Gratitude

With Thanksgiving today and the Christmas season right around the corner I know a lot of us are thinking about thankfulness. It can be so easy with it all around us. I know through out the year I can be too busy focusing on what I don’t have then to focus on what I do have.

But if I think about it, I could easily name hundreds of things I’m grateful for and I wouldn’t even scratch the surface. God has blessed me so much and I’m so thankful. I decided I would share with you today my top ten. Sit back, grab your popcorn and start reading 😉

---

1. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Without him, everything else on this list would be pointless, without God I have nothing. I’m so thankful that over 2,000 years ago God sent Jesus as a baby to save me and everyone else who believes in Him.
2. A loving family. I’ve learned so much from my parents. We have a very close relationship and they are amazing role models. I love my two crazy younger brothers who make me laugh. I can’t imagine life without my family.
3. Grandparents who care so much about me. I know some kids don’t have grandparents that can spend a lot of time with them. I’m very thankful to have grandparents that are able to come to all my different events and make time to be actively involved in my life.
4. Friends new and old, who care about me. My friends are a big part of my life. Each of them support me and out up with my craziness. They are always there for me when I need them. I love them so much.
5. A church and small group where I feel welcome and included. I’ve been at the same church my whole life and I love it. I always joke that my church is my second home because my family is there so much. I really like our pastors and the overall community of the church. I’m part of a small group inside my youth group with other girls my age. It has really brought me closer to the girls in the youth group. My small group leaders are always there for us and are also awesome role models.
6. Supplied with all my earthly needs (food, water, clothes). I have a house, clothes, food, and water. I have abundantly more than that. I tend to take these things for granted it, really I’m so lucky to have them.
7. Co-op/learning in general. I don’t always want to be doing school but I do really enjoy learning. It’s amazing how much we can learn that points us back to God and His awesomeness. I also really like my co-oop and the teachers.
8. My blog. I’ve learned so much through blogging and found things I’m passionate about because of blogging. It is a very special opportunity that I have access to this form of media.
9. Pets. My pets are a very special part of my life. I’m so thankful God made animals for our enjoyment.
10. Music. Music, is so powerful, it can be calming or frightening, it can tear people down or bring them up. I love listening to it and it brings me closer to God.

---

Thanks for reading! I’m so thrilled to be able to blog and also meet new people through blogging.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’d love to know some things that you are thankful for. Leave me a comment telling me what you are grateful for!  Also, what is your favorite food that is served on Thanksgiving? I like everything, but especially stuffing.

 

Advertisement

A Good Enough Christian

{via}

Sometimes I feel like I’m a good enough person. I attend church every Sunday, I volunteer, and I’ve been called a goody-goody before, but I’ve come to the realization that it isn’t enough.

I beat myself up inside when I make a mistake. When I wish I hadn’t said something or don’t follow the rules.

It’s hard because people say that I’m a good person. I like to hear that. I enjoy that standard. The problem is it’s harder for me to admit that I am actually just as much of a failure as everybody else.

I try not to be prideful about it and I hope that’s not what you are thinking because I’m not trying to brag. I finally realized that I mess up, a lot. I’m not perfect. I’ve known that I’m not the best, but it didn’t fully sink in. I need to be saved from my sin just as much as anyone else. I struggle with that. I always want to compare myself to others and say, “Well, I’m not as bad as so and so. I’m still pretty good.”

When really, that’s not what matters.

Did you know that The Grand Canyon is gigantic, 277 miles long?

{via}

You can stand on one side and try to jump across but you will never make it. Even if you could jump almost to the other side, we know it is impossible. But what if there was a bridge?  Then you wouldn’t need to jump.  Jesus is like the bridge that spands from one side to the other.  With this bridge, anyone can reach the other side. Anyone can cross. They don’t have to do anything super great. They only need to accept that the bridge will take them to the other side and walk across.  That is what it is like with Jesus. Jesus, is perfect and he died, so that we can enter heaven.  Without him, as our bridge, we won’t reach the other side.  Jesus states, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

The point I’m trying to make is that none of us are perfect, me included. I mess up. I shouldn’t think of myself as better than others. I’m a sinner who needs Jesus just as much as anyone else. I don’t know where I would be without Him. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Which means, we all make mistakes and none of us is perfect. Then in Romans 6:23 it says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The other point I’m trying to make is that us (you and me) will never be able to make our way to Heaven on our own. You ready for another example? Ok, say that someone murdered (I know it’s a little harsh, but it gets the point across.) your mom. Wouldn’t you want the judge to give a fair trial? What if the person guilty of the crime pleaded, “Well, yes, I did this horrible thing, but look I’ve done all these other great things!”

