Christmas is Here

    Christmas was just a few days away and I was ready for it. Christmas music was streaming through
the speakers in my home, the tree decorated. My church would be caroling the next day. My   grandparents would be coming for Christmas day. I still hadn't gotten any shopping done. What other people in my family had bought as gifts were left unwrapped. My mom didn't have much time.

That afternoon she, my brother, and I were just sitting on the couch, talking, laughing here and there.
  Admiring our tree. Then, suddenly, my mom looked at my brother and I very seriously and said
"I just want you guys to know that I only spent about half of what I did last year."

            My heart dropped with dissappointment for a moment. Half? That's really nothing.

                                           Then I felt a nudging in my heart.

                "Wait a minute? Why I am acting like this?" I thought. "Haven't I been reminding people
to remember the real reason for the season? That Christmas is about Christ? That it's about His birth
and ultimitely, His death. His precious gift of salvation. The gifts shouldn't matter!"

Now, don't get me wrong. I love receiving gifts. I love the anticipation and excitment of ripping the paper off the item and seeing what that person bought me. And I can tend to be selfish at times.
Though, I know I need to be grateful, because there are thousands of boys and girls my age
who receive far less. Some nothing at all.  And Christ never wanted us the commercialize
the day of His birth.

                                His birth is truly the best gift anyone could receive.
                                                      I'm learning.

                  Christmas is here, my friends. Let's remember why we are celebrating.

                                                    Merry CHRISTmas!

                                         

When a Friend Comes to Visit

Last month, a very dear came to visit me for three days. You might remember me mentioning this.
Well, let me tell you, it was a very fun filled time! It's always great visiting with friends that you otherwise never get to see. My family and I picked her up on a Thursday. (let me tell you, the two and half hour ride there was unbearable). Then, not half an hour after arriving back at my house,
we took a trip to the mall. Which happens to be conveniently five minutes away. :) 

                                 So, we ended up having almost too much fun.
             We went to Claire's, Maurices, Carson's (and went up and down the elevator
            more than once) and we even had our pictures taken in a photo booth. We also
            went to the Christian bookstore. However, we weren't able to spend any money.

                                       Jessie: But I can't buy anything!

                                      Me: Do you just want to leave?

                                      Jessie: Yeah, let's go. 
 
                                     Me: Oh Jessie, look at that! Oh, it's the Hobbit!

                                     Jessie: Stop!
                
                Ok, so those may not be the exact words, but that's about how it went.
                                              And I know, I'm so nice. :)
                                           
                     Then, at Carson's, we had so fun trying some furniture and such.

Jess and I really liked this chair. Or couch thing rather.
Whatever the official name for it is.

 

                            Then, we made our way to some other parts of the store.                     
                                                

 

At Claire's. Aren't we cute?

 

The next couple of days was a blast. We shared so many laughs. We also

watched several movies. In other words, we had an Avengers marathon because I had never

seen the movies before. We also watched a really sweet movie that took place in Ireland. The two

of us talked in Irish accents off and on during the remainder of the visit. :) We listened to

some Irish music. We watched funny youtube videos. Talked. Ate junk food.

 

On Friday I had a choir performance, and sweet Jess came along. Afterwards,

my friends Katie and Tiffany came over. That was a lot of fun for both Jess and I.

 

Then, on Saturday, (the last day) we took a trip to Amish country. It was just for a short

time, but it was so nice! And once again, we probably had a little too much fun.

 

Isn't she gorgeous?!

 

 

 

                                                                 

                                                              

                                                             

                        That weekend went by much too fast. The hours and days truly slipped by.
                     But I am so thankful to God for it. And I'm thankful to God for such a friend!

                         Jessie, I can't begin to describe how much fun I had with you.
      It's crazy that we've only been friends for a couple of years, and yet we're like sisters.
    Thank-you for making me laugh, and encouraging me. Thank-you for being one amazing friend.  You're beautiful inside and out, dearie. I love you! Let's get together again sooner than later,
       ok?
 

A Few Faces That I Love

  Friends are wonderful, aren't they? This pictures were taken a while back, while celebrating for a  friend's birthday, but I wanted to share them. I am just thankful for these girls.


