“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 2:8-10
Graham Dodd
Wait a minute!
Slow down, relax, and jyourself, and exhale again. Stop, contemplate, and acknowledge. Listen,
be quiet, and appreciate. My word this world we live in moves so fast.
What a race we get caught in trying to keep up. We have this amount of
homework, that practice, this job, that expectation, this requirement,
and the list goes on and on and on. You may or may not have noticed the
acronym that titled this blog post, but what does S.T.O.P. stand for? Start today off
praying. Just take a minute to find gratitude within your being and
give thanks to God. I know I especially need to STOP and praise God for
all He has done and continues to do in my life! It makes so much sense when the rest of my day is in chaos whenever I fail to stop and pray.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
-1 Thessaloninans 5:16-18
Graham Dodd
Friendship is a funny thing. Everyone has their own ideas, own opinions on how friends should treat them. The funny thing is that people aren’t thinking of their friends. They are just thinking of how their friends treat them, or act towards them, or what they tell them and so on. Exactly. Exactly wrong. True friendship starts with selflessness. It isn’t even about how much you know about your friends. Being a friend isn’t knowing why your friend is sad, it’s making yourself look stupid and acting like a fool to get them to laugh and have a better day; being a friend is taking your friend’s place when they are being made fun of; its going out of your way to do something nice to them; it’s taking the blame for them when they are up to their neck already; it’s cancelling plans to be with them when they really need it; it’s giving them a compliment and an encouraging word, it’s telling their new boyfriend or girlfriend that if they break your friend’s heart then you’ll break his or her face; it’s believing in them; it’s making them feel like their Special, Important, Worth Something,
I Strive everyday to be this person, to be this friend, it’s hard. It’s hard when my friends, those I love so much, don’t see it. They don’t see my efforts. And worse of all, they don’t return the efforts. It hurts. And it tears at my heart. Each of my friends has a piece of it, and its getting really hard to give more of it away, for fear that I won’t get anyone’s back L
-Figuring out Friendship, Female, Age. 17
I need to get away. It’s a thought that comes to most minds during different circumstances we go through. We feel trapped in the world we are living in and feel as if there is no way out. But there is, the Lord gave us 24 hours in a day to make decisions. Whether we realize it or not, we make a decision on how each of those 24 hours are spent. It bounces between sleep, eating, work/school, sports and hobbies. This is all normal, yet there is so much more that we try to squeeze into our days. There is homework to be done that we can’t ever finish, yet the 2 hours we spent unwinding in front of the TV probably didn’t help us. There is the time we Want/NEED to spend with the Lord that always slips away from us, yet the 2 hours of perusing facebook probably didn’t help.
This is when we usually begin to scream internally I need to get away. The only problem with getting away is that whatever we are dealing with in the present would follow us wherever we go. Still I believe that we all need to get away, but the question should not be where should we go. It should be what do we need to get away from. I think it’s the small habits that we began forming years ago that impede on the things we want/NEED to do. It’s usually in these habits where we can find the answer to some of the following: Why can’t I get anything? Why do I feel so far away from the Lord? Where are my friends? How can I find time to do ______?.
Lord, I’m reminded daily that I have the same 24 hours in a day that everyone else has. Lord, It’s about time that I hold myself to the standard you have set. We are called to strive to be excellent in what we do. It’s about time I start implementing that in a few of the smaller areas of my life. Only then will I begin to see what I’ve truly been missing.
Alot of teens face the pressure of drinking and partying with friends on the weekends. We came up with some fun alternatives for you and your friends to do instead! So grab some pals and have a blast doing some of these fun activities!
1. Scavenger Hunt : In groups of 4 or more, make a list of fun, random, embarrassing things to do in a hot spot in your city. Ex: propose to a stranger, get a sock, a kiss on the cheek from a stranger, have a wheelbarrow race, etc. Document the act in some way (camera, phone, etc.) and have a time limit to complete the list.
2. Fugitives: Two groups of 3 or more. One group in a car. One group on foot. There is a designated destination that the group on foot must reach before being caught by the group in the car. Once the group on foot is spotted or tagged, the game is over.
3. Groundies: Its a fun game to play in a large basement with lots of furniture. One person is it-eyes must stay closed! Everyone else tries to avoid being tagged by jumping on top of furniture. The person who is it can call “groundies” at any time, and if you are not on a piece of furniture then you are It. The person who is it attempts to tag people as they jump around on the furniture. Be careful! 
4. Dance party: Get dressed up in goofy costumes then drive to a random hot spot in your area. We recommend dancing to Tedashii or Lecrae. Have fun dancing around and having a good time! keep it clean
5. Campfire: Gather some wood and start a small fire. Bring s’mores, IBC rootbeer, a stereo for tunes, and maybe even a guitar to sing some campfire songs! If you want, share some scary stories while sitting around the fire!
Graham Dodd Photography
In a world consumed with blogs, twitter updates, and facebook posts, opinions are everywhere. But regardless of how witty, intelligent, or powerful a post or comment may be if it doesn’t match the Word forget about it. Don’t hold mere opinion as truth. If we ever post anything on this blog that doesn’t align with Scripture call us out and receive it with zero validity. The frightening thing we do is watch a youtube video, read a blog, or hear a great quote and assume it is Biblically accurate. It impacted us, and therefore it has to be Biblical. Wrong. So the question I pose to us today is: “How often do we receive what someone said as truth without first examining it in the Scriptures?” Here are 3 reasons why we should all forget what we heard if it doesn’t match the Word:
1. Sin: If we believe what someone wrote on a blog or posted on youtube just because that’s what we would like to believe yet it still contradicts Scripture doesn’t mean it’s okay. As a matter of fact if we believe it, regurgitate it, and live according to it, and yet it is the opposite of what Scripture says we sin. We are accountable for everything we support, stand by, live by, and claim to be truth. So the encouragement here is to make sure everything we support or stand by is consistent with Scripture. Paul warned Timothy that people would preach to people things that their itching ears want to hear. “For the time is coming when people will not endure soundteaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” -2 Timothy 4:3-4. In other words people will begin believing what they want to hear so that it suits their sinful desires. Continue Reading…
“Pain, something I cannot go through on my own. Suffering, overwhelming
sadness, the feeling of being so small and worthless you could just
disappear. Being heartbroken and lost without a way. I find myself going
through these feelings, wishing to call to the One and only amazing, so
perfectly Holy God my Father. The One who doesn’t put these feelings on
me but pulls me from the deep shadowy hole filled with these feelings,
the place I find myself falling into so often. He is the one who is
there in that place with you right there waiting for you to call to Him
and ask for release. Turning to the world as I so often do, looking for
worldly things to fill and cover those whole things that are only
digging down tearing through me, breaking me. Building a wall around me
what I think is temporary happiness, temporary love, joy, but that wall
soon breaks and I’m there, no excuse, no where to hide there looking at
the great creator of the universe, the almighty father Jesus Christ I
feel so broken what I think is to broken to for anyone to heal but he
looks and shows me the most wonderful smile full of compassion
overflowing love and he wraps his arms around me and for the first time
I feel truly loved the kind of love that could never run dry, the kind
that’s always there and always will be. The kind I know I want so badly
to be acquainted with. The love no one could ever imagine possibly
giving me. The kind of love that’s worth living for, proclaiming to all
the kind that now flows through me. I feel now as a light for him and
for his so amazingly unexplained love.”
Feeling Love, Female-Age 17
