I wrote my first song today. It took be about 45 minutes, but I did it. And I actually really like it. I even have the notes for the right hand on the keyboard to go with the lyrics, as well. I’m so excited about this because I’m awful at rhyming (and I don’t like songs that don’t rhyme very much) and I just can’t ever complete any songs. I think I did well. I’ll post the lyrics and you guys can tell me what you think, okay?? The title is “Gonna Give It Up To You”!
What do I do
When I’ve fallen away from you
Can you show me
How my life should be
(Chorus)
I can’t eat, I can’t sleep,
My mind is running to its own beat.
My heart keeps breaking
With every step I’m taking
Everything is getting in the way
Of what I should be doing everyday
Can you bring me back to the place
Where I first saw your face
(Chorus)
I can’t eat, I can’t sleep,
My mind is running to its own beat.
My heart keeps breaking
With every step I’m taking
(Bridge)
Now I’m gonna give it up to you
I don’t want this burden so tell me what to do
And as I bow my head
I know You have risen from the dead
Only you can save me from my sin
Now I know where to begin
(Chorus)
I can’t eat, I can’t sleep,
My mind is fueling a brand new heat.
My heart keeps beating
Because we’re finally meeting
I said my heart keeps beating
Because we’re finally meeting
Story behind the song: So tonight at Girls’ Bible Study after Monday Madness with the REYG, I basically cried and spilled my guts for half an hour to everyone that came. By the end of Bible Study, a few people were really frustrated about a question that had come up and the frustration was spreading to other people, as well. Afterward, we went of to a member of the REYG’s house to watch a movie and have a fun dance party with everyone that went to Monday Madness.
We didn’t watch a movie, we didn’t have a dance party… A lot of stuff happened that got even more people frustrated and upset. And after we were told to leave an hour early because it just wasn’t a good night, I sat on one of the stairs in front of the house and just cried for 10 minutes before someone came over to talk to me and noticed that I was crying. So, I spilled my guts some more and started crying even more. Because of this, I left feeling frustrated and it just wasn’t a good night. And when I got home, I was trying to figure out what I could do that would calm me down and just get me to realize that God was still there whether I could feel him over my emotions or not. So, I started playing my keyboard and ended up writing this song.
I hope whoever’s reading this liked it and that someone benefits from it. It’s not extremely long, but I think it gets my point across and I think there are a lot of people who need to hear what the song had to say.
Whether you know me or not, if you ever want someone who will listen and try her hardest to help you with anything, just send me a little thing in the comments asking for help because I don’t think anyone should have to suffer alone. It’s the worst feeling and I wouldn’t want anyone else to have to feel that.
I love everyone that’s reading this. :] Toodles!
-Bee-
(PS) I have 9 ant bites on my feet, pray that they stop itching?? =/
As of Saturday, June 28, 2008, I’m a new Rebelutionary. I’m in the process of editing and posting a vid from the conference. I’ll prolly upload it tomorrow, but while you’re waiting. Think on this…
“The ceiling of our expectations is where the floor of our expectations ought to be.”
That needs no explanation, but are you going to do something about it?? Do Hard Things! :D Have a wonderful rest of your weekend. Toodles!
And I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks this. So, if you’re already a reader of my blog, you read last week about my passion for wanting to write a book and how I was amazed that God was showing me my talents for His kingdom. You also know that I had Passport (freshman orientation) Sunday through Tuesday for ACU. Well, I found out at check in that I had over $17,000 in scholarships, I had no idea!
There was a mix up in the admissions office back in May with another Brittany Vaughn wanting to cancel her application and they accidentally canceled mine. Well, I got it all fixed and my application was reinstated, but the program they use for financial services doesn’t accept anymore info on a student after they cancel their application, even reinstatement. So, when we strolled up to the table to ask about the status of my FAFSA, they said they had a bunch of money listed for me, but I was no longer planning on going to ACU. So, we explained the situation and the lady was so nice and got me back on track and handed us a list of all my scholarships and such. She said my award letters would be sent in the mail in a week or two!
