Suicide and Christianity

She looked at herself angrily in the mirror. As the tears begin streaming down her face, she turned away and smacked her face. Why? That was the question that hounded her mind. She had lost all of her friends to her own foolishness. She had lost her parents to muslim terrorists. She had lost her siblings to the system. What did she have to live for? She began running the flights of stairs. “today is the day. Just get it over with. Just do it.” She reached the top floor, breathless. She ran to the window and flipped it open, swinging her legs out the window and then she froze. And in that split second of reasoning, she was snatched back into the room. “What are you doing?” He screamed, tears running down his face. He looked into his eyes, petrified. He looked at me, and then pulled me close to him. I could barely breathe, but his arms around me were the most comforting thing I had felt in months. My breaths were shattered and vigorously shook my body. He grabbed my hand and began leading me back through the stair well. He began speaking words to me that at the moment I could barely comprehend. My mind was swimming with what almost had happened, and what the future might hold. I still felt completely depressed, but. . . I was curious as well. Why had he come back? Was there a chance that he actually cared. When I tuned back into what he was saying, I realized that he was saying something about God. “Wait, what ?” I quickly said. He looked at me with sad, hazel eyes. “We will talk Hannah, we will talk”. 

If you are contemplating suicide I just want you to know that I am here for you, but more than that, God is there for you. Please know that if you email me, I alone will see the email.

Dear Child of God,

You are precious and you are loved. You were created in God’s image, and he loves you so much. You can never go so far away, that he would not forgive you. DO not allow your sin to define your life. Once you are saved, God literally looks at you as if you had never sinned. In fact, if His grace were an ocean, we would all be sinking.(look up the song, “How He Loves”, by David Crowder Band. Do not let your circumstances define your life and your joy! God has a plan for your life, as cliche as that may sound. You can have joy without your circumstances being good. We can see hope in the future, because ultimately God is in control. When Satan reminds you of your past, you should remind him of his future! God will win! Read you Bible and find the truth. People are different that anything else on earth. You are not the result of random chance!

You must be able to discern whose voice you are listening to. Are you listening to Gods voice or Satan’s voice?

Remember that Gods voice stills you, leads you, reassures you,enlightens you, encourages you, comforts you, calms you, and convicts you. Satan’s voice rushes you, pushes you, frightens you, confuses you, discourages you, worries you, obsesses you, and condemns you.

Your heavenly father is loving (John 3:16), Caring (Matt. 6:26), Forgiving (psalm 103:12), Compassionate (Psalm 103:4-5), Giving (Romans 8:32), Understanding (Psalm 139:1-2), Accepting (Psalm 139:1-6), Satisfies (Psalm 107:9), Persistently pursues you (Luke 19:10), Reasonable (Isaiah 1:18), Pardons (Psalm 103:3), Heals (Isaiah 53:5), Redeems (job 19:25), Renews (Isaiah 40:31), Righteous (Jeremiah 9:23-24), Gracious (Ephesians 1:7-8) and Sovereign (Psalm 103:19).

Remember that Jesus loved you so much that he came to die for you. If you need any help, please contact me!

Have a lovely day! Emma Grace ❤

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Uncomfortable . . . and Peaceful?

I recently took a trip to the an Island, to a Christian camp called Patmos. My senior class and I did team building exercises, industrious pranking, and then helped the camp by cleaning and winterizing it. Along with that, the Camp administrator held bible studies with us. We studied Philippians and how Confident Paul was that even the worst things that happened to him were for a reason.

Philippians 1:12-13 “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains were in Christ.”

Letters to My Future Spouse

I have heard from many people, that they write letters to their future husband. You probably have too. But what I found, was that when I sat down with my pen and paper, I had no idea what to say! What do you say to someone that you may or may not have met?

One thing that I had considered for years, was writing letters to my future husband. I officially started to write these letters on my sixteenth birthday. I have a cute little box that I keep these letters in. For me, this is not something that I do very often. I write them on special occasions, or when I really want to pray for him.

So here are some tips and just what I do 🙂

• Not only letters to him, but prayers for him. When he opens these letters on your wedding night, it will bless him to see that you have been praying for him.
• Write what you are currently going through, be open with him. He is your HUSBAND.
• Write at special times (when God is teaching you something specific, you are moving, you are going to college, starting a new season in your life, etc)
• Do not become obsessed! Use your singleness to grow, not obsess over someone else.

Just remember that this is something special between you, your someday spouse and God. Enjoy the journey and the time you have single, yet be vigilant in your prayer for your husband as well as just prayer in general.

Now is the time to work on your character and improve upon yourself. You do not instantly become perfect once you get married. You carry all of your flaws right along with you! Do not waste the time you have right now. Do not wish and wish, wasting all of your God given time, wishing on the spouse God has waiting for you once you begin doing what he asked of you. Some people do not know if they will wake up tomorrow. YOU do not know if you will wake up tomorrow. Seize the day!

