June 28th-July 4th Not Understanding Why?

We went to a summer retreat called Sandy Cove during the week of 4th of July. Mid week everything was going good until my parents sat us kids down to tell us that our greatest dog in the world died. I didnt believe it at first, I felt like I lost my best friend. I didnt understand when we left Nana she was just fine. The vet said that our dog Nana had a stroke and that her brain was not functioning. He said that every move she made hurt her and when he called her name "Nana" she didnt even move her eyes, nothing happened. The vet called my dad to say there is nothing we can do, and suggested putting her down.

Now the whole time this was going on we had no clue that our dog was dieing. In my heart I think that our parents didnt want to ruin our vacation. They told us before they left to go home and bury her and one of the camp counselors that we are close to stayed with us.

The next day I didnt want to do anything. May dad told me that I should and latter on in that day I couldnt get why God picked our family and why our dog? Why? I didnt understand why? I will never see her again. My dad explained it so clear to me, I really cant remember everything he said but what he did say stopped my crying and it gave me a peace.

Then later that day we got a called that my dad's dad, my grandfather had a heart attack. Thankfully it was a mild one but needed surgeries, it was scary. He made it through. I learned a double lesson that week. God is in control and that He knows what He is doing. I miss my dog terribly but if I had to pick who to live it would be my grandfather. I love my grandfather so much. I am asking for a puppy for Christmas.

Locks of Love....

When I first heard about Locks of Love I thought it was a great idea and really wanted to do it. But as soon as I heard the scissors, I got so nervous and started to think oh no my hair. Hair is what can make someone beautiful then as soon as I thougth about myself I realize that someone needed more than me. I must say I didnt like the idea of my hair being that short, my hair is really curly and poofy so the shorter it is the poofer it gets. Then when it was all over I hated it and a few hours later I loved it. I wrote a letter to the girl who would get my hair, along with tracts and really hoped I would get to see her in her new hair. the director sent a thank you and I really hope someone got to use my hair to help them look pretty. I hope to do it again, it really does make you feel good to make someone else happy.

I learned a great lesson on how to think of others and not yoursef. It was very hard, because it was giving my hair, not just money.

Loving Others....

My parents had sponsored children in an orphanage in Romania. When I turned 8, my mom asked me if I would like to help sponsor. Her name is Laura. My mom asked me if I thought it was a good idea to use my birthdays, to celebrate her. So every year since, I have a birthday party asking my guests to give money to her instead of me. At first, I didnt like that idea because I thought about what I wanted. But the more I thought about her, I thought of all the things I had and she did not. I wanted her to be as happy as me and to have nice things. So now we collect checks written out to her orphange and we collect the money and send it to her every year on my birthday. It makes me feel really happy that we are making someone else feel really happy.

Now I support another little girl who is in a family in Rwanda. Her family is very sick with aids. When my mom goes away she usually brings us home a little something. Last year she brought us home each a child to support in our names. I thought it was a good idea, as I see they she lives compared to the way I live, it is so different. She lives in a card board box. I have learned how good we have it. They are happy and they think they have it very good. We seem to have a mansion compared to them and sometimes we think we need more until we learn about others like Mujawimana.

God has taught me to do onto others as we would want done unto us. If I was poor I would want someone to love me. Even thou I am not that poor, I still want someone to love me.

Sound of Music...

I love to sing! (to myself) Yesterday was my second voice lesson. I believe God gave me this gift to use it for Him. I just graduate my first song "Amazing Grace (my chains are gone)" and now I just moved up to My Father's Heart. It is a really pretty song about how we need that our love is not our own, and we need to please God. My voice coach is really nice, he lets me pray before my lesson. He picked out this song for me, he said it was his favorite spiritual song. I hope I can be a walking testimony to him as well. I know this sounds really weird, but now I have learned to overcome fear in one part of my life, now, I have to overcome fear of singing in front of people. One down and now another two more to go, singing in front of people and going outside in the dark. I am waiting for another verse for God to use to speak to me about this one.

Two Games later!!!

