My Birthday Visit

         It was 4 o'clock in the morning and I was sleeping soundly in my bed, today was my 18th birthday! I woke up and could feel that there was someone in my room with me! I finally got the courage to get up and turn on my lamp and when I did I could see a dark shadow of what looked like a man! I recognized that shadow it had been in my bedroom once before, it was in my room the night of my 13th birthday almost around the same time! The shadow started talking to me, he kept telling me that my life was now in my hands and that I could do whatever I wanted! I immediately remembered who this shadow was and I knew exactly how to get him out of my room! This shadow was a man that nobody ever wants to meet, this shadow was Satan himself coming back to haunt me with all the memories of my past and how I could change the future if I just took my life into my own hands! I got out my Bible and began to read from John Chapter 1 and I kept reading it and as he would get louder, I would get even louder! When I finished reading I prayed a simple prayer out loud and yelled, "Satan leave me alone!" He was gone, I felt the shadow leave out my window and I knew God had worked yet another miracle in my life! Satan had come back for another chance to make me turn away from God, but God has done so much in my life and I have seen him work miracles in my life, I will never turn my back on Him! I am determined to follow Jesus! I'm sure on my 21st birthday I'll have the same visit and I will send him away again! Never turn your back on God! Knowing the feeling I know from Satan visiting me as a shadow, I can only imagine all the torture he is in Hell! I'm gonna go to Heaven and see my Jesus!

GIRLS ONLY!!!

          Girls this one is for us! We really need to be careful how we dress and how we act cause we effect the guys more than we ever realize! We are the temptation that they don't need especially if your suppose to be a girl that should dress modestly. They get enough just leaving the house they don't need it from the girls in their church. The devil can use us for worse things than we want to imagine! In my research pretty much every guy is tempted a lot more than they will ever tell anyone. Girls it's up to us to start making sure that we don't make it worse. Guys can't do everything to fix it cause the don't do everything to cause it. Girls lets clean out our closets and help these guys out.

The Cabin

         There is a little log cabin in the middle of the woods in the middle of no where. Inside this cabin is a fireplace with a couch in front of it and a small kitchen and a little bathroom and a loft with a bed up there. The decor is all very western and you can always here country love songs playing. It is the home of an adorable newly married couple that have only been married for 2 months. Outside of this cabin you will find a creek and a large field of flowers and a hammock hanging between two trees. There are always animals and birds making noises and it is so peaceful. Inside once again you can see the happy couple dancing to their love song. The look in their eyes and the smiles on their faces show just how much love and respect they have for one another. It is so amazing that it makes you want it yourself. He tells her all this precious things that make her feel so special. He treats her like any girl wants to be treated. They don't have alot of money but they have something much greater than money. They have each other and a God that has brought them together and has made them both so happy even wtihout all the shiney things of this world. Oh and did I mention that there is no electricity in this cabin so all their light comes from candles. They have a romantic dinner by the fireplace every night during the winter and they have dinner out on the front porch every night in the summer. They are so greatful and feel they have been so blessed that it makes everyone else want to move into a cabin in the middle of nowhere with no electricity. She is kissed goodnight every night and good morning every morning. She is treated so well and she feels like a princess even without being showered with gifts of this world. God has greatly blessed her with a wonderful husband

Liberty & Freedom

          We fight for our lives. We don't back down. We are America, we don't give up. America is where I was born and raised and I'm proud of it. Where else would I have the freedom and privelege to be writing this right now or be raised in a Christian home or even call myself a Christian or be able to have a say in who is in control of my country? Is there any other country where I can have so many shoes and still have money? Americas title is "The land of the free and the home of the brave" but we were not just given that title, we had to earn it. How we earned our title is through fighting many wars and battles for freedom and liberty. Many great men and women have given their lives for that title and this countrys freedom. So many families have lost moms, dads, brothers, and sisters and it pains me when I see people be so disrespectful to these people and their families. If you are proud to be an American then you should show it. Wave this countrys colors from the highest point, don't disrespect this country by hiding in a little box, but I don't ever want any of us to forget the real reason we are all here and the person who actually gave us our freedom. Without him we wouldn't have our heros, but He is the biggest hero of all.
        Over two thousand years ago on a little hill in a small town a battle was raging between good and evil, between darkness and light. It was the biggest battle of all time and would be study by many people for many years to come. It was a battle that took place hanging on a tree in the middle of two theives that deserved death. This was the battle that would set all men and women free from the biggest bondage of all, sin. Here in America we have a statue of liberty and sometimes we just call her "Lady Liberty" but in my own heart I also have a statue of liberty and I just call it "The Cross and the blood." We as Americans have done a lot to make sure that people know that we are proud to be Americans, but we as Christians don't seem to do so well at letting people know that we are proud to Christians. If you look back through history the biggest battle were not fought for the freedom of America, the biggest battle was the one fought for our souls. So we need to raise our banner and raise it higher than any other. Rememeber Jesus our hero who gave his own life for ours. God has given us a banner to fly so lets fly it high, lets prove to people that we as Christians are free because of one man dying for us. Let us show them the joy that being free from sin can bring, lets life our lives pure and holy. Lets give God all the glory and not just some random person who found out that moldy bread can actually make a person feel better. Lets give this life all we have.
         I have spent several years trying to figure out what God's plan is for my life and no I still don't have it completely figured out although I am starting to get a small glimpse as to what I am suppose to do. I'm not a person who is really great at communicating a poin or even just communicating in general. God has given me so many gifts, but I don't use them cause I'm so scared of what poeple might think of me if I mess up just a little, so I keep my gifts in a box and don't use them to give God any glory and that is not what He gave them to me. We all, including myself, need to learn to just forget about what people will think and take our gifts out of the box and use them to bring glory to God, the one person who deserves everything we have. It's time we all take a stand and just be us and be who God created us to be, not what people want us to be.

