I Will Follow You

So I've had a lot of time to think today. Which honestly sometimes isn't the best thing for me...but today, it's been good. It's been encouraging. God really opened my eyes to something.

A while back in youth group, my youth pastor made a statement that really grabbed a hold of me. He said,

"Being fearless isn't having an ABSENCE of fear; it's MOVING IN SPITE of those fears."

Now don't ask me how this came to my mind today...I really couldn't tell you. I guess God just really wanted to tell me something.

I've been freaking out a lot lately. And yes, I realize this is a regular thing for me...but I mean more than usual. Senior year has gotten me completely stirred up. It's still an unreal thought to me. It doesn't feel like I should be graduating from high school. (I can't imagine how my parents feel...their oldest kid is getting married, and their youngest is graduating...yep, they're definitely getting old! Lol!)

Everything is seriously so surreal to me. None of it makes sense. I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life. I have no clue where I want to be,or what my future looks like. Everything is changing around me, and it honestly scares me to death. I don't like change. At all.

If I'm honest, I really don't want to grow up. The idea of living out on my own in this crazy, messed-up world does not seem ideal. Home is all I've ever known, and part of me wants to keep it that way.

But then when I think about it, that's exactly the point God is trying to get across to me. I need to go explore on my own, even if it's scary. I need to take that leap of faith, and have the trust that He will always be with me, protecting me and telling me where to go. I need to be confident in who He's made me to be, and embrace the plans He has for me. I need to never doubt that His plans are so much better than any I could ever think up on my own.

So I don't know what I want to do. I don't know where I want to be. I don't have the simplest idea where I will end up. But I do know who I am. I do know who my Father is, and I do know that His love never fails. He is in COMPLETE control of whatever may come, and that should be enough for me.

It's time for me to finally rely completely on God, and not the comforts of my everyday life. It's time for me to step outside of my comfort zone, and have the courage to overcome whatever may come my way, knowing He is with me. It's time for me to let go of my worries, fears, doubts, and insecurities, and live up to all God has in store for me. It's time for me to be FEARLESS.

Dear Ian

Dear Ian,

Alright I-Man, here goes nothing...this is for you. You really got me thinking when we Skyped on Sunday. You're right...I haven't blogged in a long time. And as soon as you said that, God really put on my heart for me to write you a letter. So, here you go. From my brain to yours. (yes, I stole that from your blog...clever, huh? I thought it was a nice touch!)

What I love about you:

1. Your laugh. I don't even know how to explain it, but it makes me smile just thinking about it. How you throw your head back, close your eyes tight, and just laugh uncontrollably like what you've just heard is the funniest thing on the face of the planet. It makes me happy.

2. Your dimples. Sorry, I just had to... it's so true! I know you hate them, and hate it when I bring them up...(again, I apologize...) but they seriously make me smile. So, even though you don't appreciate them, I do. And one day, some girl is going to fall in love with those dimples. Just you wait and see. :)

3. Your obsession with disc golf. I do not understand how you never get tired of this game, but your excitement and dedication makes me smile. I love how excited you get when you bring home new discs after diving in the ponds. (Which I don't understand either, but that's okay!) Always make time for your hobbies. They'll keep you young!

4. Your Twitter/Instagram kicks. Congratulations, dear brother...you have officially gotten me obsessed with Twitter! I never thought I'd say this, but you were right...it's so much better than Facebook! Lol! And Instagram, well...every picture you put up pretty much makes my day! I'm sure I've burned a lot of calories just laughing at all the pictures you've posted...haha you're so funny! (Tell Jesus I say hi! Hahaha!)

5. Your coffee addiction. Now that I think about it, maybe this should have gone at the top of the list...haha just kidding! But oh man, the smell of coffee...there's nothing better! It's seriously one of my favorite things about having you and Keegan home...I miss it when you guys leave! Pretty please, for me, never stop drinking coffee, okay? LOL. :)

6. Your love of music. I truly believe music has brought us closer together over the years, whether you realize it or not. We have pretty similar tastes in this category, even if you don't want to admit it. Sure, I'll always hate Eminem, and you'll always despise my Disney stuff, but you've introduced me to lots of different artists and I have become obsessed with several of them! There are so many songs that remind me of you for different reasons. Listening to them makes it feel like you're still here, even when you're not, and that brings more comfort and joy to me than I'll ever be able to explain.

