My Christmas gift.

This year for christmas, as I think I mentioned before, my Mom and Dad took our family to Ski Beech, NC. It started because I wanted Brandon to see snow for christmas, and it became a wonderful family vacation, and my Uncle Johnny came and stayed with us, bringing his awesome girlfriend and my two cousins. It was an amazing trip, just too short haha. We sledded and played in snow and snow tubed and my cousins snow boarded. I was extremely jealous, but it was too expensive for me to try. So we went shopping in Boone and Vaalle Crucis instead. It was really awesome to spend time with everyone though. Especially my brothers girlfriend Jessie, she is really really great. We'd hung out before, but I think we got a lot closer over this vacation. I'm excited for her and my brother and their future.
One store we went to was called Fred's. This place has been open everyday for 30 years. Literally, never been closed a day. They had a gift shop, ski shop, and little resuraunt. And we met Fred. He was delighted to take a picture with us, we felt like we were meeting a superhero. It was a cool experience.
The cabin we stayed at was gorgeous. Our room was particlarly splendid, because we had two bunk beds and four teenagers. I was the only girl, but it was better than I thought. Brandon and my cousin Cole wrapped my other cousin Mason into his bunk bed with seran wrap. Hilarious watching him get out in the morning. But don't think they were clever, it was all my idea! I told them to do it while I was asleep, cause I would no doubt laaugh and wake him up.
What was really cool about the house was that on the bottom floor where we stayed they was a big plyboard on the wall, and in sharpie someone (I'm assuming the houses private owner) Wrote for everyone to write their favorite bible verse and their name. It was full of verses, at least a hundred names. Jessie and I both contributed. But I figured that there must be at least a year of verses on this board, if every week about 2 people wrote. It blew my mind, that for a whole year, noone slandered the board. I guess that lack of faith in humans is what I've caught from living in a city like Ocala. I feel like if we had something like that here, there would be at least one person a month who wrote obscenities all over the board.
Maybe it's just becase it's so beautiful there, even the people who don't believe in the Lord can have a gentle enough heart to respect those who do. Or maybe be surrounded by the natural beauty f the world He made compelled them to even look up the verses they saw or find their own to write. Or maybe by chance no non-believers have rented that house. Who knows.
But I definitely think surrounding make a difference in a person's faith. It's all about perspective. When you live in a city like Orlando, or sometimes even Ocala, it's hard to see God through all the secular problems around you. Or when robberies and rapes and murders cover the newspapers, who finds it easy to believe the Lord saved us? The world is beautiful, and I think the more you escape and see that, the stronger your faith and love for God is.
Anyway, I had an amazing time. It was only a few days, but I got away from my troubles and work for four days, and enjoyed my bible,  the world, my family, and my lovely boyfriend. It was a great christmas gift.
I keep reminding myself how great the trip was, instead of focusing on the fact that I'm at work, not at my grandparents house for christmas. Boo.

Pants without the button.

I have this pair of pants that I loved, but the button fell off. Instead of sewing the button back on, I've gone a year working without the button. I try to avoid wearing them as much as possible, but every once in a while I'll put them on and wear a belt, just to cover that they're missing the button. But I spend my whole day annoyed by the fact that my pants don't have a button.

If we go day to day believing in God but not serving the Lord or putting your love to action, what good are you doing? Sometimes we can cover our lack of service to others, but we're only cheating ourselves. Faith is about others, just as pants are. (Let's face it, the only reason anyone wears pants is because of other people.)  I'm pretty sure that's a strong point of everything Jesus taught. Yeah, faith is good and keeps us grounded and happy, but that's the foundation. It doesn't stop there. Being a follower of Christ betters you, in order to compel you to help others.

What is faith without action? If you believe in the Lord as your savior, is believing enough? The pants are great, but they are missing the most important piece. Service is the button to the pants of faith. (That is no doubt the greatest line I've ever thought of.)

A faithful life devoted to God isn't an independent practice. Making a difference through your love and desire to honor God is the purpose of faith.