Hypocrite

"Do as I say, not as I do."
That saying is absolutely ridiculous! How can anyone expect someone else to do what they can't even do themselves? It's so easy for us to see the stick in someone else's eye before we see the plank in our own. It's easy to give good advice but when advice is given to you, it's sometimes hard to take. That's where we become hypocritical as human beings. We seem to know what's right for everyone else, what's wrong with their life, why it's like that, how to fix it, what to do and what not to do, it all comes so easy until it circles around and you're the one on the other end. It's hard to listen to advice from someone who doesn't listen to it themselve. I want to be someone my friends feel comfortable going to for advice and I want them to be able to trust that I will listen to my own advice. In an odd way, giving advice forces me to hold myself accountable to certain things because I don't want to be a hypocrite. I think its definitely a good thing and I've gotta give props to the Holy Spirit for making my conscience so conscience-y. Sometimes I hate it in the moment, but later on, I'm thankful for it. I value the advice I get from anyone, but I value it even more if the person takes their own advice.

Refocus

This Chirstmas Break has been a lot of fun! I've got to spend a lot of time with my family and God and some time with my friends. I've got to stay up and sleep in (yep, i'm a total night owl). I wore sweats almost every day, I watched an unhealthy amount of movies, and I didn't do any of my school work that is due Monday. I also spent a lot of time with myself, alone, in the quiet, left with nothing but my mind (sometimes that gets scary because I don't understand how I begin to think of the things I think about. For example, the other day I was thinking about how I would go about robbing a bank. Don't worry, I'm not going to, but I think I could do a whole lot better job then some of the bank robbers we've got runnin around today. Justtt sayin). Anyways, over break, I've taken the time to refocus. It's so easy for me to go through a whole semester of school and forget why I'm here. I get so caught up in my school work, grades, friends, activities, and even church, that its often hard for me step back and spend time alone with God. So, I really made a point this break to take time to bring my focus back to what really matters.

I've focused more on spending time with my family. And realizing how important and sacred that time spent together can be. And not to mention a lot of fun!!

I've focused on being ME. Not the person I am when I'm around a lot of people, not the person I wish I was, not the person I think I am, but who I am. I find myself getting lost in personalities that aren't really me and getting caught up in other people's opinions of me that really don't matter. It was nice to remind myself of who I am right now, so I can start moving forward to become who God wants me to be.

I've took the time to refocus and fix my eyes on the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Prince of peace, the One who satisfies all of my needs, wants, and desires. He truely is all I need. He is more than enough for me.

I was able to focus on things that really matter without all the stress and craziness that comes along with school. I think I'm ready to tackle the second half of this school year.
98 more school days until summer. Ice gots dissss.

2011

Happy New Year to all 3 of you who will actually read this!
It's 2011 now and I am really looking forward to this year! I'm excited to see what all God has in store for me this year! Here's some things i'm looking forward to this year--

-my 16th birthday

-taking the SAT (okay, so i'm not really looking forward to this...but it's something big that's happening)

-spring break in Florida with my family, Jordan, the Usenicks, Celia, Kelly, some of my cousins, and old friends.

-finishing up my sophomore year of high school

-sweeeeet summa timeeee

-getting my liscense!!

-starting my junior year

-Christmas! (yeah, i look forward to it a year in advance)


this year is gonna be a gooooood year(:

Looking Back - 2010

Looking back on this past year, it was a really fun, challenging, crazy, busy, and awesome year!!! I grew a lot closer to many of my friends and i formed many new friendships, i experienced new things, i was challenged in ways i never thought i would be, and God revealed himself to me in ways i never knew were possible. Here were some of my highlights from this past year--

I survived my first (and only) year of Penn Choir. (yes, that was a BIG accomplishment and it is noteworthy)

I was able to invite one of my best friends, Jordan, to go on spring break with my family and I.


I went parasailing for the first time and it was sooo much fun!!!

I went on the Breathe retreat with some of my closest friends. It gave me a chance to spend a lot of time alone with God and it really helped me in my spiritual walk.

I was a counselor for the first time at Camp Adventure and I had the most amazing group everrrr!!! I love every one of them and it was one of the best weeks of my life!!

I went on my first mission trip to Chicago with an AMAZING team! I had SO much fun and I gained a lot of really close relationships.

