Don't settle

This is just part of something I found while stalking one of my guy friends pages on Facebook...I thought it was cute, and I'm pretty sure he took it from a different source, I am not sure where, but I thought it was adorable and was wondering what you think, dear reader.

"Life only comes around once. Make sure you spend it with the right person...

Find a guy...

• Who calls you beautiful instead of hot
• Who calls you back when you hang up on him
• Who will stay awake just to watch you sleep

Wait for the guy who...

• Kisses your forehead
• Wants to show you off to the world when you are in your sweats
• Holds your hand in front of his friends
• Is constantly reminding you of how much he cares about you and how lucky he is to have you
• Turns to his friends and says, 'That's her!!'"

Just remember, Princess, that you deserve God's best for you, and His best is always greater than you could ever possibly imagine at first! Never settle for less!

More loving letters from God

I am still reading His Princess by Sheri Rose Shepherd. I seriously love this entire book, but for the sake of time, space, and copyright issues, I will quote merely a few letters here for you, dear Princess.

"My Princess...You don't have to fit in. I know you want to be accepted by others, but you were not made to fit in. You, My princess, were created to stand out. Not to draw attention to yourslf, but to live the kind of life that leads others to Me" (14).

"My Princess...Treasure your body. Your body is a gift from Me, and you are too valuable to let the wrong person open that gift...don't compromise My best for you for a moment of passion...the pain is not worth the pleasure" (33).

"My Princess...You are my true beauty. Your real beauty is a work of art--hand carved by Me. I have given you beautiful lips to speak words of life, beautiful eyes to see Me in everything, beautiful hands to help those in need, and a beautiful face to reflect My love to the world" (40).

"My Princess...Your life is a symphony. You are to Me a beautiful song...Stay in rhythm with My Spirit throughout the day, and I will make your life an irresistible medley that will linger like sweet perfume in the hearts of all that journey with you. Walk with Me in absolute surrender, and you will draw others to Me in a rhapsody of praise" (54).

"My Princess...I will heal your heart...I, too, have felt great pain, rejection and anger...I promise you, My Princess, that when you go through deep waters of great trouble, I will be with you" (73).

"My Princess...You are free to love...give those you love the freedom to fail...If you let Me take the disappointments that come with relationships, you will be free to give and recieve love unconditionally. Remember, My Princess, most people need love the most when they deserve it the least" (94).

"My Princess...You're never alone...Don't settle for less than My best..." (103).

"My Princess...Pray with power...Wherever you go, remember that part of your royal privilege is raising your voice to heaven" (111).

"My Princess...Give me control...Who knows you better than I do? I don't want you to keep exhausting yourself trying to rebuild your life after another shipwreck" (144).

"My Princess...Love is not a game...it is a gift. I know there are those who don't sincerely care for your heart, but I say that your heart is precious" (162).

You are ALWAYS somebody's baby

We have all sinned. Thank God for Himself, that He sacrificed Himself as Jesus in order to wash away our sins and bring us back into relationship with Him. But maybe you are still struggling; maybe you are weighed down by sin and the burdens it can bring. Maybe you feel weighed down by addiction or shame or insecurity or fear or depression or anything else. Princess, this is a reminder that no matter where you are in life, no matter how undeserving you may feel at times, anyone can come to the cross, because Jesus paid for everyone and for you.

Watch this video.

Remember, Princess, that you are always somebody's baby girl. It means no matter what you do, you are still your mother's baby girl. You are still your father's baby girl. And you are still God's baby girl. You are the King of Heaven's baby girl, and He loves you and always forgives. I pray that you always remember this, beautiful one, just as I also pray that any guys who may be reading this would remember that each girl is a mother, a father, and God's daughter.

Love letters from God

I am currently reading, among several other books that I need to finish, a book called His Princess by Sheri Rose Shepherd. I highly recommend this book!!! It is a fantastic little book with short little letters based off of Scripture, like love letters from God! It's awesome, and I obviously cannot copy whole passages due to copywrite reasons, but I wanted to share one of them with you that absolutely struck my heart and reminded me not only of how I used to be and how I used to feel but even who I am now and how I feel now. I think many of us can relate or in the future will be able to relate:

"My Princess...it's never too late.

It is never too late to turn to Me, My love. I didn't start a countdown when I gave you the choice between life and death. There is no time limit on My love for you. I am patient, yet I don't want you tomiss out on any precious time with Me. There is no place you have to go to find Me. Just cry out to Me, and I will come to you. Wherever you've gone My grace has followed you. Whatever you've done My blood has covered you. Come to Me today, and I will do more than repair the damage done...I will restore what was lost. Someday you will look back on this moment as the turning point that transformed you into the princess I called you to be. Now come to Me, and let's fall in love all over again.

