Child-Like Heart

Children are the most interesting conversationalists. They also have the purest mind of all human kind. I have a two nephews, a five year old and a two month old, and three nieces, a 5 month old, three year old and a four year old in the Montana/Washington area. Three of them I see most frequently. This summer, I was blessed to be offered a job babysitting my sister's son, five, and daughter, 3. This particular week of babysitting was long because of VBS and my brother's daughter, four, was staying at my house the entire week as well. Family gets on your nerves after a while especially when they know how to push your buttons and when you haven't had any alone time to chill in peace. Another factor that plays into a long week especially when children are in the learning stage is sharing and taking turns. One day, as the children were playing outside, I heard a bone chilling scream that turned into a cry. It was my three year old niece. Apparently my four year old took a toy from my three year old niece. We went through the whole "lets wait our turn and ask first" thing. As usual, the guilty one goes and has a pity party. I explained to her that we need to share and wait our turn and also that telling our friends they are mean because they did the right thing makes them not want to play with us anymore. She took that kinda hard. As I went to tend to my sister's children, the tree year old went straight up to the four year old and told her that it was mean for her to take what wasn't hers and to say mean things was wrong. She also pointed out that she wanted to play with her, but she didn't want to if she was gonna pout and be mean. The two girls worked it out and played together. Witnessing a three year old have the guts to stand up and let her friend know that she still loved her, but wanted her to do the right thing isn't an everyday sight. I took that as a very interesting moral in my Christian walk. As Christians, we need to let the world know God loves them, but that He doesn't always like what they do. The scary part is facing someone that you think will pummel you in the face for telling them they are doing things all wrong. I was shocked to see a little girl as young as three years old go straight to the problem and tell the person for herself! Sure little hand-outs work, but face to face confrontations is even stronger and more effective. God really showed me something that day and He used a three year old to do it. Talk about being taught a lesson!!

Little Miracles

My cat, Kidiot, just gave birth to some healthy, beautiful kittens a few days ago. Wednesday morning my mother woke me up me up and told me she thought we had kittens. Sure enough there they were under the deck. Our Australian Shepherd-Border Collie Cross was laying next to the mother and eyeing the kittens. When my mother and I left that morning we noticed the kittens were gone and naturally we thought Kidiot just moved them. We got home and there was no sign of them anywhere and Kidiot was just hanging out around the door. We figured the dog had taken the kittens somewhere and tried to nurse them herself. My mother went searching under our deck as far as she could. She came out with only one nearly dead kitten. It was frozen and malnurished. We took it inside and inspected it. It's mouth was filled with dirt.We gave it a little milk and waited. While my mother went back to work, I tended to the kitten feeding it and trying to get it warm. A few hours later, when my mother got home, we took it to the vet and they gave us some nutrience milk and a bottle until it was able to feed straight from the mother. As soon as we got home we tried to fix the bottle. It wasn't working right due to operator error lol. We decided we might as well try to get the kitten to latch. To our amazement, even after the miracle of the kitten surviving, it latched on and started feeding immediately. We were stunned! This was truly a miracle from God! The next night we were gone, eating at Godfathers with my family. We got home and I decided to check on the kitten. For a moment I thought my contacts were off a bit, but I looked harder and sure enough I saw TWO kittens!!! It turns out that Kidiot was so traumatized from Aussie taking the other kittens that she delayed birth for OVER THIRTY HOURS!!! She had given birth to another kitten while we were gone. God is a miracle worker in even these little kittens. God is Good!

Old Kids, New School!