Me and sweet Tiffany. Tiffany, I love your smile and how you
shine for Jesus. I love how, like in the next picture, you can look
cute in glasses. I love your laugh. I how we laugh at each other's laughs.
You have been such an encouragement to me and I can't wait to
see what God has in store for you next, dearie.

Tiffany with sweet little Grace. Gracie Dear, you're getting
so big. I love being able to see you grow up. You make
me laugh!

Me with one of the sweetest young ladies. Ellen,
I love how you're like my little sister. I love how we make
each other laugh. It's been an honor watching you grow.

Three seriously wonderful girls. Sweet sisters who are alike, yet
so different. Ellen, Katie and Grace, really? You all are
wonderful. I love you girlies so.

Katie and Tiffany, I am so grateful that God placed you
into my life. Both of you have encouraged me so much and
have made me laugh until I cried. Especially when the two of you are
together.

Me and my sweet friend Katie. Katie, you light up my life, dearie.
I can't believe we've been friends for six years. Well actually,
I sort of can. It's been an adventure. I love your laugh and your smile.
I love how we can quote movies and books together. I love your heart
for God. So glad He placed you into my life.

Tiffany and Katie, do you know how much I love our
friendship? I love laughing together and sharing things
from our hearts. I just love talking.Sometimes about
guys and the future, sometimes about politics, and
other times about our awesome Jesus. You girls have
been a huge blessing in my life and I thank God for you. I love you two!

                                                               
                                                         

                        

Dearest Fall

 Dearest Fall,
welcome back, lovely season. You were greatly missed in my life. Have I told you that?
It's true. So very true. Why you ask? Well, there's just something about you that's wonderfully
different from the other three seasons. Should I explain?

You bring brilliant colors left and right, hues of gold and magnificent reds. Your temperatures allow
me to wear cozy sweaters, warm scarves and oppurtunities for night hayrides and bonfires. You bring a time of harvest, family gatherings, delicious food, and fun football games. :) I love walking outside during one of your crisp but sunny days and just soaking in everything about you. Because, sadly, you won't be around forever.

Simply put, however, you're beautiful. Surely you know that!

If you didn't, well, now you do. Because Spring can't compare, Summer is, well, it's too hot, and Winter (although it's splendid)  can get a little too cold.

This is why I love you.

And I'm extremely grateful that you're going to be around for another couple of months.

Once again,
welcome back.

             Love,
                       me

                                  Fall is wonderful, isn't it?
                                        Enjoy your week,
                                                             Josie

Something that is very exciting

                                                    See that girl in the purple shirt?
                                              You may recognize her from my camp posts.
                                             Well, in two weeks she is coming to visit me!

                            Aside from camp, we never really get to see each other. So we've
                         had to learn to be content with emails and phone calls. Although this year
                        was different. We've seen each other three times (including those five days
                        at camp) since May! However, this is the first time that we'll be getting together
                        for a whole weekend. It's kind of a big deal. :)

                                               And it's getting wonderfully closer!
                                                 I can't wait to see you, Jessie!


                                                       Until another day,
                                                                             Josie

                       
                         

Isaiah 40

                         

                            "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,
                             And marked off the heavens by the span,
                            And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure,
                           And weighed the mountains in a balance
                          And the hills in a pair of scales?
                         Who has directed the spirit of the LORD
                         Or as His counselor informed Him?
                        With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?
                        And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
                       And informed Him of the way of understanding?
                       To whom will you liken God?
                       Or what likeness will you compare with Him?"
 
                           ~Isaiah 40:12-14 and 18

         Honestly, just these few verses blows my mind and fills me with awe.
        As I read this passage (and the rest of the chapter) , I just sat there on my bed and  
        thought to myself, "Wow! This is my God!" He is the One who is mighty, powerful,
        just, holy. I could go on. And what do I know of Him, truly? What do I know of His
        strength, His power, His might, His justice, and His holiness? Nothing. And who
        has informed Him, advised Him, shown Him the way? No one.

       He is God.

       And I love that I'm able to say, He's my God.

       And what an awesome God He is!

                                          Love,
                                                   Josie

                       

This Camp That I Love-part 3

                                                       This is my last post about camp.
                                                  However, I'll only be posting pictures.
                                               Only these following words are needed:
                           I am so thankful to God for Checkpoint Bible Camp and Lord willing,
                                                        I am going back next year. :)

                                                                

                                                           

                                                       

                                                         

         
                                                I hope you've enjoyed a look at my week.

