Just A Thought

It's Christmas Eve! But here is just a thought before tomorrow morning's joy and craziness begins. Have you ever thought about what you would do if you were chosen to give birth to Jesus as a teenager in today's world? How about in the past when you could be stoned and not just looked down upon for loosing your purity? Would anyone believe you? Would anyone help or support you? Have you ever wondered what was going through God's mind and what he saw in Mary, when He chose her to deliver the Man who would deliver us? Mary is my favorite person besides my Heavenly Father to read and study about in Scripture. It's amazing, and I am really touched by her story personally being a teenage girl, and she probably was a teenage girl as well when she was pregnant with Jesus. Just a thought...

Melinda Doolittle's Beyond Me Book Review

American Idol's third place winner on season 6, Melinda Doolittle has come out with an AMAZING book! "Beyond Me" is a great read for all ages! Readers will get an inside look at Doolittle's child life, and the lessons her mother taught her that has made Melinda who she is today. In her book, she passes these lessons on to you! It inspires the young and the old, mothers are giving it to their daughters, and daughters are giving it to their mothers! It's a quick, easy, wonderful, MUST read! Melinda Doolittle's "Beyond Me" would make a great Christmas gift this year!


Tori Grace

5 Q's with Adam Young from Owl City!

1) What is the story and/or inspiration behind your song "Meteor Shower"? It's a worship song about my utter need for a Savior. It's a self-realization that I am nothing without the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and that only by His forgiveness, can I amount to anything. It's kind of a promise directed toward Christ, reminding Him that I will remain faithful as one of His own.

2) What is the message you wanted this song to say? Aesthetically, I wanted it to portray the quality of hopefulness, yet in a very solemn and formal way. It's bittersweet in a way. It straddles a fine line of being tearful, yet joyful. My eyes still get a little misty every time we perform it live.

3) Was it ever one of your favorite songs you have written? What is your favorite now? That's a tough question to answer. I don't suppose I really have a favorite but Meteor Shower certainly weighs in the heaviest in terms of significance. It says a lot via few words about my reason for living, what I choose to cling to. A lot of my lyrics are based around metaphors, puns or double-meanings, but Meteor Shower doesn't radiate a lot of flowery language. It's simple, but it's pretty loud and clear.

4) Does "Meteor Shower" give you many opportunities when touring to talk about God and your faith? It certainly does. A lot people ask what it's about, what inspired it, etc. I'm a bit shy and it's never been my mission to become a fire-and-brimstone preacher, but that song was God's way of giving me open doors to talk about my faith and ultimately, how wondrous He is.

4) When does your new music hit the stores?! I've been quite the busy worker bee in studio all summer and am about half done writing a new record. No release date has been set as of yet but I couldn't be more excited to finish it up and release it out into the world!

Secular and Christian Music Crossing over More and More?

What is your opinion as we see the Christian genre crossing over with the secular genre more frequently? I personally think nothing of it really. It's a great way to reach others who may not have been open to listening to anything that had to to do with Christ. But when it comes to secular music reaching our ears, there is a problem. And when it comes to there not being a difference, we have another problem on our hands. One thing I don't want to have happen is there be no line between the two, no separation between singing shallow lyrics for the fun of it, and praise to God. Another red flag that comes to mind when I ponder not having one or the other, is in the bible when it says to be hot or cold, if your lukewarm, He will spit you out of His mouth. And like the BarlowGirl song, "Grey", we should be black or white, not grey. Do you see where I am trying to go with this? Scripture says to not have one foot in the world, and it seems to me, that is what we would be doing.
I have recently been watching a video on Hip-Hop being a religion. A bad one. On the video it also explains that music is the one thing we can't keep from entering our minds. Also when I consider this subject, I remember that Satan was the head of worship in Heaven before being kicked out. And what is one of the biggest ways of entertainment anywhere? Music. Satan can use, he is using, music to get to us. So BE CAREFUL! That is why I am so strict on what I listen to. It's kind of like Nehemiah and his wall. Although his wall was a real wall, it applies to many other things. Are you going to build your wall of protection right by your toes? No. If you are wanting to be protected, your going to build it as far away as you can to keep the enemy as far off as you can.
So my opinion when it comes to the issue of Christian and Secular music crossing over a lot, is basically to just have wisdom and to be aware of the danger. Just ask yourself: Is this glorifying God? Is this building up or tearing down my relationship with Him and my attitude? Would listening to this kind of music waste the time God has given me for other uses that will bring glory and honor to His name?
Where are you going to build your wall? It's your call, but I think far off is the way to go.

