~TUESDAYS. with. CAITIE. ~ December 15, 2009

“God is Our Helper.”

Happy Tuesday! This week, i was reading through Psalms, and came across a few passages, and they really stuck out to me. They were about calling to God for help, in times of need. See, a lot of times, when we’re in a deep hole, in need of some help, the last person we turn to is God. We try to get advice from every other person. But in the end, the only one who can really and truly help us, is God.

Psalm 121:1 and 2 says, “I look up to the hills, but where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth.”

God WANTS to help us! And ultimately, He has the answer to our problems. We sometimes just need to humble ourselves, and ask Him to show us what we need to know. So, as you go throughout the next few weeks, we are all bound to have problems sometimes, right? Well instead of going to others for advice firsthand, try praying, reading through your bible, or just simply talking to God and asking Him to help you through whatever it is you are going through. Not to say asking others for advice is wrong by any means. In fact, others opinions are good! But if you come and talk to God first, he will certianly bless you because of it Whatever your problem, God can, and will get you through it!
Have a GREAT week!!
-Caitie (:

*MoNdAy’S W/ MiKaELa* December 14, 2009

HEY HEY HEY!

What Can You Give?

Around this time of year we hear “‘Tis the Season to Give.” Most of the time we just buy presents to give to our relatives, friends, and family because that is what is expected of us. But honestly, are we giving with the spirit that God had when He gave His only son?

He was in love with His son. Yet, He loved us to give Him. He gave with a spirit impacting this world.  This spirit and love possessed was elegant, trusting, humbling, awe powerful, but calm. He didn’t bring His son in with a big lightning bolt or storm or riding in a chariot. He was born in a barn, where most of us would cringe at the thought of being born in one. But OUR KING WAS! Gallantly wrapped in swaddling clothes with the shining star above. God gave us the symbol of this star.  The star symbolizes to shine His light by the example of giving. Our King gives with a passion for us. Can we give with a passion for others?

Giving what you don’t need, is not giving. It may be handing down, but not giving. Jesus was God’s ONLY son, and God gave Him. Can we give our ONLY hope, love, light, and savior this Christmas season?

Just dream. Imagine if we took the love of our savior to the christmas dinner table? Sharing the blessings he has poured over you this pass year. Imagine if you took the light to a homeless shelter with pans filled with a hot dinner. Imagine if with unity, we cared about our community and friends, truly sharing His hope. Imagine if we give what we ONLY have.  Imagine the glory God will receive! Imagine the community we would have! This is what Christmas is all about, giving what we ONLY have, the story of our King, the one who gave His ONLY for US.

Have a FABULOUS Christmas!
*M*

FEAR December 9, 2009

Hey everybody! I am Caitie Hurst, and i am a sophomore at beech high school. I hope God will use this blog for a great purpose, and that you will get something out of this blog every week! This week’s Tuesday topic is fear…something we all deal with!

All of us have probably had some point in our lives where we’ve been afraid to do something. It’s just part of life! There are a lot of different things we’ve been scared of, but God tells us to trust Him, and He will guide us, and walk us through the things we are fearful of.

“Where God’s Love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love drives out fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear, so love is not made perfect in the person who fears.”
-1 John 4:18
God loves us so much, to where He will definatley help us through whatever our fear, if we jsut let Him. You may just have to take a leap of faith, and trust that God will catch you…because He will!

“Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid of them and don’t be frightened, because the lord your God will go with you. He will not leave you or forget you.”
-Dueteronomy 31:6
It doesn’t matter who or what you’re afraid of. God is SO much bigger than any of that. You can’t overcome any of your fears on your own, but with God’s help, you for sure can

“The Lord Himself will go before you. He will be with you, he will not leave you nor forget you. Don’t be afraid, and don’t worry. “
-Dueteronomy 31:8
So what is it that you’re afraid of? Is there someone God put on your heart to witness to, but you’re scared to do it? Is there something you know God is calling you to do, but you’re afraid to answer his calling? This week, pray and ask God to help you through whatever it is you might be scared to do, because our God is so great, that He will lead you through absolutley anything you are going through…anything, that you are afraid to do. Have a fantastic rest of the week
-Caitie

“For the Lord has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control” 2 timothy 1:7

*MoNdAy’S w/ MiKaELa* December 8, 2009

Hey Chica!

