Jonahh..Mahh style :)

THE BOOK OF JONAH..my style. :)

So basically, at the beginning of this book God's like, Jonah, go to Ninevah and preach against it, because it's wickedness keeps coming up before me.

But Jonah was like, nuh-uh man! I'm not doing that! Lemme go down to Joppa and get a boat to take me to Tarshish so I can GET AWAY. Cuz I'd really rather not go to Ninevah.

But then, once Jonah was traveling on that ship such an enormous storm came that the boat was going to break. All of the sailors called out to THEIR OWN DIFFERENT GOD (note that. THEIR OWN GOD.) to spare them. And then they started throwing things off of the ship to lighten the load. But Jonah, yeah, our man Jonah? He was OUT. He was in a DEEP sleep. And the captain, he was like, man, WHAT THE HECK?! What're you doing?! Go call on your God so maybe he'll spare us!! How in the WORLD are you sleeping?!

But then the sailors, they were like, HEY. We should cast lots to find out figure out who's responsible for the storm!!! So they cast lots (I always think of drawing straws, personally.), and it all fell on Jonah...(dun dun dunnnn!)

So all of the sailors, they were like, man, where are you from, what did you do that made all of this come upon us, who is this from???

And Jonah was like, uhmmmmm...well, I'm a Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of Heaven who created this entire planet..

And he'd already told them that he was running away from his God before, so they started freaking out, and they were like, MAN! What'd you do?! And the sea kept getting worse, and they were like, How can we stop this?!

And Jonah was like..throw me in the sea and the waters will become calm. This is kinda my fault..
But they didn't want to kill him, so they tried to row back to shore (hehe, didn't work.) But eventually they were like, Oh God, please forgive us for killing this man!! And they threw him overboard, and everything got all calm and then they started worshipping the Lord. (see how god works in mysterious ways?)

So God provided a great fish to swallow Jonah (3 days,3 nights) and Jonah had a time of realization and prayer. (If you want to read Jonah's prayer, read jonah 2 )

And then the fish spit Jonah up.

So Jonah went to Ninevah, and delivered this message: "Forty more days and Ninevah shall be overturned." All of them IMMEDIATELY believed God and declared a fast and all of them wore a sackcloth, INCLUDING the king. The king even issued a degree telling everyone to turn from their evil ways and to call on God.

God saw how they had turned and had compassion, and did not bring about the destruction he had threated.

Jonah was ticked.
Jonah was REALLY ticked.

He was like, God, why did I even come?! I already said all of that stuff when I was at home! I know you're compassionate, that you're slow to anger and that you'd really rather not send calamity. Just kill me. I'd rather death than life.

And God was like, Do you really have any reason to be angry?

So Jonah went to a place to sit and see if anything would happen to Ninevah (he'd already built a shelter for some shade). God made a vine grow up around him, to protect him from some more of the sun. And Jonah was pretty happy. But then the next day God provided a worm to eat the vine, and also a scorching east wind, so that Jonah was BURNING in the heat. So again, Jonah was like, why won't you just kill me??

And God was like, Do you really have any right to be angry about the vine? And Jonah was like, Yeah! I'm angry enough to die!!

And God was like, So you've been concerned about this vine even though you didn't tend to it or make it grow or ANYTHING? It just sprang up and then died overnight!! But Ninevah, Ninevah has over 100,000 people, some of them not even having the ability to tell their left hand from their right. And you're saying that I have no right to be concerned about them? (Hey Jonah, have you forgotten that God created them and has provided for them?! OF COURSE he should worry about them! They're his babies!)

And that's the end. Take from it what you will. What did I take from it? The fact that God really does care about EVERYONE despite who you are because YOU ARE HIS CHILD.

the end <3

Blog-able facebook note I wrote..

This year while in Kentucky I learned a lot.
First of which, I've been shadowing God.

I go to a school that's primarily atheist/agnostic. I never had that problem in middle school. In middle school almost EVERYONE was Christian. But when I got to high school it seemed that no one was. Thus beginning my shadowing of Christianity.
See, the people at my school really insult Christians, calling us 'closed minded people who think they're better than everyone else.' That's a bit stereotypical if you ask me. They're being kind of closed minded themselves by putting all Christians in that group.