EMILY CAN DRIIIIIIIVE!!! (yeah, its exciting)

I went to the beach a lotttt! And I got to spend a lottt of time with Emily and Olivia this summer!

I got to see my friends off to Nashville on their mission trip!

And although I didnt go, I wasnt forgotten (:


I was a bridesmaid in my cousins wedding


the CHOCOLATE obsession began...


we had the first official randomness party!!! and we made a new friend, (pictured above) SK!

we were robbers for halloweeeeeeeeeeeen

I was a leader at Renewal and had an AWESOME group of girls!!

Piper Noel was welcomed into the Jacquay family (:

and I continue to be apart of the best small group!!!

Gooooooodbyeeeee 2010.

Not any 2 people in the world have EXACTLY the same faith. We may have the same foundation, key points, ect, but somewhere there will be differences. On Friday, I had some of my closest friends at my house and somehow, as it often does, we started having an actual conversation that didnt include boys, gossip, yadda yadda, blah blah. (which, by the way, i rrreally like that my friends and i are first, able to have a conversation like that, and second, that we do have conversations like that). This conversation, i must say, was probably the most intense one we've ever had. and i LOVED it! Some things I took away from the conversation (without going into the depth of what we discussed) are this:
-within my friend group, we have different opinions and views, and that is okay! it's awesome actually!!
-i learn A LOT from my friends
-we all are VERY opinionated, which makes for a very interesting conversation
-we are all VERY stubborn and thick-headed, which also makes for a very interesting conversation
-even with that, we were able to listen to each other and learn from each other.
-i'm so thankful that my friends and i can talk like this, knowing we mean nothing personally
-i love it that we can have conversation that is actually meaningful and worthwhile
-and for all of this to happen, we didnt need to be lead and we didnt need to be in any special enviornment

basically, i'm really glad that what happened on Friday night, happened. I was strethched, I grew, I was challenged, I learned, and I think my other friends can say the same

Halloweeeeeeeeen

so there's a few years missing...but i promise you, i have dressed up every year of my life. 16 halloweens. and i plan to keep dressing up and trick-or-treating until i am no longer allowed to (which may possibly be next year because i was informed monday that there is a law being passed about not being able to trick-or-treat unless you are 12 or under. that seriously ruined my day. i'm not even kidding you the slightest bit) dressing up in outfits you can't wear any other day of the year without getting weird looks, seeing other creative costumes, and FREE CANDY! yeah, halloween has been good to me these past 16 years...

CAMP ADVENTURE!

(yes, i realize this post is like 2 months late, but ya know what? this is my blog, meaning i write my posts whenever i feel like it. and now is when i feel like it (: )

CAMP ADVENTURE 2010 WAS THE BEST WEEK OF CAMP EVVVVVVERRRRRR!!!!!!!

I was finally a couselor and in a cabin with one of my best friends!


I had the best co-co everrrr!


I had the most amazing group of campers!!


I got to spend the week with some of my best friends




I was apart of an amazing group!


and my faith and relationship with God was stretched and strengthened so, so much.
I learned that I have limitations. I found those limitations and had to rely ENTIRELY on God for patience, energy, wisdom, and strength. I had to give everything to God because I didn't know what else to do. I learned from DC, Johnny, and Mark. I learned from my co-co, Jordan. I learned from my cabin mate, Jordan. I learned from my campers. I learned from other counselors. I learned from God. I was called out of my comfort zone. I had to be a leader, but I learned that I wasn't alone; God was with me the whole week, leading me to lead. I was able to let go of things from the past. I was able to get rid of some distractions. I saw my campers grow closer to Christ. I was making a difference in the Kingdom of God. I was able to rekindle my passion for Christ and help pour fuel onto others' fire.
It was the most amazing week of camp everrrrrrr!!! seriously. i'm not even kidding. it was awesome. just kidding, awesome can't even begin to descibe it. so every word better then awesome plus awesome put together times 58695224 thousand is what camp was. yeah. it was that good.

hats!

As i was looking through some of my pictures, i noticed that my friends and i like to find odd looking hats, put them on, and then take pictures of ourselves in the hats.






or giraffe masks..











and i've now also realized that all of these pictures are with jordan or olivia. hahahaha and that is why they are my best friends (: