Asking To Be Filled

http://www.ellerslie.com/sermons/eric-ludy/1-8-12/incorrigibly-cheerful 

(This is a sermon that I really liked, if anyone wanted to take the time to listen to it:)

   Oh dear. Chloe reminded me earlier that I had given a sneak peak to my next post! (I forgot completely:) Probably shouldn't do that again....

So often we as Christians continually ask God to teach us to be kind, gentle, humble and whatever other godly characteristics. But rarely do we stop to think that even if we were taught these things, it would still be done in our strength! Instead of trying always to be more generous, more self-controlled (which will never work), we are to ask God to fill us up with Him! If God were to permeate the area of my life where I should be more kind, He will be the one with the kindness, not me. I wouldn't be relying on my own strength, but asking God to rule in my heart. I'm not saying that all of the sudden being good gets easier, but that this is merely a step towards full reliance on God.

This is all I was going to say, I guess I should have finished it before:) Thanks for reading this teensy baby post!

Importance of Protection

I love my Dad. I was going through some pictures the other day and found these:) 

My Dad reminded me of something I've been thinking of lately: 

The Importance of Protection

I think sometimes I get a little too comfortable. I begin to think I really do know the best, that since I'm growing up I should be able to 'handle it'. But it reality I am terribly naive about the world I live in. I do not have the wisdom an extra thirty years would give me. I need protection. As someone who hates to admit weakness, this is not a comfortable fact. I don't want to be needy. 

But I don't want to be alone. 

Thus the great problem in my life: I want to be loved and cherished, but I want to do it "all by myself"

Thing is- "all by myself" is a lonely place, a miserable and full-of-failure place. Through God's grace I'm learning that I don't deserve to be loved. He is teaching me to embrace the fact that I am needy. 

I need Him! I need wise people in my life to help guide me! My Dad has years of wisdom and guidance for me- what sane person would forget? 

(I'm insane)

Vibia Perpetua, a martyr from 203AD said this: 

'In this trial what God determines will take place. We are not in our own keeping, but in God's.' 

This may seem completely unrelated to you, but to me this makes sense:) I am in God's keeping, His protection is always with me. This does NOT mean that I should go into whatever situation saying "God's got this!" without thinking of the consequences. God gave me people in my life to point me in His direction and protect me. I should say "God's got this"- but also make choices that honor him, not throw caution to the wind. It's getting close to bedtime, so I'll have to make this short: If you're stuck in this comfortable, dangerous place- wake up! God has given you people in your life who love you and desire to help you. Learn from them. 

Side note/ sneak peek for next post: Asking God to teach you kindness/patience/whatever DOESN'T work. You are still trying in you own strength to be what you cannot be- perfect. Instead, ask God to fill you up with his patience/kindness/whatever- let himself shine through you, and you can accurately reflect God!

Have a wonderful night,

Avery

Be impossibly on fire for God! 

Letting Your Guard Down

To be honest, I am often not as aware of the spiritual world as I should be.

Let't clarify what I mean by spiritual world: the metaphysical battle of angels and demons that occurs out of human sight. 

I'm aware of my sin- I experience it and it's consequences every day. But I don't pay attention to the spiritual world- the one that really matters. My first reaction is to say I don't experience it every day, but maybe that is a warning sign. Maybe I don't recognize what is part of the battle around me. 

That's where the title comes in. 

Imagine you have a castle to defend. Your enemies attack the front gate relentlessly, but you don't back down. Victory is certain, if you just keep the enemy from getting inside the castle. But something is wrong- men in strange armor are attacking from inside the walls! Your men are quickly overpowered and the battle seems completely lost. 

(Don't worry- you won't lose though!)

Letting your guard down is what loses the battle- it's when we assume that we have control. 

If I focus all of my strength on one temptation I have, and fail to pay attention to knew weaknesses creeping in, the devil get's a free foothold. A free way in to whisper lies.

(Not cool)

There are two ways to deal with this information: 

                                1) The way of the Flesh: This means I must aways pay attention to every area, I must never stop to rest because I might believe lies, I must always be fighting, always be casting down my enemy! 

