Love, Temily.

My status on fb right now: Looking forward to youth group tonight :)

How I really feel, and can only say here:

Read more

thegirlwiththeheadphones:

Oh you know, just chilling at the club with my house phone… nothing major, why wassup?

(Source: sincerlyheartdrop, via savedbymercyandgrace)

(Source: cobain-s, via savedbymercyandgrace)

mrcraabs:

roses are red

violets are blue

sunflowers are yellow

i bet you were expecting something romantic but no this is just gardening facts

(via igocampinginsecret)

(via ashleylemyre)

(Source: brotips)

(Source: whitepaperquotes, via ashleylemyre)

meghanphelisa:

Truth in love time:  false.  very false.  and misguided.  very misguided.

it’s so much more than that:


MAYBE: you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend because God is most glorified in your current single state.  you don’t have a girlfriend or boyfriend because there’s something God wants to teach you in this season.  maybe you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend because it’s clearly already at the forefront of your mind, and Jesus wants the idol factory to chill before you can be blessed with such a tedious responsibility (and keeping the idol factory in check is indeed very tedious).  

Jesus is not still writing your love story.  He wrote it before time began.  He wrote it when the Garden of Eden was created and He walked with Adam and Eve.  He wrote it in not smiting them then and there, but by allowing an animal sacrifice to cover their sin.  He wrote it when He chose Abr(ah)am for no reason in particular, but promised a new chance.  He wrote it through Isaac and Jacob, and the lineage that carried on in the most wicked of days.  He wrote it when He called Israel His bride in Hosea and Isaiah 54 and many other places, beckoning His whoring bride to come home. He wrote it as He took on human flesh and  dwelt among us, bearing the weight of our disgusting, nasty sin.  Not because we deserved it, but ‘because of His great love that He had for us, He made us alive with the Messiah, even though we were dead in our transgressions, for it is by grace we have been saved!’ (ephesians 2).  He wrote it when He called your name, placed His Gospel in your path as a stumbling block, that you could choose to jump into His kingdom or spend your life dancing around…. He wrote it when/if you decided to come back into His family, and offered you the spirit of adoption.  


MORE IMPORTANTLY: you don’t need a boyfriend or girlfriend.  You may be called to a life of singleness in order to serve God more fully.  But that’s ok, because the ultimate love story isn’t about you.  God isn’t about you and He isn’t about me.  He is an infinitely big God, and the entire universe declares His glory.  If you declare it better in singleness, praise God, and listen to Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 7.  You don’t have to worry about going through life uncompleted, because the only depravity in you is healed in communion with your Creator, the only one who can complete you and your ultimate love story.  


Any story we consider greater is a devastating idol, and one that needs to be removed.  The point isn’t that you shouldn’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, but the point is that having a boyfriend or girlfriend isn’t the point at all.  God is the point, the center, and everything.  IN everything we must ask: how is God most glorified, because in a life dedicated to Him, single, dating, or married, He asks no less.  Let Him romance you first and foremost, because only the Lover of your soul deserves the claim to your ultimate love story.  


The ultimate romance: God’s love story with His unfaithful people 

“Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness 
    and speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵ There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor^[b]a door of hope.
There she will respond^[c] as in the days of her youth, 
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

¹⁶ “In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “you will call me ‘my husband’; 
    you will no longer call me ‘my master.^[d]’
¹⁷ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; 
    no longer will their names be invoked. 
¹⁸ In that day I will make a covenant for them
    with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
    and the creatures that move along the ground. 
Bow and sword and battle
    I will abolish from the land,
    so that all may lie down in safety. 
¹⁹ I will betroth you to me forever;
    I will betroth you in^[e] righteousness and justice, 
    in^[f] love and compassion. 
²⁰ I will betroth you in^[g] faithfulness,
    and you will acknowledge the Lord.

²¹ “In that day I will respond,”
    declares the Lord—
“I will respond to the skies,
    and they will respond to the earth;
²² and the earth will respond to the grain,
    the new wine and the olive oil, 
    and they will respond to Jezreel.^[h] 
23 I will plant her for myself in the land;
    I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.^[i] ’
I will say to those called ‘Not my people,^[j]’ ‘You are my people’; 
    and they will say, ‘You are my God.

