As much as I love technology and all the wonderful gadgets and discovery that came along with it, sometimes I really hate it. Because of technology, people have become so impatient. I cannot even count how many times I have seen someone click on his or her phone five million times because the page wouldn't load within like five seconds. Seriously? I mean I've been guilty of that too, but come on. We've grown to become impatient and that's definitely not a good thing.

Also, along with technology came social media. Oh, social media. I feel like it really has ruin a lot of people's social skills. It makes me sad because people get too worked up about it too. People get too caught up on the amount of likes they got on a photo, or retweets, or followers. When was the last time you actually did something outside or yet alone talked to someone in person? There was this photo on Twitter that I saw about how sad it is that a "good morning/goodnight text" is considered a romantic gesture these days.Whatever happened to the old fashioned handwritten letters, or even calling someone to ask them on a date? Instead of "subtweeting" a person because we have a problem with them, why not call them or better yet, talk to them in person instead of posting unnecessary drama on social media? 

I feel like social media has truly impaired our social skills. We can tweet, text or DM someone, yet we can't even bother saying hi to them in person? 

It breaks my heart when I see a 10 year old running around talking about how many followers they have on Instagram (way more than me, which cracks me up! Ha). Sometimes, I just want to go up to the kid and be like, "You know what I did when I was 10? I played with Barbies and jump ropes and I knew what outside looks like! I didn't worry about follow for follow" Sigh. It just makes me sad that's all. I feel like kids these days aren't fully enjoying their childhood anymore.

Technology is amazing and wonderful don't get me wrong...yet horrible at the same time. I just wish we could slow down and stop getting caught up in social media, and instead, be social. I challenge you to take a break, even for just a couple hours from your technology. Write. Read a book. Take a walk. Go running. Live your life, and don't use social media as a crutch. Be still and just enjoy the moments instead of trying to Instagram or tweet every moment.

Psalm 46:10
He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

So it's the night before graduation: you have your gown ready, your graduation outfit and your cap that awkwardly fits your head. Some people are excited, others however, are bummed and some have well.. mixed emotions like I do. 

I was really indifferent about graduation up until today when I realized what all is happening. I guess it really didn't hit me yet. Although we've had two practices already, I really didn't feel that I was about to graduate. People have made such a big deal about graduation and I felt like it was commercialized that it was to the point where I wasn't truly excited about it. I was excited to start all over, but then again I was iffy about all of it.

As excited as I am about starting a new chapter in my life, I am still kind of scared. Wherever you're going: a large university, a community college or headed straight to work, it can be a little intimidating at times. Through this time of transition, don't forget that God is always there. If you need someone to talk to, yell at, or cry to: God's there. 

"God is with you- no matter what life brings". Joshua 1:9

It's a fresh start with new people, a new environment, a new chapter in our lives. All we have now are the memories of high school and the kids we survived it with and I hope you cherish that. High school may not have been the best, but it's okay, it's over now! If it was a great experience then yay, I hope you treasure those memories always. It's okay to reread the old chapters of our lives, but when you read a book you don't keep going back to the old chapter, so why do it now? I hope you fill this new chapter of your life with lots of new memories, lessons, and happiness!


Congratulations Class of 2014! May all your goals and dreams come true. 

Also, if you haven't seen the Youtube video that Google dedicated to us, well you should watch it. It gave me the feels.
All credit goes to Google! 

Trust. It's a small word with big meaning. They say trust is like a piece of paper, once it's crumbled, it can never be in its original shape. Nowadays, it really is hard to trust someone. A person you have known and trusted for a long time can easily shatter your trust within seconds. I really don't blame people if they have trust issues because in a world like today, everyone loves to gossip. 

You may have been hurt by someone in the past, by a family member or a close friend, which caused you to have trust issues. I don't blame you for being hurt, but you can't just stop trusting in general. I've heard my fair share of people saying "trust no one". Wrong. You can trust someone, you can trust God.

