Neverland

 This afternoon I was helping my younger brother clean up and tidy our woods garden, aka the large open space in our woods that butts right up against our yard...don't ask me why it's called garden...nothing grows in there- hence the large open space!

There is a large tree house right in the middle of it with a collection of old broken toys and furniture that has all been used for a multitude of things; pirate ship, house, farm, hospital, etc! Things, meaning toys and furniture, had gotten a little out of hand recently, and since my graduation party is this weekend, I decided that the stuff must get cleaned up!

Now, I'm 17 years old and have not played out there for several years.

As we were cleaning things up I would pick up an old toy and old memories would flood into my mind. I remembered the carefree, and somewhat child I was, up in that tree house being whoever I wanted to be!

I stood there for a moment letting the sweet memories sweep over me.

I suddenly felt a longing to be 10 again pretending to be a nurse. Not having to think about the grades or long years of studying it would take for me to become one!

I wanted to be young, innocent, and without all the stress that life has bogged me down with.  I don't want to have to worry about school, grades, money, relationships, time, etc!

Why, oh why did I wish those years away to get to where I am now? There is nothing glorious about it!

And then I realized...I didn't wish those years away...it happened naturally and over time. I was bound to turn 17-18 eventually! And I had a fun childhood! I wouldn't really change it at all!

And being a teenager has many blessings that as a child, I didn't have!

Like having more freedom, being able to drive ( that's a big one!), having more responsibility, having more say over your life, making decisions YOU want to make, being old enough to be in relationships, and so many more things!

So, I guess my main point in this is...be content in the stage of life you are in! They all have their pro's and con's! It's just what you choose to focus on! 

Well that's it folks!! I'm working on a big post right now...I've been struggling with it, but hope to have it out soon! 

Love, 

Cait

15 Words of Wisdom

So I asked on my personal Facebook page if some people would impart some words of wisdom to the younger generation and for everybody else!!

Here are some of the responses I got!

1)  The choices and habits that you make now will not magically disappear once you reach adulthood! As the saying goes..."Old habits, die hard!"


2) This is sort of related to #1....get in the habit of reading your Bible! It doesn't get any easier as an adult! And it is one of the most important things in your life

3) Sometimes , the most valuable lessons aren't taught within the walls of a classroom!


4) "Always speak up for those who can't speak for themselves, always stand up for those weaker than you, and all it takes for evil to prosper is for a good man to do nothing!" Thank you Edmund Burke for some inspiring words!

5) You will learn and observe many things in life...especially in the college years....so make sure to constantly analyze and reevaluate everything and to take it back to the Bible to evaluate it's truth!

6) Travel now and see as much as you can!! The older you get...the busier you get! So do it now when you have the time AND the energy!

7) Start saving for retirement now! A $100 or two each month starting as soon as possible will cause you to be able to live comfortably later on when you retire!

8) Read history!I can't tell you how many times history has repeated itself! You would think that if it happened once already we would learn from our mistakes...but no! "You can never make the same mistake twice, because the second time you make it, it's not a mistake...it's a choice."






9) Make time to serve others every week! No matter how small the act of service is to someone, it can still make a difference!

10) You can't change a person!!! I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say that! It is impossible to change a person...there is only one who can change a person's heart and the is Christ! He can change their hearts, causing them to change the way the view life act!

11) Be Authentic and be yourself! Nuff said!

12) Eliminate 'friends' who tear you down, don't respect you, and are all around a bad influence! The people you hangout with is the they type of person you will eventually become! Surround yourself with people who constantly build you up, encourage you, respect you, want to love life with you, and will constantly push you past your limits!

13) People are always watching and listening to what you say and do so make sure that you are always speaking what is true and good and acting like a true follower of Christ!

14) Challenge yourself!

15) Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone: The comfort zone is...well...comfortable! We like to stay there because when we step outside of it we feel scared and insecure and I don't know if there is a single person who likes to feel awkward or scared! I know I don't! However, God speaks to us and reveals things to us when we are most scared or insecure! I know that when I grew most, spiritually, it was when I was fully outside of my comfort zone! I was scared and had to fully rely on Christ, which allowed him to show me things up close and personal!

A Life Changer

There have been many things in my life that have caused me to grow spiritually and have literally changed my life.

But there is one thing that has changed me in  a HUGE way!

That thing was my mission trips to Chihuahua, Mexico.

The first time I visited Mexico it was in September in the year 2009. I was 11 years old.

Experiencing a new country and culture is amazing, but as an 11 year old it was a little scary. Even though I was with my family and some of our closest friends, being 1,000s of miles away from home, meeting new people, and having to use my very little Spanish, was just a little out of my comfort zone.

My first trip was a lot of site seeing and working with a children's program that my church sponsors called Light Shine.

I'll tell you a little bit about Light Shine since I will talk about it a lot throughout this post!

Light Shine was started more than 7 years ago by some of the missionaries that work down. Light Shine is a children's program for the Native Indians called the Tarahumara that live in Chihuahua City. Most of them have come from the Sierra Mountains to find better work and try to live better lives.