Hope you girls had a good week! Today I want to ask you, who do YOU worship? Even a better question, WHAT do you worship? My reflex answer is God, but is that truly what I worship?

Let’s break it down. I took the time to the look up the diction of worship, here are some:

1. reverent HONOR and homage paid to a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
2. to feel an adoring reverence or regard for any person or thing

Honor. What is honor?

1. a source of credit or distinction
2. 2. TO WORSHIP

Yes girls, that came straight off of dictionary.com. You see it all connects. But make it real personal. Ask yourself these five questions to know who YOUR god is.

1. Where is my time?
What do you do EXACTLY when you get home from school?  What do you do when you say or think ‘I’m bored’? What do you do on the weekends? Where are you Wednesday nights? Sunday mornings?

2. When you serve, who are you serving for?
In the pit of your stomach, do know it’s for your glory you try to achieve?

3. What are you truly passionate about?
YOU? Or others?

4. Who do you think about all the time?
What thoughts consume your mind every minute of the day?

5. Where is your money spent?
Is it clothes, phones, music, movies, etc. or HIM (offerings, tithing, mission trips)?

When you answer these five questions you will HONESTLY and TRUTHFULLY know what god you serve. It’s not a matter of what your reflex answer is; it’s a matter of what your heart answers to.

*M*

*MoNdAy’S w/ MiKaELa* November 30, 2009

Welcome to the new face of the blog! My name is Mikaela. I am a sophomore at Beech High School. I am so excited to start this journey with you!

Each week I want to start off with a question, Today’s question is:
Have you ever just had a bad day?
I have. My so-called ‘Bad Day’ was on Friday- the worst day to have a terrible day.
Not only was it just another Friday, it was sports picture day. I had my hair done kind of how I wanted it to look and was ready to smile big. The day started off well, I had breakfast in class, waffles with warm syrup, and watched the football game from the night before. Pictures were at 8:30am and I was ready to get it over with. When we weren’t called for pictures at 8:30 but an hour later I was somewhat upset that it was really windy and we were shooting in the wrong direction. When I asked the photographer to wait till the wind stops, he didn’t. So my individual picture is horrible! After we were done I went back to class and sat down. As soon as I sat down, they called us back to take the team picture again because some guy forgot to come the first time, and the second picture was even worse plus I had to change again! We were late to third block and the teacher laid lots of homework on us for the weekend. During Lunch I couldn’t talk cause I needed to study for a Latin test that I would soon almost fail. Leaving lunch, I face planted myself down the stairs, It was not cool at all. Please don’t tell me if you saw me. After Latin I forgot my sweatshirt in that class and leaving school my mom yelled my name out of our mini van to hurry up with my social life in front of like a million people and they all heard her! (okay that ‘kind of’ happened)
Arriving home, I ran to my room and grabbed my journal to vent about what had happened. As I was journaling I started to realize the emotions I had were no excuse for me not to being a loving example of His light. Everything that happened I couldn’t control (okay, I admit I could of looked down at my feet when walking down the stairs)! I was nothing of use for the Holy Spirit to use my actions for the glory of the Lord. I stopped writing and grabbed His word, only to find this verse,
‘“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” Micah 7:18’ He delights to forgive me and show me mercy! Boy, was I wrong.
But the best part about this is, God forgives and renews. When I told my Daddy about my day later that evening, he gave me a hug and told me that tomorrow is a new day. He was exactly right. And honestly reading Micah 7:18, God gave me a hug and told me exactly that.
You might think that my day was not terrible at all- looking back on it- it wasn’t even that bad. It could have been ten-hundred times better though, if I would have listened to God and followed His plans for my feelings and reactions that Friday. Quick thought: If I would of taken the initiative to take responsibilities for them and allow God to use them for His glory and love, rather than just letting it happen, God could of lead someone to Him. God could of shown someone His love, encouraged someone in his or her struggles. He could of impacted our school.
Realizing all of this, God has shown me His mercy and taught me how to react to the things that He will use to build me strong. He forgave me, and Saturday was a new day. Today I encourage you to accept God’s loving mercy and overflowing forgiveness!

*M*

CRAZY LOVE CAMPAIGN August 3, 2009

PUERTO RICO 09

Hey Girls!

It has been awhile since we last had a post on our Girl’s Ministry Blog.  I wanted to do a recap of the summer and come full circle talking about the new campaign launched yesterday here at Long Hollow.  This has been such an amazing summer where God has moved in mighty ways in the hearts of you in the student ministry and also the church as whole. 

