Always

al·ways

   [awl-weyz, -weez] 

adverb

1.

every time; on every occasion; without exception

2.

all the time; continuously; uninterruptedly

3.

forever

4.

in any event; at any time

http://dictionary.reference.com/


And if you are young and "hip" you may say

always
	a (insert bad word) long time, sometimes for all eternity http://www.urbandictionary.com

Now I've been feeling pretty off these past few weeks, I couldn't really focus on anything, school, photography, friendships, I couldn't even finish a text conversation with most people. This also included the already difficult task of focusing on my relationship with God. A few days from now will the the 3rd anniversary of the night I decided to start all over again, the night I said God its real this time I promise. I haven't gone back on that promise, yes I can be selfish, rude, forgetful, hurtful, distracted, lazy, emotional and just human but I don't let it stop me. Two things I have learned in the past 3 years 
1.I will fall and have to can get up but I cannot get up on my own. 
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, an ever- present help in trouble. 
God is here to help us, he doesn't sit back and laugh at us in our troubles... he listens for us to call for help.


2. I will not always feel like doing the whole God thing.
So like I said today was a off day for me but I thought hey maybe reading my bible will help me out a bit. (sounds cheesy but that's how it happened.) I went to blueletterbible.org and I had no idea what verse to look up and I really didn't feel like it I just knew it could help. I was surprised to see that they started a blog and I knew that would be a good place to start. 


Their blog was on rejoicing in God ALWAYS. 
Eh okay whatever I read the verse they had listed 
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."


I really wasn't in the mood for this church stuff but I kept on reading anyways. The blog gave us a few reasons why Paul repeats himself in this verse. You can go read the blog for yourself but reason 2 really hit me. 
Reason 2 was To suggest the difficulty of continual joy.
Here's the Blog
Paul knew what he was saying, he understood that the world will try to steal our joy. We MUST understand that life can get difficult and make us want to lay in bed all day and have a bad attitude but that will make us more miserable.  Rejoice ALWAYS, not rejoice when you have a good day. Rejoice every time; on every occasion; without exception; all the time; continuously; uninterruptedly; forever; in any event; at any time.


Sounds like a lot of work, so whats the good news?  
There is a God who has so much more planed for us than we can ever imagine.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."


with love,
Noelia 

Don't Sing

I swear I am still alive and I want to blog so bad but classes, becoming a youth leader, photography and graphic design kinda take up all my time. No time to blog, but all very much worth it. :)

So for now I am going to leave you with a beautiful song I found a few days ago and love so much!
If I have you on facebook you may have seen I posted it.
The video is not the best but who cares just listen to the words. Don't sing along with it because the words are not from us... they are to us. Do you talk with someone talks? Nope! So let God talk to you through this song.
My youth pastor often talks to us about quiet time and tells us to be still and just spend time with God without talking then just listen to him. So be still and listen to what he wants to tell us.
I hope it helps you like it did me! Oh and I will be writing another post very soon! Pinky Promise :)

I often forget about how much God loves me and the price that was paid for my life. I know it sounds funny, you'd think that we couldn't forget such an amazing and unconditional love but we do. Our generation is lucky enough to have itunes and youtube to remind us though.

With love,

Noelia

In 6th grade the girls at school would say "When the back of your necklace moves to the front someone is thinking of you."  For so long I would constantly check my necklace to see if someone was thinking of me. I had many problems with my self-image growing up and I wanted to be thought of. And every time I touched the front my necklace and felt the hook my heart would start to beat a little faster. My imagination would start to run wild and of course the thought "wait could he like me back?!" would be first cross my mind. It was inevitable that my preteen mind would think that the person I was thinking of was thinking of me too. Recently feelings for a good friend of mine started to grow, I hadn't ever seen him that way and one day I... just did. I never wanted to like him and I didn't ever think I would. Well the time came and it was reviled that he just saw me as a sister (you know the normal) and my heart sank. I wasn't quite sure how to handle the emotions that came with the unexpected news. I held back tears and just grabbed my heart that had fallen to the floor, wiped of the dust and placed it where it belonged (figuratively speaking). Then I went on with my day. Later on I reached for my necklace out of habit and I felt that darn hook. All I could think was "who the heck is thinking of me, it sure isn't who I want it to be" and I fixed my necklace. A while passed and my sister and I got into the car to drive home, I grabbed my Ipod and played "All Around" by The Glorious Unseen.

When my world is caving in / when my hopes are wearing thin / when I’m choking in my sin - Lord, you meet me here. When all around is crashing down, I find myself alive in you. Holy one, renew. When all around is crashing down, I find my spirit crying out. Holy one, consume. When I listen to the fear / when I feel my end is near / when all hope has disappeared - Lord, you meet me here. Will you pour out again? God of mercy, here I am reaching out to you - reaching out for a breakthrough. Father, hear my cry of desperation once again. I look into your eyes - and know a love that has no end.


  I was completely overwhelmed by the thought of God's love for me. When I got home I reached for my necklace again and once more I felt the hook from the back of the necklace hanging with my little silver owl. Suddenly it was clear to me who had been thinking of me the whole time.
Isaiah 49:15-16 says    "Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she had borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See I have written your name on the palms of my hands." 
When you stop to realized that the God of the universe loves, remembers and thinks of you there is nothing left to do but be in awe of him.

With love,

Noelia