There is no tomorrow. Because tomorrow it will be today. Do not choose to start living in the here and now tomorrow, because you will simply continue to put it off. Choose to seize the day and live it to the fullest NOW!

Have a beautiful day, Emma Grace ❤

Ways to Stay Focused on God Amidst a Busy Time

1. Choose to listen to Christian music throughout the day. It keeps you focused on the most important part of your life. Or listen to classical because then you can get your school/ work done faster and you will have more time to actually spend time sitting before the Lord.
2. Put up some Bible verses at work or while studying and read them everyone in awhile. This will keep your mind focused on the right things.
3. Wake up and have your quiet time before you do anything else. This can be hard when you have to be at work or school so early, but it will start your day right and put your focus immediately where it should be. This can be very hard for me personally, but I have found that when I do it, I not only learn a lot, but I am also a better witness for Christ throughout the day.
4. Make a to-do list! This has been a lifesaver for me. Without it I would literally be lost. Remember to not waste time on things that don’t matter. Get done the essentials, then move on to the hobbies or whatever you had planned.

I know these are just some simple thoughts. But I hope this maybe gave you a new idea.

Have a great day! Emma Grace ❤

The Struggle is Real

I was talking to a friend recently and she was mad. Someone had said that once you become a Christian, you should not struggle with anything anymore. I laughed out loud. Then I was mad. So, I wanted to clear this up.

1. So many amazing Christians in the Bible, but guess what! They were all faulty human beings! Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossip, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sara was impatient, Elijah was moody, Moses stuttered, Zaccheus was short, Abraham was old, Lazarus was dead. But yet, 2 Corinthians 12:9 still applied, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” If you ever wonder if God could use a person like you, come back to this.
2. Being a faulty human being is the reason Jesus came to save us! We do not become amazingly perfect once we are saved.
3. Do not judge people simply because of what you see on the outside. You do not know what God has asked them to walk through. You can come along side them and help them. Be the loving friend who help them and points them to Christ.
4. Don’t judge someone just because they sin differently than you. We all sin, we are all flawed, we are all imperfect human beings.

With this, I just wanted to remind everyone that everyone is on a different journey. You do not become instantly perfect when you become a believer. It is this line of thinking that results in fake Christians who simply go through the motions. Don’t go along with what our culture sees as religion. Be the change that you want to see. Be real with each other, share your struggles, and allow iron to sharpen iron. FOR THIS, is how we will grow in our walks with God and our character.

Have a beautiful day! Emma Grace ❤

Entangled Emotions

I am defined by my emotions. My emotions entangle me within a web from which, on my own, I cannot escape. I struggle, and try to hand it all to God over and over. But the gut wrenching feelings, the restlessness, and constant stomach ache come without an invitation. Somehow, I am stuck.

I, Emma Grace, become too attached to people. I am very loyal. When a friendship ends, I go through physical pain. When I was at Camp Patmos a few weeks ago, in one of the team building exercises, we had to go around the circle and talk about the person on our left. We had to tell them one thing that was their strength and one thing that was their weakness. It was not only a humbling experience, but also a way to let iron sharpen iron as the Bible talked about. Christians, brothers and sister in Christ, are supposed to be able to have this openness with each other, without having it strain relationships with your fellow believers. It is supposed to be a way of feedback, as well as constructive criticism.

Well, a good friend of mine was on my right. I was nervous as to what she would say, because I knew that she was very insightful and she knows me well. When it got to her turn she told me that my greatest strength is also my greatest weakness. I am loyal, I pray for people, and I love people. But on the flip side of that, people sort of become my God. I get so emotionally sucked into every friendship. As much is that is a good thing, people do move on. Lives change. Things happen. Unfortunately for me, that is a very hard thing to deal with.

But, I think something can be learned from this. Not only for me, but for you as well. What is your strength, and what is your weakness. I would encourage you to go to a friend and ask. Take their criticism graciously and learn from it. Take what you can away from that conversation and then work on implementing it to your life. You would be amazed at how many times my brain has thought of something this past month, but then I have had to stop and revaluate my heart and sometimes even my motives. It is important that we are doing everything we do to the honor and glory of God.

God has a plan for my life. I believe that my love for people is defiantly a part of that plan. But, between my own sinful nature, and satan wanting to destroy my usefulness, my gift is being turned into a sin. By loving people too much, I break one of the ten commandments because I am making an idol out of them. Definitely not a good idea.

I will be praying for you all. Have a beautiful day! Emma Grace ❤

Election Day Reminder

 

Speak Up

My face turned red as I countered what my Sociology Professor said. “Testing out people and living with them before you get married does not help your marriage last longer, in fact it often breaks it off. People often do this so that they can get all of the benefits of marriage, without the commitment” I stated, forcing my voice to remain unshakeable.

NaNoWriMo 2016!