I am so glad i listened to my dad, if I hadnt I would have quit and never got to hit the ball off of the pitcher. I felt so good, it was my first single and I got to steal second base. If you ever get scared of something go talk to your mom and dad. The Bible says in Psalms 118:6 the Lord is on my side; I will not fear; what can man do unto me? This verse helped me to remember that I do not need to fear anyone because God is with me. God gave me this verse during my quiet time with Him. I believe during my quiet time God speaks to me through the Bible and this verse confirms just that for me. I believe God put me on this softball team to be a testimony. I thank God for giving me such a great family to understand and help me through my fears. They showed me lots of love and they stood by me. I hope that if you have any fears, that you too would talk to your parents for help and ask God to show you in the Bible what His plans are for you. God is the most understanding God and will help you through anything.

Softball Fear!!!
I never wanted to play softball, because when I played my brother Sammy he always beat me. He has alot more experience than I do. So, I thought that I would always loose. It has been a couple of years, I finally decided to try this season. When I went to my first practice I had alot of fun. I enjoyed the girls on my team they all seemed very nice.
During my second game, I was up to bat and the pitcher hit me on my inside knee with the ball. Oh my, it really hurt. I asked God to get me on base, I guess He had different plans on how that was going to happen. ( I would have preferred to hit the ball ::)) ). I made it all the way around the bases to home. The next game, the same pitcher was throwing the balls. I did not want to bat. I was afraid of her and how she pitched. I refused to bat and had to take automatic outs for my team. I felt awful. I was feeling scared of batting and wanted to quit. I did not want to get hit with the ball again. I had a long talk with my daddy. He said I should consider getting over my fears. There is not an "I" in TEAM, which means we need to think of our teammates because we are a team and we need to stick it out for each other. I have decided to go back, tonight I conquer my fear.

When a Family Abides...

Every summer my family
goes to North Carolina for
vacation. We usually go to a store that has a huge sale.
Last year, my brother Sammy bought a nice skim
board really cheap. He couldn’t wait to use it at the
beach. The fi rst day we went to the beach
he immediately starting skimming the
water, fl ying through the air! While my
mom and sister were on a walk, I was
watching my one little brother play in
the sand with my dad. My other brother,
Sammy, caught a really nice ride and fell
off the board. We all ran over to see if he was okay.
I heard “My skim board, where is my skim board?
Where is it?” My dad, my two brothers and I walked
the beach looking for it. We walked the edge of the
water up and back again hoping to see it come in.
When my mom and sister came back they asked
why we were all walking up and down the water’s
edge. They began to look with us. After a while we
thought maybe we lost it and that God would bless
someone else with it. We had moved far down the
beach from the place where Sammy lost it when my
mom said, “Let’s pray.” (We all were already asking
God for help individually.) My family stood in a circle
holding hands at the edge of the water and prayed. When
we fi nished my mom said, “Maybe it got stuck deep in
the sand where the water comes back and catches the
waves from the undertow. She went out in the water and
started rubbing her feet on the bottom of the sea trying
to feel for it, half-heartedly because remember we are
not near the place Sammy lost it. We have walked up and
down at least a half-mile of the beach’s shoreline.
When she walked out of the water, we all seemed
to be looking right at the spot she was just in.
Suddenly out from the water floated up
the skim board, up from the sand.
It rose to the top within seconds
of her leaving. We all saw it; our
mouths dropped wide open. My
mom ran over picked up the board
and raised it in the air praising God
for His goodness and faithfulness.
My mom talked about God’s wondrous power
for hours afterwards. We were excited too, but
she just kept going on about how great it is to
abide in the Lord and that when we are diligently
seeking Him He rewards us (Hebrews 11:6). She
said a lot of verses, I don’t remember them all,
but it is defi nitely a God thing. My family will
never forget the most amazing moment when out
of nowhere, far from the original spot the board
was lost, it rose up out of the water.
I learned a valuable lesson that day, no matter what,
God is faithful to those abiding in Him through prayer
and walking closely with Him. We still praise God for it
today!