Posted by Posted in adventures, Bible characteristics, Jesus, me, missions, Pioneer living, ready to adventure, words

My Big Passions

First off, I am sorry that I have not done a post in almost a month. That is a long stretch from my three posts a week promise. But I am back with a post about passion!

Passion is a gift that God has given us. He gives each of us a different passion because we are all special and unique. Passion for a certain people, project, subject or skill is the fire that gets stuff done. Don’t ever lose your passion for Jesus and His work.

Below I have about a paragraph about a few big passions of mine. Feel free to comment below and tell me what you are passionate about.

Passion for Jesus
First, I just want to say, if you profess as a Christian, this should be your first passion ever. Jesus. The one who came and incarnated and died on a cross for you. He saved you for himself. Now you are free, but to live in Him. And that is exciting. Jesus is my friend, redeemer and Lord. I gave my life to Him and that is the best thing I ever did. I love my Jesus.

Passion for Missions
I grew up reading and re-reading missionary stories. That is what I always wanted to do. Be a missionary. God planted a love for His lost people in my heart. When I went on a missions trip to Mexico when I was 13, I came alive. I knew that serving others and showing the poor and lost the love and joy that Christ brings was what He made me to do. And I am passionate about that. I jump on any opportunity to be a part of international missions work.

Passion for the Outdoors
God planted in me a love for His world. I love to hike, canoe, climb, run and bike in the beautiful nature that surrounds me. I love the sun, the wind, the grass, trees, mountains, dirt, sunsets and fresh air. I look at the glory of nature and I “sing for joy at the work of His hands”. (Psalm 92:4- my life verse) I am passionate about the outdoors. A burst of energy and excitement curses through me as I gaze at a beautiful sunrise or a breathtaking view.

Passion for Pioneer Living
Half of my childhood I wore a pioneer dress. I loved learning about the pioneers in the prairies with the covered wagons and Indians and all the excitement back then. I loved pioneer living. I would rather toil over handmade candles then flip on a lightswitch. I would rather spend two hours making bread then five minutes at the grocery store. I love homesteading. I got chickens and started a big garden and as we move we hope for more animals and a bigger garden. God gave me this love for whatever you would call it. Farming, homesteading, pioneer living, going off the grid, sustainable living. Those excite me. I love cooking and pie making and trying my hand at homemade cheese. God made me a farm girl.

Passion for Literature and Music
I started piano lessons at about nine years old. Soon I wanted to play those long, epic piano scores from the Lord of the Rings book, so I did. I have a passion for beautiful music. It is a way that I can worship the Lord and give glory to His name. I also have a passion for reading. I literally devour books. When I was four, I started reading. I taught myself. From then on, it is history. I read with intentsity, soaking up every word. When I go into a bookstore I get that shiver of excitement up my spine and making book lists is like a hobby for me. I love reading and music.

All of these passions are loves that the Lord has put in me. I don’t say these things to boast but as an example of how God has made each of us passionate. He made me in a specific way to specifically love certain things so I could specifically serve Him in a specific way. He did the same for you too. So tell me, what are your big passions? Comment below!

Priscilla Joy

Posted by Posted in adventures, character, Heroism, history, homeschool

Two Amazing Young People and One Unsung Hero of the American Revolution

As you may note, I blog about my life. Projects I am doing, things I am learning and places I have gone. As we study the American Revolution and Early American history in our school you can expect a few posts about some of heroes in that time. This blog post is one of those, highlighting three amazing people. Susannah Boone Hays, Caeser Rodney and Paul Revere Jr.

Let’s start with Susannah Boone Hays.

Susannah Boone was the daughter of Daniel Boone, the famous frontiersman. She was newly married to William Hays and probably only about 18 or 19.

Both her father and her husband were working on a project, building a wilderness road, opening Kentucky to settlers. Susannah and her servant were the only women in the group and what a life they had! Susannah would wake up, cook breakfast and when the men were clearing a road, she and her servant would pack up camp and go to the new camp and set up, cook dinner, etc.

