Not just hearing, but listening...

Sometimes I think we as humans (I included) tend to hear but not listen. I think though that this is a fault in us, as it allows us to block out others when they maybe pouring out their hearts to us. Something that made me think of this is when one of my co-workers said that he listens to every single word his daughter says because even though she says 100 words a minute, he knows that in-between every few words is a piece of her heart.

I think about all those times when I block out what people are telling me, whether at work, home or school and how I am hearing -but not listening. And it saddens me when I think of all the people that I have interacted with, that are just waiting for someone to read in-between the lines of what they are saying because they want support or encouragement -yet no one listens.

Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Mark 4:9

Sometimes this can be a challenge, other times it can be easy.
It's easy when you are listening to your best friend, after all, he/she probably has a lot of things in common with you and you enjoy one another s presence or else you would not be best friends.
It's hard when the someone whos talking to you is someone that you don't get along with, or a coworker/school chum that is living there life completely different than you see fit - because judgment can easily place a veil over your ears in such times.

My chanllenge for myself and you is to reach out and listen to the people that aren't so easy to listen to, for me that's a coworker that is completely unhappy with her life and every word she says is negative but yet I can see the hurt and anger that she seems to be struggling with. For you it could be a coworker, school friend, or maybe even a family member.

No matter who it is, listen to each words they say, and don't expect them to flat out say " I want you to encourage me" or "I am hurting right now", because not anyone I can think of would flat out say that. Read inbetween the lines as best as you can and get to the root of what they are telling you.

Know this, my beloved brothers. Every man must be swift about hearing, slow about speaking, slow about wrath;
James 1:19
Many blessings to you throughout this week,
Adriana

Free Will

The whole thing of free will can be a hard concept to understand. It's easy to blame God for things that happen. It's easy to say that because God has power to change things but instead allows horrible things to happen to you that He is at fault. There has been periods of my life overtime that I was mad at God and telling myself those things.

Now I've moved on with my life and am serving God, but there are others that I have met lately that are going through that stage. It's hard to know what to tell people when they are hurt and wounded, but I started thinking about it today and kind of fit together everything I have learned from the bible and going to church and I understand what it means by "free will".

God doesn't make things bad occur to us, he doesn't stop it from happening at times, but it's not Him who created the issue -it's the sin of man that creates our problems, which is backed up by Satan as well. It's because we have the choice and freedom to live our lives as we please that we run into problems.

 It's when we don't want to own up to mistakes that we have made, or when we are not willing to forgive others of the wrong that they have done to us that we then point the finger to God. You can have the same scenario happen to two different people and yet have different results based on the victims ability to forgive or blame. A story I heard on the radio was about a woman whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver. Now you can either a) Forgive the man for his wrongs and continue to praise God through the storm, or b) blame the man for doing wrong and blame God. You see, you can't continue to have a good relationship with God if you have a grudge against someone. So even if you think that your not having any anger towards God but torwards a person, it really does not matter because that is hindering you from growing closer to him.

So to sum it up, because of free will people make mistakes and sin, and because of sin we have hardships. With those hardships we can choose to forgive or to blame, and what we choose will depend on how depressing or joyful our life is.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that the next time someone tells you their story, and shares with you how they are mad at God, you can explain to them how it's not God that causes there woes and do your best to encourage them to forgive either themselves or others for the hardships.

Maybe you already knew that. For me it wasn't that I didn't know that God isn't responsible for life problems, because we are taught that all throughout church, but it was more of the actual understanding that I was struggling with. There is a difference between knowing and understanding, and I am happy to have finally pieced it all together :)

Anyways, that's just been on my mind lately...
Blessings,
Adriana

Hello!

Hello everyone!
I feel like my blog is so lonely right now and in need of attention since I've been neglecting it so! That's why I thought I should start by writing this post :)

So much has happened in my life:

I had my senior pictures taken/I graduated

 

I got my first car! It's a blue Buick, but I haven't really taken any pictures yet....

I made my second wedding cake! 

I did some paintings!

I am still steadily working around 40 hours a week, which makes things pretty busy, and hard to find time to do stuff like blogging, especially since I go to bed at 8pm so that I can get up at 4am for work. I am looking forward to the fourth of July though!
Right now I am making what's called "Patriotic Dessert", Yum!!!

I am thinking about an in depth post to write, but for now you are pretty caught up in my life :)
Blessings,
Adriana

Being Content...

So today as I was mopping the floor I came to the realization of how I am being so discontent with the blessings that God has given me. It was a horrible thought and I was displeased to find that in me.

