A very hectic summer...

Here we are with less than two weeks until school starts. Where has the summer gone? I got to enjoy some of it but most of it I was miserable. After my awesome week at the Wilds, I came home with a bad cold... which turned into a sinus infection. I was miserable. To make matters worse, I had a drug reaction to the antibiotic they gave me and ended up in urgent care. Making that a total of 4 weeks I was out of commission. Then if that wasn't enough, 2 weeks ago I went through the dreaded wisdom teeth extraction. I am praying that nothing else will go wrong this summer... I want to enjoy my last two weeks! Other than that, this summer has been great. I had an amazing beach vacation, an awesome week at camp, and Neighborhood Bible Time at our church. The Lord has definitely in and around me this summer. It was especially noticeable this past week of NBT. I can't wait to see how the Lord will continue to work. It's one thing to read about our God in the Bible but when you actually look and see His work around you... it's beyond amazing. How great a God we serve!

Memorializing Memorial Day

I've noticed that year after year Memorial Day is losing its meaning. People are more focused on throwing a big party or going out on the lake. They seem to forget who gave them those privileges. People also tend to go too far in the other direction. They over-emphasize remembering the men who died. You may not think this is possible, but it is. These people do not focus on what Memorial Day should be focused on. Memorial Day is day set aside for remembering the men who died but more importantly, it's remembering why they died. If we don't know why they died or what they died for then we cannot honor them. If we don't how they died we can't continue what they started. Isn't that our duty as American Patriots? It is our job to carry on the legacy of those who have gone before us. It is our job to make sure that we continue the fight for freedom. There is no better way to honor those who have fallen. They deserve that honor and respect. Anything less would not be acceptable. We can't let their death be in vain. Those died fighting for where we are today. Unfortunately, the fight is far from over. We must continue to fight.


"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

~Ronald Reagan

No Excuses ~ 2013

As we come to the end of another year, we naturally meditate on this past year. We think about what we've done and what haven't done. What we should've done better and what we shouldn't have done at all. This has been a hard year for a lot of people but we can still keep moving forward. 2013 is going to be the year of NO EXCUSES. No excuses spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. The most important thing is to make sure that you are walking with God the way that you should be. There is always room for improvement. It's not going to be easy. You will have weak moments, temptations, trials... but you have no excuses. With God ALL things are possible. Mentally you have to break down those walls that keep you from doing and being your absolute best. Emotionally you have to be stable. You can't be wishy washy. You have to learn to control your emotions but at the same time don't be afraid to let them show. Physically you have to push yourself. Push yourself harder than you ever have before. This is the time for you to become what you've always wanted to be... what you've been striving for your whole life. You have to break down your walls. Don't be afraid of failure... because no matter how slow you're going, you're lapping everyone on the couch. In 2013, we are going to start a revolution. A revolution where people start conquering their mountains. A revolution where we as a people can become what we were intended to be. We know it's not going to be easy but it's not impossible. This year we will make a difference. We will make sure that people remember what we did. We should want God to work so much in us that people talk about what He did. This year we will make it count. 

One Last Hope

How can you find words to describe something that is outside of our realm of understanding? How can you try to tell someone about something that you can't even fathom? How can you try to explain life and death to a child? How can you explain the horrid wickedness of man and yet still explain the wonderful goodness of God?

Heaven got 20 little angels last week. Actually, heaven got more than that. Kids are dying or getting killed everyday whether we hear about it or not. Innocent people are getting killed for no reason. People are getting sick. People are getting hurt. We are living in very dark world. A world who cries for peace and justice while at the same time pushing the Creator of peace and justice out. We wonder if there is any love in this world but we don't look to the greatest of all Love. How can we expect improvement in our society when we are more concerned in pleasing the Devil than God? God has been merciful to us. We deserve a much worse society than we are living in right now. Every single one of us deserve to go through what those kids did at Sandy Hook Elementary. Well, we actually deserve worse. We are a evil and wicked country. We deserve no hope.