Love,

Your King who knows no limits

'The LORD said: It isn't too late. You can still return to me with all your heart.' Joel 2:12, CEV"

(Shepherd 16-17).

Think about it

I was talking to a friend of mine on Facebook yesterday that I don't talk to that often because I don't get the chance to see him a lot at church. Somehow, the topic of conversation turned to dating and relationships, and he brought up a point that I feel is so important for everyone, myself included, to remember:

Girls, if the guy you are dating is not your future husband, he is someone else's. Treat him as such. You don't know if you will marry your boyfriend or not, which means always treat him as if he is someone else's future husband. Guys, if any are reading, the same applies for you. If the girl you are dating is not your future wife, she is someone else's. Treat her as such. You don't know if you will marry your girlfriend or not, which means always treat her as if she is someone else's future wife.

Have I messed up in this aspect? Sure. Have others messed up with me in this aspect? Sure. But it hurts terribly, and you don't want to be caught up in that sort of mess. It's better to be held blameless in this account than to know that you have hurt people or have been hurt. Thankfully, though, God forgives us all because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice!! Which for me, and for some of you, means that we can try again to keep ourselves and others safe.

How would you want someone else to treat your future spouse? You would be angry if you learned that someone had hurt your husband/wife, right? Don't be that person who does the hurting. Don't be the person who goes too far. Set boundaries early in your relationships so that you can prevent a mess.

For further reading, I suggest reading Pure Excitement by Joe White.

From God to you

A friend of mine shared this with me after a mutual friend of ours shared this with her:

"Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone, to have a deep soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God to a Christian says, 'No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me alone, with giving yourself totally unreserved to Me, and with having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone, discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found; only then will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me, exclusive of anyone else, exclusive of any other desires or longings. I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing, one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just wait. That's all. Don't be anxious. Don't worry. Don't look around at the things others have gotten or that I've given them. Don't look at the things you want. You just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you'll miss what I want to show you. And then, when you're ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than anything you would dream of. You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready, until both of you are satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I have prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me; and this is the perfect love. And, dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love; I want you to see in flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you.'"

Keep fighting the good fight

After talking with a Tico friend lately (different than the other Tico I talked about here), I felt a huge need to post here. So to all of you princesses (or princes who might possibly be reading) out there who have looked at this blog every now and then, know this: I am not at all perfect.

Like everyone else in the world, I still sin. I try not to, but sometimes I fall victim to temptation. And sometimes I don't even take my own advice. Sometimes I don't listen to what I know to be true. And when that happens, I am hurt because of it.

I try to write what I know to be true, what I know is good. I try to impart some of what little wisdom I have gained from reading Scripture and from making mistakes and from listening to others and how they have learned from their mistakes and their experiences. But, unfortunately, I am not immune to these things...and neither are you. But you know what? That's okay! We aren't perfect; only God is. But we can still try to learn and to go for God, not for this world.

Keep fighting the good fight. I love you.

Unfailing, relentless love

If you are reading this right now (and I am 100% certain you are, since you are reading this too!), I highly recommend you go watch this video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

This is a skit that a group performed to "Everything" by Lifehouse. I don't think there has been a single time I have watched it that I haven't cried. Why, besides the fact that I am emotional (but aren't we all sometimes)? The biggest reason why this video hits me every time is because it is such a strong picture of God's love! We may sin over and over again, sometimes deliberately turning away from God's love, but He is always there, unfailing, reaching for us and calling to us. His love is the kind of love that takes you back again and again and again, no matter how many times we cheat, no matter how many times we lie, no matter how many times we put something else in our lives before Him. Talk about amazing love!

Some great advice from a Tico

(Note: the term Tico or Tica refers to a person from Costa Rica)

After returning from a mission trip in Costa Rica, I have kept in contact with many of my friends from there. One of them in particular I have been messaging, and he, as a Christian man, shared with me some great things. He is not perfect; none of us are, and he has had his share of problems with a relationship he once had, but he has gained much wisdom from it.

1. There are two great questions that you can ask yourself before diving into a relationship. The first is, "Is it God's time for me to be having a relationship?" The second is, "Am I glorifying Him by having this relationship?" I recently tried having a relationship with someone around the time the mission trip happened, and when I returned something felt off in the relationship because of the changes that had occurred in my heart. When I read these questions that the Tico wrote to me, I realized that no, it's not God's time for me to have a relationship, and no, I wasn't exactly glorifying God by having the relationship. We weren't doing anything extreme by any means, but it wasn't bringing God glory like it should have been. So, I am waiting some more, and still pursuing God steadfastly.

2. Proverbs 4:23 = "Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Another translation reads, "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." The heart can be a tricky thing, and it is very important to be careful so that you aren't hurting yourself! Keeping a pure heart is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your future/current husband. Along those lines, the Tico I have been talking to writes that he is trying to keep his heart healthy and neat for his wife, which is a huge reason why he does not have a girlfriend at this time. He admits that sometimes it is extremely difficult to be without a girlfriend, but that with God he is able to resist and keep moving on until God places the right woman in his life.