7. Your passion of playing guitar. For sure, without a doubt, my favorite sound in the entire world. Hearing you strum the chords by heart, singing and praising our Lord, gives me a sense of happiness and peace that absolutely nothing else does. More than once I have sat at the top of the basement steps, just listening to you play. You have some serious talent, my brother! And I don't care what you say...you CAN sing, and pretty dang well at that!

8. Your willingness to invest in people. It makes me so happy to see you interact with students. Countless times I've had kids at the Rock come up to me and say, "Wait, Ian's your brother? I love that guy!" and I just smile and say "I do too!" You have touched and changed so many people's lives, and I know that is just the beginning! You're amazing.

9. Your obedience to God's calling on your life. You have eagerly responded to what God has called you to do with you life, and I am so incredibly proud of you! You have become such an awesome man of God, and  it's only up from here! You're going to make one amazing youth pastor someday.

10. Your never-ending love and support. I'm starting to cry just typing this out...I hate to admit it, but then again, you know I'm a cry baby. But seriously, I-Man...your support and encouragement has helped me in more ways than you know. You've helped guide me to make good decisions, you've kept me away from a lot of heartache, and overall have just been the best support system and have always been there for me whenever I need to talk about anything. Even your random text messages or Facebook posts...they mean the world to me. And how you sat through dance recital, and bought me flowers and that awesome sock monkey. (Who needs a boyfriend when I have you!?) And I'll never forget when you called me after my car accident...you didn't even know what had happened; you just saw my Facebook posts and called to see if I was doing okay. You truly are amazing, Ian, and I know I don't show it near enough, but I love you so incredibly much and you mean SO FREAKING MUCH to me! I really don't know where I'd be without you...so thank you. <3

God gave me YOU, and I am forever grateful.

I love you,

Skyler

PS: Remember, we don't even have to try...it's always a good time! :)

God is at Work

So I've just been chilling in my room this afternoon, and all of a sudden, it hit me: summer's almost over. Where has the time gone? I wish I knew. But as I've been sitting here and thinking about this, I've realized something. I've had all summer off of school. No stress, no straining time commitments...and yet, somehow, I still haven't found enough time to be with God.

It's funny how quickly time passes, and we always say things like "live like there's no tomorrow" and "embrace every moment" but yet, we still live as if we have all the time in the world. At least I know I do. 

Lately I've found myself being lazy...distracted...procrastinating. Telling myself I'll do something later, even though I know very well that I won't end up doing it. I look back at my summer and I see all of the opportunities I had to grow closer to Christ, but I still didn't do it. 

I think back to my week at HAC, how amazing it was, and how God really grabbed a hold of my heart that week. And I look back at the couple of weeks following camp, and how I was really clinging to God's Word and doing my best to seek Him out in my life. And today I look at where I am right now, and honestly,  I don't even know what happened. I've been too distracted with other things, earthly things that don't even matter, that I've let myself drift away from what God's trying to do in my life.

But the good news is...there's still hope. Although I've drifted, God hasn't moved an inch. He's still right here, ready to take me back in His arms and mold me into who I need to be for Him. And I'm truly in awe of how God works, because as I was rummaging around my room today, I found an old notecard from youth group a couple years ago, and this is what it says:

The kind of girl I need to be:

1. A woman who loves Jesus.

2. A woman who understands beauty.

3. A woman who honors her future husband.

4. A woman who is confident in who she is.

5. A woman who works hard.

6. A woman who is generous.

Man, that is EXACTLY what I needed to see today. These past few weeks I definitely haven't been all of those things. If I'm honest, I've probably struggled with every single one of those to some degree. But, there's no time like the present to change that! God has really spoken to me today, and this time, I'm determined to listen and respond.