If the judge let him or her go free of charge, would you think the judge is fair? Most people would explain that he’s a terrible judge. (I borrowed this example from the movie Courageous). This is also the way God works. He doesn’t judge us by the good things we do, but by what we do wrong.

You may be thinking, well then I guess I’m toast. I would be too, but there is this amazing thing called grace. We don’t deserve it, we can’t earn it, and there is no way to buy it. But it is free to accept. In Acts 16:31 it says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.” That’s all there is to it. How simple, am I right? It’s amazing that God cared enough to send his son to die for me and you and all of us. That’s the takeaway I want to leave you with. God forgives us each and every time we mess up. Most importantly, we don’t have to be perfect to believe in Him. So, what’s holding you back from trusting in what Jesus has done for you?

I got contacts last week! If you wear them, do you have any tips??

Where do I See Myself in Ten Years?

{Featured image via}

Hi there! So a few weeks ago, Loren posted where she saw herself in ten years and I got inspired to do the same thing, so here it is. She got this post from Nabila, check out her original post here.

---

Where do you see yourself job-wise?

I’m not sure because I don’t have a firm idea of what I want to do as of now. I think I will probably be an intern since most of the positions I want I would need some experience with. I really like the fields of social work, counseling, teaching, and ministry. I’m not exactly sure which one I’ll chose but it will definitely be relating to kids.

Do you see yourself married?

{via}

I don’t think I’ll be married yet. I would like to get married but it all depends on what God’s will is. I wouldn’t say it is out of the question, but I don’t think I’d be ready to get married since I wouldn’t have a stable job.

Do you see yourself having kids?

{lost link}

No. I probably won’t be married by then so I won’t have kids, but even if I am married I don’t think I’d want kids immediately (since I probably won’t have been married for long). I love kids and definitely plan on having a few (at least!) but I think I’d wait a couple of years first.

What kind of house would you want to live in?

Honestly, I don’t care. I would rather live out in the suburbs or at least not in the city, but I would if I had to. I would like a roommate (especially my BFFL) but I could live alone too. I’m not very  picky, as long as it is clean and not in a bad area.

Where do you see yourself blog wise?

{via}

Well, honestly I don’t know. IF I continue using this blog for that long I know I’ll definitely change the URL. I love blogging but I don’t know if I’ll really have time for it being freshly out of college. We’ll have to wait ten years and find out 😀 Honestly I love blogging so much and I would hate not to be able to do it.

Do you see yourself having a pet?

{via}

Most likely yes. I love animals (especially dogs and cats) and feel protected having a dog around. I would really like an animal and the only reasons I wouldn’t have one was if I didn’t have enough money or if my apartment didn’t allow pets.

Do you see yourself having a car?

Yes. I’ll need a car to get me places. It won’t need to be a fancy one just something that works and doesn’t break often.

---

I hope you liked this tag! Feel free to leave your answers down below! Thank you so much to Nabila for creating this tag.

This is a fun tag, though I’m sure everything will be quite different in ten years. I have my own ideas, I know God has bigger and better journey for me. Even though I can’t see it now I know he has a plan and I can’t wait to follow it and see where it leads!

I need to leave for my brothers baseball game…. I don’t want to go out in the “cold” 😀

My Missions Trip

Okay. Where do I even start with this post?

Well, as you can see by the title I’m talking about the missions trip I went on. I’ve had some requests to post about it. So here I am. I know it has been a few months (a little over three to be exact). So you may be thinking, why now? Well, I found this post completely written and edited sitting in my draft box and wondered why it was never posted. So I am here today to post it. Without explaining further let me just start.

