Hey everybody

Last Thursday May 22nd, 2008, my mom was driving me and my sister to school and we were listening to our local Christian radio station. The station has a news update every hour and the new update came on. The lady said “a tragedy for the Chapman family” I was thinking oh my gosh who died. and then they said  the name and I almost started crying. The name was Maria Sue Chapman. The youngest daughter of  Mary Beth and Steven. Maria went to be with the Lord on May 21st, 2008. She was 5 years old and for reasons that we don’t understand God called her home. She was playing in the family drive way and her brother was driving the car and he didn’t see Maria in the drive way. the name of the brother was not named and i think that is good. I feel like the whole world shouldn’t know which son killed Maria. Just because he did kill her that doesn’t mean that he did it on purpose. That’s exactly why they call it an accident.

I felt deeply saddened for this family. They do so much good for some many families by providing grants through their ministry Shaohannah’s Hope for families who want to adopt children. The grants that Shaohannah’s Hope provides makes it possible for families to witness a miracle by adopting a child from a third world country or even the United States. The mircle of adoption is something that opens the eyes of so many.

So please pray for those orphans who have yet to be adopted and if God is tugging on your heart to adopt a child then pray about it and start some research. I know this blog is for teens but even I want to adopt kids when I get older. So I believe its not to early to start thinking about adopting kids. I really have a heart for kids and orphans so I think that God is calling me to adopt some kids.

As you are praying for the orphans of this world, pray for Mary Beth and Steven as they greive the death of 5 year old Maria Sue Chapman. Please pray that God would comfort the Chapman family in this time of tragic grieve. Pray that this would be a time for the Chapman family to not only greive but come closer to God and understand more of who God is.

Have a great summer everyone! I will posting periodically during the summer.

God Bless!

Jessica 

This is the second article that I am posting regarding Modesty. The excerpts below are from a seven-part series on modesty written by C. J. Mahaney. You can find all seven of his posts in their entirety over on his Soveriegn Grace Blog.

C. J. writes:

Modesty is humility expressed in dress. It’s a desire to serve others, particularly men, by not promoting or provoking sensuality. Immodesty, then, is much more than wearing a short skirt or low-cut top; it’s the act of drawing undue attention to yourself. It’s pride, on display by what you wear.
One thing I have noticed is that a lot of people think that modesty vs. immodesty is (or not appropriate) based on weight.  A couple years ago, I graciously confronted a girlfriend of mine in the Church who was about ten years younger than me. I pointed out that her shirts were too tight for her, exposing much of her torso and backside whenever she stood up, sat down, or bent over and that this could cause men in our church to stumble. Her response. “I have lost a lot of weight recently. I dressed really modestly back when I was heavy.”

Girls, modesty has nothing to do with our figures. The myth that skinny girls can dress skantily and heavy gals can’t misses the heart of immodesty.

Wrong thinking: “I don’t wear mini skirts because my legs are fat.”
Right thinking: “I don’t wear mini skirts because exposing a lot of flesh sends the wrong message.”
Wrong thinking: “I don’t wear tops that expose my belly button because I have a fat belly.”
Right message: “I don’t wear tops that expose my belly because it might cause boys to stumble.”

The exact same rules apply to all girls – no matter what their shape, size, or weight. C. J. is so right. Modesty is not a fashion issue. It is a heart issue. Clothes should not reflect what we think about our bodies (or what we want others to think). They should reflect our relationship with God.

The Bible tells us to “be holy because I [Jesus] am holy.” Holiness isn’t just an attitude we adopt on Sunday mornings. Holiness isn’t just about reading the Bible or learning to share. Holiness should permeat every inch of our lives.,,it shouldn’t stop short of your closet doors.

When we go clothes shopping we hold up an outfit and ask our friend, “Do you think this looks cute?”  I challenge you to sit down right now and pray about this issue right now. God to the Lord and ask him for HIS opinion. Does God think the outfit you have on right now is cute? Do you think it accurately reflects the holiness of His Son, Jesus?

James 1:5 challenges us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to you.”

We need wisdom when it comes to this issue. Face it girls, we do not think like boys! Even if something looks absolutely adorable on you, flatters your figure, and you get a million compliments on it…it could still be an outfit that hurts your Christian brothers and that saddens Christ.

How can we know what blesses our brothers and pleases the Lord? Ask for wisdom and it will be given to you.

Don’t believe the lies that dressing modestly means having to look outdated, frumpy, or homely. With a little bit of creativity, you can still look great.

Below is Jess’ second blog article. Her article made me think of something my dad told me once when I was a little girl. My mom and dad were both 19 when they got married (they’ve been married over 40 years now). I asked my dad, “If you could go back in time, would you still marry mom?” He answered, “If I had a thousand lives to live, I’d marry your mom in every one…but I would never again do it at 19!”