Is Dating the Leading Cause of Divorce?

Below is a research paper that was written on dating and divorce:

Is Dating the Cause of High Divorce Rates in America?

Just as it takes time, consideration, and wise guidance to choose which Prince Charming or Dream Girl is right for you, the same must go into the decision young people must face on how they want to get there. So the main question when considering two different paths to a hopeful outcome is which path bares more benefits? Does our culture influence that decision? Is courting more beneficial than dating? If courting was cultural then and dating is cultural now, why are the divorce rates much higher now a days? Lets see.
Before someone chooses the road they want to take to marriage, it is necessary to research it, investigate it, and weigh the pros and cons that road may have. Sadly, most of the time people fail to do just that and they jump into what seems acceptable to the culture of the day. A mistake young people often make is living in their parents shadows and without a thought in some cases they just believe what their parents do. Young people need to wake up and figure out who they are and what they believe for themselves. They need to make, for example, religion or the process to marriage their own; or it just becomes a bunch of rules, and as the saying goes “rules are made to be broken”.
When one makes something their own, they look further into it to make sure it is something they want to do. Will it prove to have an outcome they desire? In this case most young people desire marriage, but they only know one way to end up with that result: dating. If they would take time to research dating, they will find there are other methods leading to marriage and that the dating game seems to lead to less successful marriages.
In the 1800’s courting was cultural and once you were married it was also against their culture to even leave their spouses; so it is obvious why there was not much of a divorce rate back then. However, once you reach the mid 1900’s the statistics rise. According to a chart found on The Curse of 1920 website, divorce steadily rose in the early 1900’s, but once it reached the mid 1900’s the graph line sky rockets up. It is said this was due to the women’s rights movement, but on top of that is evidence of courting becoming less and less a cultural thing as dating becomes more and more popular and accepted. As dating takes over, the divorce rates rise. A good explanation of this is found on The Bible Study website,
“The modern dating system does not train young people to form a relationship. It trains them to form a series of relationships, and further trains them to harden themselves to the break-up of all but the current one. At the very least, this system is as much a preparation for divorce as it is for marriage. Whenever the other person starts to wear a little thin, you just slip out the back, Jack.” (Bailey, D.V.C., 1)

Bailey explains that culture is now saying if you are not happy anymore with the relationship you are in, it becomes a normal and numb to the heart thing to do to trash it and find a better relationship in someone else. This gives a picture of a person with selfish motives. Yes, you are to look for in a mate things you desire and want in that person, but do not go looking around for a partner to fill those greedy desires of the moment. More and more are fulfilling the temporary desires and once those desires change they are free to go their own way once more. So how does this set you up for a successful marriage? Combine more power and control when it comes to satisfying your fading wants and women’s rights and no wonder the divorce rates spiked up rapidly in the mid 1900’s!
If this is the mindset a couple has when entering a relationship the outcome is more than likely going to be anything but good. This area of concern is expressed well below,
“The danger of believing that you “fall in love” is that it also means you can “fall out of love” just as in expectantly.” (Harris, I.K.D.G., 65)

Ten percent of all Americans are divorced according to the Divorce Statistics website and the good ole U.S.A. is ranked #1 for having the most divorces with a 4.95 percent of divorced couples per 1,000 people on the Nation Master website! These are recent statistics that only prove the point. If America is now generally a “dating” country, when few others are, why are we the leading nation with the highest divorce rate?
Harris explains,
“I do not believe dating is sinful. Some people have sinned as a result to dating, but I don’t think anyone can accurately say that dating in and of itself is a sinful activity. I view dating in a similar light as I view fast-food restaurants - it’s not wrong to eat there, but something far better is available.” (Harris, 13)

And our country’s weak spot is fast food! As we steadily grow in body size from the bad food, we do not end up with the outcome we wanted: skinny and happy. You end up suffering due to bad choices. You wanted to eat right, but that McDonald’s ice cream cone was what you wanted at that moment so you caved. And as we steadily date more and more, we end up making a nice collection of ex’s since each one was what you wanted at that moment when you caved.
So is dating prior to marriage the leading cause of divorce in America? Is dating the cause of divorce period? We are doing something wrong to cause that graph line to rise, and dating shows evidence of being the cause behind it. It is not necessarily “dating” that is ruining marriages though, but the heart of it. One’s motives affect the state of the heart. This is where things get messed up, because we choose to fulfill the wrong motives through a system called dating. Nathan Bailey agrees in his statement below,

“We need to find out what God’s plan for relationships is, and then follow it. The current model we are using ends up in divorce more than half the time. There must be something we are doing wrong.” (Bailey, 1)

The decision lies within the hands of the young people, and if they were not so accustomed to going with the flow they would take time to realize what is going on, and decide for themselves. What motives are they going to allow take over God’s way of doing things? This is an action that must be taken in order to lower that graph line and watch it make a perfect ten as it dives back down. Not only in America, but nation wide.

