Im still here!!

I have been crazy with work and life, but I promise to be back soon! 

Watch this! http://vimeo.com/11560198 

Love, Annie

the fam dontcha know :)

Would You like to meet my family? They happen to be my most favorite people in the whole world!!!

First, My parents. Rick and Joyce. He's salt, she's pepper. He's a racer, she's a musician, you get the idea. They both are really funny in their own way haha. 

 My brother. My Matthew, he's the only brother I have.. I love him so much!!! He's a manly man to the core. He loves his truck, car, snowmobile, and motorcycle almost as much as he loves his family :) He's quiet until you get him going, then he is so funny!!

Jeni or "my twin" she's the oldest of the sisters. She's really funny, very good with kids and makes uber delish food!! She has a good fashion sense and is great homemaker like my mom!  Oh yeah, she can pout with the best of them haha. Jason (my brother in law) will be covered here too since he's Jeni's husband. I have known him for oh.. about 3 or 4 years now. He's super smart and loves reading. He makes Phase Ten an even better game! He will pretty much hang with any of us.. that my friend takes a man :) He's really funny and when he and Jeni start tag teaming you will laugh till you cry and that's a 100% guarantee! I love having him in the family!

Oh Mandy. She is one of the happiest people I know! She has one of the best smiles ever :D. She's the business girl of my family and is a hard worker and loves her job. She can sing super well and has excellent taste in the automobile department! She's always up to do something and when she's along it make it even more fun!

Kristi. She's the one that took after my mom in the whole music thing. When it comes to piano, shes crazy good folks.. crazay. She's a painter and can sing and she's super smart and fun! She is probably going to Liberty this year... Lets just say there's a good chance I will be lost for a good while without her!

Melody. She is the youngest. She takes after me which means she's got her some spunk! She is taking violin and nailing it! She has recently started playing piano and seems to be taking after Kristi and is doing really well! She is fun to have around and it's fun having a shadow :)

I know, a dog..... really? Well she is a part of our family I guess. Meet Jazmin (shaw, papes, shawster, jazz,) 15 pounds of fury. She kind of drives me nuts at times but over all we all love her very much!

Well there you have it. My family! They're kind of a big deal :) and I love them so very much!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Annie

Reality Check!

  Let me paint two pictures to you. First, a girl who looks to be about 16. Jeans, sweatshirt, high ponytail, sitting on her favorite couch with a pillow on her lap helping to support the macbook pro. Shoes on her feet blankets thrown around her. The smell and warmth of a hot fire to her right. She's got more clothes in her room then she could wear in a week. She's got food in the fridge and a mom and a dad who love each other. Oh yeah and she's got a house.. No wait, she has a home. Second picture. Another girl, looks to be about 15 a t-shirt, jeans, worn out shoes, messy hair, she has no mom and no dad, she does not have a computer, she does not have baskets of clothes. And she does not have a home, she has shelters, her only help is from strangers. She is weak, afraid, tired, and alone. She is just one of the 50,000 homeless teenagers in America. (www.endhomelessness.org)

  Why do we hide our faces from these kinds of people? Do we not want to see their pain? Do we not like the feeling of guilt when we realize that we have cared way more about ourselves then others?

There are 671, 859 homeless people in America. (www.endhomelessness.org)

I see the great need for missionaries around the world. I really do. But what about the people in our own country? Why is it thought that we Americans have got it all together?
"There are 38.9 million Americans living under the official poverty line in 2009" (2010.census.gov).
Did you know that there is slavery today? Yes, there is slavery in the East and that breaks our hearts; but did you know that there is slavery in our own country, right here all around us. 27 million women and children (very few men) are enslaved today (notforsale895.com), a rough estimate given that it is still kept hidden. That is not just in other countries but in the U.S as well. I doubt that many of you knew this as most of us (myself included) have lived ignorant of this for so long.
Bottom line: America needs some help.

There is pain here. More so then we see or would like to see. Yes, the United States is a free country but many live today in bondage that we can hardly imagine.

So what can I do? Im only 16 right? I have a job in the summer and school in the winter so I'm kinda busy, right? Plus there is so much help needed. How is something I do going to help? I read this story on another blog a couple of days ago, maybe you have read it, I know its been around.

"One day a man was walking on a beach when he saw a boy coming the opposite way. As he drew nearer he could see the young boy was gently picking up starfish from the beach and throwing them back into the sea. "Why are you throwing starfish back into the sea?" he asked. "Because they have been washed ashore, the day is getting hot, and if I do not throw them back they will die." replied the boy. The man looked around him and saw that the beach went on for miles and that there were many thousands of starfish along its length. "But there are too many!" he protested. "You can't possibly make a difference." The little boy smiled, picked up another starfish and gently tossed it back into the sea. He looked up at the old man and simply said: "I made a difference to that one."