I've painted a pretty ugly picture, haven't I? I'm sorry. The truth hurts. Well, it doesn't stop there. Yes, we all deserve to suffer eternally with no hope but, we don't have to. We have wonderful Hope that is willing to take our hand and guide us through the wicked place we live in. He doesn't promise to keep us from tragedy or hardship but He does promise to lead us through it. He also promises us that it will be over soon and then we will be spending eternity in presence of God. He has offered this gift to many. This gift of hope and assurance and love. Actually, this gift has been offered to every man that's every lived. Unfortunately, many people won't receive it. They all have different reasons. "Maybe God isn't the real Hope." "He never did anything for me." "There is no God." These words break my heart. The fact the all those souls could have this wonderful free gift but they just turn it down. Their hearts are wicked. They've turned away from their very Creator. We've turned away from our Creator. It's hard to imagine yourself being such a wicked and evil person isn't it? I know it was for me. It's hard to fathom how sweet little innocent babies can turn into such evil monsters. It's hard to understand how people can have so much hatred in their hearts. It's hard to understand why people continually get taken away for what seems like no reason at all. But no matter what God allows to happen, it happens for a reason.

What we need is to turn back to God. We all need to get down our knees and beg God to have mercy on us and forgive us for turning our back on Him. You are going to have trials in this life but you don't have to go through them alone. Don't wait another second... you never know what second is going to be your last. Turn to God now. He is the only way.

True Greatness

Have you ever wanted to be something great? Something above normal... something that people will remember. I have a feeling most, if not all, have had this feeling. You've probably tried to think what you could do to make it big... how you could make a difference. Too many people caught up trying to do something to make them great that they forget the greatest thing of all. I hate to burst your bubble but, nothing you can do will make you great. Yes, some people do get temporary greatness on this world but it doesn't last. Their legacy may live on for a while but it will eventually fade away. Greatness isn't doing something... it's being something. Being great doesn't mean that thousands of people worldwide know who you are. Being great isn't about having millions of dollars. It doesn't even necessarily mean that you have to make a difference in people's lives. Being great has nothing to with anything this world has to offer and everything to do with God. The only Person who walked on this earth and never sinned... He died a horrifying death on the cross with literally the weight of the world on His shoulders and didn't complain even once. This is the only perfect picture of true greatness you will ever find. Anyone can become great but not in their own strength. God is the only thing that can make any man great... not because of what man does but because of how awesome our God is.

Why not you? Why not now?

Have you ever thought about the direction our country is headed? Really thing about it. Our churches are going liberal. Our government is going communist. Our people are getting more and more immature and frankly stupid. Why? Because there are entirely too many people saying, "Let someone else do that." or, "I'm just a kid." etc. Well I think it's about time that we all stop making excuses for why we can't do something and start making reasons why. Change doesn't happen by someone just talking about a good idea or telling someone what they should be doing. Change starts with an action which causes other actions. For example: Kids used to be expected to do chores, say yes ma'am and yes sir, be respectful, hold the doors for people... now we aren't expected to do anything. We have to rise above all those low expectations and start making a difference. Change always starts with one person. Someone has to have enough nerver to stand up for what they believe in and fight for their faith and their country. People are trying to take away those freedoms that your ancestors fought for. I'm not about to let their sacrifice be in vain. I'm not about to watch people push God out of everything. I'm not about to watch our freedoms being taken away and this country turning into what our founding fathers feared. We have to start standing up for what's right. We were founded as ONE NATION UNDER GOD. So what are you waiting for? We all have a mission in front of us... the question is, who will accept it?

