Charm is Deceptive, and Beauty is fleeting

Hello there again! Only twelve more days till Christmas!! I can hardly believe it, can you?

So you may be wondering why I have a melodramatic picture of myself up there, and how it could possibly have anything to do with a lesson I learned. (I'll get to the 'hard thing' I told you about later:) 

Well, two days ago, Chloe sent me this pin, one I had pinned from my computer several months ago (that picture) on pinterest, and she said it had gotten repinned on some people's character or story inspiration boards! I am ashamed to say it, but I was very excited. A little too excited. Looking back at my thought process, you would probably visibly see my head expand. I was proud of my "achievement". What? I don't know how my mind works sometimes... so anyway I was getting pretty prideful. Believe me, not a great place to be. I started expecting myself to always look perfect, be perfect. Thankfully though, God reminded me what I was doing. Jolted me from my daydream of pride.  

I was pretty sad that I had fallen into that trap again. I kinda just moped for a little bit, but God picked me up and gave me this verse. 

                                                                 Proverbs 31:30

   "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."

Beauty is fleeting. It only lasts a minute. I spend time on making my outward appearance beautiful, but what am I doing to make what will last, my heart, beautiful? I read John Eldridge's book, Captivating, and it really reminded me that God thinks I'm beautiful, just the way he made me. He wants to be able to grow my faith, my fear of Him. He pursues me because he loves me. I had never thought of Jesus like that!

Okay, spent a lot of time on that... so remember last week I told you I was praying for something big, a hard thing? It came! A girl in our Life Group is looking for a new apartment next semester, and she mentioned that she would rather stay with a family. We've all been praying about this, and it looks like we will potentially be having an adopted big sister next semester! I'm excited, but the hard thing will be that Olivia will move into my bedroom. This will be hard for me, because I'm used to my own space, and having everything the way I like it! I should probably stop talking now, the rest of school calls:)
                                                                     Have a wonderful day!
                                                                              ~Avery

Thanksgiving Vacation

Hello! We are now officially back, and I have so much to tell you!
                                                               First off, some pictures:

Margo(my cousin) and her rubber band/ weapon:)

Sledding on our ice toboggan, sorry it's a little blurry, it was snowing really hard!

Shopping, before we went to see Frozen, outside the Byron Center mall!

The 'kid' table for Thanksgiving, I'm sitting next to Jackson(my other cousin), if you're wondering what he looks like:)

Bryn and I:) Most of these were blurry, sorry! We got her a Varsity Donuts shirt, and Mom got me a matching one!

                                             It was so fun, and enjoyable! But let's get to the real reason of this post:)
    So, I ask myself while I type this, what has God been teaching me lately? I have to be honest with you guys, I don't know. I'm sure I could come up with something, but it wouldn't be completely meaningful, it wouldn't be fair to you, if I'm just spouting facts about God, or worse, if I'm just saying it, but not truly learning. I don't post to try and teach you guys, when I write it down, I'm learning from my own thoughts! Most of the time I have no idea where the words come from!
 
    I did my quiet time once during vacation. ONCE. I had ten whole days, and only one, five minute moment of reading God's word and praying. It would be a big fat lie to say I didn't learn anything though, because I did! It's not worth it to sleep in for ten more minutes. Sure I had fun on vacation, but spiritual warfare and just plain fear plagued me the whole time I stayed at my Aunt and Uncles. I can't live according to God's word if I'm not in His word! This summer I did a Beth Moore bible study, and it was on Daniel. She talked about the 'Babylon mindset', when you basically just worship an idol, which in my case is myself. She said that if you're not fighting the 'Babylon Mindset', it's already overtaken you. You can't stay away from it unless you're fighting it. I wasn't fighting it, and I was worshipping myself. I can never get those days back, but I can change what I do in the future. I know what it was like, and I don't want to go back. I don't want to live a mediocre life! Last week I started re-reading Do Hard Things, by Alex and Brett Harris, and I've been asking God to show me what hard thing he would like me to work on. I have noooo clue yet! I need to keep praying, and have faith that God will answer. Next week I will post more on that:)

                                                      Thanks for bearing with all that!
                                                                     ~Avery
   

{Update From MI}

Hello everyone!
Many of you know that my family and I went to Michigan for Thanksgiving, if you didn't know, now you do! Excitingly though, we stopped for THREE WHOLE days at the Warner's house!!!! (Some very good friends of ours, who moved away:( ) Guys, their new house is so cool! We stayed there three days, and had so much fun! Savanna, Bryn, and I got to stay in her bedroom, while the rest of my family were in the guest room. The first day Savanna, Mom, and Dad went to Cornerstone College for a visit day, (Savanna loved it! *happy/sad dance* BUT don't freak out, she hasn't fully decided yet!) So the younger three were left with Mrs. Warner and Bryn all day!!

Us youngers spent our whole day together getting ready for a puppet show. They have an awesome staircase, and rafters right above, and it reminded me a LOT of the Sound of Music, (goat song, remember?!) So! we hung blanket from the rafters and from the stair case, and turned the stuffed animals brave enough to come on holiday with us into marionettes! (They actually worked!) Bryn and I
wrote original song lyrics to common Christmas songs, giving them titles such as 'Oh, Ornaments', to the tune of 'Oh, Christmas Tree', and 'Oh, Holy Cheese',to, you guessed, 'Oh, Holy Night'. All of us had so much fun!