We CAN make a difference. God called us to be the salt of the earth.

"Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." James 4:17

 How many people have we chosen to walk by for the sake of being comfortable. How many times have we been quiet when something needed to be said and someone needed to be spoken up for? Why don't we do something? Why are we keeping to ourselves the salvation Jesus so lovingly died for?

I am not trying to guilt you. No, that is not the point of this post, the point is to make you aware. 

As Christians we need to be ready to share God's love. We need to stop walking in ruins pretending that everything is fine. We are to be the change. We need to be missionaries to our country. So let's stand up because after all WE are part of God's people and we represent Him, so let's do it well. 

Soli deo gloria,

Annie

Have you ever tried to explain what a sunset looks like to someone who has never seen one, or maybe a sunrise? What if a blind person walked up to you and asked you to tell them what it looks like. What would you say? They wouldn't know the colors that are so intense or how a sunset can symbolize the most gentle form of an all powerful God! So why can sunsets stun you or make you cry because of raw beauty? Why does everyone stop, turn and stare when the sun gently dips below the horizon?
 I believe that a sunset was made to give you just a very small glimpse of the beauty of heaven.  A sunset is perfect, no one can change the colors, no one can rush it, and even Bill Gates can't buy a sunset. The sunset is free to do what God made it to do, put us in utter awe. In a way a sunset is similar to its Creator, it is so beautiful, so perfect, yet a sunset is fleeting. a sunset will eventually give way to the night. God is never fleeting, He will not give way to the darkness, He is always light. There is so much more to God then there is to a sunset. God loves, He IS love. He cares for us. Like a sunset God does not need anyone. He wants us! God is not more powerful if I love Him or not, God does not need to give us the beauty of sunsets and sunrises. He wants to. God loves us so much that He gives us a sunset, the stars, the moon, to show us how much He loves us. are you understanding this? He. Loves. You. He loves the fact that I love His stars, His sunsets. God wants us to look at a sunset and feel how much He loves us. It's like with every sunset He is saying, " hey did you see that?  See how beautiful that is? I love you way more then that sunset."   He loves me. He wants me. He loves You. He wants you. I don't know about you but that puts me in more awe then a sunset ever will. God is love.

soli deo gloria, Annie.

currently in love with!!

      Heres just a few of what I currently in love with!!

The artist in that little side bar right over there > yup Jimmy Needham, love love love!!! He has a very funky sound, kinda Jason Mraz/Michael Buble sound but you can totally take his lyrics to the bank! Super sound! lovve!!

Snow!! I always love snow around this time.. now to only have some would be perfect!!

Skirts and dresses.. I wear them pretty much all the time now! Soo nice, and with it being winter I don't work so this is the perfect times to wear them!

Boots! I have fuggs ( fake- uggs) I'm way to cheap to buy the real deal. Mine are dark brown and so very warm!!

Getting dressed up for no reason. Getting all pretty just to walk around the house is nice too! Don't get me wrong I am a sucker for flannels and a sweatshirt but getting dressed up is so much fun!

Driving... I recently got my license and driving is awesome! It's so fun to get in the car and sing sing sing (and control the music :D) its all good to be a passenger too!

Hugs- I have never been a super huggy person is you know what I mean, its my personal space and I would like to keep it that way.. but there is just something about getting a hug that will brighten up your day!

Journals- normally when I do my Bible I just write on scraps of paper and tuck them into my Bible but then someone moves my Bible and they all fall out into a big mess. For Christmas I received a journal and it is so pretty and I absolutely love it!

A new Bible- a leather one with flowers on it to be exact! my old one is a little torn up.. it looks like it went through a war zone.. which it kinda did. I haven't used my new one very much as leaving my old one seems like it would be leaving a old friend who has gone through a lot with me. So little by little I am transferring to the new one. Don't laugh at me I'm just a touch sentimental with stuff like this!

I think that is it for now! Thanks for reading my ramblings!

My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. Psalm. 71:23
soli deo gloria, Annie 

Heres to another birthday!

So Jeni my sister is way better at this blogging thing then I am, and she always writes something about us when its our birthday. So....... who writes for her when its her birthday?  Well.... here I am laptop on my lap and fingers ready to type. Stay with me okay? Thanks, you're really the best!