Hey guys,

 

Alot of times in this world we hear about all the celeberity gossip. I don’t like to listen to the gossip even though it is interesting sometimes. This gossip is the story of people’s lives. I don’t really think that we should be so interested in other people’s lives so much that we track their lives. I think we should leave the celebirties alone and let them live their lives. But yet we find this in Christian music to. One of my favorite artisits, Bethany Dillon recently got married to Shane Barnard(Shane is from the band, Shane&Shane). The couple tied the knot March 29th, 2008. When the news of Beth and Shane’s engagment came out I was so surprised. I didn’t even know that Bethany was dating anyone. It just seemed sad to me that a christian music star had to keep her relationship in the shadows so that the christian media would not stop spreading it. But once the word was out, it was all over the place and people had alot of opinions about it to. I personally thought that Bethany was to young at 19 to get married to Shane who is 33. I just don’t think the age difference is very good for the two to get married. I also thought that Bethany was sending a bad message to her fans who are mostly 10-16 year olds. The message that Bethany was sending was that its ok at 19 to get married. I mean yes Bethany is mature but 19 is just a little young to me. Even though we may have opinions about Shane and Bethany, God only knows what is best for them. It was in God’s plan for the two to get married.

 

so next time you watch a show like ”ET” or “Extra” think about what you are watching on your screen. you are watching someone’s life that has been exposed to the public. so instead turn off the tv and give that celebirty some privacy to live their life the way they chose.

My pastor recently read the opening paragraph from Alex and Brett Harris’ book, “Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations.”  The title alone is a brain-bend.

Some of you may have heard of Joshua Harris (who wrote the popular book, “I Kissed Dating Goodbye”). Alex and Brett are his younger twin brothers. And they, like their older brother, have a gift for writing – the kind of writing that can inspire young readers to live life outside the Boring Box.

I read the book a day or so ago in one sitting. I don’t always read 230-page books in one sitting. But when you are stuck in a plane on a runway for three hours, you don’t have much of a choice! My opinion is that this is a fantastic book and even though it is written by teenagers, for teenagers – I was tremendously blessed and convicted by nearly every page.

The book is a challenge for teenagers to see their teen years, not as a prolonged decade of childhood to be squandered playing video games and watching TV, but to be harnessed and used to do hard things – great things – that can change the world.

Bret and Alex have a website TheRebelution.com. Check it out!

Here is the first paragraph of their book, “Do Hard Things.”

Most people don’t expect you to understand what we’re going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last.

Well, we do.

I have taken the following excerpt from C. J. Mahaney’s blog. I will be posting a lot of blogs (from C.J. and others) on the all-important (but often ignored) topic of modesty.  Modesty doesn’t have to mean dressing like a prude from the 1800s. I believe it is possible for a woman to be the epitome of modesty while at the same time being beautiful, feminine, modern, and (gasp!) yes…even stylish. 

It’s all about balance. While we shouldn’t obsess over the outward appearance, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t “give two hoots” either.  Because God says that he does not judge us by our outward appearances, but by our hearts, then we should make it a priority to, first and foremost, primp ourselves inwardly — where our Suitor (Christ) is staring.

Here is a taste of C.J.’s first post. To read the post in its entirety, click here.

Many young women, though, are unaware of these worldly dangers. Several years ago I preached a message to our church from 1 Timothy 2:9 entitled “The Soul of Modesty.” Eventually, that message made its way into the hands of a young woman named Jenni. Prior to hearing my sermon, Jenni had no idea what God’s Word said about the clothes she wore, if anything at all. “Modesty used to be a foreign word to me,” Jenni later admitted in a testimony to our church congregation:

My friends aptly nicknamed me ‘Scantily.’ When choosing what to wear I thought only of what would flatter me, what would bring more attention my way, and what most resembled the clothes I saw on models or other stylish women. I wanted to be accepted and admired for what I wore. I enjoyed my attire, the undue attention I received, and the way it stimulated my feelings.

Perhaps you can relate to Jenni. Maybe modesty sounds unappealing to you. If we played word association you’d come up with “out of style” and “legalistic.” Maybe you think God is indifferent about the clothes you wear. What does he care?

But, as Jenni ultimately discovered, there is “not a square inch” of our lives—including our closets—with which God is not concerned. Even more, he cares about the heart behind what you wear, about whether your wardrobe reveals the presence of worldliness or godliness.

Hey all, I would like to introduce you to a friend who is going to be posting regularly to the blog. Her name is Jess and the rest of this posting is a special message written by her. 

Post a comment and let Jess know what you think of her song.  If any of you have similar songs or poems that you would like to share, drop me and Jess a line at std.savethedate@gmail.com and we’ll post your poem for all to see.

hi guys
 
my name is Jessica. I’m a friend of Vicki Joy’s and she asked me if I could post a weekly blog to encourage you guys or just share something in my life. so I have been writing some songs. I had a hard time at the beginning of the year. I didn’t have a lot of friends because I was transitioning to high school. I was very shy and I really didn’t talk unless I was asked. One of the first songs that I wrote was called Pain. I will post the lyrics here. its a short song but it has a lot of meaning behind it.
 
