You're the song when my heart is singin'...

"... it's Your love.  You're the eyes to the blind man, You're the feet to the lame man walkin'.  It's the sound of the people singin' it's Your love!" -Brandon Heath

Isn't being close to God the most magical feeling ever?  I've been so excited just for life lately.  It's like something clicked.  Mainly because of these verses (kudos to Bro. Jason, my pastor).

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust him. May your roots grow down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it...  [Ephesians 3:17-19]

That's crazy love.  Crazy.  GOD, Who is perfection in every way, loves ME, the klutzy, silly, lyric-quoting girl that I am.  He loves that I love Relient K and rainstorms.  I screw up on a daily basis, and yet, He loves me just as much as He did the day before.

The same goes for you.  Whether you play guitar or catch softballs.  Listen to Beethoven or Lecrae. Blonde hair, brown hair, red hair, black hair, blue hair.  Converse and blue jeans or a pleated skirt with an Oxford. And everything in-between.  He looks at you as a whole, good and bad alike, and thinks, "Wow. Bleah's vintage looks are so unique.  I love that about her."  and "Katie's Beatles-obsession is just great. Gotta love my Katie."  Even "Kathryn's laughing again.  Isn't she beautiful?"  Kind of leaves me in awe.

Recently, His love has looked like this to me:

- giving a speech and not freaking out for once in my life
- finding a letter in the mailbox from my best friend Kathryn
- realizing my 16th birthday is only one month away (give or take a few days)
- dunking Oreos in milk and watching Route 66 every afternoon
- 'the best thing' coming on my Pandora and jamming out to it in English class
- having a heart-to-heart with Callie, a close friend in my youth group
- my crush waving at me with the goofiest, most fantastical grin on his face

God's giving me a little insight about the little things -- and I'm running with it.  Seriously, the little things are everything.  They're Him giving us a glimpse of hope right when we need it.  And I'm loving it.

What does His love look like to you lately?

in Christ alone.

in Christ alone my hope is found
He's my rock, my solid ground
He broke the chains to set us free
The veil was torn so we could be

Called His children; forgiven, new
Accepted and worthy, the chosen few
Secure and safe, in His arms
They hold the world and my heart

'Leave' is not a word He knows
Love is what the Father shows
Along with joy, mercy, grace
There's only kindness on His face

I can't wait until the day
I fly with Him, to that place
A world with no more hurt or pain
A world where Aslan shakes His mane

That place beyond the clouds and sun
Where on the throne sits the One
Who took my sins and guilt and shame
And rose again on the third day

I need Him more than my next breath
He's more than life, more than death
Everything I'll ever need
I will follow, if He'll lead

I don't know what the future holds
Who I'll marry, where I'll go
Nothing yet is set in stone
Because my hope is in Christ alone.

more than my next breath.

You open up Your arms // and give me a new start // i need You // i need You more than my next breath

Cussing gets on my nerves.  It just does.  It's unnecessary, rude, and pretty much pointless.  I've always felt that way.  And I never thought I would fall to such cheap tactics.  Never say never, though.

Yesterday -- I slipped.  I am so ashamed to admit it, but God saw it, so you guys might as well know, too.  

Now, I'm not trying to make excuses, but I want you to get the whole back story.  There's this kid in my gym class that really gets under my skin.  He's immature and just plain makes me angry.  Most freshman guys do, but his case of being annoying is ten times worse.  He was running his mouth (as usual), but for some reason, I just couldn't handle it.  Normally, I tend to let it roll off my back, but yesterday, it stuck.  And as I entered the locker room, I shouted, "Shut the **** up!"

All the girls stopped what they were doing to look at me, mouths hanging open from pure astonishment.  I literally wanted to crawl in a hole and die of embarrassment.  Anna, the Jesus freak, had just cursed.  I immediately started apologizing, but most of them just laughed it off.  Some people even told me they were proud of me.  But I felt awful about it.  I had just bruised my reputation... and even worse -- my witness.