Here’s what I got:
According to my FAFSA, my family is only expected to be able to contribute $1,516 for college. So, that left $28,984 to get scholarships and such for. Come to find out, I had an ACU Grant for Journalism that was $6,960, a Subsidized Stafford Loan (which means I may not have to pay it back) that was $3,500, a Federal Pell Grant that was $3,181, and my LTC Scholarship I won which was $1,000! Total that up and it equals $17,181. Now all we need to get loans for is $11,843. How incredible is that??
Please don’t mistake this as me bragging, I’m just trying to show how absolutely, ridiculously amazing God truly is. I didn’t think I was getting any money except for my $1,000 LTC Scholarship, but I got so much mroe than that. It’s always at that moment when you’re sure there’s nothing you can do now and you’re just done trying to do it yourself that God pops up out of no where and shows you how dumb you were for trying in the first place. He’s the only one that can make things happen, we can’t try to make things happen faster or slower, we can’t try to do them ourselves, we just have to turn all our worries and problems over to God. We have to trust that He’ll take care of us. And by golly, if this isn’t a testament of how God really does show up when you need Him the most, then I dunno what is!
Thank you so much, Lord. It is so fascinating to see how much patience and love you hold for you children that you will wait for us to finally hand it over to you. I am so glad I have chosen your path because nothing else can satisfy me. There’s no way I can deny that now. Not before myself, not before my family, not before my friends, not before anybody reading this, and not before God either! I pray that I can hold onto the strong hunger for Christ because I know I need it and I know that I can never satisfy that hunger unless God is dwelling inside of me where he belongs.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday! Toodles!
Here’s something for everyone to watch while I’m away at Passport until Tuesday. Think on this…
Lyrics to the vid:
Dear God
I hate to be a bother, but I gotta say
This world is getting crazier with every day
I hope You’ll hear me out now as I stop and pray
Dear God
People take Your words and try to twist ‘em round
I know You can’t be happy with what’s goin’ down
I’m searchin’ for some answers, but they can’t be found
Can You help me out, dear God
Dear God,
Just the other night I heard somebody say
What’s the use believin’ in You anyway
I guess it was just heartache talkin’ through the pain
It’s a cryin’ shame
Dear God,
I know You’re disappointed in the things we’ve done
Can’t they see the truth that they’re all running from
Try to preach Your message with a loaded gun
What they thinkin’ of, Dear God
Everybody’s searching for an easy solution
They can’t see beyond, the selfish world they’re living in
Your words of love get lost, in all the confusion
But I still believe, someday You’re gonna speak to me
Dear God,
I know You’ve got a million other calls to take
You’re dealing with a lot of things that just won’t wait
But there is one request that I just gotta make
Dear God
Won’t You send a sign down, just to ease my doubt
I’m trying to hear You, but the silence is so loud
I think I see a rainbow from behind the clouds
And I hear You now, dear God
Video is Nicholas Jonas singing “Dear God” At The 51st General Council, 2005
August 2-5, 2005 - Denver, CO
SONG WRITTEN BY: Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken
I hope that song spoke to you as much as it did me. Toodles!
As a Christian and as a teenage girl who ISN’T an idiot, I’m a huge believer in staying sexually pure until marriage. If you’ve been a reader of my blog for a while, you may remember a while back I posted stuff from a Thursday night Bible Study I attend. Well, last night I experienced the best “sex sermon” I’ve EVER heard! If this dude could come to RE and say what he said last night, I’m sure a lot more kids would care about their sexual purity. I’m not saying that the kids in the REYG are having sex, but I have sat through MANY dating series and/or “sex sermons” and don’t get anything from them. The best part of the night?? Think on this…
“Now, most people would think that when a married couple is really excited about having sex that God would be shaking his head and saying, “That’s disgusting!” In all actuality, God’s up there having a krunkfest when married couples want to pleasure each other sexually.”
“Peach cobbler ain’t peach cobbler until it’s the right time. Just like the peach cobbler, sex isn’t good sex until it’s done at the right time.”
Something else that I really liked that he based his “sex sermon” around wasn’t that sex was bad and that unmarried folks shouldn’t do it, but WHY it wasn’t right for unmarried folks to have sex. He painted a great picture by saying that all the people you have sex with will be lined up right beside your future husband/wife on your wedding day. Yeah, think on THAT! I’m stickin’ to my “no sex is safe sex” theory.