Pain
 
Pain runs through my body like a train
I can’t push it away because its in my face
I have no one to turn to but God
 
Chorus: God please take the pain away
it hurts too bad
I can’t take it anymore.
I’m breaking under all the weight
 
verse 2: Then one day
you come and take the pain from me
I run, Jump, and scream because
you have set me free from the pain and chains that bound me
 
 So today I just encourage you guys to give all your pain to God.  During those first few months of school I had a lot of pain in my life. I wasn’t able to fit in very well and I was losing my best friend so I didn’t know what to do or where to turn. But then I found out that if I gave all my pain and worries to God that he would take that weight off my shoulders and I would be free to jump and sing and praise him.
 
God Bless!
 
Jessica

Ever notice that in the movies, the guy always gets the girl? Love overlooks no one in the two-dimensional world of the silver screen. The Beast eludes reality to find his Beauty, heck, even Forrest Gump managed to find love!

Unfortunately, this is not always real life.

 

Let me tell you a story. The names have not been changed to protect the humiliated. This is a story about a man named Isaac Watts. Isaac was born in Southampton, England in July of 1674. The guy was any woman’s definition of a romantic because, hey, he was a poet. In fact, he wrote over 600 hymns, many of which, I am sure you have sung in church at one time or another. Joy to the World sound familiar? He wrote it. O God Our Help in Ages Past, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Alas and Did my Savior Bleed, to name just a few.

 

Some beautiful, moving ditties there and I am not the first one to say so. Miss Elizabeth Singer seemed to think so too. She wrote Isaac a letter and told him how moving his writing was. Not a shallow compliment considering Elizabeth was also a noted poet in her own right.

 

They began to write back and forth for many months. It wasn’t long before the two of them fell and love and the “M” word came up and before you know it, Elizabeth was on her way to meet Isaac in person. When they met face-to-face, Isaac proposed marriage and they lived happily ever after…(insert loud sound effect here of a car screeching on its breaks).

 

Upon being asked if she would marry him, Elizabeth said to Isaac, “If only I could say that I admire the casket as much as I admire the jewel it contains.”

 

(Insert, “Oh no you didn’t, girlfriend!” here).

 

Yes, girlfriend, she did. I should point out that “casket” in Elizabeth’s time was not referring to a coffin, but a very ornate box used to put rings and jewelry inside. So, in essence she was saying, “You’re one ugly dude, Isaac, but hey…at least you’re beautiful on the inside!”  Yeah…that line was as lame in the 1600s as it is now.

 

Hold up a second now, it does get worse. She never had a change of heart and Isaac lived until he was 74 years old and he never married.

 

Hollywood would never pass that script through to production!

 

The fact is, God does not guarantee us a “Happily Ever After” storybook ending. Or, I should say, God’s “Happily Ever After” for your life may not be wrapped up in the package that you are expecting. The fact is, Isaac’s suffering is now over and the part of his life that lives on 200 years later, is not his grief, but the unchanging truth and beauty of the cross that he so eloquently immortalized for us in his hymns.

 

The moral of this story is NOT, “No one ever loved Isaac, and therefore, there is no hope for me either.” As girls, we need to put ourselves in Elizabeth’s shoes, not Isaac’s. Isaac would have been a wonderful godly husband. However, Elizabeth passed him over because he was only five feet tall, had a hooknose, and a big head. As women who profess to love Christ, we should strive to look beyond a man’s physical appearance. After all, we are not perfect and if we expect a guy to overlook all of our imperfections, we are hypocrites if we refuse to overlook his.

 

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:7

 

Ever feel like nobody understands you?

Ever wish you had that super special best friend?

Ever worry that you are too ugly and that no one will ever love you?

Ever wonder if you are the only one who feels this way?

This blog is for all of you girls out there who are being bullied by the “What If” monster. We’re going to talk about all sorts of cool stuff and hopefully make some friends and tackle those pesky fears once and for all.

Save the Date isn’t just some catchy title – it is a mission. Are you prepared to accept the challenge?  Put dating aside for a second and let’s work on getting our hearts and minds confident and strong and healthy so that when we do date – our relationships are rooted in solid, meaningful, and pure foundations.

You are created in the image of God. You were put on this earth to reflect HIS glory! Do not settle for anything less that the absolute best God has to offer. Worried you’ll be left to wait too long? Worried Mr. Right will never come along? Worried you’ll wind up with some “nerd” if you date a guy from church? Don’t worry about it…you’re normal! Post a comment and let’s start talking about it.

Got something private to talk about?  Feel free to drop me a line at: std.savethedate@gmail.com and I will send you a note of encouragement.

I am looking forward to getting to know you!

Your friend,

VeeJay (Vicki Joy)