Another Update of Sorts + The #AwesomeBloggerAward!

*Suddenly noticing my blog and how neglected it's been lately*

Oh... well, hello again!

I greatly apologize for my absence lately. Again. Yes, I've been busy with school and church and life and everything else...... But I don't want this just to be another update post on why I'm not posting regularly (especially since it's basically for the same reasons as I said last time), so I'll just provide you with some quick updates, and then get into a fun award that I was recently tagged for -- how about that? :)

Firstly, not too long ago I completed an online college course that had tight deadlines. These deadlines, while they were sometimes quite inconvenient and annoying, were actually very helpful for me, especially since I haven't in the past always been the best with time management. So anyway, this got me to thinking about my 3rd year blogiversary Q&A post that I was supposed to do *cough*abouteightmonthsago*cough*. (I know, this sounds like I'm totally going off topic, but just stay with me...) So, I put these two things together in my mind and realized that in order to truly get this Q&A post finished and posted, I probably need to make some sort of deadline for myself in order to truly get this accomplished.

So... That's why I'm letting you guys know that I will be posting my answers to y'all's Q&A questions that you asked me back at my 3rd year blogiversary by July 31st! (I guess it's now more like my 3rd and a half year blogiversary... but it will still be fun. :) )

"But, Faith, why not post it just next week??"

Well, that's the another thing I was going to tell you guys about...

You see, there's something very exciting happening this coming week! No, it's not as exciting of a thing as someone getting married or having a baby or something like that. Definitely not. But in the blogosphere world, it's quite a fun thing... to anyone who likes westerns anyway. XD

Okay okay, I'll stop beating around the bush...

I'm going to be participating in a fun blog party, the Legends of Western Cinema Week!

My good blogging friend, Olivia over at her blog, Meanwhile in Rivendell shall be hosting it along with Heidi of Along the Brandywine and Hamlette of Hamlette's Soliliquy. I participated in this blog party a couple years ago, writing one post for it, so I'm excited to be able to be apart of it again! I'm rather looking forward to this, I must say. xD (And if you'd like to participate as well, I'm sure you can! Just let one of the hostesses know you'll be posting something for the blog party!)

Alrighty! Now, I think that's all the updates I have for the moment. Let's get on with the tag! :)

Kaitlyn over at her blog, Twin Thoughts tagged me for the #Awesome Blogger Award! Thank you so much for tagging me, Kaitlyn!

Here are the officially official rules for this awesome tag:

-Tag your post with #awesome blogger award

-Answer all the questions given to you

-Nominate at least 5 bloggers and inform them of their nomination

-Give them 10 new questions to answer

Sounds reasonable enough. Alright, let's get started! :D

1. What is one thing that make you sparkle? (Something that you get excited about)

There are a lot of things. XD One thing I always get excited about is hearing people's testimonies of either how they came to know Christ or how He has healed or helped them in some way, etc. I get so excited on the inside when I hear testimonies like that, especially someone's journey of how they found Jesus!

2. What is your favorite musical instrument?

The piano's probably my favorite (since it's the one I can play best), but I really enjoy hearing people play the violin and guitar, and would really like to learn how to play them someday.

3. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go?

AHH, there are so many places I'd like to visit! I'd especially enjoy visiting some place in Europe, like maybe Switzerland, and see the Alps!

4. What is your 'theme song'? (This could be an all-time favorite, or a song that describes your situation)

Hmmmm... Sunday School Rock by Carman has always been a favorite of mine. I grew up with the song, and it's always kinda been my jam. ;)

But, as for more of a "theme song", like one that describes my situation or one that's really touched me... I'd have to say Good Good Father by Chris Tomlin. I had heard this song for a while, but then, one Sunday a while back at church when we were singing it, one of the lines just really struck a chord in me. Now whenever I hear that song it just really resonates with me. God's such a good GOOD Father!!

5. What's your favorite thing about blogging?

One of my favorite things has been being able to get to know other Christian bloggers through my blog!

6. Of all of your hobbies, what is your favorite and how did you get started on it?

Writing and coming up with stories has always been a favorite hobby of mine (that hopefully I can turn into more than a hobby someday!) I'm not sure how exactly I got started with writing stories as I've been doing it for as long as I can remember. Some of the earliest stories I wrote were written on several folded pieces of paper stapled together, made to look like a book. And, when I was younger, I'd like going out in our yard and come up with pretend scenarios for movies or tv shows that I would then act out to myself. :P

7. Who is your favorite author, and which of their books is your favorite?

I honestly don't know who my favorite author is... there are so many good ones! One of my favorite books right now though is Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I enjoyed her writing style  a lot in this one, and hope to look into some of her other books.

