We Spent 24 Hours Being Crazy

   It was around two months ago that I received an email that sported the event of a lifetime. I quickly called my best friend, Natalie (she is my go-to partner in crime). She agreed that we absolutely had to go to this event. She called out of work. I cleared my schedule. We bought tickets to see Hunter Hayes.

  Non-country fans, or any man that may be reading this blogpost needs to know that Hunter Hayes is huge in the country music scene right now. He is insanely talented, and now I know that he is an extremely humble and thankful artist. There was something that Natalie and I hadn't really caught in the ticket information. You could say that we didn't read the "fine print". The thing that we didn't realize until the tickets were printed up was that the concert doors opened at 5 a.m. Yes, you are reading that right! The actual concert was expected to start around 7 a.m. We had no idea that we would have to get up in the middle of the night (technically morning) to see Hunter perform in his concert. There were three special things about this concert:

1. This was Hunter's attempt to break the Guinness World Record for most amount of live concerts in 24 hours. The previous record was held by the Flaming Lips for a total of 8 shows in 24 hours. Each concert had to be at least 15 minutes and at least 30 miles away from each other.

2. This concert series donated to Child Hunger Ends Here. This organization donates meals and money to help prevent child hunger in America. This organization allows brands of food, cleaning products, and health products to have a code on the packaging. By entering this code on their website, the organization will donate meals to children across the nation. Most of the proceeds from the concert were given to this organization. In addition, Hunter's new album, Storyline has a code inside that will allow the organization to donate 10 meals to hungry children.

3. Natalie and I went to his last show, which was in Philadelphia. This show wasn't necessary to break the world record, in fact, it was an additional show that Hunter decided to add on. Officially, the record was broken in Asbury Park, during his 9th show.

  I have been to plenty of concerts before, and this was by far the craziest. It was even crazier than going to Times Square at 4:00am to see the Jonas Brothers perform on the Today Show in 2009. Here is a brief timeline of what went down during that night/morning:

12:00am-Natalie and I finally go to bed
3:19am-Natalie and I wake up to get ready
4:02am-We leave to drive 40 minutes into Philly
4:45am-We stand in line outside of the venue that had been about a block and a half long and wrapped around buildings
6:15am-The first opener, Charlie Worsham, started his set
7:00am-The second opener, The Railers, started their set
8:15am-Hunter finally arrived in Philadelphia and started his set!
9:30am-Natalie and I met Hunter
9:50am-We left and went to breakfast

 I still can't believe that all of it happened. It was just so wild and lively! There were definitely times where we were frustrated and tired, but we pulled through. We discussed our foot and back pains (from standing for almost 3 hours straight), our hunger, and the extremely hot temperature of the venue. In the end, it was all so worth it. Because of all of that, I have no voice left. I also have no regrets (except for paying $29.00 for parking). We ended up finding where Hunter was coming out of the venue, and where his tour bus was. We hurried over to where there were about 4 or 5 girls standing there behind a barricade. Within 10 minutes or so, there were about 12 of us. The security then didn't allow anyone else to come back where we were. We stood and waiting, completely expecting just a wave and a "hello" from him as he went on to his bus. Naturally, understanding that he had been up for more than 24 hours on this race, we weren't expecting much. He came out, and immediately came over to all of us. He signed whatever we had, talked to us, hugged us, and took pictures with us. For every single person in the line, he thanked them for being there, and for helping fight child hunger. He was one of the most genuine and nice artists that I've ever met. He is a four-time Grammy nominating artist who had a no. 1 selling album the first day it came out. Something that I noticed during the concert, was he was so, so grateful for everyone coming. He ended up playing about 7 or 8 songs (twice as much as his other shows), and released confetti bombs at the end of the show.

  Overall, it was one of the craziest experiences of my life. It helped restore faith into modern-day music. Hunter is a Christian, and remains a positive figure in the music scene. So, was it worth it? Was it worth the early hours, and little-to-no sleep? Was it worth the raspy to non-existent voice pattern that I've experienced over the last two days? Absolutely. I wish I could re-live it. I wish that I could have bought more tickets for the sole purpose of raising money for the cause. Hunter, hats off to you kid-you broke the record. You might have also broke some girl's hearts in the process.

                                                          Waiting for concert to start inside

                                                            Hunter finally got there!

Representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records at the concert, giving Hunter his plaque for being "Officially Awesome"

                                             The confetti shooters during the end of the finale!

                                         Natalie and I waiting outside to see Hunter!

                             Obviously had to capture a picture with the newest world record-breaker!!!



In His forever & always,

Where Is He?

   It's the end of my semester. I am a Social Work major, which means I have to take a lot of sociology classes. One of my classes this semester is solely on problems in our society. It's crazy to think that I go to class for 3 hours to literally talk about all of the problems our world has. I'm surprised at myself for not getting upset and uncomfortable with the problems we discuss until now (after I'm finished with the class). At the same time, I completely understand my reasoning and the way that my emotions work. I just finished a research assignment about the social problem of child soldiers. This has been a cause that has tugged at my heart for about 4 years now. I have been very involved with different organizations that deal with child soldiers. Falling Whistles is the organization that started my heartache for these innocent children. Since I heard about them, I have been involved with their cause. For the last two years or so, I haven't been as passionate about it as I once was. I feel almost convicted that I'm not jumping at every new person I meet to say "Hey, do you know what's happening in Congo right now? Do you know what is happening to these children?!". I used to have that spirit and eagerness to share the devastating news with everyone, but I haven't recently. This research assignment really opened my eyes back up to the cause, and re-kindled my passion for it.
 
   As I was sitting down researching more about this topic (kind of hard since this is my third research assignment on this in two years!) I had a thought that I have never had before. I was looking at pictures, and remembering the tear-inducing images from the movie "Machine Gun Preacher" (a movie about a preacher who saves children in Africa from the rebel armies. Careful! It's rated R for a reason..). I just had these images flash through my head and I thought about how I haven't been as involved with this cause as I had been once before. I suddenly thought:

"I haven't been as passionate about this cause as I have before. But it still hasn't changed. The children are still being abducted. The women are still being raped. The two and three year olds are still being used as noise-makers and bullet-takers. This mass genocide is still going on."

   From that thought, I became instantly depressed and angry. Not only did I feel convicted with the way that I had just given up on this cause over the years, but I also felt that I had pushed it to the side while I lived my life. After thinking about that, I again had a thought and feeling that I truly have never had before (though I came close):

"Where is God? Where is He during this time? Why isn't He intervening? Why are these children still dying? Where. Is. He?"

   One could say that my emotions and feelings about these children in places like Congo and Uganda have intensified since September 2012, when my first nephew was born. I have since gained two more nephews and a niece, and my heart has learned to break more for children. There was a month period where I would wake up drenched in sweat and experienced anxiety because of a reoccurring nightmare that the rebel armies were taking my nephews. I decided to stay away from images and videos that had anything to do with child soldiers for the next two months, and to spend that time praying and crying out to God to stop this murder. I just didn't even know how to handle myself. It was probably during that time that my passion died down a little bit, and I started really focusing on my relationship with Christ.

   My feelings came back the other night, but luckily I think I had angels over my head to prevent me from having any nightmares. I was angry at God. I was upset. I didn't even know what emotion I was feeling. I kept asking myself "Where is He? Where is God?" and everytime those questions were repeated, I became more and more frustrated and emotional. 

   I knew that I had to draw myself to my Bible, and I knew I needed to cry out to Him, like I had done before. I cried out my questions to Him, and begged for forgiveness for doubting His presence. I guess it's just so difficult to believe that God is present in countries where the conditions are so terrible. I was brought to the gospel of John, in chapter 10.

                         "...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." 
                                                             John 10:10 NIV 


   And just to be clear y'all, that is in red ink-so it is definitely important! I was shocked that I wan't brought to somewhere like 2 Corinthians 1-the chapter on the God of all comfort. I looked at this verse for a while, and then it hit me. This was Jesus talking during his time on earth-explaining that He was sent that us as sinners would live-and we would experience it to the fullest. This is also a promise to me. It's a promise that Jesus will return and we will have life with Him, if we choose to believe. To me, the first and the last three words of this verse are the most important.

