Lie Passive in God's hands

In my devotions, I read this in the Morning and Evening devotionals by Spurgeon. It reminds me of how amazing God is and how I will never fully grasp His love for me. Be encouraged!

Morning, January 6

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
1 Peter 5:7
"It is a happy way of soothing sorrow when we can feel—“HE careth for me.” Christian! do not dishonour religion by always wearing a brow of care; come, cast your burden upon your Lord. You are staggering beneath a weight which your Father would not feel. What seems to you a crushing burden, would be to him but as the small dust of the balance. Nothing is so sweet as
to “Lie passive in God’s hands, And know no will but his.”
O child of suffering, be thou patient; God has not passed thee over in his providence. He who is the feeder of sparrows, will also furnish you with what you need. Sit not down in despair; hope on, hope ever. Take up the arms of faith against a sea of trouble, and your opposition shall yet end your distresses. There is One who careth for you. His eye is fixed on you, his heart beats with pity for your woe, and his hand omnipotent shall yet bring you the needed help. The darkest cloud shall scatter itself in showers of mercy. The blackest gloom shall give place to the morning. He, if thou art one of his family, will bind up thy wounds, and heal thy broken heart. Doubt not his grace because of thy tribulation, but believe that he loveth thee as much in seasons of trouble as in times of happiness. What a serene and quiet life might you lead if you would leave providing to the God of providence! With a little oil in the cruse, and a handful of meal in the barrel, Elijah outlived the famine, and you will do the same. If God cares for you, why need you care too? Can you trust him for your soul, and not for your body? He has never refused to bear your burdens, he has never fainted under their weight. Come, then, soul! have done with fretful care, and leave all thy concerns in the hand of a gracious God".

God bless!
~Lily

Passion 2011

This is just a brief overview of the Passion 2011
conference that I recently attended in Atlanta.
Passion 2011 is a conference for 17-25 year olds.
The main goal is to glorify God-uniting students
in worship and prayer for spiritual awakening in
this generation. It was truly amazing to hear Jesus'
name praised and to see 22,000 young adults
unite in His name. The speakers and worship
were all amazing.I was encouraged and felt that
Jesus drew near and spoke to me. The biggest
thing I took away was that Jesus wants to be my
everything. He wants to be at the center of
everything that I do.To Him be all the glory and
not to me. My happiness and desires should be
in Him and not in myself and in belongings. I
also enjoyed my family group which was 8 people
that I met and we grew together as we discussed
things that we heard and felt at the conference.
I was so encouraged throughout this whole
conference and want to live my life for God
alone. I will write later about some of the causes that
Passion was contributing to. God worked through
these young people in amazing ways.
Happy new year and God bless!
~Lily

More on Compassion

So once again I am going to talk about... Compassion.
Seriously, it is an amazing organization. For only $38
a month, you can sponsor a child. The money will
enable the child to live a better life as well as have the
opportunity to learn about Jesus. I have been sponsoring
Kevin for several years and it has been such a rewarding
experience. But you may be saying, "I can't afford it!"
I was only thirteen when I started and had no income, but
God has provided. I have learned what I need with what
needs to be done. You are not just sending money to
a stranger, you are investing in a relationship with a child.
A child with a name. A child who will love you and will
love every single letter you send. Pray and spend time with
God asking what He wants you to do. If He wants you to
invest your time and resources into a child, He will enable
you to do so. Compassion International is not just a gift
for the child, it is a gift for the sponsor as well. Click here
to go to their website and learn more. God bless!
~Lily

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is approaching, cookies are baked, snow is
falling and presents under the tree. I am reminded this
Christmas just how blessed I am. I have a wonderful
family, an amazing church I am blessed to be a part of,
great friends, a super job and I have a home, food,
clothes and everything else I tend to take for granted.
I also have been saved by grace. That completely amazes
me! God saved ME!!! And Christmas is where he came
down to earth! A great movie to watch is the Nativity Story.
It is truly amazing!!! :) I hope you all have an amazing
holiday!
God bless

~Lily

SNOW

There is currently a blizzard where I live and it is amazingly beautiful.
It also makes me realize just how blessed I am to have a warm house
and that I don't have to be outside in the FREEZING cold! When I went
to Jamaica and Ecuador, the kids there had never seen snow and it was
really fun trying to explain it. Isn't God amazing!? :)
Hope you have a great day!
God bless!
~Lily

Operation Christmas Child

Yesterday, I volunteered at Operation Christmas Child which is an amazing organization that distributes Christmas presents in shoe boxes to children who are poor and in need. Their Mission: "To demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ." People all over America pack shoe boxes with gifts and then OCC sends them to children all over the world. Last year, 8 million children received a Christmas shoe box. Since 1993, 130 countries have received these shoe boxes! That is amazing!



You can learn more about OCC at their website which is here.

Have a great week!
God bless!
~Lily

Thankfulness :)

Happy almost Thanksgiving!
I feel so incredibly blessed! I have an
amazing family, I go to an amazing
church where I can fellowship with
great friends and I also have the
opportunity to go to school and work.

In Ecuador, I really realized how blessed
I am and how easy it is to forget that!
There were kids who couldn't go to
school, kids who were fourteen and had
to work in order to help their families.
In Kevin's family, both of his older
siblings work.

At the CDC, there was a young woman
in a wheel chair. She had lost most of her
limbs yet her face was still filled with joy.
I want to live like her. Have nothing yet
still be thankful. I really saw there that
you don't have to have stuff to be happy.
You don't even have to have all of your
limbs. What you need is JESUS!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
God bless!

~Lily