(Both of the above pictures show the Sierra Madre Mountains. It is truly breathtaking and no picture can do it justice)

 Light Shine tries to get these kids off the streets, gives them a good meal, plays games with them, teach them how to take care of themselves, and most importantly teach them about the love, grace, and forgiveness of out Lord Jesus Christ.

Since going in 2009 I have gone back to my home away from home and second family twice. I went back in 2011 and then in 2013.

I have watched these kids in Light Shine grow up! I have also seen these kids accept Christ into their lives, become baptized, and lead the younger kids in Bible lessons and worship.

I have watched these kids share the gospel with the Mexicans. *(Back story) The Mexicans treat the Tarahuamara Indians kinda like how we treat Hispanics in the U.S. They give them the crappy jobs and look down on them*

It brought tears to my eyes (and for those who don't know me...that is a VERY rare occasion. I don't cry) as I watched these kids share the gospel and love on the people who dislike them and look down on them.

God has used each of these trips to:

 1) Push me further and further out of my comfort zone. I still hate getting out of my comfort zone because, well...it's uncomfortable and the inside of my bubble is very comfortable. I have learned, however, that some of the coolest things I have experienced were outside of my comfort zone. I have also found that I have grown closer to Christ outside of my comfort zone more times than I have inside of my bubble. I think the reason for this is that, when I'm comfortable I don't really NEED to rely on Christ. But when I'm scared, alone, and uncomfortable it forces me to rely on Him!

2)With each of my trips, God has shown me that I don't truly understand the extent of God's love and forgiveness. Each trip I come home completely overwhelmed with the love that God has for me and the lost. After each trip my desire to share the gospel and help people has strengthened and my fear lessened. Now of course, I'm not perfect and often shy away from a perfect opportunity to share the love of Christ with someone, but God is showing me that there is no need to be afraid because He is speaking through me...

I actually read this in my devotions a couple days ago;

In Matthew 10: 19-20

 "...do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

I don't know about you, but that relieves a lot of my fear, because I don't have to worry about messing this up, because it isn't really me speaking...but Christ, speaking through me.

3)  After each trip, especially after the last one I was on in 2013, God has created a passion and love for the lost and hurting. Now I have always wanted to help people on a medical level, but He gave me a desire to help people on a spiritual level as well. I desire to build relationships with people, mentor people younger than me, etc.

I feel like I could go on forever about Mexico and the millions of things that God has shown me, but that would take WAY too long!

If you have considered going on a missions trip and feel like God is telling you to go, but fear, money, etc are keeping you from actually going... drop everything and GO!!!!

If you haven't considered a missions trip I would encourage you to prayerfully think about it! It is an amazing experience!

Here are some pictures from my last two trips!

Hanging out with the local church's youth group before we lead worship in the community

Leading worship in the community

My best friend! They were missionaries in Chihuahua, but just recently came back to the States

My pen pal and her family. I haven't seen here since my first trip in 2009 so it was an extremely sweet time

Sunrise + worship+ Sierra Madre Mountains= Indescribable amazingness

Last night in Mexico. My family sponsors this sweet girl and it was a very emotional time having to say goodbye

I tutor here in the states and got the incredible opportunity to tutor in Mexico.

This was back in 2011 and this not so little boy is now 11years old! My family also sponsors this spunky kid

Nothing more amazing than listening to the local pastor preach in the Tarahumara community...in Spanish of course!

Hope you guys enjoyed this post!!
Love you guys!!

~Cait

What Has Happened to Community?

I know, I know! I said that my next post would be about missions and my mission trip experiences, but....................................

I got distracted!

It happens a lot....maybe I have ADD.....see there it goes again!

Oh boy...

Okay, well, I have been thinking about this lately with the Baltimore Riots happening and all that.

I asked myself..."Why did this happen? What started this?" Yes I know...

Ferguson happened

and then

Freddie Gray happened

but I'm trying to think deeper! What is the underlying problem here?

Now....I was hesitant to write this post due to the controversy of this particular subject, but I just shrugged my shoulders and said "Ehhh, who cares?" I'm a rebel like that!

Anyway, the underlying problem....what is it?

I had a discussion with some of my family members recently and kinda answered my question.

The underlying problem is (I think, in my limited 17 years of observation)

The church.

I know! A shock! We Christians are supposed to be the ones who promote peace and help people!

We are the GODLY people! We don't start these kind of things!

Or do we?

Jesus talks a lot about community and loving each other.

For example:

Hebrews 10:24-25
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Mark 12:31
"The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Last one;

Romans 13:10
"Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

But honestly...

We as a church body are pretty bad at this.

We are not in our community like we should be! We focus so much on the structure of the building, the 'ministries', the various activities that are provided for church people and their 'friends', but you don't see people outside of the church in their community! Sure, you do sometimes, but it isn't common.

Maybe the actual 'church' building is a hindrance for us...maybe we go there on Sundays, and for that one activity that you do weekly, etc.

Maybe we shouldn't even have a building! Okay that might be taking it a little far, but the point is that I think we get so wrapped up in the building and the various ministries that we forget the people outside of those walls! 