Jeni- she's 26 now and she doesn't look a day older then 19 :).  Jeni is a great big sister, she helps when needed, is great with kids, super pretty, loves God, a good wife, a excellent friend, and its said that she looks like someone we all know :).   A great singer, super smart, a awesome daughter (so I have heard), a scary driver lol :D, funnier then Jason ( I will give that to you 'cause its your birthday), creative, a great home maker.   The list goes on, I mean it, it goes on and on.
 One of the best things is she is one of my best friends.  Jeni came along beside me when I had a really hard time in my life, she took time to give me cds, notes, texts, letters and to some that might not seem like much, but to me it was the gift of someone that let God work through her to me.  It meant the world.  She is so loving and willing to let God work through her.  I look up to her and would like to be like her one day.. so Jen thanks for being such a great role model and I love you so very much. Happy Birthday!!   Here's to many more birthday posts!!

soli deo gloria,
Annie

Testimony.

So I have been planning on doing this for a while now but just have not had the time to do it, well I have found the time, so here it is.
I have grown up in a christian family my whole life, the Bible was read to me, we sang Bible songs, prayed and memorized the Bible. We were, and still are, very involved with church, my mom plays the piano for church and my dad runs the sound system.  You know, the kind of people that if the doors were open, we were there.
I always considered myself to be a Christian, I had prayed "the" prayer like a million times a matter of fact every time there was a alter call I was there. When they asked you to say the prayer I did.  I did it all the time, every time and anytime I could. It just seemed like something was missing, I was empty of something I felt so desperately that I needed. It was during the night of November 2006 it all changed.  I was laying in bed and was like, "What am I doing?"  "What if I die?!!"  "Where would I go?" "This has to change!" So, I got up, woke up my mom and asked her if she could pray with me, and THEN and THERE my whole life changed for the better!  Until that January, two months later, when once again, everything changed.  God had a plan. That January I started the most intense spiritual battle. I was scared out of my mind for 3 months straight.  I prayed so many times for God to take me out but He did not. He decided on not taking me out of what I was going through because HE was going to bring me through.  In March while visiting my family in Tennessee I prayed that last time for God to take me out and He determined that the trial was finished and it was done. I let that time define me for a very long time. Every time something would come up reminding me of that trial I freaked.   I didn't know what to do and I would panic.   I would beg God saying  "no, no, no, please don't let me go through another trial like that, please!"  He is faithful and I didn't go into a trial for another 3 years.  I learned many things with that trial, many thing that now I know God was using to prepare me for what was to come.

Last year, 2009, to be exact, was what He was preparing me for. Starting that December I went into another trial and spiritual battle, which would in turn  make my last trial seem very easy. This trial lasted 5 months. Those months were filled with fear, doubt and more intense fear. For 3 months I cried everyday, asking God and other people in my life why this had to happen, why me?  What did I ever do?  I was so filled with fear that sometimes eating was a challenge, sleeping was a major challenge and life seemed to be more than I could handle.   I can not tell you how many people came beside me to help me get through. There were countless emails/texts of people sending me Bible verses and words of encouragement. But, as much as I am thankful for the people that came beside me, the major thing that sticks out in my mind is the way GOD held me the whole way through.  Little things made the impact on me. An example would be the one time when I was going through a great deal of fear and I was praying and asking God to show me that I would get through and be all right, well in that very instance I heard the very quiet sound of wind chimes.  I can not tell you how beautiful those chimes sounded to me, it was like an instant peace. God did not take me out of this trial this time, He wanted me to fight and He wanted to take me through and show me that He would do it, and  He most definitely did. I fought many thoughts, doubts, and fears in that time. When the the final test was to come in May when everything that I ran from I had to look at it in the face and I did and with God's grace I was able to get over it.  A bunch of things that have come more and more clear to me everyday, and one of the things during the trial, I would ask God,  was that if one person could profit from the trial I went through, just one.
 Just a week ago a very good friend told me how she was blessed that I could share with her what God had done in me and I was so blessed that God took cares the wants of my heart and that He loves me so! Now there is much to this story but if I put the whole thing down it would be a very very very long post so this is a summary of my life. It is now October and I still deal with some of the things in the past but with God I am working everyday to overcome. but through that trial God has shown His joy in my sorrow,  His strength in my weakness, His peace in my restlessness, His hope in my fear and He has loved me every minute of my life and I am forever greatful and humbled. My life in a nutshell= God is great! Ps. 18:1 The Lord lives!! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted! I hope your weekend is blessed, Love Annie.