A Christian in an Atheistic World

Last week in Europe, I got a true glimpse at how atheistic our world really is. There really is no religious people in Europe, but those who are just go to an elaborate cathedral on Sundays and go through the motions. It is hard to explain it, but it hit me hard because in Knoxville, I'm smack dab in the middle of what is called the Bible belt. I finally understood what atheism played out on a large scale looked like.
My tour director, who is the sweetest person in the world is a pluralist, which is not an atheist, but very close. She believes that, if there is a heaven and a god, everyone will be allowed in to heaven. She doesn't believe that one religion is right or wrong. She doesn't adhere to a certain religion either.
When one of my friends, Levi, and I started talking to her about our beliefs, she told us we had to question everything and explore all things. When we went on talking a little longer, she stopped and she looked at the both of us and said with her brow knitted, "You aren't creationists. Are you?" We both looked at her and said that we were. She then looked at us with a huge expression of surprise on her face. She could not believe that we did not adhere to the belief that practically the whole world adheres to of evolution. We then continued and told her that we do believe in micro-evolution, but not macro-evolution. No matter what we said after we admitted that we were creationists mattered, though.
It seems that if someone says they are a creationist, they must not be able to argue intelligibly because who could think the whole world was created in six or seven days. I can see where this could make more sense, but really which is more logical? God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh or that the world just happened? I get that its easier to get rid of the need for a God, but its more logical to have Him.
I think, as Christians, we need to fight even harder for our religion! It is dying, especially in places like Europe. I think it takes going to places like I did in order to see just how incredibly dark our world is now. It is sad, but it should fire us up and make us try even harder to bring our world back to God.
I'm listening to the song "Do Something" by Matthew West, and part of it says, "How'd we ever get so down and how's it ever gonna turn around? So, I turned my eyes to heaven and I thought, 'God, why don't you do something?".... He said, 'I did, I created you.' If not us, then who? If not me and you right now? It's time for us to do something. If not now, then when will we see and end...?" This should make us think about how we are living for Christ and if we are really doing something. I just wanna say that from now on, I am going to try to make it impossible for someone to look at me and not see a difference!

Are you needed?

While I was in Europe, I was listening to a song, and one thing the song made me think about being needed. I wrote all of my thoughts down, then and there. This is what I wrote: "You don't feel needed? That's because you really aren't needed!" This might sound harsh, but this is my explination: "God can use you, but that doesn't mean He NEEDS you. God could carry out His plan without you..." Still a little harsh? Let me continue: "... but He has chosen YOU to help Him. This should be EXTREMELY humbling in every way."
Most people don't know this, but I have had a hard time with pride and this realization hit me right between the eyes. I guess it took travelling to Europe, having a bad day, having no one to comfort me, and needing to escape with my music for my pride to finally be shattered. It's one of those things that you just don't think God can use, but the rest of the trip, nothing got to me, I brushed things off, and I was a lot happier. I needed it to happen.
I think we all want to feel needed, and we are, but by other people. I also think we assume God NEEDS us for His plan too, but so often we forget that that's not the case. He has just chosen to use us, and we forget this is a privilege. I think if we saw missions and ministry as a privilege, it would change the way we serve and why. Many times, we do it so we'll look good and God will like us. I'm guilty of this myself. If we looked at it as a privilege, though, we would enjoy it even more and we would be more willing to do it, I think. If it's a privilege, God hand-picked YOU to do it. That would make me jump right in and do it. If I thought, "The almighty God of the universe, took His time to pick me and grow me in Him so I could reach these people," I don't know about you, but it would get me excited.
Now, I will admit it. The thoughts that I had in Europe were written at a very emotional time, but that doesn't make them any less true. If anything, they are more true, because they were straight from my heart. They may have sounded harsh at first too, but it makes me realize that I'm even MORE important because God CHOSE me out of everyone.
Someone once told me, "God uses ordinary people to do EXTRAORDINARY things!" God CAN use you and He will, but He does NOT NEED you!

What is great?

"Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. And some have greatness thrust upon them."
This is a quote by William Shakespeare. I recently came across it and started to ponder it, thinking about what truly makes a person great. Is it the way they dress? The way they speak? Their social status? How good they are at sports? Or how much money they have?
Our society puts so much pressure on people to be GREAT! But the thing is, no one seems to know exactly what true greatness is.
This isn't one of those posts that I just share my opinion on things. I want you to form your own opinion also and this is to give you a little bit of food for thought.
I will tell you this though. I believe a person is great once they find their identity, discover their purpose and then accomplish it. This can only come from one source and that's Christ. He is the only one I can put my full trust in and who has a plan for me.
One of my favorite songs (in which God is talking to us) says, "I have a plan for you. I have a plan for you. It's gonna be wild. It's gonna be GREAT! It's gonna be full of me."
God already has us planned for greatness, so why don't you just let Him take the reins and let Him lead you on the amazing journey He has planned for you!

Relationships and dating- a Derek Griz inspired post

At my church, West Park Baptist Church, we have been going through a relationship series taught by our faithful youth pastor, Derek Griz. I want to spend a little bit of time just talking about how I view dating and boys.....

I've never been in a relationship with a guy, NOT ONCE! And you wanna know something? I don't want to. I am a seventeen year old girl and I don't necessarily want to date anyone. Do you know how rare that is? I am some sort of alien from another planet at my church because I don't want to date. I've always been that way. On some sort of level, I've always distanced myself from guys. Let me tell you why!

I was always told as a child that boys were gross  from my peers and, on occasion, my dad. Then I got older and I will admit, I expressed a little interest in guys, but I knew the rule around my house was no dating. My parents never set an age where we could start dating and the rule was there to protect us, not limit us. Because of this rule, I pretty much decided that it was more worth while to just be friends with guys then to like them. As a result of this, I found out that guys can make some ROCKIN friends. Now, most guys that would be great guys to date are people that I see as potential BEST friends. This is another great thing for me.

This means I am already on my way to always being friends with a guy before dating. This is one of the smartest things you can do. I actually had a conversation with Derek in which he said that being friends with a guy is great and if it grows into something more, that is fantastic. I share this view.

I have also decided to let God be in control of my relationship life. So many times, recently, I have said that I don't want to get married, but that is not the attitude I should have. I should instead say, "God if you bring someone into my life, I am going to thank you for it and then I'll know when they're the one as long as I'm constantly praying about it." I should have an attitude of gratitude to God when he decides that he wants me to start dating and meeting potential life partners.

Courting. My parents always described it to my more as just hanging out with the other person's family and with your friends rather than being alone with one another. This doesn't mean you can't go on dates. It's just a much safer way to get to know each other, and honestly, when I get married, I want my husbands family to ALREADY be like my family. Courting is the way I'm gonna go, at least by my parents definition. 

My advice to myself and all people my age: "Run as fast as you can towards God, and if someone else keeps up, introduce yourself!" God should always be first in ANY relationship.

P.S. Also, this is a promise that I'm making to all you boys out there. I am going to try, from now on, not to guy bash. I have had a very hard time with and I realize that I do it a lot more than I mean to. I'm not promising that I won't do it anymore or I won't do it in jest, but I am going to try to do it a lot less. I am also giving you permission to hold me to my word on this, but please do be patient with me. I probably am doing it more out of love than anything else more times than not.

Welcome

Well, I decided to make a blog. I will be posting my thoughts and writing whenever I have time. The Title came from my thinking about being a child of God and wanting that to be the central focus of my blog. I want every post to have something to do with being God's daughter.
I decided to do this blog because I thought it would be a great creative outlet for me and it would give me another way to worship my God and give the glory all back to Him. I also decided to do it after my awesome weekend at Ignite, an in-town retreat my church does. The focus of this year was the great adventure that God has for everyone, so I will be blogging about the adventure that I'm on too.
I hope that this blog will be fun for you to read and that I will be able to share my heart for God and it will end up being encouraging to you. This is just one small part of the journey that God has put me on, and I hope that my little blog will build you up while we're both on this great adventure God has planned for us!