Before I left for the trip I thought I would be journaling often and taking plenty of pictures, when in reality I didn’t. I was way too busy to grab my camera or sit and write. So, I don’t have pictures or journal entries. So this is all from my memory.

Background

Every year my youth group goes on missions trips. They have been going to Maine for almost 20 years.

We drive up, hold a VBS (Vacation Bible School) Monday-Friday and then drive back. They don’t have any other camps throughout the summer in this town, so for most kids this is the highlight of their summer. We hold the VBS at the school and this year we also slept there.

On Wednesday night we hold a carnival with food, games, and a small program.

The day after we arrived home (Sunday) we share something that God taught us and a favorite memory from the trip in front of the church.

Preparation for the trip

We started to think about and prepare for the trip in January. I signed up and began sending out support letters. I had to raise $595 to be able to go. I raised the money through asking for donations from people I knew. Our team also had meetings about once a month where we learned more about each other and were taught different ways to share Jesus with the kids.

Since we were volunteering with a VBS we were on different teams (guide team which lead the kids around, crafts, worship, teaching, and 7th-12th team.  The middle and high school were combined and had their own separate group and games).  I was on craft team with two others teens and an adult. We decided what crafts we would create, tested them, and practiced teaching them.

The one other thing I had to do was pack. Everyone is given a giant duffel bag (big enough to fit both my little brothers in) to pack their stuff. We also could bring a bag to carry in the vans (most of us used school backpacks). We slept on air mattresses the whole trip, so we had to pack those as well.

The actual trip!

We had 51 kids show up on the first day for VBS!

Their were 17 teens and 10 adults that went on the missions trip.

Our VBS day consisted of an opening (where we sang the VBS songs and watched a little video skit), then there were four rotations (crafts, games, worship, and Bible). There were four groups PreK and Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade, 3rd and 4th, and 5th and 6th. Then we finished up the morning by singing more songs and talking about the day and what the kids learned.

We ate breakfast and lunch cafeteria food.

It took two full days to drive-each way!

Some favorite memories

I have so many memories! This trip was so awesome and I had such a great time. Ever since I reached home I’ve been missing it. Some of the things listed below are general, while others are more specific.

-I really liked the long car rides to travel there and back. We listened to music or talked.

-I liked that it was sort of like a nine-day sleepover with my friends. We were serving but we also had fun!

-It was amazing to get to bond with people who I didn’t know very well and now I feel like I’ve known them forever.

-Something super special was that my mom was able to come with me on the trip! It was cool to be able to serve along with her.

-I liked watching the kids make their crafts and singing and dancing to the VBS songs at opening and closing programs.

-We would sit outside on a hill and watch the moon come up (after the sun went down) and talk.

-I tried peanut butter and ketchup on a hotdog and it was awesome (you can’t judge it until you’ve tried it!)

There were many more, but that’s all I’ll share for now.

What God taught me

Well, God taught me a lot of things. The two main things that I learned were:

1. To trust God more. He has a purpose and a plan, even if we can’t see it. He taught me that He is in control, so I don’t need to worry.
2.  God does answer prayers. There were lots of things I prayed about (including staying physically healthy, having a place to sleep {for a few months leading up to the trip we didn’t have a given location where we were going to sleep}, for the kids to be open to hear about God) and God answered them. I also grew closer to God when we had our devotions, which made the prayers feel even more real.

I went to Maine to serve and teach kids but in a way I was being taught by God in so many ways!

I learned so many different things from the mission trip and not just in relation to my faith. I spent nine days with my peers. We had to bond as a team and learned team work. I was amazed at how even from different backgrounds and being different ages we became unified.

I’m so glad I went and I would really encourage you to pray and ask God if He is calling you to serve! It was such a special time and it encouraged me so much in my relationship with God. I’m so thankful for this experience and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

^^This is my team! Thanks guys for being such an awesome team. It was awesome to work with all of you 😀

---

I hope that answers everyone’s questions! If you have any more you can comment them and I’ll be sure to answer them.

Have you ever been on a missions trip? Would you like to go on one?

That’s all for this post. Bye 🙂

It feels really fall like outside! Yeah!

