Slamming Insecurity

You wanna know something I hate?

"Woah Caroline, hate's a strong word..."

I know, I know, but this is something I really really can't stand and it deserves to be hated.
Starting off a little harsh today, aren't we?

YES! Yes we are, y'all.  INSECURITY. There, I said it.  INSECURITYYYYY.  It's absoulutely positively from the devil.  Apparently, 70% of teenage girls struggle with it in some way...
"I'm not good enough"
 "I'm ugly" 
"I don't measure up"
"Nobody likes me"
"I'm weird/an outsider"

FALSE.  INCORRECT. If you're a child of God, then you should know that you're absolutely  beautiful according to the One Who Matters.  I mean, YOU'RE A PRINCESS!  Or Prince, of course!  Our Father is King!

The other day, I got a text from one of my best friends who has been struggling with feeling unhappy and stressed for a while now.  She told me that she thought she had discovered the root of her problems....it was insecurity.

"But then I realized that I AM WHO GOD MADE ME! God doesn't make mistakes! And I can't compare myself to other people...because...well they aren't me!"

That's what my bestie said about it, and she's SO right!  Isn't that awesome?!  God created us.  Who are we to say something HE MADE WITH HIS OWN HANDS isn't good enough?!  He's the supreme, perfect artist, so everything he makes is just how He wants it.  WE are flawless in His eyes.

In fact,  it's not okay to feel like we are undesirable, because it's not even about us.  In a perfect world, an insecure Christian wouldn't exist because we would really understand and believe God's word and what it says.

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27 NLT)

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. (Psalms 56:8 NLT)

What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin ? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31 NLT)

Why would we choose to disagree with God after hearing what He says about us?

MIRACLE

Hey y'all!

"He will cover you with his wings; you will be safe in his care; his faithfulness will protect and defend you." Psalms 91:4

"I will make you well again; I will heal your wounds..." Jeremiah 30:17

These are the promises I gripped tightly to this past weekend!  My God is my Savior and my Deliverer.  He DID cover me and protect me.  He IS healing me.

Y'all wanna hear the story? Here it goes:

Our last day in Lake Tahoe was BEAUTIFUL and we decided to rent some bikes and ride around the lake.  Of course, I end up leading the way excitedly with my family behind me.  The bike trail in front of me made a sharp 90 degree turn that I wasn't ready for, so I ended up biking down a flight of concrete stairs, flipping over and slamming into my handlebars and the railing, and tumbling down a cliff-type thing the rest of the way.

I'll spare you the details, but there was soooo much blood and I remember honestly not knowing if I was going to be okay and even make it.  Suddenly, lightbulb moment, I thought to myself, "Wait, of course I am.  I've got Someone with me right now who is shielding me and hugging me, keeping me safe."  I knew He had it covered.  It's His desire to heal and restore.

After an ambulance ride, seven stitches for my forehead gash, CAT scan, neck stabilization, concussion diagnosis, pain medication, and blood cleanup, I was able to leave the emergency room.  I'm so so so grateful it wasn't worse, because it easily could've been.  Praise The Lord!!!

I would sooooo appreciate prayers for a fast recovery and a stress-free school experience.  Love y'all, and so does He!

Caroline :)

lovely thinking

Hello darlings!

Today, I saw this picture on an Instagram post and was inspired.

May seem like just an uplifting quote, but it's SO BIBLICAL.  Do y'all know how true this is?  God desires for us to fill our minds with lovely, pure, and true things.  Satan wants the opposite... he'd give anything for you to think only on hateful, dirty lies.  I don't know about y'all, but I wanna do what God wants for us, and kick the devil to the curb.

As the Message version puts it, we should think "on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse." (Philippians 4:8)

Please don't spend time thinking about horrific things, or gross things, or unclean things.  I definitely struggle with anxiety, so sometimes I find myself stuck in a rut of thinking about all the things that could go wrong in a situation, or all the bad, nightmare-ish things that could happen to me or people I love.  Our Father hates that; He hates to see us worried.  Instead, fill your mind with good things, like how perfectly your Savior loves you.  Or how incredible your Lord's kingdom is.  Or how powerful His grace is, and how it covers anything and everything as long as we love Him and put our faith in Him.

Later in the passage, the bible gives us a promise: "Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:9).  This is from the Message version again, and I love how beautiful and poetic it sounds. But to simplify it a bit... In the NLT translation it says "and the God of peace will find you".  So, basically, back to what the quote says, good will find us.  God is the ultimate good!

I definitely think that my generation struggles with this sooooo much.  Teenagers have so much access to evil, right at their fingertips.  Technology makes it easy to lie and be sneaky, drugs are a bigger problem than ever, and everything has been sexualized and perverted to a point of destruction.  We need a spiritual revival, and personally, I think changing our minds to think in a lovely way will do it.

DON'T think about how that girl made fun of your outfit in front of everyone in 2nd period.

DON'T stress about how terrible you think you are because you probably failed your geography test.

DON'T fill your mind with worries about the kidnapping that happened yesterday in the next town over.

DON'T think about the boy who made nasty, degrading comments about you.

DO think about how someday, we will see our Father face to face.  We will get to touch Him.  And we will praise and worship him, in person.  There will be no tears, no worries, no fears.  It will be beautiful.

DO think about how even though He's not physically with you right now, you have His Holy Spirit inside you. How insanely incredible is that?! I have a part of The Lord inside me.  Wow!  He loves us that much!

Stay positive, y'all!  Anytime you catch yourself thinking about something the devil would want you thinking about, shoot it down and think Godly thoughts.  Be a WARRIOR in your thoughts!

Much love and encouragement,

CJ

More Lake Tahoe Beauty

Hello darlings!

Today, we took a break from skiing and decided to do some touristy stuff.  Obviously, in our family that includes thrift shopping, aka junkin' :) We picked up some vintage clothing for Mom that she can repurpose, and a neat fishing reel for my dad!

After eating a quick lunch at Izzy's Burgers, we went sightseeing.  Drove around the lake and stopped to hike down to Vikingsholm, a castle built by a woman named Lora Josephine Knight in 1928!  Definitely one of the most interesting things I've seen, you can read about her story here. 

The hike was just beautiful also!

Lora Josephine Knight actually also built a tea house on that little island shown above^.  She took her friends there twice a year by boat! Can you imagine thinking "you know what?  That island needs something....how about a tea house? Yeah, that sounds good..& maybe I'll be able to use it a couple of times a year. Ok cool."  I mean, crazy awesome to be able to have the resources to do that, and I like the spontaneous way she thought!

I also took a few of my lovely sister.

I love this picture...such a genuine Ivy face!

More from today:

Look at that blue sky!  Sooo pretty.  I love vacation.

Love love,

Caroline

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Heavenly

Hello from Heaven!

Seriously.  Heavenly ski resort, Nevada/California!

Hands down, the most breathtaking view I've seen.  Probably the best that exists.  This picture doesn't do justice AT ALL!

At certain places, you can see Lake Tahoe on one side, Carson Valley on the other, and right in the middle is the mountain you're standing on, sepatating the water and the valley.

So so so incredible!  Oh, and by the way, the skiing is great!  My favorite thing is always tree skiing, I love jumps and sharp turns, and there's definitely no shortage of that here! Looove it!

My favorite thing about today:

Someone sculpted these grand mountains, poured the sapphire blue lake water, deeply carved the low valley, and sprinkled powdery white snowflakes all over.  And I know Him, He's my best friend and my savior.  I feel holy here, standing on His artwork.  It's glorious.