I work for a secular nonprofit that does almost exactly what we should be doing!

They are out there providing for people's needs and truly loving on people. People feel safe as soon as they walk through those doors! There are workers that go out into the community just helping out a family that lost a loved one, or a family that just had a baby, or even just a listening ear!

Why don't we do that?

It is the church's job to be providing for people's needs, both physical and spiritual, but why is that not happening?

Why are these secular programs and the government having to step up and do that?

I mean, the government is setting up all this welfare stuff to 'help' people with poverty.

But isn't that our job? To help people, build relationships, and share the gospel?

Why don't we start doing what Christ told us to do! Stop being SO singly focused on what is happening INSIDE the building and start focusing on the people OUTSIDE of the building.


Well guys, this was kind of a harder post, a little less carefree! I just had that conversation and just felt like I needed to share!

Hope you guys enjoyed it! Love you all!!

~ Cait

The College Student's Nemesis

It's an omnipresent part of life. It can trigger the "fight-or-flight" response, which can cause hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to surge through the body.

Stress...a college student's nemesis!

 


As a college student, I struggle with stress every single day!

I'm constantly running through my mental and physical lists of everything I have to complete! It's exhausting!

I try to balance getting good grades, homework, social life, relationships, and work!

I've come to realize that I can't control the common stressors in my life.....but I can control how I react to them!

Instead of getting frustrated and taking my anger and frustration out on people and my poor punch bag ( yes, I do punch things when I'm upset) I can pause and reflect on the root problem here.

The root problem is that I'm not trusting these problems and things that are stressing me out to Christ!

I've been trying to get into the habit of speaking truth to myself in moments of overwhelming truth and I do this with some Bible verses that kind of speak about stress in some way, shape or form...

Here a couple:

James 1:2-4

"2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

I guess you could call some of my stressors, trials, but regardless I love this verse because I can either view my stressors as either a curse or a blessing! I can view this stressful time as a time where God is reminding me to totally surrender to Christ and rely on Him!

Psalms 94:19 

"19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul."

Pretty much all I can say to this verse is AMEN!!!! 

Romans 8:6

"6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;"

By taking EVERY thought captive and truly analyzing it, we can determine whether truth is running through our minds or lies, planted there by the cunning devil. If we are listening to a lie we can quickly turn it around and speak truth. 

Now this verse or should I say... verses is a pretty cliche one for anxiety and stress, but I don't think we should discount it because there is truth dripping from the very words! 

Philippians 4:6-7

"6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Hmmm great words to ponder huh?

Now, how do we combat stress? I guess we talked about it a little, but I think we should look at a few tangible ways....

*DISCLAIMER: this is not a formula! These are things that work for me...this doesn't always work for everybody!*

 

- Learn how to say NO!!! If you are anything like me, saying 'no' is the hardest thing to do! I could have a ton going on, but if someone asks me to do something for them or to join something, I just can't say no! But saying no has prevented a lot of stress in my life! The more things you add to your life the higher your stress levels will go up! 

- Exercising!! Trust me! It really works! I'm not going to go into all the science behind it, but exercising releases the adrenaline hormone resulting in a much clearer head! When I'm starting to stress out about something the punch bag and the gym become my best friend! Punching the bag is much safer then punching someone else...right? Plus you can get a nice work out in! Hey! Stress can be good for something! 

-Cut somethings off your To Do list. Are there things that can wait until whenever you are less stressed? Cut them off! Save them for a less busier week! Or you could be like my best friend and get everything done BEFORE you get stressed so it is already done! Yeah she's crazy! 

- Plan things out! For all my visual friends out there...get a planner and plan out what you are going to do each day! The key is to ACTUALLY do it though! No procrastinating here, which leads me to the next point..

-DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!!! I can not say this enough....

Procrastinating = A Ton Of STRESS. So just don't do it!

 

- Express your feelings. Don't bottle them up! Talk about it! Talking through the things that stress you out will not only give you a chance to process what you are thinking and feeling, but it will also allow someone to help you problem solve and come to a solution. 

- If all else fails....resort to chocolate! I can't personally tell you if this works because I don't like anything sweet! Least of all chocolate ( I know I'm weird...people tell me that ALL the time) But I know plenty of chocoholics and they say it works!

 
 Personally, I prefer chips and guacomole and some hot tea ( weird combination I know...don't judge)...that's my comfort food, but whatever works for you is good! Just looking at that picture makes me feel less stressed about whatever I'm stressed about! ( I don't even know what stresses me out sometimes!)

 

- I saved the BEST for last! This I know works for EVERYBODY! If you don't try any of those ideas, at least do this one! 

Prayer and being totally engrossed in God's word is KEY!! I can't stress how vital this is!! When you get up in the morning just spend like 5-10 minutes in prayer...it is a great start to the day! Whenever you start thinking you can't do something or feel like you just don't have the time, remember Philippians 4:13 " I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."

 Well guys...I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did writing it! Maybe I will write something fun and carefree soon! 

Love you guys! 
~Cait