What I’ve Been Reading- September 2016

{Featured image via}

HI! I’m really excited for this post! In my summer bucket list, I mentioned that I hadn’t been reading that much but ever since summer hit I’ve been reading a ton. I thought I would share all the books I’ve read in September and which books I still plan to read. Some of these books I read for fun, but others I read for school.

I’ve seen these posts floating around the blogging community and I love the idea so I thought I’d try it. Ok, I think I’m done explaining 😉 Let’s start!

---

The Bible, inspired by God- read

September 1, 2016 was a momentous day in my life. I finished reading through the entire Bible! I started reading on January 1, 2015 and planned to read it in a year. It took way longer than that but I finished! I used a plan on the Holy Bible app. They have lots of great plans on the app. I completely recommend reading this book, over and over again 😉

Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki- read

Before I go to bed at night, I read to help me fall asleep. I like to read educational/boring books because it makes me sleepy. This book I do suggest you read. I read it all summer and finally finished it at the beginning of September. It talks about finances and it was actually interesting and definitely useful.

A Moment Of Weakness and Halfway to forever, Karen Kingsbury- read

I read both of these within the first week of September. They are part of a three book series (the first one is called Waiting For Morning). I totally recommend this series, though it does have some more mature themes since it is adult fiction.

Battle of The Labyrinth, Rick Riordan- read 

Another great book in the Percy Jackson series! I’m dying to know how the series ends. I definitely recommend this book. I recently got into the Percy Jackson series after reading The Lightning Thief for school. I guess I’m part of my first ever fandom… Yay me!

Gilgamesh The Hero, Geraldine McCaughery- read

This one I read for school. It’s the oldest known written story but this is a rewritten version. It was super cool to read the oldest known story. It wasn’t my most favorite book but it was still an interesting read.

Even Now, Karen Kingsbury- read

Another really great Karen Kingsbury book. She is just such a wonderful writer. All the things I said above apply here too.

Dark Sons, Nikki Grimes- read

Now I don’t like poems but this book was so good! It is a bunch of small poems though they aren’t the rhyming kind. It tells the story of a fictional boy named Sam and also Ishmael from the Bible. Both are abandoned by their fathers for other women (not their biological mothers). I really recommend it. Not a hard read.

The Law, Frederic Bastiat- reading

This book I received when I went to an economics course. I pulled it off my shelf and decided to try it after finishing Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I haven’t read a lot of it yet and honestly I don’t really know what it’s about! So I can’t really recommend it.

Maggie’s Miracle, Karen Kingsbury- read

Haha, can you tell who my favorite author is? This was great book. The ending was definitely a twist. I forgot to mention earlier but Karen Kingsbury is a Christian author and all her books are centered around God. I love her!

Heros, Gods, and Monsters of Greek Myths, Bernard Evslin-reading

In school we are learning about ancient history so this is another book I’m reading for my literature class. So far so good. It tells about all the different greek gods and their myths. It’s interesting to note that some of the information in this book is really different then what I’ve read in Percy Jackson but some of it is similar.

The Last Olympian, Rick Riordan- TBR 

I said above that I want to finish the Percy Jackson series. So, to the library I go!

---

Whew, there are all the books. To me, this is a lot of books for one month. Have you read any of these books? What did you read this September?

Signing of for now!

I went zip lining for the first time on Saturday! It was AMAZING!

Massanutten Resort {Travel Diary}

Hey guys! A while back I posted about my family’s trip to Great Wolf Lodge (read it here) and everyone really liked that post so I decided to share about the vacation I went on a few weeks ago with my mom, dad, brothers, and grandparents. We went to a resort called Massanutten.

Disclaimer: I’m not trying to brag in any way, I know that people like this type of post so I decided to share.

Day 1 (Friday)

On Friday we arrived at the resort. I took pictures of every room so I could show you a tour. We rented the top and bottom floor of the condo.  They both have the same layout so I’m showing you everything once.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day 2 (Saturday)

On Saturday my brothers did this cool bungee dome thing, where you are attached at the waist with a cable and you can jump super high.

Later that day, we went on a hike. Six years ago, we went to Massanutten and my dad hid three rocks in a tree along the path (one for me and one for each of my brothers). We came back and found them, six years later! We were pretty excited to see that they had survived that long and that we had remembered where we put them.