So before Kentucky I was trying to hide all evidence of me being a Christian. Someone would ask about my summer plans? 'Oh, I'm going to Kentucky.' I wouldn't say why I would be in Kentucky, and I would hope that no one would ask. Whenever my atheist friends would say anything about religion I would pretend I couldn't hear them or try to change the subject. I felt awful about it. Sometimes God would push me to say something, but I'd ignore him. I'd tell him that I'd do it later, that I had plenty of opportunities. That's not really the way we should be working.

But in Kentucky I learned that everything you do has an impact on someone's life. That those little kids at the carnival would remember how we played with them and would someday ask, "Why?'

I also realized that being a Christian can't just be a part of you. It needs to BE you. You NEED to be known by it. I can't hide behind a mask anymore. You know how everyone says that if you act nice and well, like a Christian SHOULD act, people will ask why? I didn't want them to ask why. But now I do. I WANT them to ask why. I want Christ to live THROUGH me. I want to love ALL people. I want to be obedient. I want to live without fear, knowing that God is on MY side.

"Our God is greater,
Our God is stronger,
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer,
Awesome in power,
Our God, Our God...

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?
What could stand against?"

"When I am afraid,
I will trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can mortal man do to me?"
Psalm 56: 3-4

Kentucky

Kentucky was great(: Kentucky was absolutely fabulous. I met a ton of really really nice people. I had really nice life chats. We had really good church services. I drew pictures for old people. I helped clear graveyards; restoring dignity to those families. I got to play with little kids at a carnival, saw the joy on their faces, saw how thankful the parents were. We went to the state park- walked like six miles- but we all had a really great time. We helped clear out a ravine (FIRST GIRLS EVER), and we had a tooon of fun. We went to a hoedown, we danced with the older people, and it was crazy fun :) We were in a van for like 9 hours, had a hannah montana dance party, then we all crashed.

Kentucky was fun (:

Ain't it perty??

I changed the background..ain't it beautimous??

Anyway...all I did todayy was win mario and dance. :)
I think I've totally given up on gymnastics..but I'm working on a dance to Not ready to make nice and it's reallllyy fun(:
I love that song(:

"Forgive...sounds good..forget, I'm not sure I could..they say, time heals everything..but I'm still waiting..I'm through..with doubt..there's nothin' left for me..to figure out..I've paid..A price..and I'm still paying..I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down..I'm still mad as hell and I don't have time to go round and round."

That totally explains everything about everything that's been happening.
I want to forgive. But I don't know if I can forget. Time..isn't helping. There really isn't anything left to FIGURE OUT, per se...and yeah, I've paid a price. I'm not ready to make nice just yet, and I'm not going to just back down. Because I'm mad. I'm extremely mad. And nothing's getting anywhere. I'm just going in circles.


Yes. I'm TRYING. But I'm not GETTING anywhere and it's FRUSTRATING. And the more disappointments...just makes everything worse. SO much worse. I can't believe everything's turning out like this, but no, I'm not backing down. I'm not changing anything. For once, YOU make the decision. YOU do it. Just...!!







Um..wow. Oops.
So..onto..other..things..um..going to Kentuckyy on Sunday and I'm pretty nervous. I hate new things, but once I experience it, I'll probably wish it had never ended(:

That's just how things happen in my world.




.....
the end.. O.o
--faithhh

Mm..life.

It's like one in the morning. I'm aware. I'm at the lake right now, so, ya know. It's all good. Leigh and I went tubing today and...of course, I fell off twice. (: Lovelyy.

So. I'm exhausted. COMPLETELY exhausted. And I wouldn't really be updating this right now if I weren't being nagged..cough cough.

So, hm, my thoughts on life right now??
Well, I was at the gym yesterday and I saw a sign that said, "Your abs only develop when you aren't working them, so make sure you take breaks. Try to only work them out 2 to 3 days a week."

And you know, I hadn't really thought about that before. The only way that things will build up is if you leave them alone for a while. It's the same way with life. You have to stop and take a breather. Relax for a bit. Distract yourself.

So yep, those are my thoughts from the gym :)
Kentucky, here I come...

<3 faithyyy