Don't you hear the weariness in this relentless list of "must do's"? Even though I might think I'm actively fighting the devil, really I'm giving him a greater opportunity to creep in by keeping a close-fisted grip on control. 

This leads to the second way. 

                               2)The way of God: God is fighting for me- this doesn't mean I need to stop fighting, but I need to trust that God can handle this. I will be vigilant, not because I must but because I see the value of it! My desire is to please God, to seek after him, and in this act of worship the awareness of the spiritual world is learned. 

Bottom line for this post: 

Give God the control- true worship of him is what truly matters, he will give you what you need.

I have to go make dinner before life group- otherwise this would be longer… anyway, I'm praying for you all this week!

~Avery

Why Does Evil Exist?

We've been learning about this question in Worldview class lately, and this week I've come face to face with people having to deal with this question every day.

To start this post off, I'll begin by saying that I feel things. Even if I am not experiencing someone's emotions, I still feel them. I don't know why, but I do! This week has been a flood of other people's emotions:)

Last night I spent about an hour just asking God why, asking God how he can be good, and yet evil still exists. What I learned in Worldview has been essential to my struggle with this issue, so I thought I would share it with you! (From my perspective:)

Many people use this logic to say there is no God:

-If God was all-powerful, he would not allow evil

-Evil exists

-Therefore, God does not exist.

But this doesn't deal with the real question we are all asking- why do bad things happen to me?
I want to know why I have to have physical pain every time I eat, I want to know why other people can experience such grief that I can hardly stand to think about it.

There are three different types of evil, natural evil- by natural causes, moral evil- from human choice, and maximum evil- against the innocent.

Of those three, what bothers you most? For me, and I assume most people, it is maximum evil. It isn't fair for first graders to be murdered, it isn't right that they don't have a chance to live. Us humans think that we are innocent.

But we are not.

God gave us a free will when he created us, or we would just be his puppets! He didn't want a bunch of children who had to follow him, but people who chose him! God gave Adam and Eve the command not to eat of the fruit- but they ate it. In their sin, humankind fell.

We are all sinners. We are all guilty.

But we have a Saviour. God looked with sorrow at his people, and made a way for the evil choice to be redeemed.

God promises that he will come again. He promises that he will destroy evil! We have to wait here- but we aren't alone. The Christian God, our God, is the only one who suffers with his people. You are not alone in your sufferings, God's heart is breaking with yours, he is weeping with you. To him, all these thousands of years are just a moment, because he is outside of time. God hasn't obliterated evil yet, but he will.

So the answer to the why question?

Evil is evidence of the fallen world, and our knowledge that there should be something different shows that we are longing for our eternal home: heaven. God knows our sufferings and feels them with us, he cares. 

~Avery

When Praise is Forgotten

I think something I forget too often is Praise.

Take a moment and really think about what it means to praise.

Praise means to express one's respect and or gratitude. Think about this: how often do you turn around and thank God for his gifts? I don't know about you, but my answer would be a cringe-worthy "I forget". One of the devotional books I'm reading talked about this. It simply reminded its reader to remember. If you are a forgetful person like me- this seems kind of like a death sentence. My initial thoughts were "I can't even remember to do my laundry every week- how am I going to remember to thank God- to truly take the time and actually praise him?" but then this sad realization came to me:

Is God really that unimportant in my life that I forget about him?

When did I let that happen?

Do you ever feel like you know all the right things to do- but you never get to the actual doing?
It frustrates me that I can be in such slavery to sin, and yet be so forgiven! I don't understand why God continues to shower me with his love when I keep forgetting! The key is there can be no fine line, no balance.

I can be whole-heartedly for God, or lukewarm and stagnant in my faith.

I don't want to have God be a 'forget' kind of thing in my life. I want him to be a 'can't let go' part!
But to do that I have to change my attitude from assuming I deserve the gifts I've been given to an attitude of humble, grateful awe that God would choose me to love. At this point, if I were reading this I would assume the writer would now end the post. But that would be a depressing ending, there is no way I'm going to make that happen! I can't force myself to praise- it wouldn't be praise! I have to come to the understanding that there is nothing I am doing that brings me God's love. He is the one that can and will do it. I need to just be willing to ask for help. Right now I'm asking that He would give me a heart full of wanting to praise him, because if God gives me the desire, it will truly be praise that glorifies him.

