A Portrait Picture Contest

Hello, so I have been neglecting my blog a bit.... sorry! But I'm back now, my cold is starting to go away and my life is slowing down a bit. Anyways, Polka Dot is hosting a picture portrait contest. So here are my entries:

My Adorable Brother who decided to hide behind some leaves :)

My pretty little Sister, she is sooo photogenic! 

In case you didn't know, both of them are twins :) 

Here is a photo of them together:

Doesn't it look like they are sharing a secret? ;)

Here is a link to Polka Dots site if you would like to enter too!:  

Have a Blessed Day!

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

A Few Songs....

So I know I said I was going to make a post each day.... Truth is, I am struggling to keep up on the simplest of things this week. I got a cold and I have tons of Finals for my different school subjects. So, I thought I would just post a few songs to make up for the past few days.

Here is one of my absolute favorite songs:

Because Christ has risen, We have now been made new. And that is what I like about this song:

It is now our job to minister to others about Jesus, so that the Lost Get Found.

Hope ya enjoyed the songs :)

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

Jesus Saves: His Love for us

In case you didn't get the memo, I am doing a series of posts this week titled 'Jesus Saves'. 

~A thought from the word~

How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings ~Psalm 36:7.

 Why is it that Jesus took the weight of all of our sin and died on the cross for us? The most ultimate answer that I can see, is that he did it out of his love for us. He didn't want us to be separated from him forever, and he knew that sin was dividing us from God. And so He lived a perfect life with no sin, and then took up the cross to save us from eternal seperation- all because of his love.

I encourage you to shine the love of God to someone today, just as Jesus has showed his love to us.

Have a blessed day,

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

Jesus Saves Week of Posts

Being that this next Sunday (Apr. 24th) is 'Easter', or as I like to call it; the Passover, I am going to be doing a Jesus Saves week of posts :)

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Th3aRZXZ0TQeEX65JPu__g?feat=directlink

 

Each post will have one song that reminds me of how Jesus has saved us, and a 'thought from the word'. Technically I wasn't planning on starting this till tomorrow, but since I didn't post a 'S.A.S Weekend', I thought I would go ahead and post a song to start off the Jesus Saves week :)

Check back tomorrow for another song and a 'thought from the word'! 

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

You Have The Right To Remain Silent!

"One of the reasons we can hardly bear to remain silent is that it makes us feel so helpless. We are so accustomed to relying upon words to manage and control others. If we are silent, who will take control? God will take control, but we will never let him take control until we trust him"

~Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster

I love those words written because it is so true; I often times rely on my words to defend myself. If somebody says something that offends me then my first reaction is to retort back, and it is so hard to bite my tongue and say nothing at all. It's something that we all should learn; The discipline of being silent. If we try and fight with words, then we will lose every time. We are not called to fight sin with sin, but rather to fight the lies of the enemy with the word of God. Meaning: Instead of saying mean things to the girl who said mean things to you; Be silent and know in your heart that the lies that they told you are just that, lies. And you can fight those lies by repeating scriptures in your head or by saying them out loud. Here are some helpful verses:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

Romans 8:28

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galations 1:10

Before his downfall a man's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 18:12

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, and pray for those who prosecute you.

Luke 6:27

By learning 'the right to remain silent!' you are also practicing humility. Of course, there are some times when you should speak -but in any case, always make sure that you are speaking through the love of God whenever words come out of your mouth.

Have a blessed day,

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

"One of the truths of silence is the freedom to let God be the justifier. We don't need to straighten others out.... Silence brings us to believe that God can care for us-'reputation and all'..."

~Richard Foster

Sing-A-Song Weekend!!!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. ~1 Corinthians 13:19

I think we all know, that as Christians, we are called to love one another just as Jesus has loved us -And that's what this song is all about:

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends

John 15:13 

Have a blessed day,

Miss.Adriana Castillo

The Virtue of Humility

 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

~Colossians 3:12

Do you ever feel like your in a competition with someone, but don't understand why? I know I have felt that way many times; if there is someone in my art class who is doing a lil bit better than me- then for some reason I begin to feel like it's a competition and am always trying to out-do the person. It's ridiculous, I know, but it's the truth. And the thing is, a lot of people do this -sometimes with out realizing. It's so easy to feel like you are competing for many things in life; A job position, the man you want, to be the best in the class, ect... But did God make life to be a competition? I don't think so... Instead, God wants us to learn humility.

I have heard the word humility on past occasions, but could not figure out a way to explain it- I guess I was still a little unsure of the meaning myself. In case you don't know either, here is a few definitions:

"Humility is a socially acknowledged claim to neutrality in the competition of life"

~Harper's Bible Dictionary 

The state of being humble

~Merriam Webster Dictionary

An ungrudging and hypocritical acknowledgment of absolute dependence upon God.