 I guess my main point to this blog is this: Don't give up on God. He is at work in your life. No matter what's going on, no matter what you're struggling with, big or small. God is bigger, and He has a plan. It's time for us to TRUST that plan, and be CONFIDENT in who He's made us to be and what He's made us to do. Life gets busy, it gets hard. But with God, we can handle it all.

So as we end our summer and start our new school year, cling to God and the hope that He has for you. He wants to make you into an amazing child of God. The only question is this; are you going to let Him?  <3

Freeze Frame

Have you ever had one of those moments where time seems to stand still? Where you wish you could just press "pause" and freeze that minute, that feeling, and never let it go? Well I had one of those moments today.

This afternoon I was able to go to Adventureland with my mom. Seems pretty normal, right? Nothing too special or out of the ordinary. But the thing is, this was something special. Sitting there in the new wave pool( (which is freaking awesome by the way! If you haven't made it out there yet, put it on your list of things to do before the summer's up!) the sun shining down on me, looking at my mom smiling as she told me a story, there was absolutely nowhere in the entire world I'd rather be. I wanted to freeze that moment, to take it and put it in a bottle to keep forever. I know, I know, it sounds super cheesy and over-dramatic...but it's true.

I have an absolutely amazing family. Like tonight, I got to talk to Keegan on Skype for like 2 hours! He's planning a mission trip for his youth kids in Chicago, and he filled me in on all the little details. I'm so proud of him and who he's becoming, and it seriously means the world to me to have these conversations with him.

And yesterday, Ian needed me to get on his laptop so he could figure some plans out for his week down in Dallas. Not really a big deal, right? Well it really wasn't, but it just meant a lot to me to have him call me up for help, and to just talk for a little bit and catch up. It's crazy how he can be gone for 2 days and I miss him like he's been gone for a year...

And my dad, well...don't even get me started on that one. I could write a book on how he is the most amazing man on the face of the earth. His guidance, love, support, and discipline has literally saved my life, and I love him with all that I am. I am seriously the luckiest girl in the world just because this man is my father.

But anyway, enough of that. Gosh, I'm not even sure what I'm typing right now! Now that I'm looking back on everything, I'm not sure any of this ties together, or really even makes sense for that matter! But whatever, I'm just gonna go with it...

My point is, I have an amazing family and I love them dearly, but honestly...I don't show it near enough as I should. It can be so easy to take these simple moments for granted, but they honestly can be the biggest deal in the whole scheme of things.

So I guess if you're to take anything out of this crazy rambling of mine that I'm calling a blog, it's simply this: love your family. I know summer gets busy with friends and parties and cookouts and fireworks and blah blah blah...but at the end of the day, family is what you go home to. They're the ones who have been with you all along, and no matter what the future brings, they're still going to be right there, one way or another. Family is such a beautiful and incredible gift from God...take some time to really cherish it this summer. <3

Wake.Rise.Shine.

Soo it's been way too long since I've been here on my blog. February 19, to be exact. And as I sit here and stare at that number, I honestly feel really convicted. I haven't taken time to dig into God's Word, and blog about it since February. It's May. I think we may have a problem.

And the worst part is...I haven't been trying to fix it. There have been many occasions between then and now where I've thought "oh, I haven't blogged in a while! I should probably do that!" and yet what have I done? Absolutely nothing. 

I really hate to admit it, actually. I don't like to think about how I've been ignoring God and being lazy in my walk with Him. But the truth is...I have been. And this all came crashing on top of me about 20 minutes ago, while I was in the middle of watching Touch. Now I don't know if any of you guys are familiar with that show, but it is seriously one of the hardest shows in the world to stop watching. It's one of those shows where if you leave the room for 2 seconds, you've missed something.

So as you can figure out, the last thing I wanted to do was turn the TV off. And if I'm honest, it took me a couple commercials to do it. But I finally decided that I wasn't going to ignore God another time. He put this on my heart at that very moment for a reason. I needed to stop what I was doing and respond to Him. And even though it was tough...I finally did.

