Dialove

Just a reminder that it's not about us, it's about Him . . . This song was written by someone when he was very mad at God and didn't understand His purpose for everything. So he wrote the song to remind himself that it's not about his feelings, it's about God and what God did for us. So as you go through your Monday complaining about being tired or traffic, keep this song in mind.

How He Loves Us

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realise just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh how He loves us,

How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

We are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,

I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,

When I think about, the way…

He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Oh how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

Well, I thought about You the day Stephen died,

And You met me between my breaking.

I know that I still love You, God, despite the agony.

...They want to tell me You're cruel,

But if Stephen could sing, he'd say it's not true, cause...

Cause He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us.

Whoa! how He loves us.

Whoa! how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves us,

Whoa! how He loves.

Dialife

My life has been extremely hectic lately . . . which is why I haven't been posting on my blog. I've had to prioritize a lot of things, and blogging just hasn't been top on the list...

For those of you that know and love the Lord, me and my family could really use your prayer. Things are getting really difficult.

I need to get a job, FAST. I need to start pitching in to pay for things. I'm more than willing to help, but getting a job in this economy is harder than it sounds . . . Until I get a job, God provides, right? This - of all the times in my life, including when I got diabetes - is the week that I should be or so easily could be angry at God and telling you all that He does not provide. But instead, He's been reminding me every day that a little bit of faith goes a very long way. So remember that if you have a bad day this week, or you're stressed, or you feel like giving up.

A little bit of faith goes a long way.

Sorry this post is so vague . . . it's the best I can do right now.

Diaboyfriend

Okay, it's official...I have a boyfriend!(: If you want to look at it technically, though, our first date was over a year ago. We broke up back in May because neither of us were in the right place to be in a relationship and I knew both of us had to get right with God. So I left the relationship thinking we would never even be able to be friends again. Then we didn't talk for about two months, but near the middle of July he started contacting me again. He told me that he thought we could try to be friends. And after everything we'd been through, I figured I could give it a shot. After a week or so of convincing, he finally got me to hang out with him. I could instantly see that alot had changed in him since the last time I saw him...The biggest change, of course, being that he's a lot closer to God. Which led to all the little changes. Like how patient he is now, and how level-headed, and how much more fun we're able to have together now. So, after about a week and a half of praying about it and struggling with it, I told him that I thought it could work out this time. Then it was his turn to pray about it and think about..and now, here we are! If anything starts to go wrong again, of course I won't hesitate to get out of the relationship. God comes first, ALWAYS. But I really believe it'll be a better relationship this time.

This is a picture from back in November. So yeah, a long time ago haha. But we don't really take that many pictures...but if we do anytime soon, I'll definitely post them on here. And by the way, I'd like to point out how long and dark my hair was then! That's so weird!

Diaquote

Diafuture

I'd like to say I don't think about my future a lot...but I do. I've already figured out what my perfect occupation is, where I'd like to go to college, and even some of the extraccular activities I'll be doing while I'm in college. I don't always mean to plan ahead like that, it just kind of happens. And today I got another blast of excitement for my future. Sydney and I were just getting back from the mall and she was opening her appartment door when she turned to me and said, "I feel like this is our appartment." We talked a little bit about someday sharing an appartment but, of course, it's not for sure. But I just started thinking about how much fun it's gonna be to someday live on my own and create my own adventures in life! I love my parents, I'm not saying I don't. In fact, here's a picture of my loving, beautiful mom that I'm actually pretty close to.

But someday it'll be tons of fun to not have to tell my parents whenever I go somewhere (not that I have anything to hide, believe me). And I won't have to be told what chores to do. I know it'll be scary...and even scarier, it's only two years away! But I'm still excited for that next chapter of my life. For now though, I'll enjoy the freedom I have of not paying bills and not grocery shopping. I don't want to get strung out about the future. I just like to think about it every once in a while and smile(:

As for the present, I'm planning on getting more in shape...physically and spiritually. I have two goals for this remaining month of summer. 1) read my Bible and spend time with God EVERY DAY. 2)exercise at least three times a week. Exercising is actually good for my diabetes too, so I should have started doing it when I was diagnosed...too bad I'm lazy. So those are two things that can improve my character at this time! I also need to clean my room...but that's not exactly a summer goal, just something I'm dying to do since my room is embarressing to look at. My friend Victoria has been giving me tips on how to remodel it, and I would love to do that! As soon as I get around to it(:

Diabeautiful

One of my favorite places to relaxe and talk is under the night sky. The stars are one of the most beautiful creations God gave us, and I believe it was so we could have a glipse of his greatness in them. Tonight, me and one of my best friends, Sydney, sat by a river underneat the stars talking about whatever came to mind. It was so nice, and also very encouraging to talk deeply with one of my friends about God and life and such. I tried to upload a picture so you could see for yourself how amazing it is, but unfortunately this computer is having technical difficulties... So next time you're up late, just go outside for yourself to see it(: Stargazing is definitely one of my most favorite things to do.