A line in one of the songs we sang this morning talked about how God is drawing close to him the cynic and the proud.

That means me. I praise him that he wants me. What love he has that he would pour out gifts to people who forget him. He wants the prideful, selfish, haughty, jealous, angry, sad, scared, stressed-out person,. Not because they can do anything for Him, but because He LOVES them. He wants you, turn around and let him pursue you!

Praying for us all this week!
~Avery

Runningrunningrunning

Can I just say I love running? 

That's all that really needs to be said here, honestly.

I ran my first 5k (3.1 miles if you're wondering) this morning, and it was everything I thought it would be! I ran in the Annual Run Against Slavery- a fundraiser for K-state Freedom Alliance (a non-profit organization that raises awareness of human trafficking). 

Sign up at 7:30... I really just wanted to run, but we had to wait for other people to show up... 

Putting on our numbers

Yay! So excited! (I couldn't keep my feet still)

warm up until the race begins at about 8:00.

24:00 minutes later...

Finished!

It wasn't too hot, so at least I (emphasis on I) wasn't that sweaty:)

posing with the sign... 

Yay! Prize money! I made $10...

Dad and I both got second place in women's and men's divisions. It was super fun to get to talk to Dad the whole way, and have fun laughing at each other while we tried to navigate the twisty path! 

(Also, Mom and Deborah were awesome cheerleaders, Deborah did some of her homework outside her building for the morning, just so she could cheer for us for the 30 seconds we were in sight! Mom was gracious enough to come and watch us too:) 

Just saying, I cannot wait until my next race!

  

   ~Avery

Glorious Failure

It's fall.

What a wonderful sensation, typing those words.  Fall means I'm a year older, it means a fresh start, it means fun. It means work.

It's been a few weeks since we dropped Savanna off at Cornerstone(I don't know exactly how many...) It's strange how fast our family has adjusted. It's not a sharp pain like I thought it would be, just a dull, aching, 'something's not quite right' sort of feeling.

But that isn't what I wanted to write about:)

I wanted to write about idolatry. Or just sin in general. I feel sort of like that is a lot of what I wrote about last year... but I have learned so much since then that those posts seem so silly!

First, I have learned that sin is something that can't stay ignored for long, and if it does, you have some serious hiding skills. I've learned that I sin every day, just by not being overwhelmed by the grace I have been given to just keep on breathing. Sin is seeing God reveal his nature, and rejecting him. I have rejected God by choosing my own way. Why can I not just choose God? Why is it so hard? BUT- why am I relying on myself to choose him? Truth= I CANNOT. It is impossible for me to choose to say no to the flesh. (As Kevan from CYIA says: "DOWN SELF") I might be able to turn away for a little while, but I cannot resist the temptation of my own path. God has strength beyond measure. He tells me over and over that it is mine to have, I only need ask. I ask, he gives, I forget. 

Let that sink in. I FORGET the God of the universe, who's presence is inside me. How devastating. To be clear, I know exactly who God is, but I get so wrapped up in my world of small, insignificant ups and downs that I grow spiritually lukewarm. So much for burning with passion for Christ.

I've always wanted to know what makes certain people-missionaries and martyrs- so awe-inspiring to me. Something about how they talk, how they act makes me want to know their secret to being so content. But there is no secret, just the fact that they TRUST God. They acknowledge their need, and act on it, by throwing themselves onto his mercy. I want that. I want to hunger, burn, thirst for God's presence in my life! But I rely on myself. I try to make myself want God more. How can I change this pattern?

I can't.

But God can. His Holy Spirit, who lives in me, can!

I don't want this realization to fly over my head each morning. I want it to sink deep into my soul, and
change me. The best part is that even though I fail he still loves me, He knows that I am sinful, he knows that I can't do it. Still He loves me. So in my biggest 'I-can't' moments- that is when His power shines the brightest. So I can embrace my failure. It shows God's strength, God's mercy, that He still loves me even though I'm me! Praise the Father, how glorious!


In another post I'll talk about the second thing, I've rambled slightly longer than I thought I would! Thanks for reading the workings of my brain- which are probably hard to understand(all the commas!:)

~Avery

Rejoice!