On the second day we all slept in VERY late, and had breakfast at twelve! I can't go into so many details, it went so fast, but we had so much fun! On Sunday, we got up a little earlier, ate breakfast, packed the car, and then the Warner's and the DeWolf's had a family worship time. It was really fun to see how they did Church. I have never experienced using prayer books and written prayers like that! It was hard to leave, but we'll see them again soon, hopefully! Right now I'm sitting in my Aunt and Uncle's house, and this is a particularly comfortable couch! I also have to finish getting ready to go to Grandma D's, so goodbye! See you soon!

                                                        ~Avery

Idolatry

1 Corinthians 10:14

"Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry."

idolatry |īˈdälətrē|nounworship of idols.• extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone
While Jesus sat in my chair this week, he pressed this into my heart. So, in reading the definition, you might get confused, I mean, how thin is the line through revering someone/something, and idolizing them/it? I don't have the answer. What I do know I'll tell you about. Can you think of something off the top of your head that you don't think you could live without? Not the necessities, like food and water, but something that if you really tried, you would at least be alive without it. For me, a lot of things come to my mind. A mirror, the Internet, friends, and control are just a few. Jesus told me to look at my life, and see what was placed higher in my mind than him. Let me tell you this, he wasn't number one. There were many other things that I spend more time with, put more thought into, and think about more often. 
What does the bible have to say about who takes first place in my heart?
Exodus 23:33

"They must not live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me. If you serve their gods,   

                                 you will be caught in the trap of idolatry." 

Now, this might sound like it has no meaning at all, but for those of you who went to CYIA, you might remember Kevin's speech about sin in the camp? (Basically it was about not letting sin gain a foothold, because it will be even harder to destroy it.) Well, I thought this verse went along well with that topic! If you think of the "They" as the world, or sin, trying to move into your "camp" or heart, it makes more sense! Now, sin's gods will not look like the pagan gods we know are wrong! My idols aren't wooden statues, they exist in my mind. I'm pretty sure we've all been taught that worshipping Satan is wrong, but what about are own image? What about praise, and love? Some of the things we worship are good, but is anything good if it's placed in our hearts before Jesus? Idols aren't always easy to find sometimes, and sometimes you have to take it away to see what it is! Right now I need to keep evaluating myself, and be alert for anything I might worship other than God!  I need to keep spending time with Jesus!

                                                                     ~Avery

Life of Avery

This is just a test, to see if our music video will work on here! (It's one of the bloopers for it:)

So, because Chloe said I could copy her good idea, here is a recap of this Friday:)   

7:30-Oh, yeah, I have to get up on time today! Mom said we all had to be up by 8:00... (My logic in the morning is NOT so sound!) 

7:40- Now I'm ready for the day... I'll just stumble through the dark basement until I find the stairs... wait, it's dark, that means I'm up before Savanna! *fist pump* Oh lovely, upstairs is mostly dark too, that mean only Mom and Dad are up...I guess I'll just go on pinterest...

8:00- Oh good! Mom is out in the kitchen! Now I can eat breakfast! I help Mom get packed, and collect the food she'll need in Kansas City, and eventually Savanna comes up. 

8:30- Mom and Dad are ready to go, and we all get our goodbyes and instructions. Bye bye! I know they'll have fun...

8:45- Now for school, today I'll be diligent because Mom isn't here... (really) Okay, so there were a couple trampoline breaks, and some snack breaks, but I got most of it done! 

12:00- Yes! Finally lunch! Now I can read... shucks, I have no new books:( Time to visit the bookshelf, of all the books I already read...

12:30- No time for school now, I have to get ready for Bright Lights! Well, maybe a little bit too much time! 

12:40- Well, back to school, we don't have to leave until 1:00! 

1:00- Now we can go! First we have to drop Sam off at Emily Weddle's, of course we have to stay a little while and talk! 

1:20- Now off to Bright Lights! (I can't really recap the whole thing, but it was fun!)

4:00- We return to Emily's to pick up Sam, and again stay to talk...

4:45- Time to make dinner! I start my gluten free pasta, I don't know how much to put in, so I guess... all of us kids do our chores and dinner prep. 

5:30- Sam decides we're going to have a fancy dinner. He and Savanna go to the grocery to pick up some 'glutinated' pasta. 

6:00- We are all  super dressed up and ready to begin! (Pictures will hopefully come next week:) We pour our cherry 7up into the wine glasses that we hope aren't too valuable... and begin our fancy dinner! 

6:30- We are busy talking laughing, and drinking soda, mostly talking about who would be who if we were Lord of The Rings characters! Olivia and Sam tried to convince me I am a mountain troll, their  reasons were that I'm bald, fat, and stupid... ?? I told them I was not. If you are wondering, I'm the One Ring, irresistible to all mankind. (There's a saying for you Beth!)

7:00- We all clean up dinner, and then wait for Savanna to finish piano practice, and dished out dessert!    

