Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, abortion, Bible, challenges, do hard things, gospel and outreach, Home, Living for God, me, myth of adolescence, pro life, stuff to do, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#2- Fought for babies lives at abortion clinic

Recently my brother and mom have been going out to an abortion clinic to be sidewalk counselors to women who are going to have abortions. Me and my younger brother and sister went once to watch and today I went out again with my family. It is a sad and eye opening experience but I enjoy being able to participate in a spiritual battle over life and death. Every mother who walked into that clinic represented a death of a baby, a baby who is precious in the eyes of God. Today my hard thing is fighting for babies who have no voice. They want to yell, “Don’t kill me Mama!” They can’t. But we can. I can. We all can speak up for these babies. It can be hard to stand up for something so controversial, but hey isn’t that why it is on my 100 Hard Things list?

Priscilla

“Justice to the fatherless, defend the afflicted, rescue the weak, deliver the needy.”
Psalm 82:3-4

Posted by Posted in cool stuff, do hard things, Family, Home, I was thinking..., myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things

Genevieve Saves Paris: Teen Does Hard Thing

While reading about Attila the Hun I came across this story of a teenage nun and thought it would be inspirational for all of y’all…

“As Attila and his army approached Paris, at that time a small fortified town on an island in the Seine River, the inhabitants panicked in the knowledge that many cities had already been destroyed by the Huns. Many residents had gone to church to pray for protection. Among them was a teenage nun named Genevieve who from the age of seven had dedicated herself to a life of faith and good deeds. Standing before the congregation of frightened Parisians, Genevieve offered to go alone or as the leader of a group of young women to confront Attila. She also prophesied that the town would be spared for destruction. After rallying the Parisians, Genevieve met with Attila at the walls of the town, and according to the legend, she convinced him to spare the city. The story of her brave act spread and became a symbol of courage for those who resisted the Huns. Genevieve was later named a saint by the Catholic Church and today is the patron saint of Paris.”

cited from “Heroes and Villains: Attila the Hun” by Marilyn Tower Oliver

Cool story of a teenage girl doing a very brave thing and putting her life in danger to save the town and church where she lived.

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, challenges, cool stuff, do hard things, Family, Fun Stuff, gospel and outreach, Home, Living for God, me, myth of adolescence, stuff to do, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution

#1- Accepted the 100 Hard Things Challenge

Hey all,
Today I accepted the 100 Hard Things Challenge. This is a challenge to do 100 hard things that put you out of your comfort zone in 3 months. About 1 hard thing a day. This hard thing can be super simple like doing the dishes or super big like raising money to stop world hunger. The challenge is based off of the book “Do Hard Things”.
“Do Hard Things” is a book by Alex and Brett Harris that encourages teens to do hard things and break the myth of adolescence. You can read their book or their blog (therebelution.com). Both are really good. 🙂 For more info on the 100 Hard Things challenge click the link below:

http://therebelution.com/about/get-involved/#.VA9YYkj32F9

Each day I will post my hard thing on this blog, so keep checking!!! If you want to do the challenge, I encourage you to just go for it!

Priscilla

1 Timothy 4:12

#100hardthings

Posted by Posted in Family, gospel and outreach, Home, Living for God, songs, stuff to do

Lukewarm

Lukewarm. Sounds like a word that describes that plate of mashed potatoes from yesterday night. (That isn’t actually the best illustration… mashed potatoes go pretty quick in our house 🙂 But you get the point. The warmed up plate, not the hot and fresh plate. Mediocre. The just OK. Not great but yet not terrible. The fire is not out, nor is it blazing, just simmering. My question is are you lukewarm? I think Christians, especially in the USA can fall it the trap of being a Christian, not a Christ-ian. Little do we think of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who are dying, being persecuted and imprisoned for Christ in countries far away to us. Too often our world is made up of the 30 miles around our houses. Too often our “fire” dies down. We read books with titles like ‘Radical’ and ‘Do Hard Things’ and we get all pumped up and ready to go and our fire blazes for a while like someone dumped some gasoline on it and…then…we….die…….down. We go to church and put Jesus stickers on the back of our car and call ourselves good. Christians, let us not grow lukewarm and mediocre, let us look at examples like Peter, Paul and Stephen who lived, breathed, ate, drank, and even died for Christ. In King and Country’s new song “Fix my Eyes” the chorus says:

I’d love like I’m not scared
Give when it’s not fair
Live life for another
Take time for a brother
Fight for the weak ones
Speak out for freedom
Find faith in the battle
Stand tall but above it all
Fix my eyes on you

Let this be our prayer. And like the Sovereign Grace song “As Long As I Have Breath” sings, let us praise God as long as we have breath. We have as Christians in the USA a special chance, we don’t live in total poverty like South America and Africa so we have materials to help others. We have time, 24 hrs a day to serve and proclaim. And, we have freedom to be Christians, to go to a church, to vote for Christian leaders. We are living on a battle field, we need to pick up our weapons and start fighting. Let us not be lukewarm but let us live wholly for Jesus.