                                             "I have come..."     "...to the full"

   Jesus has come! Through Him we are given our life to the full because of Him. I understand how my thought process doesn't make too much sense here, but it does to me. This verse was just the comfort that I needed. I needed to hear that Jesus promises us a new life. I needed to hear that through Him my life is able to live to the full. I needed to hear that Jesus gives life, and doesn't take it away. Here I am in my dorm, blaming God for what is happening all over the world. I needed to understand that God isn't making those rebel soldiers in Africa abduct children. He isn't creating all of the hate and hurting that is going on. If anyone-I should be angry at the snake-eyed Satan! I also needed to realize that God has a plan for everything, and does everything with His timing. And, trust me-His timing is the best timing. After my mood lightened, and I spent some time with the Father, I decided to make a list of where I could see God. Everyday life-where could I sense God's presence? "Where is He?"

I see God in:

• the flowers outside of my dorm
• the sunset walking back from my class
• the kindness of my sweet nephew when he comforts my crying niece and nephew 
• the giggle and smile of my oldest nephew
• the miracle and answered prayers of my nephew and neice
• re-kindled friendships
• the specific shape and darkness of the clouds before the thunderstorm last night
• the forgiveness that has been given to me
• the loving words from my family
• the beautiful weather that I've experienced lately
• the news that a family friend has recently become pregnant
• answered prayers
• un-answered prayers 
• the passion and life of other Christians
• the young adult Bible study that my brother and I attend
• The Bible; something I can look to everyday to hear the words directly from Christ be spoken to me

   I have one question for you this week: 

               Where do you see God? 

In His forever & always, 

Why You Should Put Your Clothes Back On & Respect Yourself (& Brothers)

  I have about 3 weeks left of my second semester of my sophomore year of college (what!!). As the stress and anxiety of the dreaded topic of finals comes up in my head, I immediately defense my own self against the negativity and bring myself to a happy place: summer. I can feel it already! I start my nannying job in June, which means I virtually have the month of May to let go and enjoy my break! I started imagining what my best friend and I could do with all of our "free" time. We have trips scheduled to go to the rodeo, picnics at the park, shopping trips out of town, and maybe even a cross-country excursion. As soon as I thought about traveling across the country for a vacation, I immediately thought of the beach. I don't know why, but I just sat there at my desk, thinking about the beach. Now, for normal people, this idea might bring pleasant thoughts. For me, it just doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the beach, but I don't love it either. If it were up to me, I'd spend my summer lying by a pool getting tan and jumping into the chemical-filled greatness. I hate the sand. I hate seagulls. I hate stepping on unknown objects in the water. I hate having to pay a fee to essentially lay down and/or go in natural water. I'm just not a fan. When I started thinking about all that I disliked about the beach, images popped into my head of overly-bronzed girls in bikinis. They're everywhere. In fact, it's rare to see a girl not wearing a bikini. And then I thought "My word, how times have changed." There was a point in history where it was extremely modest for girls to wear anything that came above their knee. Sometimes I wish times were still like this. In a society of Miley Cyrus's and barely-there clothing, I feel suffocated. I feel bad for people like Miley Cyrus because I have to imagine how little self-respect they have for themselves. This post is not to condemn, or to judge, but simply to explain my point of view on "modesty" and self-respect. If I'm honest, this idea was spurred on a few weeks ago by a tweet that I saw. Justen Harden's tweet on April 7th read:

             "Ladies: earning respect from a man begins with you respecting yourself" 

   I was so astonished reading this tweet. I looked up from my phone and yelled "FINALLY. SOMEONE GETS IT!" Ladies, this 20-something "Vine" star has nailed it. I wonder how it is that a 20 something year old man understands this and yet most women do not understand this. If you ever expect a man to respect you, you have to respect yourself. 

   You might be wondering how this all ties in with the whole modesty thing I discussed earlier. Remember that these are my opinions, and my take on these issues while I explain this. The only time you'll ever see me in a bikini is when I was about 4 years old and in the Bahamas. Ever since then, it's always been a one-piece or tankini. This has nothing to do with the way that I look either. If I had a body of an international super model, I still would choose not to wear a bikini. For me, there is no difference in wearing a bra and underwear and wearing a bikini. For practically my entire life, my brother lived in the room next to me. I always remember being so afraid that he would open the door while I was changing-why? Because I was afraid of him seeing me in anything but my clothes. I quickly realized that he would see girls in 'bras and underwear' every time he went to the beach. Or a pool, he would be surrounded by nearly naked women. Now again, I'm not condemning anyone or judging, this is just my opinion. Everyone is allowed to wear what they want-and if that's a bikini-rock it!