And you wanna know something? I feel great. I love being on here, typing out my thoughts and really being honest with not only the handful of people reading this blog, but also with myself. God has given me a passion for writing, and it's amazing to use that talent to reach out to other people. 

But the thing that gets to me the most? I've finally acted out in obedience to God. I finally ignored the world around me and responded to Him. And that feels greater than words can express. I've spent too much time these last couple of months just going through the motions. You know what I'm talking about. Going to church, going to youth group, listening to Christian music...all those little things that you know aren't good enough but you try to convince yourself different anyways.

It's so easy to get wrapped up in our excuses and distractions, isn't it? Trust me - I know. But the beautiful thing is, we serve such a patient and persistent God. Whether we realize it or not, He's always walking with us, nudging us to fall back onto His path. He's always there, ready to forgive and take us back in His arms. The only step we have to do (which I'm not gonna lie, it's a hard step!) but the only step we have to do is finally let go of the things that are holding us back, and surrender to the only One who's worthy of everything we have to give.

"This is why it is said: Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." 

                                                                                                                                      Ephesians 5:14

So this is it, guys. It's time to confess, repent, and give our lives for Jesus. And in a lack of a better way to end this bad boy...

WAKE...RISE...SHINE. 

He is Everything

Isaiah 41:10

God really put this verse on my heart this Saturday when I was feeling overwhelmed by show choir. Take a look at the truth this verse holds:

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand."

I've always loved this verse and found encouragement in it, but until this week I think I've missed the most important part of all. Whenever I've read this verse in the past, I've always been comforted by the thought of God holding me and helping me in my time of need. And although this is so true, I think there's even more to it. 

"...I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand." Have you ever thought about how powerful this part of the verse is? I always over-looked it before, but I think it's so important. He is holding on to you, all of you, with His hand. You, me, and every single one of His children are in the palm of His right hand. Just His hand. Can you wrap your head around that? What a BIG God we serve. 

When I stop and truly think about this, it absolutely blows my mind. It really reminds me just how small I am. All the things I worry about, all the things that take up my thoughts and time, all the things that seem like the end of the world...none of it matters. He is HUGE and we are SMALL. He is beyond anything our minds can ever begin to comprehend, and we are tiny specks of dust. This life has nothing to do with us. It's all about Him.

So when you think of this verse, remember how big God is, and how small each of us are. He spoke the earth into motion...He breathed life into us...He holds us with His hand. That is a God we should love. That is a God we should serve. That is a God we should fear. And when we surrender ourselves humbly and fearfully before Him, we have The God of the universe on our side. And with The God of the universe on our side, there is absolutely NOTHING we have to fear. 

We serve such a big and powerful God, guys...fear Him, and He will make you fearless. <3 

First Step to Forever

Alright, guys...here goes nothing! I have entered the blogging world. Now whether that's a good thing or not...I have yet to find out! But let's give this thing a lot!

Now when I end up getting the hang of this, my blog will hopefully have something useful in it. But for tonight...well, that's just not going to be the case! So if you're looking for something life-changing and profound, you might as well stop reading...

So where to begin on this 15th day of February...well for starters, thank God it's the weekend! You've gotta love conference week! I don't know about you, but these past two days of school have been pretty much pointless. Block scheduling sucks! And as a side note, I still hate Government. Whoever decided it was necessary to have this class required to graduate high school...I do not like you. ;) 

But anyway...Revenge was amazing tonight! To any and all of you Revenge fans out there...it sure is getting good, isn't it?! Pretty much the most addicting show on TV...(sorry to all of you Pretty Little Liars fans or whatever other shows are on these days...it's just that nothing is sweeter than REVENGE. Haha!) 

Oh hey, Dan Rozga told me about this sweet song called "Amen" by Chris August, and I have recently been obsessed with it! So if you wanna be cool...go look it up!! ;)

Well I'm sure you're sad to hear this, but that's all I've got for tonight! Thanks to the very limited amount of people who wasted 3 minutes reading this! Have a great long weekend everybody! Oh and you all should come to the Show Choir Encounter this Saturday! That's where all us cool people will be! Just sayin'! :)