Challenges.

Thought I'd share with you something that somebody posted on Facebook... of all places. It's pretty challenging.

"God will use Facebook to prove that our prayerlessness wasn't because we were too busy". John Piper.

Obviously, we all use Facebook for socialising and keeping in touch with people, and I think that's fine. And obviously also, God won't need to prove anything to us- He's the almighty God and is not required to prove anything to us! But the general idea is really important, I think. I reckon I'm in the position where I use it far too much- and maybe should be using the time more wisely.... strengthening my relationship with God in prayer and study.
So as from tomorrow, I'm going to be limiting my time on Facebook:) To half an hour per day, which may sound like a lot still to lots of you, but I think by the time I add up every time I go on, just to check something, or look at my messages or something, the time adds up and adds up and adds up. So we'll see how that goes with the plan to reduce it even further in a few weeks:)



Another thing the same person posted... http://www.christian.org.uk/news/video-jesus-was-the-real-hero-of-trapped-chilean-miners/. This is an amazing testimony to God's faithfulness!

half term!

It's half term and so I have time to post! Had a really lovely time at the 18th birthday party I went to this last weekend, and a fairly eventful train journey back!
Was at the WHBC small group last night; we've been looking at Ezekiel which has to be one of the most challenging books in the Bible, I reckon! Most of it makes little, if any, sense to me, but it's been really good to look at it as I didn't really know much about it :) Which is also a challenge to look at the more obscure books personally as I should aim to know my Bible better. (At the moment, I've been going through 1 and 2 Peter, and finished 1 John yesterday, moving on to 2 John today as they are books that I haven't really looked at- I tend to get caught up in the gospels, Acts and Romans, Corinthians and Galatians/Ephesians/Philippians/Colossians (don't know why I group them together!) as they are a lot more easy going than some of the other books).
But back to Ezekiel for now :) Thought I'd share a little bit of what I've learnt. The book is split into two main sections: Judgment and Restoration. The first section is all about the sin of the people in Israel and Jerusalem and what God's punishment on them will be- which brings up some really difficult passages! The restoration section is all about hope, and heaven, and I was reminded yesterday that this world is not our home- we are only passing through! Our true home is Heaven, and we should be fully focussed on that.
A recurring phrase in the book is "then you shall know that I am the Lord", but at the end of the book, it talks about the name of the city (which represents Heaven)- "THE LORD IS THERE" which is a real encouragement as we know that when we go to Heaven, we will meet Jesus face to face!




On the subject of WHBC, I'v been really enjoying meeting there since Easter. A lot has changed in a short amount of time, but I have loved going and will continue to enjoy going for the near future! I've also enjoyed getting to know the "youth" of about the same age as me better and am especially thankful to God for them. One of the lovely people there is Naomi- have a look at her blog, there's a link to it on the right: 'Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart.' Read it :)



and a question. Why do people turn pineapple upside down pudding upside down? What's the point? Just throwing it out there.

I have an absolute TON of college work (including masses of French. Stupid language.) to do the rest of the week, so will stop this rambling post now! Au revoir <3

slightly random.

this is a really random post, but thought i'd post it anyway.

so at college, we've been given these "lanyards" for us to wear our ID cards round our necks, which as you can imagine, nobody is too pleased about. At the back of the lanyardy thing there's a safety catch (which rumour has it will break if someone tries to strangle you...).

It might be just me, but you know when you have a sudden urge to see how far you can bend something before it snaps? Like a flexible ruler? And you know you're reaaaaally going to regret it once it's snapped because then it's useless.

Well I did this to the safety catch. And my friends sat there telling me that I'd regret it. And funnily enough, I did. Because now, I have to wear this stupid thing round my neck tied at the back instead of a double knot. And it's annoying. I could just pay £1 to buy a new one, but I refuse on principle :p

My brother mentioned these sudden urge things the other day, and now they're really annoying me. Like when some randomer walks past you with a box/bag thing of chips, I have an urge to take one :/ which fortunately I never have. As that could be embarrassing. But yeah :) Just me?