How to Survive Camp on a Paleo Diet

As CYIA began to loom ahead in the future, wondering about what I was going to eat became a "we-need-to-do-something-about-this"-problem. I'm currently on a Paleo diet, which is grain, sugar, and starch free. This means I eat mostly vegetables, fruit and meat. At CYIA everyone is blessed with home-cooked meals, which unfortunately are full of sugar, grain and starch:) Mom and I decided to check with the cooks, and they agreed to let me bring all my own food to camp! 

This means I need to make all my meals ahead of time. 

That said, I've been furiously cooking, baking, and editing recipes! Mom suggested that I blog the recipes for the things I made, so here you go! 

First off, I made Paleo muffins. I got the basic recipe from Elena's Pantry, here, and edited it a bit by adding fruit and *gasp* vegetables! These are great to add a bit of protein to your lunch or breakfast, and you can get creative by trying different fruits and veggies! (I really want to try Spaghetti Squash!)

Paleo Almond flour/Coconut flour Muffins

1 cup almond flour

• 2 tablespoon coconut flour 
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup coconut oil
• ¼ cup agave nectar, honey, or crushed medjool dates mixed with water
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (omit if you want, it's not too necessary, unless you like the taste:)
• 1-2 cups fruit, such as blueberries, mangos, or any other kind of berry
• If you want extra protein, add 1 zucchini, or 1 sweet potato, raw, grated

• 

1. Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt 

2. In a large bowl stir together oil, sweetener of choice, eggs and vanilla

3. Blend the dry ingredients into the wet, dumping a little dry into the wet at a time(it still works if you just dump it all in, I tried) 

4. Add fruit of choice, and vegetable if you want

5. Drop batter into muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350º or until a toothpick comes out clean

Next is cauliflower!!! Seriously guys, I never knew how awesome this veggie was. Chopped up, it tastes a whole lot like rice, and it can be made into a pizza crust! 

Cauliflower-Zucchini casserole 

1 cauliflower head

1 Zucchini

Few shakes of pepper, salt, and 1/2 T. minced garlic

1 Chicken breast, cooked

1. Wash cauliflower, cut into pieces like broccoli, and roast at 420º for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned

2. Grind Cauliflower in a food processor until the texture of rice

3. Transfer cauliflower to a towel and wring out excess water

4. Grate zucchini and put it into a cast iron with the cauliflower on medium heat

5. Stir frequently to avoid burning

6. Add spices, and chicken (please cook the chicken before this step!!) 

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

1 Cauliflower head

1/4 c. Dairy free yogurt, or 1/8 c. almond milk

2 T. Oregano

1 T. Minced Garlic 

2 T. Almond flour

(1 egg if you want it to stick together really well, but it's not necessary ) 

1. Repeat steps 1-3 in the instructions for Cauliflower-Zucchini casserole

2. Add all other ingredients to cauliflower and press into a ball

3. Transfer "dough" onto a cookie pan lined with parchment paper

4. Cook for 15 minutes at 350º, then add tomato sauce and desired toppings

5. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned

I froze most of these meals in containers lined with parchment paper in between servings, so that at mealtime I can grab a (I guess it will be a cube...) serving and warm it up in the microwave! I'm also planning on bringing several fresh fruits and vegetables! 

I'll give you the recipe for the way I cook my chicken, also:)

Chicken-The Avery Way!

1 Chicken breast

Shakes of salt and pepper

1. Cut Chicken into cubes and place in a coconut oiled cast iron skillet

2. Turn heat to medium, bake for about five minutes, then begin to stir periodically at a five minute interval

3. Cut one cube of chicken in half, if it's still pink inside it's not done, if it is not pink, it's done!

4. Bake for five more minutes to assure done-ness 

5. Eat however you see fit

So, yeah. Now you are up to date on how I am continuing my Paleo diet outside of the home! Thanks for reading!

~Avery

Summer Break

As most of you have noticed, my posts have moved to being nonexistent, seeing as I'm not obligated to do it any more:) Please feel free to ignore this blog until fall, when I will probably start again! (Although I might do a few after vacation and such:)
Thank-you for being faithful so far!
Avery

A post so random a title wouldn't work...