Diabible verse

Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Diacamper Returns!

This week at camp has been AMAZING! Of course, it was loads of fun... but I also feel so much closer to God. He's given me a clean start for a better relationship with Him, and I'm so committed to it now. I know I've been apathetic before, but it's all gonna change no matter how difficult it is.
So now that you know about my encounter with God, I can tell you about the actual fun of the camp! I was hoping to steal more pictures from Natalie, my small group leader, but unfortunately I haven't seen her upload any onto facebook yet. But if I see more pictures pop up, I'll definitely share them with everybody.

This was our camp speaker, Pastor Shawn Mcbride. He was incredible! He was funny, he was real, he was blunt, he was energetic, and he could actually relate to a bunch of teenagers. When he preached, the holy spirit clearly entered the room.

On a less serious note, these were our team mascots! We were on the orange team, so this is Porshla and Rachel and they brought goldfish to camp. Kelsee isn't in the picture, but she had one as well. Unfortunately, they're all dead now. Porshla's died halfway through the week. And Kelsee and Rachel released their fish into the Deschutes River on the last day of rafting...

This is my diabuddy, Grace!(: All week we got to talk diabetes at our meals. And she helped me count carbs ALOT. We were the only diabetics at camp so, of course, we got asked alot of questions about diabetes and such. And one of the kids tried to tell us that his sister was a type 1 diabetic who turned into a type 2, but eventually got rid of it all together....we had to explain to him how completely confused he was because that is definitely not possible. Poor kid.

The first day Natalie gave us folders to decorate and hold all of our notes and such in. Well Rachel (on the right) completely decorated her folder with pants. And for some background info, she decorated her camp shirt with pants too. Pretty much, her signature is pants. We thought it was really funny so this is where that picture came from. Rachel is probably the weirdest girl in our small group, but definitely in a good way. She doesn't care what the world or what other people think of her, and that's amazing.

Yesss I went rockclimbing. REAL rockclimbing too! It was so much fun, but then I got to the very top and didn't know what to do. So they kept yelling "JUST LEAN BACK AND JUMP." Let me tell you, from that height I thought I would die if I just jumped. Of course, my spotter person had a good grip on the rope and wouldn't have let me fall....but I couldn't do it. So I half fell, half climbed down. I looked ridiculous, but at least I conquered it!

This was the sign at the place we were rockclimbing...funny, right?

This is Caleb...and this is only one of the funny things he did this week. He also shaved a spot of his leg so that he could write "Griffindor" on it. And he caught two birds and kept them in a cereal box. He also covered his face with shaving cream one day and walked around like that...overall, he was very entertaining.

This was one of the birds Caleb caught. We named him Hedwig(:

Overall, this week has been incredible. And I hope the rest of my life can reflect that. Some of the things I didn't have pictures of was rafting, swimming, eating sugary syrup, our team challenges, worship, etc. I wish I could have hired a professional photographer to follow me around...but oh well, these will do.

Diabeliever in Jesus Christ

Ever since I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I've felt like God has been silent. He's been there for me, I can feel that. But since I'm such a talker, what helps me is when I get a message back of some sort. And for the past 8 or 9 months I've felt so alone because I've been getting little to no messages from God. I've been through a lot in the past 8 or 9 months. December 7th, 2009 I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, which was probably the biggest change. In February I transferred highschools, which was right in the middle of my sophmore year. And back in May I broke up with a boyfriend that I had been dating for a year, and had pretty much become my best friend. Please keep in mind that I'm also leaving out some of the struggles I had because I'm not quite ready to share those. Through this whole time, I think I only got one message from God and that was to breakup with my boyfriend. So , after two months of having pretty much no contact with the guy, I finally started to feel the weight of what was happening. Since I've been truely following God since about 7th grade, I've never felt completely alone, because I've always had him. But for the past week or so I've just been feeling this aloneness and I couldn't figure out why. It made me feel like I was always the third wheel, like I couldn't talk to anyone, etc. So finally last night I confronted God about it. Of course, I was crying in my bathroom while trying to figure this all out. And I finally got the answer I've been desperate for....For the past year, I've been relying on other people's relationships with God to keep myself in the light. Whether that was friends I've had, my boyfriend, or just the church as a whole. For some reason, I havent been working on MY OWN relationship with God. So the aloneness I'd been feeling all week was because I wasn't trying to rely on anyone else anymore, but I also didn't have enough of a relationship with God anymore to rely on Him. So now that I know the problem, I'm completely ready to fix and sprint back to the one that Created me and makes me whole. Lucky for me, church camp starts tomorrow! What a perfect time and place to reconnect. Anyways, I hope the moral of this post is that GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD. And without Him, I am nothing.

Diabible Verse

Deuteronomy 30:4

Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.