"Should We Fire God?" by Jim Pace - A Book Review

"Should We Fire God?" by Jim Pace was published by FaithWords and came out in April of this year. It was his first book, and now he is currently working on his second. You can read more about him at his website: www.jimpace.org
His book is a great read, but when I read it, I tend to think a guy would enjoy it a bit more than us girls. You can tell a guy is writing it, which just made me smile. The book was very interesting and encouraging. If you or someone you know has recently gone through a hard time and their faith is strugling because of it, then I would definitely recommend it to that person.

See what Jim has to say about his book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4SwaD-SZV4&hd=1

The Miracle Girls Book Series (Book 4 Coming in April!)

I have spent the last month or so reading The Miracle Girls book series by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt, and have greatly enjoyed it. I was able to relate, cry, laugh, and grow while reading these teen novels. I am a high school student and all my other peers know that we girls do not have much time on our hands for reading, but the authors who wrote the this series knew this and made it really easy for me to fit the reading into my day. I even wanted to make extra time for these books, I enjoyed them so much. There were many good lessons on these pages, but you do have to be careful when it comes to relationships. This book supports dating as a teen, and not much 'saving your first kiss for you wedding day' is applied. If you are going to read these books, you must be mature in where you stand when it comes to those things, and if you are not sure where you are, just be careful. There is a much bigger percentage when it comes to being hurt through dating, and an even higher risk when we start dating at our age. Other than this, this book series is great. There are four books in the series, each book takes place during a school year. Since it's high school, book one takes place during the Freshman year, book two takes place during the Sophomore year, etc.

book one: "The Miracle Girls: A Novel" is about Ana, a freshman who has just moved and is having to adjust to many life changes. I could relate a lot to Ana, and that is what made the book for me. It is a slower read since we are being introduced to the Miracle Girls, a group of four high school students, who are all what you would call 'miracle babies'. You must read this book to fully enjoy the other three.

book two: "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: A Miracle Girls Novel" is about Christine, one of the Miracle Girls. Her mother died in a crash about a year ago, and now her dad is engaged. This book was my favorite because it made me cry the hardest, and personally I thought it was the deepest story line. Needless to say it didn't take me long at all to read this book.

book three: "A Little Help from My Friends: A Miracle Girls Novel" is a book about Zoe, a red head who has a perfect home-life...or did. At the end of this book, shy Zoe has a backbone, and she is seeing love in her life again.

book four: "Love Will Keep Us Together: A Miracle Girls Novel" (CAME OUT THIS MONTH!) This book is about Riley. The fourth member of this group. It's senior year, and she is clueless. She has the brain to do whatever she wants, but that's just it, everyone around her seem to have a different dream for her and because of it she is blinded to what her dream is. She takes the tough road to finding herself, but she gets there with some good life lessons under her belt.


Thank you Miriam for contacting me, and Faith Words for allowing me to feature these awesome reads!

Sex Before Marriage?

I was recently asked by a peer this following question: Sex Before Marriage or After? For some the answer can be obvious. AFTER! Some may not understand it though. I messaged her back my answer plainly as "after", but now I am going to give my reason behind my answer. And because I am noticing this question in many teen girls arise, I am sharing my answer with you all too. Here it goes:

Even if you are not a Christian you more than likely know who God is, but when you are His child you not only have the pleasure of really knowing Him but you also get to enjoy His body. You find peace in being Spiritually intimate with Him through prayer and bible study. You find joy when you fellowship with His body, the church. You enjoy His body in only a way His child, or BRIDE, the church, can. Do you get where I am going with this? Like I have said many times before, I believe many aspects of who God is and what He does are all examples of things we are to be and do on earth. I believe that as we can only enjoy God's body as His child and BRIDE...we can only enjoy our husband's body as his BRIDE as well. God's body is only for His BRIDE to enjoy, and the guys out there will soon enough be husbands and their bodies are only for their BRIDE to enjoy too.