Soo, I know Easter was last Sunday, but I think I'll post about Easter anyway:)
As I was trying to think about what to blog about, I remembered one of my IPEARS I was doing yesterday. It was John 1:12, the dreaded CYIA verse that is so impossible to explain well. While I was trying and praying for God to show me how to explain it well, it struck me how to me at least it seems the most obvious part of that verse is ignored! (This is from my experience only, don't be offended if this doesn't apply to you:)

John 1:12
"But to as many as received him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name."

So maybe I was looking a little too hard, but it was so refreshing to know that God gives the right to become the children of God, nothing you and I could do, however saintly and perfect it was, would earn us a spot on God's lap. All we have to do is believe, or trust that Jesus did die on that cross for us, and that he did rise again! Another CYIA verse that proves this... (can you tell I've been immersing myself in these verses:P)

Romans 10:9-11
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For all who call upon the name of the Lord he shall be saved."

I love how this verse says "for ALL who call upon the name of the Lord..." It means that no one is discriminated! God doesn't care if they are "weird" or have "problems" or anything else us petty humans can think of that would stop His gift of Salvation.

So on a completely different topic, which I was reminded of when I talked about trusting in God up there^^, A couple weeks ago in the Esther Bible study with Beth Moore we learned about something called conditional trust, and I thought I would share it with you:)

This really struck me as something that is really important to understand, because if you got rid of it, it could potentially change your whole relationship with God! It goes along with the fear thing... It basically means that you only trust God when he's keeping your fear from happening. That you only use him as the "keep away" card, but never really stop and think about what could actually happen when your fear is realized. That might have been confusing, I'm sorry, I really don't know how to explain it well...
However, it really is something that I've been trying to pray about and be conscious of! I want my relationship with God to go beyond just asking God for protection, I want Him to show me the majesty of his work in my life, to show me what he can do through sorrow and pain and hurt. Don't get me wrong, I most certainly do NOT want my fears to come true, but some will. (Like being imperfect) Trials will come, hurt will come. I don't want the pain, but when trials come I want to be firm in God, and not waver and fall from his hand!

Whew, this is an abrupt ending, sorry for the turbulence!
Okay, you can unbuckle your seat belt, I'm done:)
~Avery

Worry-The sign of Fear

This weeks topic is worry. Now, I don't know exactly how I'll word this, so be gracious:) I was thinking/praying in the shower, asking God to give me something to blog about, and this popped up!
Soo.. I'm pretty sure as girls we've all worried at least once. Be honest.
So what do we do with it? I think I might have already done a post on this, so you might have heard some of this, but I have learned to some new things recently!
First of all: Identify what you are worried about.
Be it schoolwork, your hair, what you are going to wear, who is thinking about you, what they are thinking, whether or not you'll be able to do something you have been waiting for…. the list goes on and on!! I know I've been worrying a lot about what I will eat lately, so I'll use it as an example.
The past couple days, I have felt just plain anxious, and snippy with everyone. Not until Friday did I realize I've made what I'm eating an idol! I worry about whether I'll like it, whether it will make my stomach hurt, and what is wrong with my stomach in general! But now that I've identified that this is what I am most worried about at this present time, I can start to battle that fear.
Second: Face the fear. 
(I learned this from the Esther bible study, don't give me any credit!)
Once this fear is written, or said, it's power is vanquished. Keeping the fear in your head gives it power!
One thing that REALLY helps, is asking the question, what will happen if this fear comes true?
For example, say I accidentally ate something that had gluten in it, and feel sick for two weeks. (You ask the question: if                   , then                     .) If I feel sick, then I will be grumpy. I might not feel like exercising. Keep asking, then what? I will feel bad for not exercising. Then what? I will be angry I about feeling sick. Then what? I will probably snap and be annoyed with my siblings. Then what? I will be miserable for being so unapproachable. Then what? I will go back to God and ask him to give me strength to choose joy. (Fill in your blank, if                ,then  God    .) Your fear realized will always end with God.
Third: Choose Joy
Sometimes what you are worrying about will happen. maybe you won't get a good grade on something you were worried about, or you will get sick before an event. So what do you do when what you were afraid of comes to pass? This is an easy answer that is super hard to actually do!! Don't you dare think I  remember to do this when I most need to! Choosing joy has two steps: wanting to choose it, and asking God to give you the strength. There is no possible way you will ever be able to do this by yourself! You have to pray, constantly storm God's ears, he WILL answer if you ask!
So every time I begin to feel the familiar flutter of anxiousness, if I follow these three steps I'll be worry free. Right? *sarcasm that no one gets* This isn't going to work if you follow this like a list. As in, "okay step one, identify fear. Hmm, that would be spiders. Step two, Face the fear… wait what?? NO WAY!! That is totally not in my comfort zone, don't you dare tell me to be brave!?" (Okay you probably won't do that, but really, this isn't a fool proof list, it takes God's strength to just think about what you might be afraid of!) Please remember that I do NOT in any way have this mastered! Just because I'm writing this down does not mean I've got it figured out:) I'll leave you with this verse.

