He gives + takes away

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Have you ever imagined the way something would be, and once you finally got there, it was nothing like you expected? That’s the way it was for me and Junior year. I had no idea I would be this busy, it would be this crazy, and my life would become so different!
School keeps me busy, so I get upset sometimes because it seems like I have no time to do fun things. I get angry sometimes too, and I show that through rebelling – don’t panic though; because I’m not running over little old ladies with my car - I just ignore the fine print rules every now and then. It’s hard for me some days to remember that God never gives you what you can’t handle.

A few weeks ago, I was betrayed by someone who promised me they never would, and it’s been really hard at times for me to move on from that friendship. But despite ALL that, I’m happy. I’m happy because I have an amazing God who picks me up, brushes me off, gives me a big hug, and begins to show me how much better life is going to get. I’m also happy because through that hard situation, God has shown me who my true friends are and who really cares about me! I’ve grown closer to some people at my church because of it too, and I’ve received really uplifting words and Bible verses that really encourage me!

Life is messy you guys. We wish big sometimes only to find there was no shooting star going by and we dream for things we are secretly scared will never happen. Sometimes….we put too much faith in people. But no matter how busy we are, we have to spend time with God – because he is honestly our best friend – the only person who will never leave us, never lie to us, never betray us, and will always be there to pick us back up again and show us something better - even more beautiful! We have to lose ourselves in him. We should thank him when something hard or painful happens, because he is going to show us something even better! He takes away, but he also gives! So read this verse again!
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Written by Sarah T.

"Bring the rain"

“Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain” (“Bring the Rain” – MercyMe)

Although trusting God completely is not always easy, we have recently experienced that it is the key to a real relationship with him. It is easy to pray and give God a portion of your life, but if you don’t trust that he is in control of all your life and will watch over you then you won’t experience his true love, his mercy, and his grace.

Mason Florence: I realized a few weeks ago that even though I have loved my relationship with God over the last year and I have felt like I have been giving my all to him, something was still missing. I felt good about myself when I witnessed to people and I did not give all the glory to God. I realized that sharing with people that I didn’t know was really easy; however I was not as open with my best friends because I was afraid to fall. I thought I knew in my heart Jesus would catch me but I was not applying it to my life. I realized that if I really did trust him to catch me I would have no fears. I decided the problem was at the root and the reason I did not fully trust Jesus was because I was not on fire for him. I decided it was time that I trust the lord to lead me to him. I laid my fears down at his feet and I asked him to remove anything in my life that was keeping me from him. The next day my XBOX broke (I love my video games and they took up most of my time). I realized that God wanted my full attention. I also asked him to show me that he was in full control of my life, to help me realize that he decides whether or not I take my next breath. A few days later on my way to QFC a guy turned across my lane and crashed into me (and my sister, Emma) at 35mph. No one was hurt at all. This probably would have come across as a surprise to most people but I knew right away that our God was showing me his protection and control over my life. Asking God to make dramatic changes in your life in order to be on fire for him is not always easy, however if we place all our trust, all our fears and all our possessions in his hands, he will take our relationship with him to a whole new level because HE loves US.

Alyssa Doughty: Right after Mason experienced his crash we had a long talk about God. Who he is, what he did FOR US!, and how he really is in control. Mason shared with me what he had been praying about, that God would just take complete control of his life and he told me how he experienced that. Even though these situations were fun, or easy to handle Mason was happy and praised God for his faithfulness and work in his life. This really affected me, and made me look at my walk with Christ. I began praying that God would break my heart, and show me his love. I prayed that he would overwhelm me with his mercy and love. A couple days after that I went in to pay my car registration (after putting it off!) and what I thought was going to cost me close to $100, is actually $300! And that doesn’t sound like a lot, but I’m a kid! I don’t have money. I prayed that God would just provide for me, and that he would be my strength. I put my trust completely in him and praised him for being my strength. I went from being worried and stressed to being content. God is faithful, and I can see him working in my life all around me. I Praise HIM because He is good! Just like Mason said, Ask God to make dramatic changes in your life. Praise him in every circumstance because God is your strength.

Matthew 6:25-34 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Got questions? Ask us!, Ask us to pray for you or with you!

-- Mason & Alyssa