Along the way, there was an Indian attack and bad weather. However, Susannah Boone and her servant, had the privilege of being the first, non-Indian women to be in Kentucky. Susannah must have been very brave!

Now, let me tell you about a brave young boy, named Paul Revere Jr.

We all know about “the” Paul Revere. Paul Revere had a son also named Paul that did something pretty brave when he was only 13 or 14.

The British had taken Boston, where the Reveres lived and when the Revolutionary War “officially” started the Revere family escaped to another town that was not taken by the British. But Mr. Reveres shop was still in Boston and if you left a building, shop or home, the British would vandalize and desecrate it. So young Paul stayed in Boston to take care of his family’s home until it was safe to come back.

This might not seem like much but think about it. The British had taken the city and things were not very stable there. Young Paul was alone in his house, with the British right outside. In those times of unrest Paul was being very brave as he protected his family’s home.

Those are the stories of the two amazing young people, as it says in my title. Now for the unsung hero of the American Revolution. Caeser Rodney.

You probably have not heard of him but he was so important in the making of our country. The Declaration of Independence was written and all it needed was to be unanimously passed. All the colonies had to agree. The vote was taken and here were the results: Nine of the thirteen colonies voted yes, two voted no, one abstained and one was split, one delegate to one. The Congress decided to have another debate the next morning and then a final vote.

Delaware, the colony that was split might very well decide the outcome, so they sent a courier to fetch the third delegate, Ceaser Rodney.

The messenger arrived at Rodney’s farm to tell him that he had seven hours to get back to Congress and vote. Rodney took his best horse and galloped into the night. He had eighty nine miles to go. They were difficult conditions with streams turned torrents, quagmires, and bad weather. Caeser had no change of horse but finally right before the vote was taken he was carried into the assembly room where he said these words:

“As I believe the voice of my constituents and of all sensible and honest men is in favor of independence, my own judgement concurs with them. I vote for independence.”

After the final vote it was twelve to none (New York had abstained). The colonies had become a country, with much thanks to Caeser Rodney.

I hope you enjoyed learning about these three heroes! Do you have a story of an unsung hero that you would like to share? Comment below!

Priscilla Joy

Posted by Posted in adventures, Family, Fun Stuff, holidays, journal entries, me, memorys, Nature and the Outdoors

Journal Entries- My Birthday!

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 16 years old. I sometimes can’t believe I am that old but I like the sound of both 15 and 16 so I am still happy. 🙂

I had a really fun time yesterday so I will reveal what I did in this journal entry blog post.

When I woke up I had my devotions like usual. I had been reading in Isaiah but I took a break from that and read Phillipians because that is one of my favorite books of the Bible and you always do your favorite things on your birthday, right?

We had breakfast together (my dad and Jace took off work) and looked at my baby book. I always love looking at that. It is fun to see our family when I was born, my little brother Jace (almost two at the time of my birth) is SO cute! I opened gifts and then we all got ready and dressed for the day.

We headed out on the road to Stone Mountain about 9:30 a.m. We arrived there at about 10:45 a.m. I like to go hiking on my birthday because it is something I love to do but we don’t get to do a lot. We had never been to Stone Mountin before so we were all looking forward to it.

I decided we should do the Stone Mountain Loop Trail. It was 4.5 miles but we probably hiked about 5 miles in all because you had to hike .3 miles to get to the trailhead.

Stone Mountain Summit

Stone Mountain Summit

It was very pretty. Not too long before we started there was this HUGE stone slab that we stopped at and just hung out and explored and ate lunch at. It was cool. We hiked up some more (up and up and up) until we reached the Stone Mountain Summit. It was 2,305 altitude! It was sooo high up!

The view from Stone Mountain summit

The view from Stone Mountain summit

We saw lots of Hawks (maybe 100?) circling in the air right about our height. It was cool that we were the same height as the birds. Also the mountains around us were about equal with us. We were high up. After experiencing that awe inspiring work of God we continued.

