You're Beautiful.

"Days will come when you don't have the strength
When all you hear is 'you're not worth anything'.
Wondering if you ever could be loved
And if they truly saw your heart, they'd see too much.

You're beautiful, you're beautiful.
You are made for so much more than all of this.
You're beautiful, you're beautiful.
You are treasured, you are sacred, you are His.
You're beautiful.

Before you ever took a breath,
Long before the world began,
Of all the wonders He possessed, there was one more precious.
Of all the earth and skies above, you're the one He madly loves
enough to die.

You're beautiful in His eyes."

For Eternity.

No weeping.
No hurt or pain.
No suffering.
You hold me now, You hold me now.
No darkness.
No sick or lame.
No hiding. You hold me now, You hold me now.
For eternity
All my heart will give
All the glory to Your name

To know You care...

I'm just a little girl. And You, are so big.

Time goes steady.

Yeah, homework. Woo. Aside from the obvious not-so-enjoyable things, I'm really looking forward to year 12. I'm looking forward to challenging myself, having a routine, being organized, learning a lot, and getting ready for real life outside of bloomin' school. Yeah.
I'm happy to be doing year 12 though. I'm not going to squander this time, I'm going to remember it's important, I'm going to remember it's the last time I'll be that surrounded by my friends there, before we all move away. And I'm going to remember, above all else, that God is with me. Therefore, I'm all set. Nothing else really matters.
It's just the right time in life to be where I am, hence why I am currently here. Time goes steady, whether we feel like it does or doesn't, it just keeps ticking away at the exact same speed throughout our lives. This moment is right; it's supposed to be here, now. So it is. And I'm ready enough, I think. Or at least, if not ready, I'm willing.
Where my feet stand, is where I am meant to be standing. And wherever they are standing on this earth, is where they should be.

Happy snaps that do not belong to me.

Is it everything you dreamed that it would be, when the world was younger, and you had everything to lose?

10 years ago, I could only dream of being a leader at Forest Edge. This past week I lived out that dream. This past week was such a dream-come-true, that I still don't believe it was real. Since when was I older than 8? Now I'm so close to being 18.
When I was 8, I used to listen to the song "This is Your Life" by Switchfoot, and hear the lyrics in the chorus that say what the title to this blog says. "...Is it everything you dreamed that it would be, when the world was younger, and you had everything to lose?" I would hear that line and think it couldn't apply to me, since I was still the young one; I was still living out the part where I had 'everything to lose'. But suddenly tonight, as I was in the car on my way back home, watching the sun setting behind me, I listened to that song. And the question sounded different this time, as though it suddenly did apply. And it does now. I know I'm still young. But it's 10 years later. 10 years later!
10 years ago, I wished more than anything that I could one day be some big teenage leader at Forest Edge. And that's what I am now. I'm actually one of the older leaders there, even though this was my first time leading on a camp. It felt so bizarre to sit in the same spot Steph and I sat when we used to wish we could be leaders - that was 9 years ago, and we were 9 years old. It's ridiculous to see that double that after another 9 years, our wishes came true.
Funnily enough, I was right on the ball when I said I'd want to be a leader on that camp at 8 years old. That place is my home. It's where I have always belonged, and I pray I always will belong there. I know it's where God putting me.
Is it everything I dreamed that it would be? It basically is. Maybe better. And now I've got so much more life to live. I would say that I can't wait... but really, I can. In God's time, everything is beautiful and everything is right. So so happy tonight. Thanks God for showing me a bit more of my life's path in this world.

Rising and Shining.

• LIT for 16 days.
• Summer Camp for 2 days.
• Summer for a further 59 days. Unless this is a leap year. Is this a leap year? I do not know.
• Year 12 for... enough days.
• IGNITEyouth for many nights.
• Jesus Christ all day, everyday.

No worries for this year. Because that last dot point makes everything seem trivial by comparison. I'm friends with time, now. Yeah that's right. So saying the "I can't wait" phrase for this year's events wouldn't quite fit, I suppose. But I'm ready for all 2012 has to hold. After all, that's why we are living in this year right now.
If we weren't supposed to be in 2012, well, we wouldn't be here, would we? That's obvious. But what I always forget is that God's got this. He's got this. And He's also got me and my back. So I'm always going to be set for life. I've got nothing to fear.

I'm excited about this year. I don't have any feeling that I'm going to die in December, prior to popular belief, which is a plus. I'm excited for my family and for my friends. I'm excited for change. I'm excited to be shown new wonderful things from the God. I'm excited for my life to keep going on, basically.
And I'm happy :) Happy in general. Because I have so much in this life I'm living, and it's not going to live itself.
Life's just what we make of it; the outcome stems from our choices. And since I made that one choice to let someone bigger and better than me make all the other choices for me, I'm more than set. It's all been planned out for me. I may not know what that plan is, but that could possibly be a very good thing. He knows, therefore I know it's going to be wonderful.

Thank you and Goodnight, 2011. 2012, Rise and Shine :)