All of my life, people have always told me, "Trust God". It sounds easy to do, but it really can be difficult at times. However, we shouldn't obliterate the idea of trusting God. After all, He cares about you and He even chose to send his son to die on the cross for you. How can you not trust someone who has carried the weight of the world in order to save you? 

In life, it may seem like you can't really trust anyone. But just remember that you can always trust God. I encourage you to trust God with everything that you have and that by trusting in Him, you will find strength. 


"Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength" -Isaiah 40:31

I'm hoping and praying that everyone had a wonderful spring break full of rest, fun, and laughter. If it wasn't, then just be thankful that you had the week off from school! If last week wasn't your spring break and this week is, then I hope you have fun because all the people back at school are jealous of you! Haha. 

Well, we all know that life comes with ups and downs, it's cliche to even say that. However, when something goes wrong in our lives, we automatically jump to the "my life sucks mode". We fail to remember the times when we were happy or when things were going okay in our lives.All of the positive and happy memories just dissolve and the negative is magnified. We can't help it, it's human nature.

So it's easy to praise God when everything is going great in our life. When we have nothing to worry about and everything is just fine and dandy, praising Him is easy. Nevertheless, when something doesn't go exactly how we planned, or something negative has occurred, do we continue to praise God? No. We're all just wrapped up in our situation that we forget to praise Him. Instead we stop praising him and start complaining. Maybe we should just stop and think. Would you want a friend who only stuck with you through the happy times in your life? Instead during the hard times, we should think about the positive events that have happened in your life such as getting a great grade in a class, not getting run over in the hall, playing really well in your sport or getting a paycheck.We should continue to smile and be thankful for everything that God has done in our lives. You're alive, you're breathing. You should smile and praise God whether you're going through a mountain or a valley in your life right now. He sees your heart and where you're at and loves you either way. 

I hope that this week you smile. It doesn't matter if you're going through something terrible or something amazing, you'll thank yourself in the long run when you have smile lines instead of frown lines.

Matthew 11:28-30
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”


-Nicole

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, with scholarship packets, school, work and other things, I've just been so busy! Anyway, here's what's been on my mind lately:

So there's this song on the radio that always happens to play when I turn my radio on in the car. The lyrics say something like: "You are more than the choices that you've made, You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, You are more than the problems you create,You've been remade."

The more I think about it, the more that it really hits me. Our mistakes do no define us. Our past does not define us. We have been remade into what God sees us: his precious child that he unconditionally loves. We shouldn't continually to look down at ourselves and beat ourselves down over something that we said or did yesterday or even a year ago. I know it's hard to let go of our past mistakes sometimes, but we must slowly learn how to do it. God forgave us and continues to forgive us even though we continue to make mistakes so we should learn to forgive ourselves.

Daniel 9:9 says: "The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him"

What gives us the right to not forgive ourselves when God already has forgiven us?

It's crazy to think how we've become so selfish lately. We've come to have a mentality of "I do what I want" or "I'm doing me and that's all that matters". With that kind of mentality growing rapidly in our generation, it makes me wonder what our future is going to be like. It's okay to be put yourself first and to do what makes you happy to an extent, but we shouldn't forget about how our actions affect others as well. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of being selfish too. I don't even realize it sometimes. We just get caught up in ourselves and what will make us happy and what will benefit us. We refuse to help someone even if it's something that won't even take ten minutes because we're "too busy". 

Imagine if Jesus was selfish and didn't want to die on the cross for our sins. I mean he was perfect and he was dying on the cross for OUR sins. What if he was just like "Um no God. I'm doing me and I'm putting myself first before all of these wicked people who just continue to sin"? Jesus is a perfect example of someone who walked in selflessness. He didn't have to die on the cross for our sins, but he chose to because he loves us.  
It's not wrong to put ourselves first once in a while, but if we continue to think that way and put ourselves before other people then where will that get us? Even if it's just holding the door for someone or letting them borrow a pen when he or she didn't have one, we can slowly start to be selfless. Who knows, maybe one act of selflessness this week can trigger something in someone and make them feel loved. 

I know that the world would become a different place if we slowly became selfless. 

"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interest of others". -Philippians 2:4