This next leg of the journey was through the forest so it got cool and damp in there. We went down lots of steps and we were all very glad that we were not going up the steps! It was about 1.5 miles between each attraction. We stopped at a “comfort station” (a wet bench) and had granola bars and apples. Then we got to the Hutchinson Homestead. It was pretty cool. There was an old barn, cabin, corn crib, outhouse, garden, smokehouse and more. You know me… I love the pioneer/frontier times!

Hutchinson Homestead

Hutchinson Homestead

After that the trail went through a field and then into the forest again. There were a lot of gurgling brooks on the side of the trail and we soon came to the source! The Stone Mountain Waterfall! It was a huge slab of stone with sheets of water just careening down it! William, Celia and I went to the bottom of it and watched it for a bit. The trail then went up the waterfall so there were lots of stairs. Lots and lots and lots.

Stone Mountain waterfall

Stone Mountain waterfall

There wasn’t too much more. After the waterfall there was only less than half a mile to go. We went back to the car and headed back to Statesville where we stopped for dinner at Crackerbarrel. It was a really good time as a family. Very precious.

We went to a friends house for dessert. We played Risk and had ice cream sundaes and brownies. Then we came home and since we were all very tired went to bed soon after.

I stayed up and looked at my baby book one last time and then I went to bed. I had a great day! Thanks to all who made it special! I look forward to see what God will do in me this next year!

-Priscilla Joy

Posted by Posted in adventures, do hard things, faith, God, gospel and outreach, Living for God, Mexico, missions, Rancho3M

When God Says No

I read “Do Hard Things” two or three times. Yes, it is that good. Our youth pastor preached a series about doing hard things. The idea changed my teen years.

The last time I read the book (a month ago maybe?) I felt like God had a hard thing for me to do. What was it?

Then I realized it. Doing hard things isn’t always planning an outreach or fundraiser, saving someones life or even diligently doing chores at home. Somethimes a hard thing is just to say yes when God says no.

I recently had this experience.

I had the oppurtunity to go down to Mexico for a week to serve at the Rancho3M orphanage in November. In fact a week from now I would be in Mexico.

Now if you really know me you know that serving down there is the highlight of my summer and that I really have a heart for that ministy. Oh and I love all the kids down there to pieces.

I REALLY wanted to go.

But God shut the door.

I was disappointed although I didn’t show it outwardly. I missed it down there. And that is when I realized that I have to say Yes to God even when He says No to something I desperately want to do.

His plan is always better. Isn’t it? We don’t always know why He gives us that answer. Sometimes we see it after and sometime we don’t. We just have to leave it up to Him.

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in adventures, Bible, faith, God, Living for God

Do I Trust?

It is easy for us to say “Yeah, I trust God.” when everything is going well.

Its easy for us to trust Him in the good times.

But trust is something that hits us hard when we hit a rough spot.

For me right now that trust is: Do I trust God when we are moving?

Do I trust God when our house is closing in less than three weeks and we don’t know where we are going?

Do I trust God with my tomorrow…. wherever tomorrow is?

Maybe for you its asking: Do I trust God when my loved one dies? Or my baby is miscarried? Or my job is lost? Or my child turns from the faith?

Do you trust God when worry, anxiety and doubt cloud over your mind?

Sometimes trusting God seems so hard. We like to know what will happen, where we are going and what our future will look like.

Trusting God is hard. Really hard.

Thankfully God is so great and His word is full of promises when we are doubting. Here are a few.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.”
Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in Him, turn to Him and forget about solving your problems, leave it to Him, HE will direct your paths.

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will act.”
Psalm 37:5

He will act! What a promise.

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:34

Read the whole passage of Matthew 6:25-34 to see how he clothes the lilies and feeds the birds. 😉

And a personal favorite of mine….

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will gaurd your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Phillipians 4:6-7

Let Christ know your worries and the peace of God which is better than any knowledge (where you will go, what you will do, etc.) will flood our hearts and minds.

So I don’t know where you are right now in life but if you have an area where you are anxious and worried and maybe struggling with trusting God, read His promises and just give Him everything. He will uphold you and strengthen you.

Keep on trusting!
Priscilla

P.S. Oh and scripture is riddled with more promises like the ones above so get your Bible out and find them!