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

Judging God's Law

Sorry about the picture... isn't Jake cute though? 

                                                               James 5:11-12
                "Don't speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God's law. But your job is to obey the law, not judge whether it applies to you. God alone has the power to save or to destroy.
                              So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?"


     This verse really spoke to me this week! These past couple years I've really struggled with being judgmental. I judge people before I've even met them, only from what people have told me about them! I don't give people a chance to grow on me, and as Mr. Darcy says, "My good opinion once lost is lost forever." (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen) As I said in the last post, I don't give grace.  This verse really convicted me of how wrong this is!

     This verse says that if I criticize and judge others, then I am criticizing God's law! This is a heavy thing to think about. When I judge someone, or criticize them in my mind, I'm criticizing God's law! After all, He's the one who made them how they are. Now think for a moment with me, would any of you agree that I know better than God? (I hope not!) Who am I to even think about pointing out something wrong with God's law. Yet, whenever I judge someone, even if it's just the split-second thought 'I'm better' I'm judging God. Uh-oh. Aren't you glad for God's unending mercy!

     In the middle of the verse it says that my job is to obey the law, not judge whether it applies to me. So, what does the law say? Well, Jesus said the most important commandment was this, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself."  So, if I'm focused on God, my thoughts will be less likely to drift into judgment, and my mind will be filled with his holiness! As I think about how he says 'Love your neighbor as yourself' , would I think the same about myself? I may judge myself, and that's also a sin,(I won't talk about today) but it's in a different way. I wouldn't want someone to judge me the way I'm judging them, I wouldn't want other people thinking they were superior! I cannot begin to imagine how broken-hearted God must be, with all of his children running around judging their  siblings in Christ, pointing out the little speck in others eyes, while they themselves cannot see because of the log in their own! how merciful, how patient, how wonderful is He! I praise God that even though I cannot possibly be even close to perfect, he made a way, through Jesus. He has poured out his lavish love, and grace into me, and I have the chance to share it! I pray that God can use me, that he will work through me to show mercy, that I will be a place of rest for others, because I don't look on their outside, like human nature is inclined to do, but look on the inside, like God does. I want to rely on His mercy.
 
                                                           With love,
                                                              Avery


                                               

God's Infinite Grace

                                                                      Acts 20:24
                        "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

                    Well, first, an update:) I'll give you a good thing bad thing, *wink at the Marteney's:)*

Good thing: I've been connecting with my siblings a lot better! We finally found something we're all  

 excited about, a climbing tree! 

Bad thing: I've had a really hard time excepting God's grace for me, and others. 

                       I've been struggling with accepting that I can't be perfect all the time, and I won't 

always get what I want! My sinful nature wants to be the best, look the best, feel the best, and do 

everything just the way I want. Sometimes I don't want the plan God has for me, because I think mines is 

so much better, because I can see it. But won't God's plan be so much more exciting?! 

        

                                                                 Luke 12:29

                       "Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it."

          Well, I don't have to worry about what I will eat or drink, but I can substitute those words for 

'image' and 'how I preform at volleyball games', or any other thing that I set my heart on. Jesus specifically

says do not worry. I was, and am worrying, instead of accepting God's grace, and accepting that God is 

all knowing, and he has the best plan for me! 

     Sometimes though, it's not only me who I need to ask for grace for. (sorry that was a weird way of 

saying it...) I like to be in charge, and when someone isn't doing what they are supposed to, BAM! I turn 

ultra drill master! For some reason I have to know why they aren't doing something, what they should be 

doing, and if they have nothing to do while others are working, then you can be sure I'll find something 

for them to do! This is one of the reasons relationships with my siblings were getting strained! No one 

likes to be bossed around! Plus, when I'm worried, and not accepting God's grace for myself, they don't 

get any of it! Don't even try to imagine how bossy I get! 

 

     So this week I need to accept the grace given to me, and ask for more of his infinite grace, so that 

God can work through me. 

                                                Good bye for now! I'll try to do another story thing next week:) 

                                                        (- -) Avery (sorry, the tiny guy is just so cuuuute! I had to make him:) 

                                                       <)  )~

                                                          / \

                

A Little Different Today...

So, I wanted to do something different today, so I'm going to write a scene with these two characters!

+

The chatter of seagulls fought to drown out the sound of thousands people, splashing, talking, and littering. In general,  making themselves a nuisance. A man dressed in what I'm sure you would not call beach apparel, leather pants and a linen shirt, sat on the huge rocks overlooking the swimming area. The man sighed. The one day he had a chance to meet with the sea, it was crowded with people. He stood up  to find a better place to sit. Alone. After wandering along the rocks for many hours, he began to tire. He slumped down to the hot sand, wiping his brow with his arm.  Then something moved below him. Someone small in a striped tank top ran up and down the rocky beach. The man stayed still. He didn't want to talk to anyone, even if they were only three feet tall. Then the girl looked up. She saw him. The girl scrambled as best she could up the sand dune, struggling. The man realized she was crying, sobbing more like. So hard in fact, that when she had almost reached the top, she fell, face first into the sand. 

The man winced, and ran to the girl. 

"Come now, wee lassie, what could be the matter with you?" (*Note. This is in a scottish accent!*) 

The girl took his hand as he helped her up. She looked up at him with her big tearful eyes. 

"Sir, I think I'm lost."  

The man smiled, grabbed his pirate hat, and settled it onto the girl's sandy hair.

"Well lassie, we're a team. You see, I'm lost too, although I think it's a fair guess that I want to be, where you did not." 

The girl lifted the big hat slightly off her head so as to seem him, and giggled. 

"Why do you talk funny?" 

"I don't talk funny, you do." 

"No I don't!" 

"Yes yeh do!" 

"Don't!" 

"Do!"

 The man crossed his arms and faked a hmph. 

The girl did the same. 

"Can I be your friend?" 

the girl asked,

"I've never met a pirate before. I always thought they would be mean," 

The man laughed, the most joyful, jolly, happy laugh you will ever hear. 

"That's the first time been told I was a good pirate, lassie, would you like to be my mermaid?" 

The girls eyes widened. 

"You could turn me into a mermaid?"

The man shook his head solemnly. 

"No, you see, mermaids don't take kindly to uninvited guests. You see, my last one changed her mind and decided to leave, and I need a new one. I think you would be a good choice." 

The girl squealed and proceeded to do a happy dance. Then she asked him to help her look like a mermaid. He helped her put seaweed in her hair, and make bracelets out of seashells. All the while the man coached her on how exactly to look like one. The girl had so much fun she forgot she was lost, until the sun started setting. 

"Mr. Pirate?" 

she asked, 

"where is your ship? Could you take me back to my parents? Last time I saw them they were in the swimming area, they work at the ice-cream shop there. I wish I had never gotten lost."

The man turned, and sadly said, 

"You really wish that? That it was like you had never been lost?" 

Then the man began to sing, a song the girl had never heard before, it was deep, and it sounded something like the waves, crashing against the rocks.  

It slowed, now it was more melodious, like the waves, gently     

rolling onto the sand, and then off again. Her eyes began to flutter, and the last thing she remembered was the man saying quietly, 

"Don't ever lose your imagination, lassie, don't forget the sea, don't ever forget me, your pirate, who was good." 

Lexie woke up the next morning in her room, and she remembered nothing.