Camp was such an amazing time where God moved and we saw our Middle and High School students raise over $27,000 to build orphanages in Haiti.  I am amazed at the passion, devotion, and crazy love you have exemplified for Christ this summer.  You allowed God to stir your hearts at camp and then responded in obedience to His calling on your life. 

This summer we had 2 mission trips one to Lynch, KY for our middle schoolers and the other to Puerto Rico for our high schoolers.  Lynch, KY is the second poorest county in the United States.  Our middle school students had the opportunity to organize a VBS, do contruction, and run sports camp for a week in the Applachain Mountains.  God used our students to make an impact on a community with little hope. 

In mid July we took our high school students to Puerto Rico.  It was an incredible moment of seeing God move and work  in another country.  While in Puerto Rico our students did VBS, door-to-door evangelism/canvasing, and construction.  It was amazing to see 2 people groups come together and worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

On August 2nd Bro. David launched The Crazy Love Campaign.  It is a church wide challenge to raise money to bulid orphanages in Haiti, adopt orphans from around the world, serve in local ministries, and expand all three campuses.  God has put before Long Hollow a huge task but one we are capable of fulfilling through Christ.  I challenge all of you to pray about what God might be leading you to do inorder to make an impact for the kingdom.  I can’t wait to see what God has in store this fall for Girl’s Ministry.  I am expect great things from GOD!!! What about you?!?!?

In His Grace,

Brittany Stephens

God’s Glory in the Little Things March 10, 2009

I read a book with a group of girls over the summer called Do Hard Things. Its by these twin boys who were around 17 when they wrote it, and it’s all about how adults don’t expect enough out of teenagers and how capable teenagers of are doing amazing things for the glory of God when they get over the low expectations. If you want to learn more about the things God can use you for and help get over the idea that you can’t do anything, I strongly encourage you to read it. It’s an AWESOME book.

 

In the book, there was an awesome quote that, at first, just sounded beautiful. But God’s been relating more and more things back to this quote, so I wanted to share it, and some verses from His Word, to challenge you as I have been challenged.

 

“If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music… Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well.”

                                                            ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

 

1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

 

These verses are saying exactly the same thing Dr. King is: that everything you do is important, so do it to the best of your ability. God can and will use even the little things, like math problems, texting, or taking notes in class, to His glory. No matter how seemingly small or insignificant your actions are, they are affecting and influencing someone. Your actions can bring glory to in God in this simple way: By doing them 100% and giving them your all, just because God has asked you to do them. And when you do those little, repetitive things that you could get away with not doing, God is strengthening you and preparing you to do more and bigger things for Him:

 

Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things.’”

 

So if it feels like God’s given you the leftover jobs, when it feels like you’re not doing anything important, if you want to do bigger things for the Kingdom of God, try being faithful in the little things. I challenge you to sweep streets today. Force those around you to take notice of your diligence. Live a life full of little excellence.

Paige Elliott-9th Grade

Mentoring February 9, 2009

Hey Girls,

Mentoring has been my passion ever since I came to Long Hollow.  One of my dreams is to see us start a mentoring program for Girl’s Ministry.  We are on our way to seeing that happen.  Below is a promo video for our program.  I hope that it will minister to the hearts of every age.  It is a responsibilty of our older women to train the younger.  Titus 2:3-5 says, “Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and chilren, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the Word of God.”  I pray that whether you are student at Long Hollow, or an adult sitting in your chair, that reading this post God would start to stir within you a desire to invest in someone younger.  For those of you who are in our girl’s minsitry I pray that the Lord places a desire in your heart to be invested in and mentored through such a crucial time in your life.  If you are interested in being mentored we will have sign ups during Riversedge on Wednesday nights.  For adult women or are interested in mentoring please email me at brittany.stephens@longhollow.com and I will send you the profile sheet to fill out.  The vision Julie Woodruff(womens minister) and I have is to see generation by generation mentoring or being mentored.  Our God is a big God and he is up to something here at Long Hollow that can not be expressed in words.  I know that through this ministry the Lord is going to great and mighty things in lives of girls and women.  Get ready because there is no telling what the Lord could do! I hope you will join us in the fight for becoming the godly girls and women that Christ has called us to be!  Love you all!