Psalms 119: 5-8
"Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! I will obey your decrees. Please don't give up on me!"

Thanks for reading! Jesus will never give up on you, no matter how much you worry and fret.
~Avery

Lessons from Pinterest(or just stuff I found hilarious)

Okay, I had NO IDEA what to blog about this week, so I just collected a bunch of GIFs and funny pictures from Pinterest and compiled them:) 

These lessons of course are mostly in jest, don't take em too seriously!

Lesson 1: Learn how to make the mundane things(like walking down stairs, as unmundane as possible)

For anyone who can read music, find the hidden message in these notes!

                       (Lesson 2: learn to read music so you can find cool messages in music)

Lesson 3: Hours can be wasted on the Internet! (I wasted at least ten minutes just watching this guy!)

This Spiderman dude will dance to whatever beat your music follows. Seriously, he does!

I'm listening to Vivaldi and he's dancing to the beat…

 

Lesson 4: Things don't always go as planned.

He he, I could watch this one for hours!

I can't get over the fact that the guy just stares at the little "ghost" on the ground!!

                                                      Lesson 5: Some people have WAY too much time on their hands!!
I mean really? Who comes up with stuff like this? I can't make sense of how you would figure this out!

Lesson 6: Look at the bright side, or at least at other people looking at the bright side….

This one doesn't really have a lesson… but it was so accurate it was funny! (Anyone else still run up the stairs like an animal?)

 This also has no point except I thought it was funny….

That wasn't too bad right? 

Now I need to talk about something more serious I guess….

ehh… Scratch that Idea, I'll just do a list:)

Random thing I'm proud of that I did this week:

Learned to go fast on Sam's skateboard!

After several attempts that I hope no one was watching, and a big scar on my ankle, I can finally go around the Cul-de-sac without falling!

Random thing I'm happy about:

Hmm… it's warm enough to ride bikes! Deborah has her Honors Concert tonight, and I get to help her get ready!

Random thing that I'm sad about:

I'm missing Scottish Dance Night:(

Random thing I'm dreading:

Meh, nothing!

Random thing I'm excited about:

CYIA!! Just two more months!!

Random thing that is boring(don't bother reading:P):

Our crab apple tree is about to bloom.

Random thing that should be mentioned:

Spring Practices of Volleyball started up again, and everyone is doing so GOOD!

Random thing in general:

You are probably bored of reading this post, if you've even made it to here, so I'll stop!

Congratulations for getting to the end of this torturous post!

(I'm sorry Mrs. Mann, you were obligated too:)

Thanks!

~Avery

Spilling Over

Matthew 15:11, 18

"It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth."

"But the words you speak come from the heart, that's what defiles you."

Today we're on the topic of your heart. What is your heart full of? Kind of like the waterfall up there, whatever is eventually going to spill out. Lately I've noticed that several people have been talking to me about being full of yourself, and what happens when you give the enemy that stronghold.

I have two quotes that really caught me off guard this week:

"Nothing leaves us feeling more hollow than being full of ourselves."

-Beth Moore

"When you're focused on yourself, you're unable to help others."