8. Which is your favorite book of the Bible, and why?

I'd probably pick John right now. (But again, like authors, there are so many good ones!) I love reading about Jesus and what He did and taught while He was here on the earth. I want to learn to follow Jesus as best as I can, and one of the best ways to do that I think is to read and learn about Him, Who He is, and what He did while on the earth in the Gospels. :)

9. Which of the four seasons best describes your personality?

Ooh, hmm... Maybe Spring? I get excited and happy over little things, want to make others happy and feel appreciated (I hope I do that), I always like to laugh, always enjoy a happy ending, and like brighter and pastel colors. You will rarely see me wear black unless I'm wearing it with another color. 

I guess though I don't always show my excitement or "springyness" like that ^^ xD on the outside as much as I want to sometimes. If I'm really happy about something, it seems like I tend to hide my full excitement on the inside because I'm concerned about what other people will think of me. But that's one thing that God's been dealing with me about lately -- to not care so much about what others think, and just encourage people and say what the Holy Spirit is leading me to say or do without concerning myself with what others will think.

10. What is one thing that God has taught you recently?

Well, I suppose what I said up there for one thing, hehe. But along with that, another thing that God's taught me recently is that He lives inside me. I know it sounds simple, and I've known all of my life that when I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior that His Spirit came and now lives on the inside of me. But recently, God has just been making that more real to me. I've been learning to not put faith in just my own faith or what I can do, but put faith in God, and focus on Him, because He is going to do the work He wants done through me, not me. I just have to obey and trust. That's it. I don't have to do what God wants me to do all on my own. I just need to listen and do what He's telling me to do, and let HIM do the healing, the restoring, and the transforming!
(Hmm, that was maybe more than one thing, but oh well. xD)

That was fun! I tag.......

Christina @ Light Unto My Path

Olivia @ Meanwhile in Rivendell

Emma @ A Bookworm's Majestic Adventures

Faith @ Stories by Firefly!
Abby @ Novels, Dragons, and Wardrobe Doors

And here are your questions, ladies!
1. What is one thing that makes you sparkle? (Something that you get excited about)
2. What is your favorite color to wear?
3. What is your favorite song right now?
4. What is a favorite Bible verse of yours at the moment, and why does it resonate with you right now? 
5. What is a book (besides the Bible) that you would always recommend to someone?
6. What is a movie and/or book that you've wanted to watch/read for a long time, but haven't gotten around to it yet?
7. What is one thing that not a lot of people know about you?
8. How did you come up with your blog name? 
9. Which of the four seasons best describes your personality?
10. What is one thing that God has taught you recently?

I look forward to reading all you awesome bloggers' answers to these questions! (Of course, though if you'd rather not do this tag, that's completely fine, too!)

Okay, well I think that about wraps it up for today! It's so great to finally be back to blogging again after my rather long, unexpected hiatus I took there. I hope you enjoyed this post, and hope you're having a wonderful day!

Write to ya later, and God bless!

~Faith

A much belated Bible Study Blog Party wrap-up post

Hello once again, friends!

So... WHERE HAVE I BEEN???

Well, first off, I was a very unmotivated person a month or so ago. (Not that that's an acceptable excuse for my lack of blogging) But this honestly is most of the reason why I didn't do a Bible Study Blog Party wrap-up post before when I was supposed to. (A sad reason, I know..... I'm really sorry about that, you guys... D: Please forgive me.)

Whenever I thought I was going to sit down and write that post, I'd get restless, and just couldn't seem to come up with anything to write. I felt unmotivated and just... blah...

I kind of knew what I wanted to write, but I just didn't seem to have the attention span to think hard and long enough about how to write what I wanted to write. I realize now that it wasn't so much of a writer's block problem as a focusing problem. It was hard to just focus on writing. And it turned out to not only be with writing, but in other areas of my life as well, especially in spending time with God and reading my Bible. It was so hard to just be still and focus on Him.

One big reason I believe I got so unfocused was because I started filling up my life with other things. I let myself get distracted with earthly things that my flesh was pulling so hard on me to focus on. I was filling up my schedule and brain power with things that weren't necessarily bad, but just... temporal. I wasn't "fixing my eyes on eternal things" like Paul says in 2 Corinthians.