Posted by Posted in Bible, Bible characters, Home

5 Character Traits We Can Learn From King David

Recently in my Bible reading I have been reading about King David. While reading I saw lots of different character traits that we could all learn from. Here are 5 of them:

Bravery

One of David’s most famous brave acts was when he defeated Goliath, scratch that, I mean when he showed Israel that God could defeat Goliath…

“All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his fathers house free in Israel.” And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kill this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

1 Samuel 17:24-27

Now we all know how the story goes. David takes 5 stones and a sling, hits the giant in the forehead and he fall down and dies. You can read the full story of David’s heroic deed in 1 Samuel 17. There are many other stories in 1 and 2 Samuel of David’s victories in battle. Don’t you want to have the same bravery that David did to be able to stand up to your giant? Many times we can feel inadequate and not ready to be brave. But doesn’t God say “If I am for you who can be against you?” Paul says, “We are more than conquerors in Christ.” Be brave. God’s got your back. Another good passage of a brave deed of David’s is in 1 Samuel 30:1-15

Compassion

Although David was a warrior, a battle leader and a great king he was also a compassionate king. Jonathan, one of David’s close friends had died along with his father Saul, David’s enemy. David say in 2 Samuel 9:1 “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” There was! But he wasn’t a warrior, or even an able bodied man. He was Jonathan’s crippled son, Mephibosheth. Still David took him under his wing and cared for him like he was his own son. When David was attacked and had to flee for safety he took Mephibosheth with him. Think of how Mephibosheth felt. Saul, his grandfather and Jonathan his father died and lo and behold King David comes and treats him like royalty! How great would that be!

“And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul you father and you shall eat at my table always.” And he paid homage and said,” What is your servant that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

2 Samuel 9:6-8 You can read the full story in 2 Samuel 9
Ask God if he can instill in you a love for everyone, the crippled, the orphaned, the fatherless, the …ugly…
Doesn’t God say that what you do for the least of them you do for him? “When I was hungry you fed me, when I was naked you clothed me.”

Humility

When you think of kings, you think of proud, majestic and full of glory. What about humble??? A humble king is a good king. If you search through the Bible you can see that David was a very humble king.

“And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son.” 2 Samuel 1:17

When Saul, David’s enemy died, he did not rejoice. Yeah! I can be king now! He mourned for them.

“David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” 2 Samuel 12:13a

After the whole Bathsheba incident, David realized his sin and repented. He did not try to cover his sin up with all his power. I bet if you keep searching you can find some other great verses pointing to David’s humility. What about you? When you have sinned or been proven wrong don’t stick to that ugly stubborn human pride. Try to be teachable and be humble. Create in me a clean heart Lord.

Integrity

David also had good integrity. Twice he had a chance to kill Saul, who wanted to kill David, but he didn’t.

“And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold, I will give you enemy into you hand and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men, “the Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing his is the Lord’s anointed.” So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.”

1 Samuel 24:4-7

And again…

“Then Abishai said to David, “God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” But David said to Abishai. “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?’ And David said, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water and let us go.”

1 Samuel 26:8-11

You can read the full story of both these integrity-filled adventures in 1 Samuel 24 and 26
When you have a chance to do something you know is wrong what will you choose? Will you fall into the trap of peer pressure or will you stand up to do the right thing.

Righteousness

It says in the Bible that David was a man after God’s own heart. That is the highest honor that anyone could ever be given. Better then the medal of honor, the purple heart, anything! What a great honor! Jesus was also born of David’s family. He was called the Son of David and it also says in the Bible that the throne of David would be established forever! David truly had the hand of God on his life. I pray to God that I would follow after his heart too and that He would establish some of these great character traits in me too.

Why don’t you ask God to help make you a man/woman/boy/girl of his heart too?

Lets be humble and ask the Lord to make us compassionate and righteous, people of his heart. Be brave and do the right thing with integrity.

Thank you Lord for the example that David is to us today!

Priscilla