-Mrs. Salts

When I'm focused on myself, I am unable to fulfill the destiny that God has planned for me. I will miss a chance I could have taken to follow his plan. In Beth Moore's Esther bible study, we just recently finished the chapter about when Esther faces the choice to save her people, and probably die, or to not do anything, and suffer the consequences of her choice. In Esther 4:14 Mordecai says: "If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief will arise from some other place[...]" Mordecai knows that God's plan will still be fulfilled, but Esther will miss out on being part of God's plan!

I don't know about you, but I feel like the plan that God has made for me is going to be the best choice:) When I don't choose every morning to die to myself, I give the Devil a bigger stronghold, and when I'm full of myself, that's what spills out. Now this is going to be metaphorical, so please bear with me:) What you're full of, spills out, right? I don't want to be full of my flesh, because that isn't going to help anyone. God is standing by, ready to give me unending joy, and peace, if I would just ask! I want to be full of joy and the love of God, because that is what I want to overflow from me! If I'm unable to even notice what other people are feeling, or struggling with, how can I expect to be a good friend/sibling/daughter? I want to learn how to listen to not just what people tell me, but what they're body language and voice intonation tells me. Because I know that sometimes I won't tell people that I'm feeling a certain way, but I still want them to know, but I'm too afraid to tell them! (Complicated right?:P) I want to ask God to deep clean my heart. Not just a de-clutter. I want a full remodel and scrub! I will never be strong enough to stop being full of myself, but God has, and always will have the strength to give to me!

Behold, He stands at the door and knocks!

~Avery

Mango Power Bars

So, last Saturday Savanna and I, and Chloe got to go and see the new movie Divergent!!

Many of you know that this is based of a novel written by Veronica Roth a couple years ago, if you didn't, now you do! Chloe just recently introduced the books to me, and I've read the first one (Divergent) and I'm waiting to read the next two! 

Okay, now to my topic.

Today you get a recipe! (i'm sorry about the lack of pictures... Mom and I ate it all up before Savanna could get out her camera. They really did look good:) 

Mom and I  have recently been collecting some more grain free recipes, or just higher-in -protein-than-in-starch recipes. In my search, I came across several recipes for power bars. These are either in the form of little balls, or in bars. The recipes all boiled down to just a few key ingredients. (I'll bold them in the recipe) I substituted a few things that we don't have in out kitchen, so it's more likely that you'll have these ingredients too!  

Also: I just wanted to try out blogging about food, so this isn't going to turn out to be a food blog:) 

Okay, so these bars are great for a high-protein snack, and can be super energizing for  an after work-out snack. They don't have any processed sugar, and are obviously Gluten-free and Dairy-free:) 

Mango Power Bars

1 c. Blanched almond flour

1 TBSP. Unsweetened coconut flakes

2 TBSP.  Flaxmeal(If you want to make this thoroughly gluten-free, use gluten-free flaxmeal that was produced in a certified gluten-free facility.)

2 TBSP. Coconut sugar

1/2 tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. honey

1/4 tsp. Sea salt

2 eggs

1/2 c. Mango (you can play around with this one, I would suggest that you use a fruit that it more squishy, and has more moisture:) 

1/2 c. Chocolate chips (If you don't want processed sugar, don't use these:) I don't know exactly how it would taste if you used it, since I didn't, but go ahead and try!)

Preheat oven to 350º

Combine the dry ingredients together. (Except for chocolate chips) Blend together. 

Stir the two eggs together so that the yoke is mixed in with the white, and add to the dry ingredients. Add the honey.

Cut your mango(or other fruit) into small bite sized pieces. Mix the fruit and chocolate chips into the batter, and spread into an oiled 8x8 pan. Let bake about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

 Eat right away, or freeze it for later! 