   There are different levels of modesty. If I were honest with myself, I would say I fall on the middle of the scale...maybe a little less than middle. Whenever I discuss modesty, people tend to think of head-to-toe coverings. I know that is illogical in today's society, and you would most likely get stares from everyone around you. I was just talking to my best friend about this topic because I heard someone say about skinny jeans being immodest. I think that everyone should be the judge of their modesty levels. For me, I think it's okay to wear skinny jeans..they're not so tight that I rip my pants if I bend over, but their not baggy either. Modesty also has to deal with your background and religion. Some religions don't allow women to show anything but their eyes, which is okay for them! I am a Christ-follower (Baptist if I had to specifically define it), and my religion allows me to choose my clothes. Because I am a Christ-follower, I choose to dress modestly. I choose to not show every nook and cranny of my body in my clothes. I choose not to wear see-through or skin-tight clothes. I choose not to wear bikinis. I am aware that others choose to do otherwise, which again, is alright. The point that I am trying to make is that a woman should not value herself by the least amount of clothing she wears. I saw an awesome YouTube video of Jason Evert explaining his point of view on Christian women and modesty. I encourage you to watch it here!

  Self-respect. I respect myself by wearing clothes that I consider modest. I respect myself by allowing a man to look at me and not see a lot of skin. I respect myself by allowing a man to be curious about me and wonder questions (like Jason Evert said in his video). By covering up, you are allowing your brother in Christ to wonder more about you other than your body. Don't give it all away!   If you question if something is immodest, it probably is!

  Instead of measuring my respect and value through sexuality or barely-there clothing, I love to reflect on what The Bible says about what a woman should be. My favorite passage is Proverbs 31: A Godly Wife. Here is a list that I comprised for myself on how to be respected and valued through God's eyes:
A Godly Woman.....

• finds wisdom (Prov. 3:13)
• has pleasant ways (Prov. 3:17)
• is a tree of life to those who embrace her (Prov. 3:18)
• guards her heart (Prov. 4:23)
• is motivated (Prov. 10:4)
• does not gossip (Prov. 11:13)
• opens her arms to the poor (Prov. 31:20_
• IS CLOTHED WITH STRENGTH AND DIGNITY (Prov. 31:25)
• speaks wisdom (Prov. 31:26)
• is kindhearted (Prov. 11:16)
• has noble character (Prov. 12:4)
• is not anxious (Prov. 13:25)
• builds up her house (Prov. 14:1)
• has a peaceful heart (Prov. 14:30)
• brings good (Prov. 31:12)
• works with eager hands (Prov. 31:13)
• has a good attitude and can laugh (Prov. 31:25)
• fears the Lord (Prov. 31:30) 

   In all of Proverbs 31 (A Godly Wife) it never mentions anything on physical appearance. It talks about braided hair a gold jewelry in a negative context. Sisters, let this be an encouragement to you. You are worth so much more than your sexuality. If a man doesn't respect you without that, he is not the one God has intended for you. I think that what Justen Harden was saying (coming from a man himself) was that women have to respect who they are enough to not  dress immodestly, and to not post it all over the internet. I often wonder why girls post selfies with little-to-no clothing on Instagram or Facebook. I truly wonder where their self-worth lies. I hope that all of my sisters in Christ (and me) will be encouraged by this to defy society's standards on respect and value, and strive to be the Godly woman that The Bible describes. 

                                                    Now about our brothers.....

  It's scientific. It's proven. The male brain is wired so much differently than women's brains. They are stimulated by visuals, where women are usually by emotions and words. If nothing I posted above catches your eyes or encourages you, please, please think of our brothers in Christ! Think of what wearing extremely low-cut shirts or skin-tight pants must be doing to them! We want to help them out as their sisters! We want to encourage them not tempt them! 

Our bodies are temples to The Lord. I hope that this has encouraged you, as it did for me just writing it! I will continue to pray for all of sisters that we would know where our respect and value come from and for our brothers that they would stray from the temptation they face everyday.

*Read what I've previously written on the amazing Justen Harden here! 

In His forever & always,

Perfection Does Not Exist*

I've thought about this post for quite sometime now. I would be comfortable saying that I've thought about it for almost a year now. I think that this is a message that constantly needs to be said, and women constantly need to hear it.