3. To quote this Tico, "Remember that you are a princess and there is just one Prince for you." Another great question to consider is who you are going to give your heart to. I wouldn't want to give my heart to someone that I'm not going to be with for the rest of my life! I've tried that before, and not only is it not worth it, not only does it not make much sense, but it can hurt! One of the leaders of Student Ministries at my church once said, "I want to be wholly holy, not holey." Meaning, it's better to keep your heart intact until the right person comes along, and then make sure to be careful and keep careful watch over your heart. It is one of the biggest treasures you have to give. Give it to God first, and then keep it safe for your future/current husband!

One great thing about many of the Christian guys I met in Costa Rica is that they recognize that we, as women, seriously are princesses! I can't count the number of times I have fondly been called "princess" in conversation. It's the truth! We are the precious daughters of a Holy King! Never forget this!

Girly Night Message

Hello, Princess! Here are the basics of what I covered at Girly Night:

1. We all like to feel loved, don't we? Especially we as girls, and having approval (whether from friends, family, boyfriends, etc.) makes us feel good on the inside. Hearing people say "You're beautiful," "You smell good," "I love you," etc., really lifts us up. But sometimes we feel like we aren't getting enough of that, and sometimes we want it so much that we start doing anything we can to try to get it...

2. Before I accepted Christ, I was in a place where I was insecure with who I was and was desperately searching for love to fill my heart. What I found was too shallow, and didn't completely fill me like I wanted it to, no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried to believe I was happy that way. It left me broken and hurting, alone and lost. But suddenly, when a little bit of distance ended up coming into my life between the love that I was getting and myself, God had room to enter my heart. I eventually accepted Christ, and later God told me that I needed to rid myself of this shallow love, that I was worth more, that I deserved better, that He had a better plan for me. So while it was sad to leave this behind, I embraced a new sort of freedom and space to grow in a wonderful relationship with God.

3. We are princesses, and as such, the only one whose approval we should seek is God's. Matthew 25:34 says, "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." Because in Christ we are God's children, because He is our King, that makes us princesses who will inherit his kingdom! It doesn't matter whether or not we try to look the part, because we already are the part.

4. Approval and love from friends, family, and boyfriends is important, no doubt, but God's love goes far beyond what any of them could ever provide you with. His love is the only one that is completely unfailing. The phrase "unfailing love" is used around 32 times in the Bible, and only in reference to God's love. And how crazy it is that the God of the entire universe, of the plants and animals and stars and oceans and rainforests and mountains and deserts and galaxies, loves you. It's a crazy kind of love that will truly never leave, never forsake, and never fail us (see Hebrews 13:5). We cannot expect anyone else on Earth to love as unfailingly as God. Think of how much pressure would be on a person! But we can expect that from God!

5. Jeremiah 31:3 = "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness" (emphasis mine). Also, in John 15:13 = "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." God sent Himself as His Son Jesus to die for you, for us, on a cross, the most shameful way to die at the time, so that He could bridge the gap that our sin has created, the gap between us and Him, and so that He could be in relationship with us here on Earth and forever in Heaven. We are more than just friends to God, too; we are His children! 1 John 3:1 = "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" He is also our Heavenly Fiance. Jesus calls Himself the Bridegroom in Matthew 9:15, Matthew 25:1-10, and John 3:29. "Bridegroom" is a fancy name for "Fiance." The relationship that God longs for with you is as loving and intimate, even more so, than the one between you and your future/current husband.

6. A lot of us have been in places we don't want to go back to. A lot of us are in places we really don't want to be in. A lot of us may be tempted to end up in these places in the future. But it doesn't matter where you are or where you've been. Accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior automatically washes you of all of that. You are pure and holy in God's eyes when you are in Christ. Not only are you forgiven of what you have done, but your sin is erased! He will take you back again and again, because He cannot bear to ever let you go. He loves you far too much. He wants to be with you.

7. We don't need to conform to the standards society has set for us. We don't need to try to do everything we can to please people; we don't need to try to gain approval from our parents, friends, boyfriends, etc. At the end of the day, the one who loves you most is God, the one you matter most to is God, and His approval, His love, is what counts the most. He already knows who you truly are. He made you, and He already knew what sins you would commit and what trials you would face. He has seen you at your strongest and your weakest. You don't need to put on an act for Him, because He sees your heart. And even with all of this, even though we are not perfect people, He loves us with a completely unfailing love.

Try listening to "Wrapped in Your Arms" by Fireflight. Search it up on Youtube or download it or something. It is a fantastic song about how God will always be here to comfort you, to carry you, to hold you close.

How amazing is His unfailing love!