So that's what basically happened with the Bible Study Blog Party -- I didn't take the time to get myself to really focus on it after writing that first post for it. I'd just groan within myself, hiding under a shell of irresponsibility, declaring that I would get to it some other time when I actually felt like writing it. But that time when I actually felt like writing that blog post never seemed to come. So I just keep putting it off and off.... and off...... Yeah. Not a good life motto.


The part of Romans 8 that I really wanted to talk about during the blog party was in verses 9-12. And basically, these were the exact verses that I needed during that time of unfocused blahness. But instead of truly focusing and letting God speak to me through them and taking the time to write a post about them, I gave into my flesh and didn't really let these words sink in. Recently though, they've been making their way back into my heart.

Here's what these verses say:

"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh." ~Romans 8:9-12

That last part there has really stuck with me recently. We're not debtors to our flesh. We don't owe our flesh -- ourselves and our feelings -- anything. Sometimes we say things like, "Well, I owe it to myself" or "I just can't help doing that", and we use this as an excuse for not doing the right thing or putting things off. The thing is though, if we have Christ living in us, we don't "owe it to ourselves" -- we owe ourselves to Christ. You CAN help doing certain things. How? THROUGH CHRIST living in you! You CAN do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens you! (Phil. 4:13) This is what the Lord has really been working to get across to me recently. I have the Spirit of Christ dwelling on the inside of me. So now with Christ living in me, I can overcome my flesh and what it wants to do. With Christ in me, I can overcome my feelings and emotions. Feelings and emotions are very real, but the reality of them can't ever supersede the reality of what God says about our situations. He says that we are more than conquerors through Him! (Romans 8:37)

So that's just one of the things that the Lord has been teaching me in that passage recently. There is of course a whole lot more to get out of all of those verses. Hopefully I'll get into more of it in another post sometime soon. :)

But for now, let me FINALLY get to wrapping up this Bible Study Blog Party!

Thanks SO MUCH to all of you who read and participated in this -- you all are wonderful!! Be sure to go over and read Brooklyn's post and Emma's post that they did for the Bible Study Blog Party! They did such a great job, and it's so exciting to read what God put on their hearts to write! If you wrote a post for this that I missed, please link back to it in the comments! I would love to read it!

Again I greatly apologize for my laziness and extreme lateness with finishing up this wonderful study. I will probably end up doing another Bible Study Blog Party again sometime in the near future (and do a much better job at keeping up with it ;) ).

I hope all of you have a wonderful week! God bless!
~Faith

P.S.
It is true that most of the reason for my absence in the blogosphere here has been because of my lack of motivation... but for the past two weeks the main reason has been because I was away on vacation with my family. It was a grand twelve day Colorado adventure, in fact! I will most definitely elaborate on my adventures there in another post very soon, so be on the lookout for that! :D

NO Condemnation // Bible Study Blog Party

Hey there! Welcome, everyone to the Bible Study Blog Party!

LET'S GET THIS STUDY PARTY STARTED!!

From today, May 28th, to June 9th we're going to be reading and blogging about Romans 8! Anyone can participate, and if you would like to find out exactly how this all works and want to join in, look back at my original post about this.

Romans 8 is such an awesome chapter. As I was reading through it again last night, I started getting so excited -- I was so glad I chose this chapter for the Bible study! One thing is that a lot of it seems to be telling of the benefits of being in Christ. It's a great reminder of who we are and what we have in Him! Take the very first verse for instance:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

You may have read this verse before and have been like, "Okay, yeah. That's cool. No condemnation, nice." But seriously, think about that. That's GREAT news! We don't have to be or feel condemned if we have Christ living in us!

But then, why do we as Christians still feel condemned sometimes?

I think so many times we equate our worth with what we do or have done in this life. And when we haven't done enough or have messed up, we personally start beating ourselves up about it. We unknowingly crack the door open for the enemy to slip a little condemnation through into us. It's not God who's condemning us when we're doing these wrong things, it's the devil. It says right there in that verse that there's "NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."

Of course, God will convict us when we're doing wrong, but condemnation and conviction are two different things. Condemnation causes our focus to be on ourselves, on our failures, and on how bad we are. Conviction causes us to focus on doing better, on improving ourselves, and on going up higher in what we think and do.

We need to get our focus off of ourselves, our performance, and our works. Who we are and how much God loves us isn't affected by what we've done. Like it says in 2 Timothy 1:9, "[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began..."

You are saved and called by God's grace! And because of that, those who are "in Christ Jesus", who have accepted them as their Lord and Savior, don't need to be condemned about anything! We need to and will be convicted by the Holy Spirit at times, but we need to take the focus off of ourselves and accept that conviction without mixing in the enemy's condemnation with it. We're free from ALL condemnation in Jesus! What WONDERFUL news!!!