So my school is making a transition to a new building and some of the high-schoolers are taking it kinda hard. I was one of those kids, until today. I had a conversation with my mom and brother-in-law the other day about a petition one of the students wrote that I agreed to sign. Since my mom is the secretary at the school, she was embarrassed to be informed by her boss that I had signed it. Her boss being the superintendent of the entire K-12 grade school. I realized that I had done something very wrong.
My brother-in-law explained that it was important to the school to make the transition not only for the money, but the safety of the lower campus (k-6 grade) as well.
>He stated very blatantly that it was the High-Schooler's obligation to be an example to those young kids and that we should put aside our selfish wants and desires.
>If some people leave for that reason then they are making a decision that will hurt mostly themselves. Plus, the amount of younger kids we will get will make up for the lost students.
>The school will run a bus system for the students taking classes at one of the public schools or colleges. That problem is solved as well.
>Students are also concerned because the Church we are using seems more like a "Sunday School" environment than a high-school. So what? It's shelter and it's a place to get a good, godly education. We shouldn't care what it looks like. Just like the Church isn't a building, it's the people that are the Church. It is the same situation with our school!
>Why should we care so much about the younger children and the high-schoolers being in one building? If anything we should be shining lights for them, examples of who they should be: JESUS!!! Our growth and learning to become adults shouldn't be hindered by the little kids. In fact, we should be even more mature and adult-like because of the lessons we could learn from the kids! Kids are actually great teachers. The aren't going to be stumbling blocks, but building blocks!!!
What about the kids???? Did we forget that they could get hit by a crazy driver while on their way to recess? That road is dangerous! Plus, the lower campus has to cram 7 classes into that tiny building and then pack all the classes up for the summer because the Church they are in wants to use those rooms. Not to mention the fact that the Church they use is pro-homosexual!!! My mom told me that because of the location of the lower campus, 10 families turned down the school.
What about the gym for our sports teams? We will live!!! We will find a decent gym and we will probably have a bus system for that too.
>If it is Gods will then it will happen, regardless of how selfish we are feeling or how hard we pray that it won't happen.
Just because the world says a Church isn't a high-school environment, doesn't necessarily make it true. Aren't we told not to be like the world? I think that applies to our cultural environments too. I don't know about the rest of you, but I won't let this ruin my life or the remainder of my high school career. Hey, maybe it'll be fun!!!

To David Charles

This is a poem I originally wrote freshman year as an ode to my past. But today I think it is fitting for a special person that was dear to so many hearts. His name is David Charles. (R.I.P. we will miss you David.) Please continue to pray for his family and friends as this is a hard time in life for them all. May God bless them continuously throughout life. I dedicate this poem to David and God, the one he served.

My God, My King - By Hailey Sanderson

There are many things in the past I've seen,
many things I have done.
As a result on God's arms I shall lean,
a victory I have now won,
because I trust in my God, my King.

I have been forgiven for my selfishness
and the times that I have strayed.
So many things you could only guess
and through it all He stayed,
because I trust in my God, my King.

I shall not dwell on the evil things
that Satan tempts me with in harm.
God removes my shameful feelings
just as a sudden alarm,
because I trust in my God, my King.

"Know You Are There" by Hailey Jo Sanderson

We know you are there
and we know that you care for us,
but we are so unworthy of all you do.
Sometimes we feel so brought down.
Where do we go from here?
We can't get up from this fall.
Lord, help us up to our feet.

You are mightier
than our biggest fears.
You are more powerful
than the powers of this earth.
Because you love us so.
You love me so.

"My Friend Charlie" by Hannah Hume

"There are some things in your life that you will never forget. Sometimes you meet someone, or you see something that changes you forever, whatever it is you know you’re different. Take for example a tattoo. A tattoo is something you can’t take back, once you have it it leaves a mark on you forever, even if you have it removed. You know after you get that tattoo that what just happened will be an irreversible moment of time that you can never retrieve. For better or for worse your life (well actually your skin) has just been marked by those few seconds forever. The thing is that moments like these, the tattoo moments, usually happen when you least expect them. I was on a service project with my youth group. We had made kits to pass out to homeless people around St Joseph. The kits had things like socks, food, band aids, stocking caps, gloves, rain ponchos etc. We were on our church bus just driving around and looking for people to give our kits too. We had passed most of the kits out at this point and were getting ready to make a pit stop at McDonalds for some grub. That’s when I saw him. There was a man obviously homeless, wearing a worn green army jacket and sitting on the side of the road. I wanted to stop and give him one of our kits and so the driver pulled the bus over. Two other boys and I got out to hand him a kit. Usually we just hand them the pack say something like God Bless and get back onto our bus. This time though ended up a little different.I went to give the man a pack and he asked me a question. He said, you got any hot food? I told him no, just what was there in the kit, sorry. He said that was fine and thank you. He opened up the sack grabbed a bag of chips and started eating. Then he asked if we wanted to sit. We were a little unsure but didn’t want to seem rude and so we sat. We asked him if there was anything we could pray for him, and he said that he would like prayer for his daughter and his two grandkids. One thing led to another and before I knew it we were listening to this man tell us his story.We found out his name was Charlie that he had been married, and then went to Vietnam to fight. He was a little drunk so it was hard to understand exactly all the logistics but we learned that he had a daughter that he hadn’t seen in 5 years, and 2 grandkids, he even had pictures. Charlie was a pretty cool guy really, but also a bad alcoholic. Charlie had lost everything, his family and home to his addiction and had been homeless for 5 years. Turns out Charlie liked music too. He told us about when he used to play guitar. Its not that weird to think that a guy would like music or play guitar but it struck me, you see the thought had never crossed my mind in relation to Charlie. It’s easy to dehumanize homeless people, or those who are way different than us, but when you talk to them you find out they aren’t that different than you. Even more disconcerting, you’ll find that who you are now is not so different from who they once where. This is when you come face to face with the weakness in yourself and your own lack of control. As we continued to talk with Charlie we got to singing, Charlie’s favorite song was “Amazing Grace”. I’m sure we looked ridiculous 3 teenagers sitting on the side of the road with this homeless guy singing amazing grace, but that’s what we were doing. What I felt in that moment is hard to describe, I felt like Charlie’s friend. Charlie wasn’t a homeless guy we were there to help anymore; he was someone I genuinely cared about. I cared about him not because he was homeless and needed someone, I cared for him because I knew him and I cared about who he was as a person. Charlie was no longer a project for me, but a friend. We shared with Charlie about Gods’ grace. Charlie was ridden with guilt over the men he had killed in Vietnam. We gave Charlie some food and basic physical necessities and comforts. We gave Charlie prayer and friendship. Right before me and my friends were about to leave (We had been there for 2 hours) Charlie started going through the kit and he found the stocking cap that was in there. Charlie began to cry and as he cried he asked us, how did Jesus know I needed a stocking cap? Charlie didn’t give up the booze that day or become a Christian. He may still be on the streets…but I think that day we were able to love Charlie with the hands of Christ.Jesus had given him that stocking cap…and Jesus had sent us 3 teenagers to love Charlie. That’s what he needed more than food or even a stocking cap; Charlie needed to know that Jesus still cared about him.I walked away that day changed, I learned how to love people the way Jesus loved them. Not with cheap love that stands over someone and reaches down to them. But instead with love that gets in beside someone and says I love you, and I am here for you. Charlie had asked us earlier in the conversation whether or not we thought God still loved him, and when he found that stocking cap I think he found the answer. I know that I did." - Hannah Hume http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=89393303710&comments