~Tyndale Bible Dictionary

 God doesn't want us to be in a battle of competition constantly, he wants us to be neutral. One way that we can remane neutral is by learning humility- and humility is being humble. To be humble means to not be proud; Some people don't like to give up a fight because it would mean a hurt in their pride, or they don't want to admit that they need help. But is God not our rock? Does God not want us to depend on him? I think we all know that we are to depend on  God as our rock, and threfore, we have no need to fight for ourselves. It's not our job to fight in the girl-to-girl competitions, but rather to trust Him. To trust Him to fight for us. Trust that His commands are for our good- even those that require humility.

~A Few Verses~

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Ephesians 4:2

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:10

And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 

Micah 6:8

Very few people have discovered the virtue of humility. You see, the thing about humility is that it can often times be a painful thing to learn and doesn't always make complete sense. If we don't protect ourselves, then who will? The obvious answer is God, but it is easier said than done. But Jesus appluads those who practice being humble and meek in their lives. Not those who fight for themselves.

When you practice humility, you are no longer plagued with the questions of 'why?'. Instead, we are free to let others be who they are and let past experiences be just that- past experiences. So do yourself a favor; Let go of your pride, learn to be humble, and trust the Lord your God- and you will be blessed with the virtue of humility.

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

A Picture Post

Hello! 

I thought it would be fun to have a post with just a bunch of pictures.

Anyways, here are some photo's I took recently:

~In case you forgot; I love flowers!~

~My Brother is graduating, and so I took his senior pics~

~My lil' bro just turned 8 this month~

~My little sister is starting to lose baby teeth~

~My lil sis is so photogenic~

~My lil bro loves to smile~

~And I LOVE Flowers!!!~

Well, I guess that's it for now. Maybe sometime in the future I'll post some more pics...

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

Take the 'Self' out of 'Self-Esteem'

When people have constant issues of being hurt by people, they tend to get worn down. They become battered up in the beatings they receive regularly, and I don't mean physical beatings -A person’s heart can be at stake from just verbal abuse. 

How do they prevent themselves from being torn up, though? Especially when all the psychologists tell them is to "stay away from those 'emotionally toxic' people or to stand up to them, and keep your self-esteem up and you won't get hurt by those meanies!" At that point, if they have gone to see a psychologist that is, they probably don't even know what the word 'self-esteem' means anymore. In case you don't know either,  Here is what the dictionary says:

a confidence and satisfaction in oneself 

I don't know about you, but I don't believe that the bible says that if we fill our-self with enough confidence that we won't get hurt. Nor does the bible say to “love yourself and think highly of yourself, for it is healthy and your happiness shall be rooted in it”.  It actually says the opposite; The Bible tells us to die to self, not to esteem self. Building up your self esteem is like building your castle on the sand, where the taunting waves can come wash it over whenever they like. If we build our foundation on the rock though, we then get the result of God-esteem. You see, Our self-esteem can be easily hurt, but God never changes -and when we put our faith and value in him, and not ourselves, how can our value ever diminish? 

If we base our value in God and not our self, then no matter what someone says or does, our value will never lessen. It will no longer matter what other thinks of us, but what God thinks of us. And if God is pleased with us then others will be as well because they will find that you have a heart filled with the love of God. When someone is trying to hurt us, we need to learn to show them love and ‘turn the other cheek’. By showing Gods love and mercy to the people who are trying to bring us down, we are obeying Gods word –and if we are basing our value on ‘God-esteem’, then shining Gods light will come naturally.

So maybe it's time to take 'self' out of 'self-esteem', and replace it with God-esteem -For then we will truly find value in ourselves.

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insult of those who insult you have fallen on me”. 

~Romans 15:1-3

Springtime Flowers

I absolutely love flowers!

You could probably have guessed that by the title of my blog :)

And because I love flowers, I also love springtime! 

Right outside our house are some beautiful flowers growing in our neighbors yards, I just love looking at them.  I also took a picture of some flowers with my camera, but it was late in the evening so I didn't get many good ones. Here is one though that I loved:

I am soooo looking forward to summertime: Blue skys, the warm rays of the sun, lot's of beautiful scenery.... I am so excited to continue to see beauty in the world around me that God created so wonderfully.

Have a blessed springtime day!

~Miss.Adriana Castillo

Sing-A-Song Weekend!!!

This song fills me with joy and praises for God.

Continue to seek and sing praises to the Lord God Almighty!

~Miss.Adriana Castillo