A Choice .

When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you. nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

                                                                               Psalm 73:21-25

I have a choice. You have a choice. We can choose to dwell on disappointments and short comings. We can choose to be bitter, angry, or sad. Or when faced with hard times and hurtful people, we can choose to learn from the experience and move forward, taking responsibility for our own happiness. Think about how you want to respond the next time a challenge comes your way.

God will always be there for us no matter what happens but as a people  we also have a choice  to make our own decision.  Just like my situation as a college student there's too many choices that I need to make.

college classmates...

             

Angels in the Square Camp!!!

On April 4, 2013 the angels went on a youth camp called 'The Square Camp'.

The camp ran for 3 days and 2 nights in which we participated in youth fellowship with over 300 other young adults. On my first day at camp i met a girl named Carla. She was funny and did not believe in God. I shared my testimony with her about how God has worked in my life and how He had transformed me into a new creation and she answered me with the word "Okay" and we went back to our room.

The next day one of our leaders told us that there would be a baptism going on at lunch time. When Carla heard about the baptism she asked me if we could go because she thought it would be 'fun.' 

I answered her by telling her that baptism is not 'fun' or a game and i walked away from her. 

When I was back in our room i felt God speak to me and show me that He never ran away from me even though I am a sinner, He was just waiting for me to confess my sins.
Just like God didn't run or hide from me, I needed to go back to my friend Carla. 

I went back to her and told her about my past life and how I too had once be baptized for fun. It flashed back to me and I had the opportunity to explain to her what baptism was really about. 

Later that night in our room, Carla told me about her past and how she did not have a father. She had a lot of questions such as 'How can i believe in God if He separated my mother and father?' I told her about how I grew up without my father and about how my father had killed my twin when I was a baby. I explained that no one can give us real happiness; even our parents can hurt us, but God will never hurt us. 

The next day we brought our things back to the bus and Carla hugged me and thanked me. 

 

19 years of waiting.

Last April 19, 2013 Ate Josie allowed me to go with my Momma to the province to get my baptismal certificate for my Passport Requirements. I need this certificate because I want to go to Africa to be a missionary there.

I was so happy for this, you know why? For 19 years I’ve been waiting to see my grandmother and especially see my real Dad. I did not expect that I will have a chance to see them when I go there with my Momma. While we are in the bus I was thinking what I would do if I saw my real Dad and I was very nervous because I didn’t know if he would accept me being his daughter.

When we arrived at the house of my grandma I knocked on the door and an old girl opened the door for us. When she saw me she immediately hugged me and started crying. She told me “I’m your grandma” then we entered her house and began talking; I asked to my grandma “Is my Dad is here?” then she told me “I’m sorry but your Dad is not here, he’s in the other place with his new family.” When I heard that from my grandma I was shocked and sad because for 19 years I had been waiting to be complete in our family. I told myself that it would never happen, but for me it is ok if my Dad has new a family, I just want to hug him, call him “Papa” and to tell him that I miss him so much.

My Momma told me the reason we are not with my Dad for 19 years is because my ma’am broke up my Dad. My Dad killed my twin that’s the reason why my Momma broke up with my Dad. Even though my Dad did that before, I still love him and I already forgive him for what he did to my twin. I am always asking myself “why do we need to forgive people that did something wrong to us?” It is because our God forgives us in all our sins and also the bible tells us in Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Birthday Present

The month before my birthday, I was so excited when I found out that Ate Josie would throw me a party for my 18^th birthday. When she told me that, I was so I was happy!!! It would be my first time to have a party.

After she told me that, we went to a store to get my gown fitted. After one week Ate Josie and I went back to the store to get my gown. When I saw it I was so happy because it was so beautiful. Its color was yellow.

Then the day before my birthday, Ate Josie told me that we would not celebrate on the day of my birthday.  She told me that we were going to move the party to April 3^rd, 2012, instead on March 30^th.  On my birthday I was sad that there was no party, but then I remember that April 3^rd, 2011 was the day when I accepted Jesus Christ us my personal savior.  I felt blessed when I realized we would be celebrating on my “spiritual birthday.”

Truly in Control

I know that God is with us everywhere we go, and in whatever we do in our lives, He helps us. But sometimes I ask Him, “God, are you truly in control? Why am I here in this situation?”

God speaks to me through Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

When I read this passage I realized that truly God is in control in my life, and I know that God has a big plan for me.

Even though I’m not sure what that is now, I trust that God knows. 

From Dark to Light

My life, before I knew God, was one of darkness. It was dark because I didn’t have dreams; and I didn’t care about the people around me. I was tired of being who I was. I wanted a new life, to be newly created by God. I decided to move from a life of darkness into a life in the light. A life that allows me to have big dreams, a life that gives me hope that they might come true. Now I have faith in God.

God tells me in Isaiah, “My child, trust me and don’t be afraid for I am your strength.” Now every time that I have problems I always remember to surrender everything to Him and trust Him because he is with us always, he is always there to help us.

Passion of Braves

The Hope Braves is a basketball team that desires to give everything and to play hard at the time of its games. But the players do not simply play, they play with passion, and with the fruit of spirit. They play with the passion of Jesus Christ in their hearts. 

The Hope Braves won, back to back, five championships in the month of January, 2013. The team believes God wants them to be winners because they deserve it. They could not have imagined that they would return to their school with the title of "Champion."

As you can see in the photos, their opponents were tall. Because of God’s will, however, they won. God did not let them lose in those championships, because they were there to honor Him.The Hope team do not play to be famous in the eyes of people, but they play because they want to glorify the name of the Father who is in Heaven.
In the last game, which was the most exciting of all, they faced many challenges. It was a close game and their opponents were very skilled. There were injuries on both teams. 


But in the end, the Braves won. Their coach encouraged them to play, not for themselves, but for God. And that’s what they did. They won and hopefully will continue to win in the Future.