About Me

Hi, my name is Emily. I am 18 and I'm a Christian. I live with my mom and dad. I have three siblings; Matthew, Michael, and Amy. The mission of this blog is to prove that you can dress inexpensively and modestly in an attractive way. But more importantly, to share the gospel. I hope I encourage you as I write. So, join me as I go about being a Teen for the Lord.






Monday
Mom's the Word - Good Morning Monday

Thrift Store Faith

 Hi everyone!  

A few weeks ago I heard a sermon about Thrift Store Faith. What is that? 

 A lot of people have purchased second hand faith from their parents. They just call themselves  Christians, going to church just because that's what they have always done. There is no personal commitment. 

 So how do we avoid it? 

 1# Discover it.

  You have to want it. To seek it out. And ask yourself if you really are a Christian or are you just going off what people have told you in the past. Is it real? Once you have decided this you're ready for the next step.

  2# Own it.

  When you buy something second hand, you don't take care of it half as well as if they had bought it second hand or borrowed. They don't clean it or take special care of it. Many people have done that with God, going to church and calling themselves because their parents were Christians and they haven't done anything that terrible. That's a good way to get God to say, "I never knew you." That's the point. To know Him. You have to have your own relationship with God. And you have to own that relationship. Take care of it. Scrub and scrub at the dirty spots and polish it until it reflects His light. 

  3# Live it.

  Now you have live it out. Listen to His words in your Bible and your spirit. Do things just to make Him smile. Obey Him when He gives you a mission, no matter how minuscule or magnificent. He will only give you what you can handle, so don't stress it. If you're going through a really rough spot, guess what? Your almighty Father is recognizing your strength. Count it all joy when you have trials. The testing of your faith produces patience. Let patience have it's perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (Paraphrased from James 1:2-4. One of my favorite versus!) This rough spot is to strengthen you in your faith and bring you into Shalom. Nothing lacking, nothing missing, nothing broken. 

  So do you have a real personal relationship with God? 

  Or do you have Thrift store faith? 

  Or no faith?

  If you already truly love our Father, I'm truly am glad. If you don't, I am smiling as I type just thinking about this opportunity for you to meet Him. Can I help you, please? If you'll allow me to introduce you, I am sure your life will change dramatically. And it will be a beautiful thing to behold! Are you ready? Say this out loud to your Father who loves you more than life itself. That's why He died for you. Love.

  

  God,

  I know that I have hurt you in the past when I sinned against you. I want to have a sincere relationship with You from now on. I want to love You and to feel Your incredible love for me. 

  I believe your Son died on the cross to pay for my sins. I believe He rose again to defeat Death. 

  I repent of my sins against You. Please forgive me. Change my heart and let me see things through Your eyes.

  Thank You!

  Amen

  If you just said that sincerely to our Father, then welcome to the family! 

 Here's the next steps: If you don't have a Bible, get one. If you don't have a home church find one. 

 If you left church because you were hurt of offended remember, people hurt you because of their own brokenness. Just because one church hurt you, it does not mean you will only get hurt at the next one. 

 God bless you and guide you!

 Happy Easter everyone!

 Teen for the Lord 


No Rules

Stepping Forward

Saturday is my 18th birthday. I am in my senior year of high school, and I don't know for sure what I want to do! I have lots of interests but I haven't had any "ah-ha" moments about my divine calling in life. 

Guess what!

  I'm not worried!

 I'm not freaking out about what I'm going to do next. But I was last semester. So what happened?

 I took a step forward.

When you are stuck in a rut, you have to take a step forward. 

For me, it was as simple as signing up for dual enrollment classes with our community college. It wasn't a huge step, but I finally felt like I was getting somewhere. I was making progress in a tangible way. 

That's what God taught me over the summer.

Take the next step. 

Don't spend your time worrying about the far, distant future. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Worrying about it will only get you stuck deeper in your rut. 

Take the next step, what ever that may be. 

It may be cooking dinner. Changing a diaper. Potty training. High school. College. 

WHATEVER IT IS!

All you are asked to do is take a step every day and depend on God to keep you in the right path. 

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE STUCK IN YOUR RUT ANYMORE!

     If you feel stuck... 

Take a running step forward!

God Bless!

Emily