I always have to have music playing to lull me to sleep.  Call me weird, but I have to.  Silence drives me crazy.  So last night, I stuck in 'Crazy Love' by Hawk Nelson.  And track four let me know even when I slip up, when make a mistake, even when I cuss -- He loves me anyway.

i know that i am loved // 'cause You bought me with your blood // i need You // i need you more than my next breath

"life is dull, so let's talk about Jesus."

That's what Nathan at Unashamed said. And I like that philosophy. Like I said in my previous post, I've been really apathetic lately. Life is boring, and it's like I don't even care anymore. But ya know what? I SHOULD care. Even if life is a drag and mundane. I have something to celebrate. I'm going to heaven to be with Jesus! We're gonna have a HUGE party and I'll get to spend forever with Him. My Savior. The guy who died on a cross, just so I could be free.

We should be dancing around, having a blast, and screaming at the top of our lungs, "I LOVE JESUS!" (Add about a million exclamation points to it, and that's about right :D)

Anyway, this song is about that. Just letting go, having fun, and living for Him. Thank you, Britt Nicole :)

happiness :)

I'm really, really happy.

For some weird reason, God loves me.

An amazing, indescriable, unstoppable God.

And HE LOVES ME.

An average girl.

Nothing special.

Nothing extraordinary.

But He wants to use me.

Not sure why.

But it makes me happy.

This is happiness.

HE is happiness(:

One happy camper,
anna :)

...He's so worth it :)

Welp, I went on an out-of-town shopping spree this weekend with my best friend Shannon and we had a blast! :D

But that's not the point of the post :P The point is I got a Stellar Kart CD while I was there and it has this song on it that I'd never heard before. And it is BEAST! (Do you say "beast!" where you live? 'Cause if you don't, it means extremly awesome where I live) Anyway...

It's called "Spending Time" and it really hit me hard. I couldn't find a good video of it on Youtube, but back to the point it hit me hard.

Here are some of the lyrics:

Don't take this wrong way, You're so perfect.
Everyone tells me, You're so worth it...
Spending time with You
Not a moment goes by, that You're not by my side.
Spending time with You
You're all that I want, why's it so hard to do?

And I'm not really sure if it's talking about a girl or God, but seeing as they're a Christian band, I'm going with God.

I was like, "WOW! This is so true!" It's like I WANT to spend time with God, but I don't. Sometimes I use the "busy" excuse or the "I'm tired" one.

But I shouldn't. It shouldn't be a chore to spend time with my Savior. He died for me, can't I spend 30 min-hour with Him?

Instead of spending hours upon hours on the computer, I could be spending time with Him. Instead of watching the latest chick flick, I could be talking to my God.

So here's my message to my ever-so-wonderful bloggers:

Don't take this the wrong way, but He's so perfect.
We should give Him our time, 'cause He's so worth it :)

blessings!
anna :)

oh, how He loves us...

This song. Just wow. I can't even begin to describe how much I feel God when I hear it. Just listen to it. Even if you already know it. Just feel Him. He loves you so much. So, so much. We can't even comprehend it. Will we ever be able to?

better late than never, right? *sheepish grin*

Sorry I missed Valentine's Day, ya'll! I've been sick the past few days and instead of doing a post on Sunday afternoon (like normal), I took a nap. And it was a good nap, too.

So anyway, Happy Valentine's Day! Well, at least I hope it was happy :) Some people consider Valentine's Day depressing if they don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend to share it with...but me, I enjoy it. I have friends and family who love me lots (and hopefully a guy admiring from a distance!) Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

And most importantly I have Jesus. He loves me unconditionally, even if I don't buy Him chocolate in heart-shaped box. All He asks is that I obey Him and His Word. Which I'm definitely trying to!

I thought this music video would be perfect for Valentine's...hope ya like it! It really got to me. It showed me that He loves me no matter what. And that I have really great parents.

Love in Christ, anna :)

He's all i want, He's all i need.

We watched this video in youth group, and it really spilled it out for me. I don't need anything but Him. Everything else just gets in the way.