The Letter

                 "Hi there my name is Callie and I want to share with you a wonderful story about a simple romance and a simple little letter."

       "Sarah was just an average 18 year old girl, she had found herself a very handsome boyfriend, Nathan, and he was perfect to her. She was also about to graduate from high school. Nathan was so proud of her and he was so excited for her that he didn't know if he could tell her the news that he had for her. He knew exactly what her reaction would be he just didn't know if he could take it. So instead of telling her this news in person Nathan decided to write her a simple letter. He would give Sarah the letter after her graduation and just before he left. Sarah was very nervous about graduation, but she didn't the surprise that awaited her after graduation. This would be the biggest surprise of all and would change her life in so many more ways than graduating from high school. Nathans letter had more in it than she could ever imagine if she knew he was giving it to her. Graduation was over and so was the party and everyone else had gone but Nathan stayed a little longer to help clean up. As he was leaving he gave her the letter and as he huged her he whispered not to open it till she got home. It was the end of the night and everything was cleaned up so Sarah headed home. When she arrived home she stayed in her car for a little while and she opened the letter from Nathan and this is what she read."
        "My dearest Sarah,
             I am writting you this letter because I don't think I could handle your reaction to what I am about to tell you. I'm leaving for aproximently two years, I have joined the Navy. By the time you are reading this letter I will already be gone. I am so sorry I couldn't tell you face to face. Please don't cry, I promise to do my best stay safe and I won't forget you and I will always love you no matter what. Stay strong and I will be home before ya know it.
                                        
                                                             Love always,
                                                                        Nathan"
      
       "As Sarah finished the letter tears were running down her cheek. She was afraid now that she would never see Nathan again. Tonight could be her last night to ever look into those deep blue eyes. Sarah began to think of all the times she took advantage of having Nathan there with her all the time. In two years wheather she had heard from him or not she would be down at the harbor looking for her Nathan."

     "Twenty years have gone by since then and Sarah was at the harbor and did find Nathan and they are now happily married with two lovely children, Thank you for reading this story about how love can last any distance for any length of time."

Military Man

    The red, white, and blue flying high in the bright blue sky. You kissed him goodbye for the last time. He was on his way to fly high in the sky in a military plane. You knew you would never see him again. He knew what you were thinking and he pretended to be strong, he knew just as much as you that this just might be the last time he ever looked into those beautiful big brown eyes and kissed you. He knew what he was getting himself into, he just didn't like to share his fear with you. As he began to walk away he looked back and saw a tear fall from you eye, he ran to you and kissed you for one last time. You both knew what he was doing and neither one of you wanted the other know just how much you feared that you would never see each other again. He had chosen to be a military man and you knew that when you married him. He knew all the pain you would go through and it almost killed him daily. He didn't understand how a sweet, innocent, beautiful young lady could marry someone she might never see after being married for only two months. He had almost given up his dream, but you knew what he was thinking and you didn't want to take away his dream. He left that day and you didn't see each other for ten months. He returned for a six week period of time and you both enjoyed that time together, laughing, smiling, and giggling together and having fun. The call came again for him to leave and this time it was for two years. He knew the call would come but he never imagined so soon. Life had taken a new turn once again. You knew what you had to do, you had to be strong for him and for yourself. This time your goodbye would be very different than the last. You had so much you wanted to tell him before he had to leave in two days. You were the wife of a military man, which meant you had to be strong no matter what life handed you. The two days went by so fast and there you were once again at the airport in the same place you were a year ago. He looked at you again and stroked your long brown curls and looked deep into your eyes and this time he knew the pain went so much deeper than the last. You looked into those baby blue eyes and knew exactly what he was thinking so you looked at him and said, "You are a military man and I knew that. So go do what you have to do and when you get back I'll be waiting for you." It was time to let go once again.

Solider's Wife

     The sun was beating down on your back, and there were people everywhere. You had a picnic all packed in a basket, blanket and all. The flag with the colors red, white, and blue was flying high the sky everywere you would look. Today was the day that you would celebrate your freedom. Some people called it the Fourth of July, you just called the day he might die. Your husband has been gone for two years. You had gone with him to the airport on the warm August day, he had looked at you with that gleam in his eyes. You looked at him and just smiled as he leaned down to kiss you for a final goodbye kiss. There was no way you could tell him what would be waiting for him when he finally came back, if he made it back at all. They had told you that today would be the day that he would come back. They never told you a time, they just said they would give you a call. As you walked in the park you were holding the small, still fragile hand of the two year old surprise that he would soon find. You have a son that you never got the chance to tell your husband about. Your younge son would soon see his daddy for the first time and see just how much they looked alike. You didn't know what he would say or what he would do, you just knew the way he would look at you. The two years of being so far away just waiting for the day when the call came. You prayed every day all day that you wouldn't get that call today. As the parade began and your son reached for some candy, you looked up to see who was at the front of the parade. You jumped with excitment and screamed and ran to meet him no matter what people would say. He had finally come home and he was finally safe, he could hold in his arms again tonight. He leaned down and gave you a kiss. Your son came running up to you yelling for you. As he reached you he looked up and saw his daddy and realized just who it was he started yelling, 'daddy, daddy!" you looked as his daddy and he looked at you. He picked up the younge little boy and hugged you. As you walked back to your seat reunited once again, you had the biggest grin. Your family meant the world to you and your freedom was because of what your family had been through.