We all tramp downstairs to watch the new movie Monsters U. We all loved it! 

8:30- get ready for bed.... so tired... can't function....

9:30- Okay, time to stop reading! Lights out. 

Hope you enjoyed reading about my day:) 

~Avery

Motivation

So, volleyball is officially over for me! This year has been a blast, I couldn't have wish for a better team! Well, the sad thing about volleyball is that I don't get to see my friends every day, but I won't be as busy! This year I've given myself a challenge to not stop working out when volleyball is over, last year I was pretty "in shape"... not to Mrs. Marteney standards, but for me:) I stopped working out though, and I lost a lot of weight... not so good. This year I'm more motivated, because I know that I don't want to repeat last year! So, I've finally started running, my goal is four miles by christmas, I don't exactly know how that will happen, but my mind is set! (Trust me, it doesn't seem like much, but for me, after two miles, it seems like a lot!) Sam and Olivia want to work out with me too, so I lead them in "fun" twelve minute ab workouts, they haven't given up on me yet!! 

So, why is this post titled 'Motivation'? Well, today I wanted to talk about something that's been bugging me lately. Who am I working out for? Am I doing this for myself, God, or other people's opinions? Like I said at Bright Lights, (for those of you who go:) I want to be perfect, but am I doing this to be perfect, or for good reasons? I don't want to get sucked into the sinful thoughts of being perfect again! Remember how I said I needed to accept God's grace in my life? Well, this is part of my life! This is a hard question for me to answer. I'm praying for God to work in my heart, and as I run, I pray God would help me run for the right reasons! I've decided that I'm running to stay strong. 

Sorry for the short(er) post, this is a slightly hectic weekend:) 

Feel free to ask me about my running, I need some people to keep me on track other than myself:)

                                                                              ~Avery

Character Sketch!

Today is story day! I'm going to write a character sketch for this dude down below:) 

Liam slouched through the hallway of his middle school, trying to ignore the whispers of the girls, and the teasing laughter he knew was directed towards him. Sure, he might not have as nice of clothes as all the other kids had, and he was new, but was it so bad to wish for at least one person who didn't laugh at him? Liam scowled. Even the teachers seemed to have a made a pact together to hate him. He knew he wasn't the easiest student, he just couldn't seem to pay attention while they talked. Doodling them falling into volcanoes and alligator infested swamps might not have helped them like him... Liam sighed. 

       Even if he hated school, going home was worse. He thought that Dad never would forget him, but he had. Liam stepped into the bus, ignoring everyone. Why Dad? Liam thought, Why did you have to forget me, you gave up on me and left! Liam felt hate surge up in him. You had no RIGHT. Now I'm all alone, Dad, nobody cares about me! Liam stared out the window, a hollow aching in his chest. He remembered his old life, so different from now. How he would play football with his dad in the front yard every evening, them help him make dinner. He would tell his dad how school went, and ask him questions about everything, anything, and his dad would tell him. He thought they had no secrets, but Liam had obviously been wrong. One morning he had woken up, and all he had left of his dad was a note saying his mom, the mother he had never met, would pick him up at 11:00. 

As Liam walked through the door of his house, his mom looked up. 

"Hi honey,"

she said, 

"I cleaned your room today, I thought it looked a little messy."

She smiled and held up something that looked like meatloaf. 

"Hungry?"

Liam shook his hair in front of his eyes and shrugged. Inside he was panicked. She went in MY room? Cleaned it UP? How could she? I won't know where anything is! She'll have seen my paintings!! 

Liam ran to his room, and sighed. Everything was clean. All his clothes were in the drawer, his bed was made, who knew my bed was so big?  Sunlight streamed in from his picture window, lighting up the far corner of his room. No, NO! She had seen his studio, all his paint was in a row, even arranged in a rainbow! All his paintings were piled neatly on his desk, and on his easel was a lone, white canvas. Liam hugged himself. Dad would never have done this. He never forced me to show him my artwork, he RESPECTED ME! Liam felt a yell of frustration rip from his chest. He grabbed his brushes and sloppily slid his paint closer to the canvas. He knocked the canvas to the ground as one sob after another shook his whole body. His angry tears mixed with his paint as he worked, faster and faster, not caring where the paint went. Late into the night Liam worked, and he began to calm down, until he finally fell into a merciful sleep. 

Lily walked down the hallway to Liam's room. She didn't know how long she could go before she worked up the courage to tell him about his father. She knocked softly on his door. He needed to eat. 

"Liam?" 

No one answered, and Lily carefully opened the door. No one was on the bed. There was one light on, a lamp on Liam's desk. 

"Oh, Liam." 

Tears welled up in Lily's eyes. Liam lay sleeping, tear stains mixing with paint on his face. His paintbrush was still in his hand. Lily looked at the painting and choked down a sob. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The colors of his paint worked together, and mixed so wonderfully that the picture seem alive. It was herself that smiled from the canvas, herself, with the inscription 'mother' underneath. 

Liam slowly opened his eyes to see Lily, tears streaming, as she quietly said to herself, 

"If only you knew Liam, you'd understand."

Thanks for reading:) 

~Avery