Here's My Heart

This song is so awesome. Check it out :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdczCyVr8j0

And the Thunder Rolls...

Yesterday afternoon I checked the weather. The weather site predicted there was a 30% chance of rain, and that there might be light wind and thunderstorms. Well. They were SO wrong.
Around 10 o'clock last night I heard some slight thunder, so I went out to put the horses up in their stalls. As I was out there, I saw tons of lightning; and it was close.
I came inside and told my parents, then went onto facebook and wrote, "It's thundering!!! :O"
Soon after, my friend asked if it had rained yet. I said no. But literally ten minutes after I replied....
Sitting in bed, I heard the rain. It was POURING. No. Joke. I jumped out of bed and ran to tell my parents. They were happy but told me to go back to bed. I got back in bed, but I just could not sit there! I went through my door-that-used-to-be-a-window and slightly opened the back door. For about five minutes I stood there watching the lightning and listening to the pounding rain. But all of a sudden, there was a blinding flash. A monster strike of lightning lit up the sky, and as soon as it struck there was a majorly loud, crashing, splitting, jerking, thunderclap. :) And I mean, this thing was LOUD. It was insane. It stinkin knocked the power out! Thankfully it came back on.
Oh man though, the lightning bolt was something. It had one big, long, blueish yellow bolt, with tons of other ones coming out from it. And it was CLOSE. I swear, I could feel it's power. That sounds kind of crazy and cheesy, but that really what it felt like. It was so dang close. How do I know? 1. The thunder was extremely loud and came RIGHT after the strike.
2. It was right there smack in front of me!
It made me and 3 of our 4 dogs standing around me all jump.
I shut the door, and walked quickly to my parents' room with the dogs right behind me. I almost felt like I was going to cry or something. I marched into their room and said, ''I SAW THAT!!!!'' Then went on trying to explain it. My brother soon came into the room also. At one point, I looked down, and my Dachshund, Honey, was looking up at me terrified. So I picked her up. Eventually I went back to my room. Not for long ;)
My brother and I went and stood by the back door and watched some more lightning. Finally we went to bed. I could not fall asleep. My bed faces my only window, of which was being lit up by the lightning. A brilliant idea came to my mind. I ran and got my camera and recorded some of the rain and lightning. :) Satisfied, I, for the last time, got into bed. By this time, it had been pouring non-stop for about an hour.
Once again though, I couldn't fall asleep. Partly because my window was flashing at me every 2 seconds, and because I had Should've Been A Cowboy by Toby Keith stuck in my head, and because I kept thinking about what I was going to write! I narrate stuff in my head, and I can't stop. (At least I didn't have 'The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes'...stuck in my head...)
So laying in bed, I had Oreo at the foot of my bed, snoring away. Then Daisy, my dog that is scared of thunder, laying next to me. And I had Honey laying as close as possible to me. (Her idea not mine.)
And finally...I fell....asleep. :)
But! I woke up at 5 a.m. It was raining. And thundering.
I fell back asleep around 6, and had to get up at 7. :)
This all reminds me of a time in Texas, almost ten years ago. We were visiting my Uncle Jason and Aunt Debbie. One night, there was a thunderstorm. This was no ordinary thunderstorm though I must warn you. This thunder was BEYOND LOUD. I mean, seriously, Jason went outside numerous times because he thought the lightning had struck something close by; that's how loud it was! The thunder made many car alarms go off, and it really, truly sounded like the neighbor's house had been hit. Or, blown up for that matter.
Later when we went to bed, I remember laying down thinking 'How am I going to fall asleep?!'
Every time the thunder boomed, I made some sort of noise....'gasp'...'Oh my goodness!'..."Mom!" ..."Did you hear that?!"....well you get the picture. My mom on the other hand was unbothered by it all. She quickly fell asleep.
When I woke up in the morning, I learned that my cousin(I can't remember how old she was then...young like 2 maybe?) had slept through the whole storm.
They were right when they said everything is bigger in Texas!

I prayed so many times last night...'God keep the neighbors safe, and our house, and all the horses...God this is amazing, I love it..keep us safe though!"...
And He did. :)
But wow, what a night. It was incredible.
There's a surprise at the end of this one ;)
But the sound you hear is the rain. Yes, it was that loud against the door.


This one is THE BEST. It too has a surprise at the end. This was when I was standing at my window recording lol. And well...you'll see...and hear... ;)

And so that was my night....

School.....