Mission

So, this week at our church we've been having Neighborhood Bible Time at our church. It has been an amazing week. It's been exciting to see people getting saved and getting assurance of their salvation. For me, I enjoyed everything. The preaching has been awesome. In the sermon last night Mr. Tyler talked about taking up your crosses. Notice that crosses is plural. Every person who is saved has taken up the cross of salvation and accepted God's gift to us of eternal life in fellowship with Him. The second cross is the cross os service. Just accepting Christ as your Saviour isn't enough. Yes, it will get you to heaven but we are called to do more. We are called to give Christ our entire heart, our entire mind, our entire life. Everything belongs to God. We are called to serve with everything we have. It's pretty hard to put your heart into something when you're holding onto something... something's holding you back. There are many things that could do this. Drugs, alcohol, friends, magazines, books, tv shows, music, etc. I know from experience that forsaking these things completely is hard but worth it. You see, God doesn't want you to just accept Him as Saviour. His desire is that all people accept Him AND follow Him. We can't tell God, "Ok. Here's my books and my magazines but I'm keeping my tv shows and music." He want's everything... but He already gave everything for us so He doesn't just want it, He deserves it. Following Christ doesn't mean that you can't do anything fun or that you can't ever do anything again. If you follow Christ you will receive more than you have ever been willing to give. Things of this world will not give us true happiness... they will fade away and loose their appeal in just a very short time. God never fades. God never looses His appeal. God is true happiness. Our mission on earth isn't to "Get glory, make money, and die." We have a calling. A calling to follow Christ with everything. No regrets. And trust me, there won't be any. So, who will take up their cross of service? Who will deny themself and follow Christ?

Eyes

As I was playing in the ocean today, I got water in my eyes. Whenever you get salt water in your eyes it burns your eyes  doesn't it? It almost blinds you. I was thinking about why God made our eyes so sensitive and then it hit me. Our eyes are sensitive in more than one way. When we see something it is permanently in our brain. Sometimes when we see something that looks beautiful and fun but it blinds us the dangers that are coming. If you can't see in the ocean you have no idea when the next wave is coming and you don't know when you're going to fall. Be careful what you do with your eyes. They can be deceiving.

Here I sit

Here I sit on my bed in our beach house. Well, the beach house we're renting for the week. It's our seventh day on vacation and I worn myself out with fun. Well, fun and my Dad but they're kind of one and the same. I am looking forward to getting back home although I'm not ready for vacation to end. It will be fun hanging out with friends, doing stuff with church, writing new music, organizing, etc. I am excited for what this summer has to offer. At church we have lots of pontential for new families and kids that will be greatly welcomed. It's all really exciting. I will be working on my music more intently. I will be doing extra work ahead (and behind) on school to make sure my high school years count. I will spending time with God studying His word and seeking His will. I will be organizing my room, the gym, the den, etc. because I'm just so OCD. I will training more significantly and hopefully work on strengthening my knee. I will start running again no matter how bad my knee hurts. I'm gonna get more tan than I already am. I going to spend most of my time outside, at the pool, or on the river... of course with some of my most favorite people. I am looking forward to the rest of my life. This is the first day of the rest of my life and I'm going to make it count. Make it stand out. Make it mine.

"I'm not done with you yet."

Have you ever thought about why you're still here? Why you're where you are? Why you're doing what you're still doing? I mean, really think about your life. Have you ever wondered why God has put you in a situation? Recently I've been wondering why God has put my in certain situations. Why He has allowed certain things to happen that affect me. I've wondered why it doesn't stop. I've wondered why I haven't got a break. Tonight it finally hit me... almost literally. God isn't done with me yet. I've asked Him several times, "why does this keep happening? I can't take it anymore." But He's telling me, "No, Breanna I'm not done with you yet." He's gonna give me the strength I need. Something that has been really convicting to me is that when God was being beaten and spat on and being treated worse than dirt He didn't say, "Ok. That's it. I'm done. I can't do this anymore." He certainly could have, but He didn't. But now think about us. How many times do we say, "Ok. That's it. I'm done. I can't do this anymore."? Honestly, we all do that a lot. Why do we do that? Because we're weak. Why are we weak? Because we're looking for strength that comes from ourselves. We keep lookin' and lookin' and we never find it. You wanna know something? It's really, really hard to find something that isn't there. We have absolutely no strength in us. How dare we try and handle things on our own. How dare we try and play God. And you wanna know the saddest part about it all? We don't even know that we're doing it. We just think that we can do it. We can stand on our own two feet. But we really can't. So, when God says that He's not done with you yet don't say I don't care or I can't do this anymore. When He tells you that He's not done with you yet He doesn't tell you that you have to do it on your own. God never leaves you. He never tells you to do something in your own strength. Y'all remember my favorite verse? Matthew 19:26 says, "...With man this is impossible, But with God all things are possible." Don't get discouraged when it seems like it doesn't let up. You don't get a break. Because God's not done with you yet and He will give you the strength you need.

You better be running...

 Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running. 

A Real Athlete

For as long as I can remember I've been an athlete. I have been playing soccer for 9 out of my 14 years on earth. It's been a major part of my life for what seems like forever. It's the on place where I can be myself. It's the one of the things I'm good at.

Playing soccer became instinct. Blood, sweat, and tears were no strangers. Hard work, will, and dedication were always in the vocabulary. Injuries were not uncommon. I cannot think of one time I did enjoy the game even a little bit. It was something I loved doing and it soon became one of my main priorities. And that's where I went wrong.

I was willing to sacrifice time and energy, get hurt, work hard, and train for soccer but not anything else. I made soccer a higher priority than my relationship with my family, God, my friends, and school. Subconsciously I was willing to sacrifice more for a sport than anything else. Honestly I didn't care about school that much. I was only focused on one thing: soccer. Even after I got saved I spent more time with my ball than my Bible, more time on the field than in church and that is not something I'm proud of.

I had my priorities all mixed up. I set my priorities by my standards instead of God's. I failed to see that God and soccer go hand in hand. They're not separate. You see, being an athlete takes hard work and dedication. You have to want it more than anything else. You have to be willing to lose. You have to be strong and tough even when you're tired and/or hurt. The same thing is true for a Christian. We're athletes in training to win the best prize of all. But it's not comin' easy. Just like I said before, a true athlete must be willing to go through those things. You have to work hard to earn your spot on the field. Don't think that just because you're on the team that you're fine. Do you wanna just sit on the bench and not help your team out? You have to want that spot and you have to earn it. This isn't little league anymore. Not everybody gets a chance to play. And just because you work hard doesn't mean you're always gonna win. But no matter what you praise God because we are commanded to. It's not always going to be easy but the prize you will receive is greater than anything you will have to go through. You will be rewarded for your faithfulness.

One key thing that all true athletes have is heart. Every ahtlete knows that without heart you're not gonna get anywhere. Talent is nothing without heart. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times: "I'd rather have someone 100% heart and 0% talent than someone with 100% talent and 0% heart."

As Christians we need to start training to win that prize. We need to stop treating religion like its in it own separate category because its not. Just like I did with soccer we need to have Christ be our main priority and everything else will fall into place. We have to learn to get our priorities straight. I realized that there is way more to life than sports. I am going to put my main focus on what truly matters which is living for Christ.

I'm not saying all this to say that sports are bad. I will continue to play soccer and love every second of it but now in a new perspective. My life does not revolve around soccer anymore... it revolves around Christ.

When I play I need to make sure I'm playing for the right reasons. I need to live in a way that glorifies God and if I can do that on the field then there is reason why I shouldn't but if I can't I have no business being out there. God doesn't tell us to honor HIm when we feel like it or when it's convenient. We are commanded to honor God is all things all the time.

We have to constantly remember that we should not be playing to impress people but to honor God. I promise you no matter how hard it gets the reward will be that much greater and with God on your side all things are possible.

Never think for a second that God doesn't care about sports or school because He does because He cares about you. But He cares mainly about you your heart. And that's where you need to start. A life full of Christ a heart full of joy and a mind full of Christ.

Matthew 19:26
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Romans 5:3-5

A Wicked Mind

I am really enjoying my Bible class this semester. I am learning a lot. But what I love about it is that what we're learning applies to real life. We're not just learning this to get a good grade. The following is from my Bible book.

"Every human mind is deceitful and totally messed up. Therefore, when I was born, my mind was completely wrong about all things, but because it was deceitful, I did not know it. My own thinking both lied to me and tricked me into believing it was reliable. Sin had so corrupted our hearts that, though we were doomed and helpless, we did not know it. Romans chapter 3, verses 10-12, leave no doubt:'It is written, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become profitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.'"