                                                    Perfection Does Not Exist.*

This is plain and simple. It's a phrase that I've repeated to myself one too many times, and yet I still fall to the trap of perfectionism. I understand it. I'm a 20 year old girl. I'm self-conscience about more than I should be. With age, I wish I could say it gets better. Now that I'm in college, I'm not only self-conscience about the way that I look, but I'm self-conscience about grades, social standing, money, work, friends, religion...the list goes on. You discover more about yourself and those around you, which leads to you discovering more that you're self-conscience about.

I read an article for my Psychology class earlier this week, and it had me completely in tears. It was a study that talked about college-age women and their strive for perfection and how they literally can deteriorate from the constant effort for something that will never exist. I wish it were easy to come to the understanding that I am God's princess and I'm very beautiful....Which is the truth, but it's not reality. You will run into things multiple times a day that can hurt you. As I'm writing this post, I'm listening to the song "Flawz" by Caitlin Crosby and I'm crying at how true the song is. She is a beautiful song-writer and Godly woman who put every girl's feelings into words.
  

                                                        "All my flaws to see

                                                  But you still love, love me

                                                        You still love me"

This is the simple chorus of the song, and yet it is still so powerful. We all have flaws. Caitlin mentioned some of hers in the verses of the song. I think that the point is that we have to accept we have flaws. We should't forget them, we should recognize that they're there, and we should love them. There is no such thing as human perfection, but God takes our flaws and uses them for His glory. 

"But He said to me: My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

Our flaws are our weaknesses. Do you see what Paul is writing there? Jesus himself told Paul that His power is made perfect in WEAKNESS! His power is made perfect even with our FLAWS! To anyone who may be reading this, know that you are SO beautiful. We are all created in God's image (Genesis 1:27) and we are all fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). We shouldn't view our weaknesses and flaws as a bad thing, rather, we should learn to accept them because The Almighty Father accepts them, and uses them. 

So, sisters in Christ, we should stop striving for perfection. It just isn't going to happen. It's humanly impossible. The reason I put a star on the title is because perfection does exist, just not with humans. God is perfect. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are perfect. We are not because we are humans and we are born with original sin (Psalm 51:5). Instead of striving and straining ourselves with society's distorted image of "perfection" we should embrace our flaws and let Christ use them to His power and glory. Remember that no matter what you do, and no matter how many flaws you may have, God loved you before you born, He loves you now, and He will love you until the end of time.

That, my sisters, is the perfectness that I focus on. 

In His Forever & Always,

Cassandra 

The Importance of Getting Lost

    Imagine starting off a very exciting trip. You have the address of your destination programmed in your phone. Your best friend is sitting next to you in the car. Your favorite song is blasted so loud that your sister's husband's cousin's neighbor's cat can hear it. You're trying to hear your nice GPS voice over the song, but your favorite part is coming up and it's on the radio, which means-no pauses! You figure that you've been driving on the highway for two hours and you'd be fine. You thought wrong. All of a sudden, you are in a different state. You don't recognize anything and your phone has lost its signal. You look at your friend in a sudden panic. Looks of "Where are we?" and "Did we mean to go here?" are all over her face. You both look at each other with the same thought clearly viewed across your face says "We.Are.Lost."
    What would you do if you were lost? Remember, your phone has no signal so you can't call your older sister or mom. It's just you and your best friend in a car in the middle of nowhere. Neither of you can see anything ahead of you. At least your favorite song is on, right? You could see this event from two different perspectives. Let's call them Polly and Ollie. 
    Polly would view this event as a terrible thing. She would be extremely uncomfortable and terrified. She would have a lot of anxiety and not know what to do. She would see all of the cars fly by her and focus on the fact that she is not like them, because she has no idea where she is at. Polly would view getting lost as an unnecessary thing in order to grow personally.
    Ollie would be almost the complete opposite. He loves getting lost! He does it quite often, actually. He thinks that he gets in touch with himself when he doesn't know where he's at. He loves looking at the strangers around him driving around and enjoying life. Ollie would say that getting lost is the best thing he's ever done in his life.

     Maybe you've caught on to the fact that this post isn't about getting physically lost. Maybe you've picked up on the fact that I'm not talking about getting lost on your way to vacation. Maybe you even know what I'm talking about. I am talking about getting lost in worship. 

"Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods.  Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."
                                                          2 Kings 17:38-39 

"All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.  For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God."
                                                          Psalm 86:9-10

"He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
                                                         Revelation 14:7 

     There are so many verses in the Word that talk about worshipping. As a Christ follower, I am required to worship God. I've never seen it as a requirement, rather something that I look so forward to doing. My title is something that I like to remind myself to do. I remind myself to get lost in worship. I don't understand how people DON'T worship! I look around my life and see so much to worship for. I've always been musical, and I really enjoy singing, so vocally worshipping during the week is one of my favorite things to do. I can get so lost in a song, and its lyrics that I believe that I'm not in my room, or in the sanctuary on Sunday. I'm just lost. 

    I like to remind everyone to do this. I hope that everyone experiences getting lost in worship. Here are some practical things that I have found during my high school and college career that have helped me continue to worship The Almighty: 

1. Make a worship playlist for your car or your phone. This is so simple, yet so impactful. It was one of the best thing's I've ever decided to do while going to community college. Worshipping in the car was a good use of 15 minutes and always put me in a grateful mood. 
2. Find other ways to worship. Maybe you don't like singing, or singing in large crowds. That's fine! I knew someone who loved worshipping by drawing. She would "draw things to God"-pictures or images that reminded her of Him. Whatever you love to do, you can dedicate to Him and encourage others to worship along with you. 
3. Pray in the car. When your phone dies, or your cd skips, it's easy to just turn on the radio (maybe to a secular radio channel, too!) I decided to take this time to pray. It's nice to do in the car because you're most likely awake (I hope!) and you could be alone. It's a perfect time to talk with your God. 
4. Listen to worship music while doing homework. For those who don't like to sing, you don't have to! Simply listen to songs that glorify God and it will change your outlook. From personal experience, I have noticed that listening to Christian music puts me in a better mood, and I am more susceptible to praising God throughout the day. 

 I pray that we all will remember to get lost in worship daily. Look around and observe all that God has gifted you with. See a beautiful flower? Praise God. Your parents love you and bless you with all you need? Praise God. Your friend decides to check out "this Christian stuff"? Praise God!! Praise Him in all you do and for all you have. Trust me when I say it will better your relationship with Him and you will be blessed in return. 

 

In Him forever & always,

Cassandra 

                                          ^I took this picture of a friend worshipping when we visited Hillsong NYC

*Songs that I'm loving to worship God to these days: 

1. "Lord I Need You"-Matt Maher
2. "Remind Me Who I Am"-Jason Gray
3. "Lift My Life Up"-Unspoken
4. "Oceans"-Hillsong
5. "Anchor"-Hillsong
6. "Sinking Deep"-Hillsong Young & Free
7. "10,000 Reasons"-(covered by) The Rend Collective
8. "In Christ Alone"-(covered by) Owl City
9. "One Thing Remains"-Jesus Culture 
10. "Take Heart"-Hillsong 

"Pure As Transparent Glass..."

   It was 2009. My teenage self was hyper-venelating. My best friend and I had somehow convinced her mom to get us all a hotel room in New Jersey. We had somehow convinced her to take us to the event of the century. Our hormones and emotions were flying around like kites in the sky. We were sweating. We were screaming. We were crying. We were laughing. We were at the Jonas Brothers concert. 
    
   NK and I had a deep, deep love for three brothers that were from New Jersey. The ultimate thing that we were attracted to was their faith in God. We personally do not know their relationships with The Father, but we did know that they were some of the few that publicly gave glory to God. It was their world tour of 2009. I would be comfortable saying that it was the prime of their careers. I can remember NK and I looking up all of members of the tour we possibly could. Then we found her. We found one of the instrumentalists on their tour. Their violinist, Christa Black. We did a lot of research on her, and to our excitement, we found out that she was a sister in Christ! We were so happy to know that one of our sisters would be representing The Father on that tour. Here is a little gem that I found in an album titled "THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE" of NK and my stalking abilities: 