.......So. School starts tomorrow. I am somewhat excited. It gives me something to do...And I like the grammar and literature and history parts...just not the math. I'm not too sure about the Chemistry yet either haha. I definitely know I'm not ready to start getting up early again. But I'm excited for Keys. :)
I'll write later this week. See how then these two posts compare ;)

During the GO trip every night we would have a 'holy huddle'. Darius would teach a lesson. I wanted to share what he taught.

The more tired I am, the less patience I will have.

Just because I'm obedient to God doesn't mean I won't suffer.

Patience=Long suffering. 2 Timothy 3:12 - In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted

I am rich. Ecclesiastes 5:10Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.

God wants me to use my money to benefit others.

Don't love money.

Desire a great name over great riches.

God wants us to continually be in communication with Him. James 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

God wants me to understand why I'm going through a trial and how He can use it for His glory.

Prayer can remove my problem or give me the grace I need to get through the situation.

Get righteous people to pray for me.

Just because I grow in age, doesn't mean I'll grow in maturity.

If I'm growing in my fiath, everyday, I should be more like Jesus than I was the day before.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Don't conform, be transformed.

Honestly evaluate my life in light of God's word.

Hear and do what God teaches you.

Have an awareness that extra trials will come.

Just because a kid doesn't start a relationship with Christ, doesn't mean they weren't listening.

God can bring good through bad circumstances.

Allow God to scatter me where He wasnts me to be.

So that's it! Great reminders. :)

Thankful

So this last month, being at camp and all, I heard a lot of people talk about stuff that was going on in their lives. Most of it bad. And after a while, it started to bother me. We have SO much to be thankful for, and yet they continue to complain about some thing in their life and ignore all the things that are actually good.
I'm not saying I don't complain about stuff...I've just finally realized what I have.
Here's some things you can be thankful for, even when things aren't great.
-That God DIED for you, and He loves you and is ALWAYS there for you.
-Your family. It may be a bit messed up haha but family is family!
-Your parents. They may be divorced, or you may have only one, but at least you have them. There are thousands of orphans, and here you are with parents and you hardly thank them for everything they do for you.
-Your friends. Do I really need to explain that one?
-A house. A bed. Clothes. FOOD.
-AIR CONDITIONING!
-Money. You may never have 'enough' but you always seem to get through...(thank God for that one...)
-Pets. Seriously, pets can bring so much joy.
-A phone, or computer.
-Music. You may not obsess over music as much as I do, but everyone loves music.
-Church. My church isn't even in it's own building! But I love it, and God uses it.
-Knowing that no matter what happens, you will always have God. I remember Tasha and Christina said something a few weeks ago at church...It was that once we have accepted Christ, He is always in us. So wherever we are, no matter what is going on, He is with us.
-Knowing that when you die, you are going to the best place-Heaven.
-Your health. Most of us aren't seriously sick or anything, right?
-Our country's freedom. And really, Obama hasn't done anything too crazy yet has he? :P
-Religious freedom. We don't have to worry about being killed or punished for following God, unlike other countries.

So you see, we really have a lot to be thankful for. And the Bible says to praise God, even in the storms. :)

Verses

Wow, two posts in a day!
So I've been doing this thing where when I'm really bored or I just don't know what to do about something, I read a chapter of the Bible and write down everything that stood out....Here's some from today.

Proverbs 16:2-3 all the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Proverbs 16: 11 A just balance and scales belong to the Lord; All the weights of the bag are His concern.

Proverbs 16:17-18 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Proverbs 16:23 The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds persuasiveness to his lips.

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.

Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is god medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:27 He who restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

-Hayley

Viruses of Life

So we found out my computer has over 60 viruses. Wow. And what's weird is that I have virus protection on it. Apparently it hasn't worked haha.
But this reminds me of something; God is like virus protection...He's always there for us and He protects us. But sometimes He lets stuff happen to us. :)
That's why we need to trust Him and follow Him.
There's this verse I haven't been able to forget this past week. It's Psalm 66:15 As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me.

Something cool that's happened--I'm saving up money for that super awesome camera I want. The problem was that I didn't really have a way of getting more money. I'm trying to sell some old show clothes but that hasn't gone anywhere. But I got a call on Monday from this lady I've babysat for and she asked if I could babysit every Monday in July from like 7:30 to 5. Of course I said yes! And then today I got asked to babysit tomorrow for someone. :) So now I'm going to have some more money. But I have a plan. Since we're going to the Grand Canyon in two weeks, and camp is in 3 weeks, I have decided to buy a smaller digital camera to have until I can get the big one. Haha I'm trying to decide between 3 Nikon's. Guess I'll decide at the store...

As you might be thinking, yes I am on my mom's computer. Haha which is a twin of mine.
Tonight is Mall Madness for church. Can't wait!

-Hayley