We need to be constantly reminded that we have wicked minds. We can justify anything we do by our minds. That's why it is vital that we ask  beg God to guide us. We should desire to honor God in all things and we can't do that in our own strength and our own mind.

"Now what makes it great?"

What makes any sport great? The satisfaction of accomplishing a goal. You went through the pain, the countless hours you spent icing injuries, all those times you lost, that's what makes it great.

Toast and Milk

I had toast and milk for breakfast. I just thought I'd let you know that absolutely useless information. But anyway, my main reason for doing this post is just to give you an update about life. Last Thursday we had friends from Ohio come to our house and they stayed until Wednesday of this week. We totally had a blast. I made a video of us having the time of our lives but it wouldn't upload. Sigh. Hopefully I will eventually get it uploaded:). I have quite a few pictures but I won't put them all up now. Actually I think I might save that for another post.

Soccer practice started this week. Last week was camp and it was kinda killer. Not that that made sense or anything;). It was really hot and that was the main reason it was killer. Soccer practice last night was pretty fun. I even had fun doing fitness at the beginning and end because "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". That's been my motto along with my favorite verse, Matthew 19:26 ~ And Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, But with God all things are possible." Thinking those two things kinda helps that feeling of "I'm gonna die" go away:).

Well, I guess I'm gonna go so I don't bore you to death. Hope y'all have a great day!

A Great Day to Run

Today was a great day to run. To spite the fact that it was close to 90 degrees and it was only 8:50 a.m. I ran with my hair in a bun off my neck and my sleeves rolled up to my shoulders. That was the best I could do I couldn't take anything else off... well, legally... ;) I ran for about 15 minutes which is pretty good considering that I can run 2 miles in 20. Hopefully I will be able to do that again tomorrow. I'm hoping to be able to run 3 miles straight in a little under thirty by at least July... August worst case... In case you were wondering, I'm going to the gym tomorrow... there's no way I could run two to three miles in this heat... well, I could if I got up early enough but I don't... I might Thursday and Friday since those are my shorts days I run outside. I still can't get over how awesome my run was today! And, when I came in, I had fruit and milk for breakfast:) I feel very healthy right now:). My dresser is coming today so I will try and get those pictures posted sometime today... hopefully:) If I forget just shoot me an email ( bnich97@yahoo.com ) If you will excuse me, I have to clean my room before my new piece of furniture gets here... but I hope all of you have a wonderfully blessed day:) I know that didn't sound anything like me but you get the point:)

Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Most of the time you hear that when people are referring to athletes training or a football game... Well, I completely understand what people are talking about. I mean if you come to one of my soccer games you will probably see blood, sweat, and tears. That's just the way it goes. Today I went running... and with it being sooooo hot down here it's very hard to get motivated to run outside for any period of time. I walked back and forth once I was done in the same spot just so I could cool down in the shade... Every little bit helps. Even though today wasn't that great of a run, I still went out there and did it. I only did 15 minutes... but at least I did something. I really want to motivate anybody out there who knows they should be doing this but aren't. Speaking for myself, anyone who goes and does their best at anything is good enough for me. I mean, it's more important for someone to gave 100% heart than to have 100% skill. And if you have heart, the skill will come right behind it. I encourage you to go out and do something you've been putting off today and accept the fact that your best is good enough. Have a great day!

motivation

This morning I am running with my sister... we are going to do two miles but we're going to alternate walking and running. I will post our time when we get back. While I'm gone you should go out and run and see if you can beat our time!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year, to me anyways:). I had a great Christmas! Spending time with family (and watching Toy Story 3) was definitely a great day or me. But I really had to think about the true meaning of Christmas. It's not about presents or spending time with family but often forget that Christ's birth is the true meaning of Christmas. That was a short little note on that but if you want to read more about it check out my posts on http://www.philippians48matthew1926.blogspot.com/ . Hope you have a great day!