    That woman behind John Taylor (JB's guitarist and musical director) was Christa Black. After their tour was over, we continued to follow Christa Black around on social media. It was later that I found out that she had a blog. I began to follow it, and  I will say that it was very inspirational. Then, I remember she came out with a book! I begged my mom to get me a copy of it off of Amazon. She got it for me as soon as it came out. I can specifically remember laying outside tanning, reading "God Loves Ugly". This book changed my life. I began to forgive myself for my past, and starting embracing the fact that the Heavenly Creator loved ME!! From this book stemmed a new kind of relationship with The Father. It helped me think of how I really wanted my relationship with Him to look. A few years later, I began working with the youth at my church. My copy had circled around 15+ girls within a few months. I shortly began to realize that this book was not just inspirational, it was life-changing. It wasn't just for me, but for younger girls, and older girls, and everyone in between. I began following Christa more on social media and regularly reading her blog posts. I even had the opportunity to see her speak at the Revolve Tour in 2013. In a crowd of emotional girls, I saw her, and I pushed my way through security guards for her to sign my book. She pointed out that it was an original copy and I pointed out that she was even more beautiful in person. Even though I don't know Christa personally, I have some strange sister-of-Christ bond with her that I can't explain. I guess you could say she is a role model for me, or just simply a professional violin player that helped me with the most important thing in my life: my role as a servant of The Almighty.
  
  So, you might be wondering why I am talking about Christa Black and the Jonas Brothers, and other crazy things that I did in my teen years. I assure you, there IS a point to all of the madness! Like I had mentioned earlier, I feel as if I have this strange bond with Christa. Her story and ministry is amazing, and something that I think every single teen girl needs to know about. A few weeks ago, Christa lost her baby girl. You can read about her story here. Luca Gold Gifford was her little baby girl who died just forty minutes after birth. I've read Christa's blog posts and instagram posts about her and her family's loss, and every time I read something, it breaks my heart. I think being an aunt of three boys and one girl all under the age of two gets my heart to tug harder when stories like Christa's comes along. Something that I took out of Christa's book was that she experience a lot of hate in her life, and a lot of hurting. She later decided to cling to Christ and have her life changed forever. God pushed her through the terrible moments of her life, and gave her a new life. As I read through Christa's words, I am so inspired and touched by the love that she has for God. In this time of her life, it would be SO easy to curse God and fall back to old habits. She has clung to Christ during this time and He has started to heal her through Him. This is an amazing thing. When someone experiences such a tragedy; especially to their daughter, naturally, humans tend to shut down. Christa has been so open about this experience, and she has not seized to praise God through her storm. 

   Christa herself may never read this post, but I know that others will. As a Christ-follower, I am constantly asked the question that says something like "If God loves the world, why does He allow suffering in it?". I'm not sure of the right answer, and no one but God does, but I have my own interpretation of it. In 2 Corinthians 1, it talks about "...The God of all comfort...":

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."
                                                                 2 Corinthians 2:3-7 NIV

   This is probably my favorite passage in the Bible because of how much hope it brings. I believe that the reason that God allows us to go through suffering is so that we can feel his mercy, love, and comfort, and then relate to others who are going through the same suffering-showing them all that The Father showed to us. For an example, my mom had breast cancer for many years when I was young. We know a woman who was just diagnosed with breast cancer and my mom has been able to reach out to her and walk along side of her during this time, because she knows exactly how it feels. I'm not saying that this is exactly why we go through hardships, but I think it is one of the reasons we do. Christa has already used this opportunity to reach out and love others because of this experience. I pray that all of us can act as Job did, and praise God through the storms. 

   Please join me in constantly praying for Christa, her husband Lucas, and their son Moses during this time. I pray that they will all continue to lean on the God of all comfort. I also pray that The Lord directs their family in the path that He wants them on in the future. Christa: know that you are an inspiration to many. You have changed lives simply because you chose to have Christ change yours. Thank you for all you have done for girls across the world. 

    "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass."
                                                                        Revelation 21:21 NIV

      The book of Revelation talks about the gold streets in Heaven. They are described as pure and transparent. The streets could have been made of anything, but God chose gold. He chose gold to have the most Heavenly, Perfect, Amazing, Almighty God walk upon every single day. I believe that Luca is now in Heaven, walking along those streets with Jesus Christ, and is as pure as the streets are. If you would like to learn more about Luca Gold's life and to contribute to a healing fund in her honor, you can find it here. 