Update on the MySpace hacking… I have the new FanSpace up and running and I finished adding all the friends today! :] Thank goodness that’s over, now it’s time to get to work on getting MySpace to delete the other one.
One more thing, I know it’s a day late, but happy 17th birthday, Daniel! :D
I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!!! Toodles!
Isn’t it the best feeling when you get a package in the mail?? I just love those, especially when they’re for me. Thank you so much for sending me the book, Lynn! My dad was just as confused as I was. When I opened the package and saw God On Mute (by Pete Greig) sitting there I got so happy. Especially when I read the little message you left with it.
Now, how can we relay this to something churchy?? Well, think on this…
Jesus was born in a barn, but if you think about how I started this post, that could be a metaphorical “package” that God delivered straight to us. Even though none of us were around when it happened, it’s still such an incredible present to get from someone. And then, to allow that present to intentionally be abused and mistreated, just for the sake of our salvation is mind-blowing.
I strongly encourage everyone to gratefully accept every present they’re given and to cherish them, not abuse or mistreat them. For all we know, they could be beneficial to the Kingdom of God and what we can do to enhance it. Toodles!
-Bee-
(PS) I’m done with high school, my graduation in Saturday and then I am 100% done!
Sunday after church I went over to my best friend’s house and we got into a discussion about the sermon on Sunday (I’ll post the podcast in a future blog once it’s posted to the church website) and we were talking about how great it was and why some people in our church might not have liked it for many different reasons, but somehow I went off on a tangent about my peers at school and how they’ve beaten me down so much just over the course of one school year. By the end I had started talking about my parents and my family and was crying in the middle of my best friend’s kitchen with her whole family trying to comprehend what I was saying.
I have been told that my generation is so screwed up and so apathetic. But ya know what?? I’ve also been told that my generation of Christians is going to be the group that causes a mass revival. Because we’re ready to stand up for our Lord. It is partly due to our apathy, but we try our hardest to say the right things and we don’t give up just because someone says something bad about our Christian morals. (See?? Apathy; we don’t care what people have to say. Perseverance; we’re never giving up!) While I have been beaten down emotionally (and, in a way, spiritually) by my peers, I feel that I have been able to grow from those “attacks” so that I can prepare myself for the next ones to come my way.
This leads me to explain the Rebelution… The link to the blog is over in my Blog Roll, but I’ll post the link to the main site here for double effect. (http://www.therebelution.com)
The official definition of the ‘rebelution’ is “a teenage rebellion against low expectations.” When you look around today, our culture does not expect much of us young people. We are not only expected to do very little that is wise or good, but we’re expected to do the opposite. Our media-saturated youth culture is constantly reinforcing lower and lower standards and expectations.
The word ‘rebelution’ is a combination of the words “rebellion” and “revolution.” So it carries a sense of an uprising against social norms. But in this case, it’s not a rebellion against God-established authority, but against the low expectations of our society. It’s a refusal to be defined by our ungodly, rebellious, and apathetic culture. Actually, we like to think of it as rebelling against rebellion.
And it’s exciting, because the Rebelution has become a type of counter-cultural youth movement among young people from around the world, who are not only rejecting the lies of popular youth culture, but they’re returning to biblical and historical levels of character and competence.
In 1 Timothy 4:12, the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” In other words, as young people we are called to be exemplary in all areas of life. Our generation is falling incredibly short of that calling. Instead of serving as the launching pad of life, the teen years are seen as a vacation from responsibility. We call it the “myth of adolescence.” And the Rebelution is all about busting that myth.
Our battle cry is just three words, but it’s an explosive concept: Do Hard Things. That’s it. And “do hard things” is a mentality. It’s a mentality that flies right in the face of low expectations. The world says, “You’re young, have fun!” It tells us to “obey your thirst” and “just do it.” Or it tells us, “You’re great! You don’t need to exert yourself.” But those kinds of mindsets sabotage character and competence.