I was blessed when finding out this information in a book, and if I remembered it's title or author I would share, but unfortunately I cannot.


http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=eg76tl57MaE&v=iPYDBVr4aJA

We're Not the Only One (plus 3 tips to help our brothers!)

Us girls can tend to take the spotlight. We like it that way. Sometimes I look at myself and realize what a big deal it is for me to keep myself pure and strong in Christ for my future husband. This is a good thing, but I too often forget it's not just us girls that are trying to keep clear of temptation. It's not any easier for the guys. We need to remember to be in constant prayer for them too. We naturally want to over power the guys. We can tend to put them down, blame them, and make them feel like it's all their doing that we struggle with pure thoughts, healthy relationships, etc. When really we are all sinners. Us girls are made to be supporters, and that's exactly what we need to strive to do. Right now as teens we don't really need to focus on that because the spouse we are to support hasn't entered out lives yet. So during this season of singleness we are to learn to support by watching our parents put it in action, supporting others, and supporting the guys in ways we can: pray for them and do our best not to tempt them. Here are a few more ways to help the guys out:

Dress Right
How you dress is a HUGE factor in what kind of guy you attract. Not that we are dressing to attract, but when the time comes for God to cross our paths with future mates, and with anyone for this matter, we want how we dress to communicate how our hearts look and who has control over them.

Treat them Right
It makes situations with mixed parties so much easier and relaxed if you just treat them like your big brothers instead of possible relationship material. Even when it does come to relationships, you start off getting to know the person as a brother/sister in Christ.

PRAY!
Last but not least, pray for them. Pray for our guy peers to have strength. It's just as hard for them to be a Christ following teen in a sinning world. We need to encourage our siblings in Christ. Also be praying for your future spouse. Pray God will give you both strength to wait.



"I Promise"
Johnny Ramirez and Jaci Velasquez

Lord, You know my heart
And all my desires
And the secret things I'll never tell
Lord, You know them well

Though I may be young
I see and understand
That at times like sheep we go astray
And things get out of hand

Chorus:
So I promise to be true to You
To live my life in purity
As unto You
Waiting for the day
When I hear You say
Here is the one I have created
Just for you

Until then, O Lord
I will be content
Knowing that true love
Will come someday
It will only come from You

‘Cause I have seen the suffering
That loneliness can cause
When we choose to give our love away
Without a righteous cause

New Bikes & the Power of Prayer

Hey Girls,

First of all, I want to apologize about the websites reopening. It was suppose to take place yesterday, but I was and still am currently out of town for a wedding. I planned on opening the site on my laptop, but I couldn't connect to the Internet. So I am at a bagel shop today to post this because I have no time right now to publish the new website. I will get to it asap! I am so sorry!

Why I have a few minutes though, I want to touch on the super sweet couple which are the reason I am out of town.
The young lady was in my dad's Sunday School class when young and then when she was 18 was my babysitter, then my friend, and now a sister. She is everything to me. She has had such an influence on my life and is a huge part of who I am today...especially Spiritually. During those days of babysitting and hanging out, she taught me so many things, but one of the most important things she showed me was the power of prayer (even if it was just for guidance to my baby brother's diapers). My mom had taught her a prayer that goes like this:

Lord when I can no longer most glorify You as a single girl, than have me marry.

She prayed it often. I do too. She had went though a bad break up last year and I was shocked. But she told me a story that was helping her:

A girl wanted to get this old bike at a garage sale with her dad. She wanted to fix it up and make it work. But the dad kept saying no. Finally two weeks later the father had given her a brand new bike for her birthday. He had the brand new bike waiting for her in the garage the whole time!

Can you see how it relates to us and relationships? Sometimes when we don't want to let go we want to fix it, but God already has something we could never imagine just waiting for us. So when my friend would get lonely and sad again about the use to be relationship, those that surrounded her and love her said "New Bike!". So I was reminded about all of this about 8 months ago when I came across an old letter from my friend. I opened it and there was the prayer. So I prayed. I turned to God just like she taught me to all those years ago. I prayed that God would bring someone into her life and I prayed for my future spouse if the Lord has one for me. ELEVEN days later my friend and I were on the phone and she told me about this wonderful guy who is in love with God. Not only was my friend in awe of God's power and way of working, but I was in awe as well at the power of prayer.

So now my dear friends, I must go to an answer to prayer. I have to head out to go get ready for a wedding of a dear friends who ended up with the best bike ever, and is a testimony to the power of prayer.