Day 3 (Sunday)

I found out that some of my friends that I’ve met through blogging lived in the area and we got to meet up! I went to their church and then we went over for lunch at their house. I had such a fun time! I’m so glad I was able to meet some of my online friends face to face.

I tried to make it so it looks like she’s holding the camera 🙂

On a side note I did bring a doll on the trip. Nikki came with me and I got a very nice photo shoot with her (it’s quite long). Let me know if you want me to post it!

Day 4 (Monday)

Quick jump 30 feet

Hardest rock wall

Ropes course

On Monday we explored a place in the resort called ‘The Family Adventure Park’. They had ropes courses, zipplining, rock climbing, tubing, and more! I just did the tubing since I was saving my money to go horseback riding, but my brothers did everything (it looked really fun).

(sorry for the bad quality, it’s on my iPod)

We went and saw The Secret Life of Pets that night for my brother’s birthday present. It was pouring rain when we left our condo and we saw a skunk! It was really cute but also a little scary because it was very close.

Day 5 (Tuesday)

On Tuesday we went to a water park. Yup, there was a water park at the resort! It was a blast and similar to Great Wolf Lodge in some ways. The lazy river was awesome (and better than Great Wolf Lodge I think). They also had an outdoor water park as well.

I did everything in the park :). The water slides were awesome. I conquered my fear and went on the two pitch black ones which I’m quite proud of.

My family and I had tons of fun and it was definitely a highlight of our trip. We were so busy having fun that I forgot to take any more pictures…. Oops!

Day 6 (Wednesday)

On Wednesday my mom and I went to the pool and swam laps which was really enjoyable (I feel like only swimmers say that 😀 ). We also went mini golfing that day. That evening we went to an amazing local restaurant and I had really good chili.

Day 7 (Thursday)

On Thursday I went horseback riding! I had never done it before so it was a new experience.

After that I met another blogger! We went swimming together and talked. I had a great time!

On Thursday I finally took some photos of the deer we’d been seeing all week. There was a mom and her three babies. I guess people had fed them before because they weren’t very afraid of humans.

Day 8 (Friday)

On Friday we woke up and left the resort. We stopped for IHOP first. It took longer than expected to get home, but finally at four o’ clock (PM) we arrived home.

Clara said when she got back from her vacation she was glad to sleep in her own bed and I whole heartedly agree. I was VERY happy to get back to my room and my soft bed 😛

Funny story: On Friday I opened the car door and a ball that was in our car rolled out and down the very steep hill. Before I caught it, it got stuck in the bushes we had seen the skunk in! My brother had to fish it out with a broom. The rest of my family was waiting on us since they were ready to go! It was quite a scene.

I had a great trip and I’m so thankful I was able to go and spend time with my family.

———————————————————————– 

Have you ever been to a Massanutten resort? What did you do for vacation this summer?

I hope you are having an amazing week!

I’m pretty sure everyone is in school by now…. So, happy school day 😀

 

What’s Up With Me

As you all probably know, I haven’t posted in almost three weeks. The main reason and the one I’m going to be talking about in this post of why I haven’t been posting is, I don’t like the posts I’m writing.

When I first created americangirlguide, a little over two years ago I wanted it to be about American Girl Dolls. If you look back on my posts from this past year less than half my posts were doll related. If I think about it, yes, I had fun writing the doll ones, but I liked writing the non-doll posts even more.

When I started american girl guide I did it to write about something I liked. I’ve learned so much over the past two years and have realized how much I like writing and photography. But I’ve also come to the conclusion that…. Dolls aren’t my main hobby/thing I enjoy doing. I still think they are cool, but I just don’t enjoy them like I used to.

This post isn’t really about me not liking dolls, it’s more that my main interest has changed. If you look at my posts in the past year I don’t know what category you’d put them in, maybe lifestyle? but they aren’t doll related and that’s why I don’t want to keep posting under americangirlguide when that’s not really what this blog is about.

I’ve been thinking for a while about completely changing the direction of my site and making it into a lifestyle site or making a new blog where I can post about the kind of posts I like. I haven’t reached a decision yet and so I’m asking for your help/ suggestions.