Do Hard Things is just the opposite. It’s how we build character and competence. It won’t drop to meet the low expectations, it won’t just do what comes easily, and it won’t become complacent. It applies no matter who you are or what level you’re on, because there’s always something harder to do, something that will take you outside your comfort zone and cause you to grow.
The Rebelution is made up of three fundamental parts. We’ve talked about character and competence. The third is collaboration. It’s not enough for us to be individual exceptions. We have to create a counterculture. We do that by networking and encouraging one another in our common cause. That’s what the Rebelution has become. When you have a community of young people committed to doing hard things for the glory of God and the good of others, that’s an incredibly powerful thing.
The Rebelution presents the youth of today (all across the world) with the challenge of stepping up and staking a claim on their faiths. If you’re going to the Dallas Rebelution Conference, I’ll be there. If you see me, stop me and say hi! I am beyond excited for the conference, I should be getting my book soon. Just thinking about all the possibilities and opportunities God is placing in my life is incredible. Thank you, Lord, I am blessed beyond measure. Have a wonderful weekend! Toodles!
This post is a copy of something I received at a Thursday night Bible Study a few weeks back, but never got around to posting. I think some of us could really learn a thing or two from this…
“I wonder what would happen if you treated your Bible like you treat your cell phones?
What if you used it to stay in contact with someone who was very important to you?
What if you carried it around in your purses or pockets everyday?
What if it never left your side or sight?
What if you felt lost without it?
What if you turned back to go get it if you forgot it somewhere?
What if you flipped through it and used it several times a day?
What if you used it to receive personal messages from the text?
What if you remembered verses like you remember your cell number?
What if you recharged your day like you recharge your cell battery?
What if you treated it like you couldn’t live without it?
What if you gave it to someone as a gift?
What if you used it as you traveled to stay connected?
What if you used it in case of an emergency?
What if you upgraded to get the latest version?
What if you panicked when you couldn’t find it?
It is obvious the cell phone has the power to change the way of life for those who have one; just imagine what the Bible would do.
This is something to make you go… Hmm, where’s my Bible?
Oh, and noe more thing. Unlike your cell phone, you don’t ever have to worry about your Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid every bill!”
I’m not trying to say that some of you don’t do that with your Bible already, but I know for the vast majority of teenagers and 20-somethings, the Bible isn’t really anything to them, whether they’re Christian or not.
As I was reading this, I realized I don’t wanna treat my Bible like my cell phone… I throw it around when I get angry at someone that called me and I don’t really appreciate it like I should. I cherish my Bible, it’s one of my prized possessions. And not just because it’s really pretty and pink…
Anywho, I hope that made a few people open their eyes and say, “Hmm, where’s my Bible?” Toodles!
The website I found this poem on said it was one of the most classic motivational poems, but I’ve never heard it before. So, I thought someone else would like to read it as well. :]
“I am a soldier in the army of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my commanding officer. The Holy Bible is my Code of Conduct. Faith, prayer, and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire.
I am a volunteer in this army and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this army at the rapture or die in this army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out, or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. If He needs me in the Sunday school, to teach the children, work with the youth, help adults or just sit and learn, He can use me because I am there.
I am a soldier. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or pepped up. I am a soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me. I am a soldier. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name, and building His kingdom! No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or give me handouts. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to. I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around. I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.
When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing, I will still come out ahead. I will win. My God has and will continue to supply all of my need. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. The devil cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me and hell cannot handle me. I am a soldier. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my Commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to Captain and then allow me to rule with Him. I am a soldier in the army, and Im marching, claiming victory. I will not give up. I will not run around. I am a soldier, marching heaven bound.” - B.J. Morbitzer
I’d also like to take this time to remember our soldiers fighting for our country. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Memorial Day. Toodles!
I don’t have much to say today, excect that I only have 6 days of high school left!!! And with that, I would like you all to think on this…
I have been having a lot of personal problems lately and Sunday morning my Youth Minister shared a story of man that basically lost everything. He wrote a song that is very popular and very well known in the world of Christian hymns.
I pray that I, too, will be able to say these words one day. I also pray that anyone reading this blog may be touched and that you, too, will be able to sing these lyrics even amidst the hardest of trials. Have a wonderful weekend! Toodles!
