Truely Seeing, Truely Listening

When you look at someone, are you truely seeing them? For who they really are, not just who they appear to be on the outside.
When you hear a friend talking, do you really listen? I mean truely listen to their problems so that you might be able to help rather than tuning them out.
I have seen so many people get passed by in the halls that are silently screaming out for someone to help them. Yet everyone is too self consumed to stop and even say hi. Sadly i have also been one of those people that walks right by without even cracking a smile.
You want your friends to listen to you when you talk right? if you have a problem or even just have some good news or just wanna talk you hope that they would listen to you. So why dont you listen to them. Why is it so easy for us to think about ourselves and what we have to say. Why is it so easy for us to totally disregard what our friends really have to say? And when they do say things, why do we dwell on all the negatives they have to say? Why dont we look past the negative things they have said or done and try to see them for who they really are.
When you look at your friends at school, do you see just their apperance? Or do you see deeper? Just cause someone dresses a certain way doesnt mean that you have the right to critisize them. Especially your friends, you shouldnt judge them purely on their apperance, i mean you are friends, i would hope that no one judges their friends.
Everyone makes mistakes, everyone says things they dont mean, so will you be the person that finally accepts the fact that no one is perfect and forgive those that have harmed you and move on? There is no need to dwell on things in the past, we are all God's children and Jesus gave his LIFE for us. Something we obviously didnt and dont deserve. So why cant we look past these little imperfections that we all have and accept eachother for who we really are. When we look at our friends, and others as well, can we try and really SEE them? And when others are talking, can we make an effort to truely LISTEN? There could be something really truely important that they need to talk about. They could be going through something really tough and they just need a friend to listen.
Dont look at the imperfections that we all hold inside, look past those and straight to the heart of those around you. Im sure that you will find some truely amazing people right in front of you that you never saw because you were too busy thinking of yourself.
That girl in the hall that looks like she is scared to death, maybe try giving her a smile as you walk by. Or that boy in your lunch that always sits by himself, invite him to eat lunch with you and your friends. That friend that you know has been acting differently, maybe ask them about their lives and how they are. Who knows, maybe they need to talk to a good friend. When someone tells you something that they are embarrassed about, dont be shallow and make fun of them, hold them close and comfort them, tell them that its ok. No one is perfect.
We need to Truely SEE people for who they are, and Truely LISTEN to people when they speak.
How else will we be able to find those amazing peculiar treasures of this world?!

Innocence

Watching a litte child play; a little girl playing dress up with a tutu and a pair of ballet slippers pretending to be a dancer. A little boy having a "sword fight" with the imaginary pirates in the backyard. Watching them you see how they are so fragile yet so imaginative, so carefree and so innocent.
Their big curious eyes stare up at you as they wish they were big and "grown-up" like you, when in reality, you wish the roles were reversed...you wish you were a little kid again.
I wish i was little and could play dress-up and have tea parties with my teddy bear again. Hoping and wishing that all these questions about what i wanna be when i "grow-up" and where i wanna go to school would just evaporate into thin air. If you asked a little girl those questions the answer would be easy as pie, she would go to Princeton because that is where the princes go to school and she wants to be a princess when she "grow up". Or a little boy would say "I'm gonna be a racecar driver so i dont need to go to school." Only if it were that simple. If only our decisions didnt come with so much baggage. Then if we make the wrong decision there are so many consequences that we end up having to deal with. Time after time we get hit by wave after wave of decisions and life choices and there just doesnt seem to be an end. ...but here's the catch, there is someone that will help us with any choice or trial we come to. This person can turn those barriers into bridges and he is more than just a friend...more than just a Best friend...he's our father, our daddy.
We might make some decisions that wipe us of our innocence and the consequences cut us down at our knees, but he will always take us back, God will always take us back. He stands with his arms wide open, loving us with his unbreakable and unending love no matter what decisions we make, and he also will help us to make the right decisions so that we can live our live to glorify him.
God is my father, my daddy, my everything.
I hope he is to you too.
Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future.

With Everything

With EVERYTHING, with EVERYTHING we will shout for your Glory, with EVERYTHING with EVERYTHING we will shout forth your praise, with EVERYTHING with EVERYTHING we will shout forth your Glory with EVERYTHING with EVERYTHING we will shout forth your praise, our hearts they CRY be glorified be lifted high above ALL things. For YOU our KING with everything we will SHOUT forth your PRAISE with EVERYTHING with EVERYTHING we will shout forth your GLORY with EVERYTHING with EVERYTHING we will shout forth your PRAISE OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHOAAAA WHOOAAAAAAAAAAA OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHOAAAA WHOOAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

These words i have heard countless times and yet everytime it hits me just as hard, if not harder than the last time. We NEED to hold our arms out wide, giving God EVERYTHING we have, we need to use everything we have for his glory.

We can't just pick and choose the things that we want to give to God, we need to give him absolutely EVERYTHING we have! All our worries, our fears, our lies that we have told, the things we have done wrong, even the things that we love. He wants the good and bad things in our lives, he will never let us fall, he never lets go, he will never turn his back on us and he will never tell our secrets. He LOVES us!

Go to a mirror...look at the reflection in that mirror...that absolutely BEAUTIFUL creation that is reflected in that mirror...yea im talkin about you...God absolutely is in LOVE with you!
You may have been rejected in the past and you may have been hurt and broken and you may feel like your heart is in a million pieces shattered on the ground but God will always be there with his arms wide open. All you have to do is give him everything you've got and give him your ALL. You can't be half in and half out, God tells us that when you are wishy washy in your faith and when you are sitting on a fence between him and the world that he would rather have you reject him than half-heartedly follow him! He wants all of you, and even if you do at some point reject him, he will ALWAYS be there with open arms if you want to come back to him! He loves you soo incredibly much!