Thanks again for reading:)

~Avery

Lies of The World

                   This week has been a battle inside my head!! God has really been revealing how many lies I have allowed to rest under the surface. I don't know they are there, but by my reactions to circumstances showed that something was there! I spent some time just listening to God pull up each lie one by one, kinda like carrots:) Here are some of the lies I thought might be applicable to all y'all, and even if they seem really silly, I'd invite you just to evaluate if you really do believe the lie, deep down inside.
             What the World says about you:
               
                   • You'll be happy if you're 'skinny'
                   • You have to look photoshopped to be 'noticed'
                   • To be noticed means to inspire jealousy or awe in others
                   • You are worth as much as your appearance
                   • Flaunting yourself is the only way to get attention
                   • Intelligence only matters if you are beautiful too
                   • Your life is for your pleasure
                   • You can be as mean as you want, as long as you're nice to whoever matters
                   • Your worth comes from other people's affirmation
                   • You have to dress like ( ), and act like ( ) to be 'okay'
                   • Being popular makes you feel content
                   • Patience is overrated, everything needs to be fast or it's worthless

(This could go on and on, but I don't want you to be overwhelmed!)

Have you noticed a theme in these? I didn't, until just now! Here is the lie that sums all of these up:

You need the attention of others. Your goal should be to get attention. 

Whew. I don't know about you, but this sure caught me off guard. I'm pretty sure that you've wanted  attention at least once! But let's try and find the root of this 'attention need'. Why do we thirst for attention so much? We think that attention=value. It doesn't. What does God say about your value?

    What God says about you: (and your value:)  

              • You are not someone to be measured
              • Your worth lies in Me, and I never fail
              • What you look like on the outside matters nothing to Me in comparison to the spiritual beauty inside of you
              • Inspire hope and joy in others, not jealousy
              • Praise Me with your beauty
              • Your life belongs to Me, it is not yours to waste
              • I love to spend time with you
              • Fill your mind with things that are pleasing and perfect
              • Your beauty cannot be measured by someone else's standard

Worship God, your creator!! He loves you more than you could ever hope to imagine!

~Avery


                 

Choosing Joy

Father Daughter Dance, 2012

Savanna turned eighteen this week! I can't help remembering when she turned sixteen, after the last Father Daughter Banquet, I though the world was ending because she was so old! Now she's an adult!

Anyway, on to the subject.

Joy is a decision, joy is a battle. Joy is a conscious choice every morning. Joy takes the strength of God, and you willing to go along! When I wake up in the morning, and my mind unconsciously runs through everything I have to do in the day, where I have to go, and how much time I have to do it all, joy does not bubble out of me. Sometimes, I let the joy go, I don't try and find it. Trust me, I'm sure you all know those are how you make days go badly. Joy is not something that you have to wait for to find. (I'm not speaking literally, that was mostly figural) If I want to embrace joy, I've got to stretch my sleepy self a few feet to reach for my bible, and read. I'll be honest, sometimes I don't find anything groundbreaking.
I don't fall to my knees praying and worshipping. But when I acknowledge the presence of God inside me, I am able to choose to fight off anything that would hinder me, and choose to rejoice in my day.
Sometimes I don't hold on to the joy, and that is when I get grumpy, and my siblings walk a wide circle around me:) But be encouraged! Even if you've gone the whole day ignoring God's gift of life itself, He's always waiting for you to turn around and ask him to guide you!

This subject didn't go on for very long, so I guess you guys get an excerpt from Mermaid's Tears!

This is part of the scene where she is convinced to turn into a mermaid:P

               I close my eyes and remember, all the cold nights, all the hunger, despair. I remember how much the people of the town have hurt me, how much they abused me with their words.  I think of how I’ll never be loved, how I’ll never find anyone who could love me. I want the tears to come, but my eyes are just stinging. I squeeze my eyes, and I feel one tear fall. The mermaid catches the tear and blows on it, causing it to whirl up from her hand, glowing like a pearl. She stares at in in admiration, and holds the oyster shell up to it. The tear solidifies and drops into the shell.. It looks just like a pearl should, dully glowing pink and blue at the same time.  She pushes the oyster into my hand.

                        “Whatever you do, don’t let go. This is your life.”

 She pulls the fish up and slits its neck with her teeth. She spreads the blood on my feet, then puts her hands on my eyes and slides them down to my temples, using the blood to create a pattern. She continues the pattern on the side of my face and my neck. Slick, wet blood itches my neck. She is massaging the pattern into my face with her hard thumbs. It hurts, oh it doesn't, shouldn't feel real. With her shriek, pain tingles and swirls up my face, plowing through my legs. Agony. Why am I alive? Something pulls me into the water.

Maybe some more will come later:) 

~Avery