A New Year

Hey there! It's Caraline. Happy New Year!

I've been getting in the mood. This, of course, includes cleaning, cleaning out, and rearranging. Nothing feels better than a clean room, a new furniture arrangement, organised drawers, and an organised closet! :) School starts this week though, ugh. (*long, deep sigh.*) However, deep down I am ready to get back in a good routine again. Studying, waking up earlier, eating healthier, working out.... worshiping, exploring, and glorifying Yahweh every day! Those are my goals, anyway. 

2013 wasn't an easy year. It's hard when some of the people who are closest to you are hurting. What can you do? What can you say? How can you even understand what they're going through? It's been really hard. But you know what? The year is over, and it's time to start anew. Isn't it soooo exciting to think about going into a fresh new year? It's an amazing feeling when you can forget about the things you didn't do, the things you should have done, you could have prevented, you failed at.... and start with a fresh mind and spirit, with the whole year before you! 

I hope you have a great new year, and are as excited about 2014 as I am! And above all - don't neglect the one who matters most this year. Don't let your Bible get dusty. At the end of our lives, we will wish we had spent so much more time digging deep into God's word, and investing our life in Him. As one of my favorite Mumford & Sons songs says: "where you invest your love, you invest your life." Isn't that convicting? There are so many things that I love and enjoy that have nothing to do with God. Those things are not bad, but shouldn't replace our Creator. And if we study God, we will be rewarded! I wrote a verse from Psalms on the first page of my Bible, and it says: "You who seek God, let your hearts revive." You will begin to notice a change in your life when you have been diving into the word. So lets "not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Let that be a reminder to us this year, and lets work together to achieve our goal, so that one day we can say "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"! We should want to look back on our life with a smile, not with regret! So if not now, when? Let God be in the middle of your every day, every decision, every thought, every word, every conversation, every task, every action.... and let me be the first to say it's not easy! (At all.) But it's what we're called to do, so give God all your attention. He wants it. He asks for it. He deserves it.

Careless Words

It was Friday. I was sitting in the car with Bailey, her sister, and her mom. We were on our way home from a stressful day (almost 11 hours!) of babysitting. I was having a conversation with Bailey's adorable 7-year-old sister. I said something that provoked her to say "You're a MEANIE." We just laughed, but Bailey's mom used the opportunity to teach us a lesson about our words. It went something like this....

"Don't call Caraline that!"
"I didn't mean it in a bad way."
Bailey- "Is there a nice way to call someone a meanie?"
"I didn't really mean it."
"Did you know that Jesus said we are responsible for every careless word we say? That means that even if you didn't mean it, you still said it. And it was still rude!"

This silly conversation really made me think about how many times we say things we shouldn't say even if we're just "joking". They are nevertheless thing we shouldn't say, even if we "don't mean them."

Here's the verse that Bailey' mom was referencing-

"I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak...."
Matthew 12:36

EVERY. SINGLE. WORD. Every one! It's scary to think about. This is a good reminder that we need to be careful what we say, because we might hurt someone, and we will be accountable for it!

I could say a lot more on this issue, but I have to go so I'll leave you to your thoughts. :) Can you think of any other verses that relate to this topic? Here's one that popped into my head....

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone! This is Caraline. Happy New Year! 

Now that the New Year has started, and everyone is thinking about their New Years Resolutions, remember the passage I shared in the last post (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) about their being a time for everything. We should pray that God would guide us into making wise decisions about everything we will do this year. 
Remember that we can do all things through him who strengthens us. Search through your life and your thoughts and worries, and make a list of things you need to work on, or change, or stop doing, or whatever the case may be. Pray that the Lord would show you these things. You don't have to label them as "resolutions," just think of them as prayer requests. Things that you want to work on throughout this year. Hopefully next year we will be able to check off those things on our list and start a new list. This is a great way to allow the Lord to mold us into who he wants us to be! (And who we should desire to be!)

I hope everyone has a great New Year! ♥

A Time for Everything

Hey there, Caraline again! I just wanted to share some scripture that I came across last night. I don't remember ever reading this before, and I loved it! It's probably my new favorite passage. Here it is: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silent, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace."

Some food for thought! ♥

A Biblical Perspective on Beauty

Before I start to post anything relating to beauty on this blog, I want to go over something very important - a biblical perspective on beauty.  In today's world, and, really, at any point in history, beauty has been a big deal.  People think that how they look solely represents who they are, which, of course, isn't true!

You've probably heard it three bazillion times, but I'm going to say it again: True beauty comes from within.  It doesn't matter how pretty your face is or what your hair looks like.  How you act, and what kind of a person you are inside, is what really matters. 

Another thing we've been taught by society is that a man loves a woman based on her looks.  This is also definitely wrong.

So, we know that what the culture says about beauty is incorrect, but what is correct?  The best place to turn when you have a question like this is the Bible.
"But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." 1 Peter 3:4 
Something very important about this verse is that this inward kind of beauty is imperishable.  
"All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flowers of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades..." Isaiah 40:6-7 
Physical beauty fades.  It doesn't last forever.  What does last forever is the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.  What does this mean?  It means a spirit that doesn't seek attention.  The opposite of "gentle and quiet" would be something like "bold and loud," and this describes a lot of women nowadays.  Every person, out of sinful nature, seeks attention.  They may literally be loud - try to catch people's attention with their words - or they may be loud with their physical appearance: trying to be as beautiful as possible.
While some people may be naturally talkative, they can still have a gentle and quiet spirit.  The point is not to actually be quiet, but to be meek, and not seek attention.  You may not receive attention from people, but God pays the most attention to the girl with a gentle and quiet spirit.

I have always, always loved anything beauty-related!  I love to do makeup, hair, nails, etc.  We have pictures of me, at age two or three, all done up with my Barbie makeup and nail polish.  Because I love these things so much, I have to be very careful not to lose sight of what true beauty means.  I have to remember why I spend time on beauty - is it because I want attention and because I want to look beautiful, or is it because I simply enjoy it?  Remember, you can glorify God in many ways, and if you have the right perspective on beauty, doing your hair or painting your nails can be one of them.

Another point I would like to make is in the Bible, the word "beauty" is sometimes used to describe physical appearance, but more often, it is used to describe something like "glory."
"One thing have I asked of the LORD... to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD..." Psalm 27:4 
God has beauty.  But we know this doesn't mean He is "pretty."  Is means He is glorious.  I think the second definition for beauty is a much better one, don't you agree?  Let us strive to be "beautiful" in the way that God is.

All that being said, I don't think it's wrong to have fun with things related to beauty.  In fact, since we are lights representing Jesus in this world, we need to make sure we don't look like "hobos" (as my brother would put it).  :)  We just need to have the right perspective.

I could say so much more on this topic, but I will leave it at this.  I hope to post lots of fun beauty stuff on this blog, but before beautifying our outward appearance, let's concentrate on growing a gentle and quiet spirit.

♥ "Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30 ♥