Here is the link to watch the video: http://www.vimeo.com/3103475

Brittany Stephens (Girls Minister)

Who Am I??? January 20, 2009

I walked into my room and tore off my Peyton Manning jersey. It was over. I can’t believe they lost in over time. I got to control myself. There was not a Super Bowl for this year at all, now.  The last was when I was in seventh grade. I’m afraid that it’s the one and only one that he’ll ever win. Back in seventh grade I was completely obsessed with Peyton Manning it could probably be obnoxious well, it was annoying. I wanted to meet him so bad. But looking back on it as a freshman, I’m glad I had that phase of such obsession, but I still love the Colts.  I am now using it as lesson. And there are days I wish that I could still meet Peyton. After the game that night I found myself relooking and trying to figure out the game. I know I’m crazy. I’m a girl and I love football?

            That’s apart of me that makes me special. My friend always used to joke with me and put it this way, “If everyone is special, then no one is special.”  Some days I would spend hours thinking about that. Truly I came to realize that everyone is unique in his or her own way. Some days though, I can’t seem to figure out myself. Some of you might have this problem too. Wondering who you are?

            There is no way to tell you who I think I am cause I have good days and bad days and I am still confused on how to describe myself when people ask me to “Be yourself and you’ll be fine.”  Who is that? Well okay am I a tomboy? Cause I like football, a lot. Am I a girly girl? Cause if I had a million dresses I would wear one every day. Am I loud? Cause most of the time I am a people person, but sometimes I want to crawl in hole and hide for months just to be alone. I’m confused talking about it.

            Then I heard one say, “Be who you are through God.” WHAT? I tend to be a thinker at this kind of stuff dealing with eternity and Christ. I have time with God throughout the day, growing, but if I were truly growing I would be showing, right? My concerns, thoughts, and feelings would change too and then I would become a different person the person who God created me to be. Doing that would allow me to be myself through God, but are we really growing? Or are we sitting on our duffs looking at the world drowning in sin and having no passion? Can we throw them the life saver? Who am I really? If I change will others see and want to transform too?

            Discovering who you really are all comes through Christ. It doesn’t matter if you like all kinds of different things or just some, what really matters is your actions and words that represent the example of Christ. Are you going to laugh at that joke the class clown has made fun of that girl who is mean to others and seems to hate the world? Or are you worthy enough to gossip behind your best friends back, or even the girl you hate most? Maybe that guy you have created drama between has got you knee deep in lies or confusion, Are you going to blow up or spend time in prayer? It all comes down to your decisions through Christ and how loud the Holy Spirit’s voice has raised around you and your life.

            Peyton Manning? Yeah! Any day I would want to meet him. (or see him in another Super Bowl J) There are other things that make me, me too. Like the way I talk to God each day. Or who my Christian friends are and the woman of God I will become. But instead of meeting some super cool quarterbacks or fulfilling a life dream (you fill in the blank) I would rather be seeking His face, leading others to Christ, on a mission trip, weeping for the lost, or spending time with the people I love demonstrating the love of Christ. Not saying dreams are worthless to make, but get your priorities straight. Start by growing the love of Christ by spending time throughout the day thinking of Him, praying to Him and soon enough you will begin to notice the change. Like as special and unique God the father is become the closest example you can to Him and you will see miracles happen. Because when God is on our side nothing is impossible or too big to do. Discover who you are and see what he can do. We are on your side rooting for you!

 Mikaela-9th Grade

Growing Closer with the Lord January 20, 2009

      Well God has been teaching me a lot just in my 9th grade year! the fall retreat, was a really big thing for me. i absolutley loved it, and it really helped me get closer in my walk with the Lord. we talked about getting in the Word, and having a hunger for it in one of our breakout sessions. And that made me think, i spend so much more time getting ready in the morning on the outside, than i do getting ready on the inside with God. i should have a hunger for His Word, not just do my quiet time because i know im supposed to. So, lately, i have had a hunger for God’s word, and it has helped me so much! Yes, i have to get up earlier, and im not at all a morning person, but i am now ok with it, bceause i get to spend time with God! And, our theme, complete, made me think of myself in a whole new way. I realized i needed to go deeper in my walk with God, not just stay the same. And, also, memorizing scripture has been a big thing for me. I am in roundtable, and travis challenged us to memorize a section of scripture. And just knowing scripture in my head, where i can pull it out, is great. So, God has been teaching me so much! But i am excited for what he has in store for me the rest of my freshman year!

Caitie Hurst -9th grade

Romans 12:2