The Bible Will Keep You From Sin, Or Sin Will Keep You From The Bible

Often times people think they can be Christian and still do everything that goes against every law God laid down and be ok. They are right. They will be ok, but they will never be any better than that! Others ask how they can avoid being this way. Some are good people, but they are too lazy or unwilling to read and study the Bible and pray everyday. They too ask how to avoid this. The only way is to 1. repent 2. start reading and studying the Bible. This is where people get stuck. They don't know where to start. Some get devotionals and others have plans of how much they will read a day (like me). I read 2 Old Testament, 1 Psalm and 1 New Testament a day 30 min. max. Others have different portions and it is usually planned to get through the Bible in a year. In order to know God you have to spend time with God. End of story! No other way to do it! Some say they don't understand the Bible. Then get more than one translation. I personally like the Holaman Christian Standard Bible. An easy read is the New Living Translation though it's not so accurate. The most common is the New International Verson. Just pick up a translation, read it and if it doesn't make sense get a different translation or ask your pastor or youth pastor for help!

In Love With Love

There are so many things that consume my thoughts, but the most of these is of course, love. I'm not talking about puppy love, but love that lasts a lifetime. As humans, we are so fickle when it comes to relationships. It amazes me how much we allow our hearts to take. Love is like chocolate. (Well, to me.) After the first time we taste it, it's so amazing and we want more!! Soon, we're tired of just regular chocolate. So, to create some diversity, we go get chocolate with almonds and then that becomes boring and then it's chocolate with peanut butter and so on. Pretty soon we eat so much chocolate that it becomes a daily part of the diet. When we get bored, we throw it away and get something new. Like chocolate, love is something that we crave. It feels so right at first and then it slowly fades. That is not love, it's infatuation. That is a dangerous mistake to make. Love is not something you can throw out. I will openly attest to being tired of infatuation. Been there, done that! Everytime I go there, I tear out a part of my heart that is suppose to be meant for one person for my entire life. I really can't wait to find "The One", but I guess i'll have to. Sometimes I get so lonely that I feel like I am suppose to be celebate for my entire life. But life is young for me and I can't base my future on that thought. Other times I feel greatful to be single because i'm not tied down and I am free to be independent and not have to rely on hurting my partner's feelings. I feel really bad for the people who feel that they aren't worth anything w/out a bf/gf. I also feel bad for the people who don't stay single for long and the ones who don't keep a relationship very long either. I was talking to my father the other day and he said that he personally believes people shouldn't date until they are eighteen. I agree with him, actually. Looking back, I realize that if I had committed to not dating till I was 18, I would have saved myself a load of heartache. As of today, I am not going to date until I feel that I am wise and mature enough to take care of another person. I will not date till God sees fit for me. It will be hard for me at times, but if God is the God of my heart, then I will not fail. I also commit to not dating until God has revealed "The One" to me. It may be tomorrow or it may be never. I leave it in Gods hands.