So, those were just a few things God has showed me from Romans 8:1. I've personally felt quite a lot of condemnation from the enemy in my life before, so this verse has really spoken to me a lot. Knowing that God loves me for just me, not for my accomplishments or what I've done is such an amazingly freeing feeling! And then, when I realize God's love for me and what He's done, trusting and focusing fully on Him, it causes me, in turn, to be convicted by the Spirit to do the right things and do good works for Him as well!

What about you? What did you get out of this verse? What has God taught you through this verse? Share in the comments below!

~~~~~

The party is just beginning, and I'm excited for what's to come! If you're participating, be sure to put the link to any posts you may do in the comments of the Bible Study Blog Party introduction post.

Hope all of you are having a fabulous start to your week! God bless! :)
~Faith

Bible Study Blog Party Introduction

I've had this idea for a little while now, but I thought that it was about time that I should just go ahead and strike out on it. So, here it is...

A Bible Study Blog Party!

"Now what in the world would a Bible Study Blog Party be?" you may ask.

Well, it would basically be a sort of combination of a Bible study and blog party -- hence the name. It's like a blog party in that there's a theme, and then those who want to participate write posts on their blog(s) centering around that theme. Well, with this, those who want to participate would all read through the same chapter/passage (say John 1 for example) and then post on their blogs and/or comment on other participating blogs sharing their thoughts and what they learned in John 1, kind of like in a Bible study. You can do various types of posts for this as well, even sharing a song or story, as long as it's centered around the highlighted chapter or verse for that Bible Study Blog Party.

I thought this might be a good and fun way to study the Word of God together, and to see a same passage of scripture from different angles and perspectives.

I said at the beginning that I've had this idea for a while now. But I've honestly been sort of hesitant about doing it for some reason or another. Well, so, this past weekend my family and I were at a Christian conference, and the speakers' messages connected really well with each other and they taught from a lot of the sames scriptures without even really planning to do so. While saying something about this, the host of the conference said that maybe they ought to have a conference where all the speakers just preach on one verse or passage, and and teach it from different angles. When he said that, immediately the idea I had had for the Bible study blog party came to my mind. "Hey," I thought. "that's basically just what I was trying to do with the blog bible study thing!" So, turning this idea over in my mind again with fresh motivation, I decided to just go ahead and do this -- so here we are! :)

I'll be hosting this first Bible Study Blog Party from May 28th-June 9th! The chapter we will be reading and studying is Romans 8! I believe God is going to teach us all some great things through this chapter, guys! I'm so excited!! :D

How to participate in the Bible Study Blog Party:

1. Before reading or writing or anything, ask God to help you to understand what you read and to teach you through His Word and in other participants posts you read as well.
2. Read the assigned chapter(s)/verse(s).
3. While reading, remember to not just read the chapter/passage looking for things you can blog about. Look for what you yourself can learn from this, whether you end up writing a blog post about it or not. And don't try and rush through reading it. Take your time, listen to the Holy Spirit, and dig in. If one particular verse just sticks out at you, stick with it! Take your time -- we need to not just read to read, we should be reading to learn from God! (That's something I really didn't want to do with this... I didn't want us all to just rush through reading the chapter and write up something just because we have to for the Bible study. I definitely want to encourage everyone, including myself, to take time to read in order to learn more from and about our Heavenly Father!)
4. On your blog or through comments on other participants blogs, share your thoughts on the chapter/passage, what stuck out to you, favorite verses, etc., and like I said before, you could share a song or story or something like that centered around the highlighted passage as well. It's a wonderful thing to encourage and share what God's teaching us with each other! 
5. Make sure to link the post(s) you do on your blog for the Bible Study Blog Party down below in the comments on this post so others participating can read what you wrote and also so I can easily be able to find them all to list in my closing post at the end of the study party. (Hehe, 'study party'... you never thought you'd see those two words together, did you? xD)
6. And of course... Have fun! :D

So, does all of that make sense? If not, let me know and I'll try to clarify as best as I can. Any suggestions on what chapter/book/verse might be good to read, study, and discuss together in future "study parties"?

I'm SO excited, you guys!! Please spread the word around the blogosphere about this and let others know if they'd also like to participate! But whether a bunch of you all join in on this or just a couple, I believe we're still going to have a great time in God's Word either way!

Here's also a couple of buttons you can use to spread the word around about the party! :D

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week! Write to you later!
~Faith