You see, I had been praying for a job, and as you know I got two of them. Well, I was inwardly discontent with my position. Wishing that I was a sales person at Micheal's rather than unloading freight and stacking items on shelves. And it hit me that God gave me this job for a reason and that I need to be grateful and count my blessings.

I am not going to get to into this topic, because I have already written two posts in the past about this, but It's just another area that God is saying "Adriana, you need to step it up and draw closer to me rather than be ungrateful" .

Here is two related posts if your interested:
Wanting to Step Into Greener Grass
A Taste of My Own Medicine

So that's where I am at with my spiritual life as of today, and here is a verse that hit the hammer on the nail for me:
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake.

Many blessing to all of you,

Are you like a Pharasee?

My bible study has been reading in the book of Mathew for almost a year and a half now, and we're still only in chapter 23! It seems like we won't ever finish that book, but our study's have been in depth being that we only read a few verses at a time and really dig deep in them.
A general point though that I have noticed throughout the book is how Jesus is constantly calling out the Pharisees. Time after time they try to trick Jesus and yet He turns the table on them. There a funny bunch the Pharisees, they make laws for the people to follow, some of them biblical, but most not. Jesus calls them hypocrites multiple times throughout His time on earth.

The question truly is though, are we like the Pharisees?
Below if Mathew 23:23-27, Jesus was talking to the multitudes about the Pharisees:

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

This is what, from reading the above verses, I think a Pharisee is:
*A rule follower and maker, but a neglecter of the heart
*Self conscious of appearance, but not of the heart

You don't have to have a title to be a Pharisee, you just have to act and think like one. Which is why, if we are not careful, you and I can be modern day Pharisees. That's not something that is good though, because according to the Bible God frowned upon such.

Do you like to follow the rules? Haha, I know I sure do! I tend to be a real rule follower, so I do my homework on time, clean my room, and complete my chores. But is that enough to have a relationship with God? Is that providing for the needs of the heart? What about justice, mercy, and faithfulness?

What the Pharisees didn't' understand is that you can follow the rules to your hearts content and not murder or commit adultery, but that does not mean that you have a relationship with God. And what's worse, is that the Pharisees didn't even follow the rules that they expected others to!

The Pharisees had a carefully composed exterior. They made sure that they did all the right things in public, and that others looked up to them and followed them. There appearance wasd deceptive, for on the inside they were hollow.

Do you ever worry about your appearance? What about impressing someone? Putting on an act is something that I have even done to just try and please/impress others. It's false. It's fake. It's not me, and I lose all self respect for myself when I do it.

The Bible simply states that if you focus on Jesus and allowing him to form your heart, that you will be beautiful and impressive on the outside. And when you put on an act, others will only be impressed long enough to then find out that that is not who you really are on the inside.

With all that said and done, are you even a teeny bit like the Pharisees?

I will answer a simple yes to that.

It's not something that I like, but with acknowledgment it is something I can work on.

Perhaps it gives you something to reflect on as well :)

Blessings,

Sing A Song Weekend!

Ok, so this is a new favorite of mines! I love the beat to this song, it is so uplifting and makes me want to dance, haha ;) And considering that I am not much of a dancer then that means that it must be amazing! lol, hope you enjoy :)

An Update on my Life :)

Hello Everyone!

Whew! It's been a crazy busy month! Between finishing all my online school, being teachers assistant in one of my classes, job searching, getting graduation stuff ready, and a ton of other stuff, I haven't hardly had time to catch my breath!

So what all has happened to me lately? Haha, well here is an overview:

I completed all my online courses 2 weeks ago, and since then I have kind of been on summer vacation, but don't get the misconception that I had more free time ;)

My Journalism class has launched our first ever school newspaper! That was a class that I helped get started by convincing my teacher we should have an online paper, and then this year we have been working toward that goal but didn't finally publish it till last week :)

 As many know I have been job searching since the end of December. Well, I finally got 2 jobs! One at a Subway and the other at an art's and crafts store. All in all I should get 15+ hours in each week, but I haven't actually started yet, but I shall next week!

 And with the money I am earning I will be saving up for car insurance, getting my license (which has fees asociated with it), and a car! I am scheduled to take the driving test on May 24th, so I am excited for that!
Then I have been swimming, with the goal to take a Lifeguard training class in June! I can swim 800 yards without stopping, which is an amazing improvement from when I started :)

Graduation is coming up in the early week of June, and so I have a ton of stuff I got to finish, including my invitations :)

I am baking a wedding cake in the same week as my graduation, so I am schedulin a cake tasting day and I got to make sure I have all the proper equipment for it.

Then there is a ton of extra activities I am doing, so it feels pretty hectic right about now!

Anyways, I'll try to post as much as I can, but atleast y'all know what's going on :)

Sincerely,

Adriana