-Hosea 2 

 


 

(Source: brotips)

iwilltrustinyou:

Submit your testimonials! :)

iwilltrustinyou:

If you have one already or want to make one and share, this is a great opportunity.

People really relate with these and they are really beautiful and inspiring stories.

If you don’t know how to write one then here are the steps on how to do it!

1 - Realize the Power of Your Christian Testimony

First and foremost - remember - there is power in your testimony! Revelation 12:11 says we overcome our enemy be the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

2 - Study an Example of a Testimony from the Bible

Read Acts 26. Here the Apostle Paul gives his testimony.

3 - Spend Time in Thought Preparation

There are a few things to consider before you start writing your testimony. Think about your life before you met the Lord. What was going on in your life leading up to your conversion? What problems or needs were you facing at the time? How did your life change after that?

4 - Start with a Simple 3-Point Outline

A three-point approach is very effective in communicating your personal testimony. The outline focuses on before you trusted Christ, how you surrendered to him, and the difference since you’ve been walking with him.

• Before: 
  
  Simply tell what your life was like before you surrendered to Christ. What were you searching for before coming to know Christ? What was the key problem, emotion, situation or attitude you were dealing with? What motivated you? What were your actions? How did you try to satisfy your inner needs? (Examples of inner needs are loneliness, fear of death, insecurity. Possible ways to fill those needs include work, money, drugs, relationships, sports, sex.) 
  
  
• How: 
  
  How were you converted? Simply tell the events and circumstances that caused you to consider Christ as the solution to your searching. Take time to identify the steps that brought you to the point of trusting Christ. Where were you? What was happening at the time? What people or problems influenced your decision? 
  
  
• Since: 
  
  How has your life in Christ made a difference? How has his forgiveness impacted you? How have your thoughts, attitudes and emotions changed? Share how Christ is meeting your needs and what a relationship with him means to you now.

5 - Important Tips to Remember

• Stick to the point. Your conversion and new life in Christ should be the main points. 
  
  
• Be specific. Include events, genuine feelings and personal insights that clarify your main point. This makes your testimony tangible - something others can relate to. 
  
  
• Be current. Tell what is happening in your life with God now, today. 
  
  
• Be honest. Don’t exaggerate or dramatize your life for effect. The simple truth of what God has done in your life is all the Holy Spirit needs to convict others of their sin and convince them of his love and grace.

6 - Things to Avoid

Stay away from “Christianese” phrases. These “foreign” or “churchy” words can alienate listeners and readers and keep them from identifying with your life. Here are some examples:

Avoid using “born again“ 
Instead use: 
• spiritual birth 
• spiritual renewal 
• to come alive spiritually 
• given a new life

Avoid using “saved” 
Instead use: 
• rescued 
• delivered from despair 
• found hope for life

Avoid using “lost” 
Instead use: 
• heading in the wrong direction 
• separated from God 
• had no hope

Avoid using “Gospel” 
Instead use: 
• God’s message to man 
• the good news about Christ’s purpose on earth

Avoid using “sin” 
Instead use: 
• rejecting God 
• missing the mark 
• falling away from the right path 
• a crime against God’s law 
• disobedience to God

Avoid using “repent” 
Instead use: 
• admit a wrong 
• change one’s mind, heart or attitude 
• make a decision to turn away 
• turn around 
• a 180 degree turn from what you were doing

I agree 100% that testimonies are powerful. I’ve seen before; how; since type models in the past to help with writing testimonies, and for a lot of people, they work. I became a Christian when I was 4 years old though… I don’t remember the ‘before’ or the ‘how’… I can do the since part pretty well but I still struggle with writing my testimony :/

(Source: christianteens.about.com, via savedbymercyandgrace)

Leaving Boxing Day. Or right now, but I won’t have my licence til Spetember, so Boxing Day may be the better option.

This is a bridge in Paris. You hang locks on it with the name of you & your boyfriend/girlfriend/best-friend then throw the key into the river. So even though the friend/relationship may end, you can’t remove the lock. It stays there forever, as relevance to someone once a part of your life.

This is a beautiful idea…

(Source: andrewbreitel, via twiggdub)

Me (via wanderlustaffairs)

• Apparently I’m in a band

Read more