                                                             Have a greet week!
                                                                     Josie
                                                                                                                                 

This camp that I love- part 2

In this second post about my week at camp, be ready for a load of pictures. Just because it was that sort of week. I was able to capture the silly moments that made me laugh, or the ones that simply, made me smile. When I look at them, I wish for that time again. One more year. :) 

Teens during puppet worskshop.

Two of my wonderful campers

Canoeing!

This girl just made me smile so much!

Me and the amazing girls from my tent!

Favorite

Fellow counselors and CITs

Now, onto Thursday night. What a blessing it was to see these teens take what they had learned during the week, and use their God-given talents to minister to the elementary campers.

 

The girls singing "He is Wonderful". They practiced this in less than two days!

The first skit, which was based on 1 Corinthians 12.



Skit number 2

Skit number 3

The worship team







So there you have it! I think I'm going to do one more post including pictures from

Thursday night's bonfire, and also pictures from Friday morning.

 

Until then,

   Josie














                                

This camp that I love- part 1

Once again,
God gave me the oppurtunity to serve at a local Christian camp. This was my third summer working there, and each year I fall more in love with it. Each year I become closer to the other staff, and each year God has taught me different things. This year He taught me patience and taking my thoughts captive (both of which I struggle with) . He placed me in the middle school camp as a counselor (last year I served in the middle school camp as a counselor in training, and loved every minute.) I served along with four other girls, three of which were already good friends of mine, two of those being from my church. The other girl, which I'll introduce to you, became my good friend very quickly.

This is Bri. We became friends pretty much instantly!

We as girl counselors had around twenty campers and were beyond blessed by them! There were also around twenty in the boys part of the camp. Guys and girls had meals, game time, and evening service together, so we all became pretty close. The days were long and tiring, going from about 7:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. However, they were filled with fun activites and lessons learned. (for the counselors as well as the campers.)


My friend Katie and are ready!

After the campers arrived, we went right into orientation, dinner, camp pictures, tent time, game time... well, you get the picture. Something the campers had to do during orientation was some improv. Let me tell you, it was pretty amusing!



The first, the "Hitch hiker" improv.

This was one a marriage counselor improv. They had to get the marriage
counselor to guess what the what the problem was.
My friend Ellen there was the "wife". We were all laughing hysterically by the end of it.

The next four days went by so fast! Even though each day consisted of something like this:

Wake up, devotions,breakfast,workshop (I'll explain what that was in a moment), life lessons, activity,activity, lunch,rest,swimming,free time, dinner,game,free time, and evening service.

The last night, Thursday night, the teen campers were going to lead the evening service for the
elementary campers. They did puppets, drama, and worship. So every morning from Tuesday-Thursday, they would practice those things. My friend Katie and I were in charge of drama,
along with two guy counselors. Let me say how much I enjoyed it! How much I enjoyed working
with those teens! I'll post pictures of Thursday and how it went later this week.

There is a glimpse of my week at camp. Keep an eye out for more, including pictures!

                                                 Until then,
                                                                  Josie
          






We are in the making

Beauty in the making.

What does that mean exactly? Many of you, when you hear the word beauty, think outward beauty.
Am I right? Well, I tend to do the same. We think clothes, make-up, hair, accesories etc. All of the things that make our outward beauty complete, and of course, we all want to look beautiful.
However, that's not the kind of beauty I'm talking about. No, I'm talking about inward beauty.
Now you probably have all heard this before. Honestly though, does it hurt to hear it again?

It says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that "He has made everything beautiful in its time."
Wait a minute. Doesn't God already see me as beautiful? Well, that's true. (Psalm 45:11)
But again, I'm not talking about outward beauty. I'm talking about us on the inside,
the spiritual, emotional, the things that need to change, or grow.

"..being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

God is making us beautiful on the inside. I happen to think that is awesome! God is taking the
good, the bad, and the ugly and using it for our it good. He is changing maturing us and growing us, making us into something truly beautiful.

And these words are not just to girls, either! Each one of us are a beauty in the making.

That's what I want to encourage you with and what I want you to remember. So when you
feel like you're worthless, or when God is doing anything in you...

He is.

I hope you find encouragment in this and my posts to follow. Welcome to my blog. :)