In His Love Forever & Always,
Cassandra 

What I wish I Realized in High School: The Garland & Chain

       I can remember my youth pastor giving lessons on the importance of a good relationship with our parents. As a young, somewhat-rebellious, over-excited teenage girl; this is not the kind of lesson I wanted to hear. As a teen, you often feel as if you don't have time for your parents, or you simply just don't care. After all, they are "life-ruiners" and two people who ground you on the weekends. I could have titled this post "What I wish I Knew in High School" but that wouldn't be an accurate depiction of who I was. The worst part of this was that I did know the importance of a good relationship with your parents, but I never cared enough about it. Don't get me wrong-my parents and I had a pretty good relationship. Sure, there were times when I wasn't their biggest fan and I'm sure there were plenty of times where I disappointed them, but overall-we got along. I realized when I was in college how truly pathetic that statement was: "we get along". Was that enough? Was it good enough to simply "get along"? The answer that I later realized was, in fact, no. I did a quick glimpse at my life and attitude and I realized that I was not being the best daughter I could be.
     I found some verses in The Word about honoring your parents, but I think that my favorite passage comes from Proverbs 1:8-9 NIV
  
                       "Listen my son (daughter), to your father's instruction and do not forsake your    
        mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck."

   I love this passage for many different reasons. It points out the importance of the father's influence as well as the mother's influence, and ties them together in the end. I wanted to break these verses down in ways that I could better understand, and this is what I came up with:
  
                   "Cassie, listen to what your dad says. Listen and observe to what he teaches you, and use them to the best of your ability. Cassie, don't forget about what your mom taught you. Remember all of the life lessons and qualities she has shown to you, and don't forget to use them. All of these things will benefit you in the long run. They will stay in your head and it is your job to let them show. They will also make you a more beautiful woman who will need to stay dedicated to serving The Lord."

      I feel like now that I am accepting my role as a young adult and no longer a teenager in high school, I respect my parents more than I ever have. I recognize all that they do for me and for my siblings. I don't tell them enough how much I appreciate and am thankful for all that they do for me.
  
    The Garland (dad, doc, colonel, etc.): I am so thankful for a father who loves me as much as he does. Whether it is the random text messages saying he is proud of me, or calling me to tell me that he thought of me that day. He has also shown me how much of a treasure I am in God's eyes, and to settle for nothing less than that. I am thankful for all of the lessons he has taught me over the years: never to give up, strive to be my best for The Lord, and to serve those around me. He also taught me how to change my oil, but I am grateful that he does it for me sometimes so I don't have to. And though I never said it often enough, I am thankful for the time, sweat, and pain he invested in me when I played softball. He would get off from working all day just to come practice with me. He has also taught me how a man should love his wife. He does selfless acts for my mom and for our family all of the time. I will always treasure his instruction.

    The Chain (mom, pammie sue, commander pam): I know that I drive my mother absolutely crazy more often than I should. She has taught me so much over the years, and I hope to be as good as a mom as she is to me one day. Something that is special about my mom is that she doesn't even need to verbally "teach" me things; she teaches me with her actions. She has taught me to be a fighter, lover, and a servant of Christ. I always admired the way she would drop everything to listen to someone or care for them without hesitation. She always knows the right thing to say, even when I search for it for hours. She is probably the hardest worker I know, and I still have no clue how she does it. I have seen her interaction with my siblings in the past few years and I truly admire her love for her children and grandchildren. She has also taught me patience and understanding. She has shown me what it means to be a daughter, and serve in that position. She was at her mother's side for a long time while she was sick, and she is constantly at her father-in-law's side whenever he needs help. I know that she would drop everything for me if I really had an issue that needed resolving. She would be my shoulder to cry on. I have also seen her reach out to my friends and take them in as her own. I will value and take her teachings with me for the rest of my life
  
   Collectively, my parents have shown me what a Godly marriage looks like. They have ups and downs, but never cease to love God before each other. I love that my parents have never been my "friends". They made it clear that they were put on this earth to serve as my parents and not my BFFS. They encourage, protect, and love me. They are some of the biggest blessings in my life.

   I wish that I recognized all of this in high school. Actually, I wish that I recognized this in middle school or younger. The sooner you realize the importance of your parents, the better your life will become. I think I recognized it later in life because I saw the reality of the hardships and daily life as an adult. As a kid, you can't appreciate the way your parents drive 45 minutes away to come to a softball game or band concert straight after work. If you are in high school, take time to serve to your parents. Clean around the house (I still have to work on that one), make a meal, or simply tell them how much they mean to you. I still have a lifetime of instruction and teaching from my parents, but I am so, so thankful for all I have received up to this point of my life. They are my garland and chain, and I hope to never forget that.

           ^I keep this photo in Proverbs 1 as a reminder to always thank God for them and to pray for them. This is probably circa 1998 in Disney World

In His Forever,
Cassandra