reciting the Word of God for hundreds of people to hear. We have stood onstage together as a group receiving medals that hung around our necks, only a temporary prize compared to the true reward in our hearts. And every one of these moments I cherish in my heart. But the moments I miss the most are the simple moments at Nationals when we were all together, laughing and playing. Sitting in a circle playing Dutch Blitz (I know, I still don't know how to play...). Standing in a circle singing hymns as loud as we could. Dancing all the wrong steps at the square dance. Holding hands in a group as we all fervently prayed for each other and thanked God for what He was doing. My dear Bible Bee-er's, you are some of the strongest people I know and I am honored to know each of you. I know I haven't listed names here, but you know who you are. You are the ones who have been in my Bible Bee journey and changed my life even if you didn't know it. Your examples of love for Jesus inspire me every day. I am so blessed and honored to have had the opportunity to be a part of a group that loves Jesus more than anything else. Thank you for everything. For the phone calls, the letters, the emails, the encouragement, the hugs (Bible Bee hugs are the best), the smiles, the prayers. Thank you for it all. I will miss standing with you on that stage as you glorify God. I will miss standing in the circles talking about all of our study tips and how much we want to make semi's but how much more we want God to be glorified. I will miss walking with you down that aisle at the Opening Ceremony. I will miss praying with you in groups. I will miss hugging you those tight, beautiful hugs that we exchange after not seeing each other for a year. Thank you for being wonderful enough to give me something that I will miss so deeply. I chose to write this post to you today, as it turns midnight on June 1st, 2016, to remind you of the nights we stayed up till midnight on June 1st to open our Bible Bee boxes together. To remind you of how special and precious those moments are. Cherish them. And now, you sweet Bible Bee friends who are still running your race...Keep running. On Monday, your new race begins. You are standing at the starting line, anxiously ready to start running. So run well, my friends. I believe in you, I know you can do it. And above everything else, I already know that every one of you is a winner. You've been a winner every year. So keep running to glorify Him. Keep running to praise Him. And when you get to the end of your race, whether that be at Locals or Nationals, give Him all the honor. I am standing at the end of the Bible Bee race as Alumni, cheering for you every step of the way. You can do it. I am so, so proud of you. More proud of you than you will ever know. Thank you for being my second family. You mean so much to me. May we always run together towards the prize of knowing Jesus deeper in this life. I love you all beyond words. |
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