What do you think I should do? I know a lot of you have multiple blogs and I don’t think I could keep that up, yet I don’t want to wipe americangirlguide off the surface of the earth. I’m quite torn on what to do. So, if you have any suggestions please leave them in the comments! Thanks for putting up with this little word spit. I’ll be updating you soon on my decision and what happens next with my blog.

Two little things I want to mention before I end this already long post,

1. This doesn’t mean I won’t be posting about dolls at all, that just won’t be the main focus of the blog.

2. I’m definitely not quitting blogging, I’m just readjusting my blog to fit me.

Anyway, that’s it for this post! Thanks for sticking through to the end.

I went to an amusement park yesterday with my church, it was super fun!

My Summer ‘Blink’ List

Ahem. I posted this June 4th but it never popped up in my reader and I wanted to change it. I did keep it public, so some people have seen it, though not in the finished version. Just wanted to clear that up. Also, I did not take any of these pictures.

Hi everyone!! Today I’m going to be sharing with you my summer bucket list. My youth group leader made this up last year and challenged me to do it. I did it but not very well so I’ve decided to do it this year. If anyone else would like to do it feel free to copy me;) It’s called a ‘blink list’, because summer goes by so fast and so this list is things I want to accomplish before the ‘blink’ is over. Let’s start.

{via}

#1

Wake up early to watch the sun rise. I am a lazy person. Being awake and ready for swim team at 8:30 am can be a challenge. Let alone waking up at 5 something to watch the sunrise, but I really want to so I’m going to try it 😀

No link for this.

#2

Have a water balloon fight. I have actually already have had two water balloon fights so far this summer and they were really fun. Let’s see how many more I do this summer.

#3

{via}

Keep a journal consistently. I’ve tried to journal before and never really been consistent. I started writing in May and I’ve been pretty consistent so I’m going to try to keep it up all summer.

#4

{via}

Improve my swim times. I do swim team every summer (and I love it). I don’t have any specific swim goals this year, mostly just to improve my time and have fun. Practice can be hard but it’s also a lot of fun. My coach is amazing so I’m really hoping to become an even stronger swimmer this summer (and get some arm muscles).

{via}

#5

Have a bonfire with friends. I did this in the fall with my friends and it was a blast. I’m hoping to do it again but who knows because I have a really busy summer.

{via}

#6

{via}

Sleep under the stars. I’ve been wanting to sleep on my trampoline for a while but I also really like my own bed. So I don’t know if I’ll do this, but I’d like to try.

#7

{via}

Read 50 hours throughout the summer. I know to some of you 50 hours is a piece of cake, but I haven’t been reading as much recently so this is my goal. Please leave any book suggestions in the comments!

#8

{via}

Be a consistent blogger. Do you know how many times I’ve made this goal? I was pretty consistent for about a month and then I failed. Life gets busy and sometimes I’m just not in the mood to blog, but I’m going to try to become more consistent(by that I mean weekly).

#9

{via}

De-clutter my room. I own a lot of stuff and I don’t need all of it. The summer is the perfect time to do a deep clean and get rid of some stuff.

#10

{via}

Reach 100 followers. This would be a pretty big deal for me. I am hoping to accomplish it before my blogaversary (June 21st) I know blogging is just for fun but it would still be really cool to get 100 followers.

#11

Host a giveaway. I’ve wanted to do this for a while and I’m still not sure if it’s entirely possible but I am going to look into. I’m not making any promises though.

#13

{via}

Try some new Pintrest recipes. Pintrest is a very cool but addictive site. I pin so many food related pins yet I can count on one hand how many I’ve actually made (2 or 3 I think).

#14

{via}

Finish a few sewing projects. I know how to so and I enjoy doing it but I don’t very often, so this is something I’d like to work on.

Finally #15…….

{via}

Relax! I mean it is summer, which for me is almost as busy as the school year. So I’m going to try to make that a priority.

---

Those are all my goals for summer. What are your goals?

At the end of the summer I’ll make another post about if I completed my goals or not. I hope your end of the school year/ start of summer is going great!