The randomest blog post ever; sorry! x

and so life moves on.

life has moved on since my last post!

i have nearly finished applying to university- SCARY SCARY TIMES!
the plan, (i think), is to apply at and for:
Bath- Politics and International Relations
Exeter- International Relations
Cardiff- European Politics and International Relations
York- Politics and International Relations
Birmingham- International Relations

:) now just to wait for offers!

oh yeah, and get the grades....

i've also passed my driving theory test! and am in the process of actually learning to drive. i'm not exactly the most natural of drivers...... but i'll get there! (hopefully).

really looking forward to the 18th birthday party of one of my friends, Coralie, at the beginning of half term :) maybe post pictures afterwards?

...although looking at my past track record, it's unlikely i'll ever get round to it. oops.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16

.

"Then one day I'll see Him as He sees me,

Face to face, the Lover and the loved;

No more words, the longing will be over:

There with my precious Jesus. "

summer ♥

so this is summer... could have fooled me! after finishing my exams, i had a lovely two weeks in spain with the family which was super sunny! did absolutely nothing, was was different to usual! then i had an amazing week at camp, run by CCIW (Christian Camps in Wales) :) camp is the most amazing place for meeting up with friends, and i really appreciated being able to spend time with them. there are people of all different ages from all different places from all different backgrounds, and everybody gets along- I like to think of camp as a little glimpse of Heaven :) i think my favourite evening on camp was the thursday, I spent a long time talking to people after the evening meeting, then we went and sat round a bonfire, where we could lie on the ground looking up at the sky watching the meteor shower- otherwise known as shooting stars. the shooting stars never failed to amaze me- how they were miles and miles and miles away from where I was. and the other stars- the ones that just twinkled in the sky- were awesome as well. i can't get my head around the fact that however many stars I see, i can never hope to see even the tiniest percentage of them- yet God knows them all!
just being around Christians for a week was such an encouragement, and i learnt a lot.

so i got home on the saturday, and a friend from camp came back with us for a few days. then the saturday evening, a group of people from church who were on camp came over in the evening and we sat around the chiminea (sp?) and toasted marshmallows and ate cupcakes that jess (who is extremely talented at baking!) made :) and cookies. and chips. etc. then on the monday, we met up with a few of them again for a picnic and then for a visit to Snugbury's ice cream place with the hay sculptures- which was a meercat this time :) so the camp atmosphere didn't finish for a while, but the post camp depression feeling started soon after!

then on the monday night i stayed over at a friend's in crewe with some others, and four of my friends took me and two others on a surprise day out on the tuesday... which involved us being blindfolded and wearing a cape walking down the platform in crewe.... where we got on the train to LONDON! which was such a good day! we did the full on touristy thing- platform 9 3/4, green park, buckingham palace, camden market, covent garden, harrods and hyde park- where we went on pedalos on the lake :) it was the best day :) all thanks to my lovely friends!

then the thursday was results day, which was pretty important for me, but i was really happy with my results :) some big decisions coming up now, but i know i can trust in my God to uphold me and to keep me :) Jeremiah 29v11 comes to mind! (i really hope that's the right verse....) i'll double check!

so it's been busy busy times recently, so it'll be nice to wind down a bit before going back to college. dad and heid are about to start walking the Pennine way.... muppets... so i have the job of daily weather forecast checker ;)

i really will keep updating this a bit more regularly and get some photos up. if i remember.

this verse is going to be my verse for the year I think. "But He said to me: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" 2 Corinthians 12v9

june :)

i've not blogged for a while. i'm a disgrace to the blogging world.
oh well.

so life :) life is good! have finished all my exams, some went well, some not so well, but oh well :) way too many "well"s in that sentence. and am now back to college to start a2 courses, which with the exception of biology and maths, i'm looking forward to :) am going to make the most of my last year at college, work hard but have fun :)

have had a lovely couple of weekends recently. two weeks ago, i went to a church picnic at wem baptist church, which was amazingly sunny, and really good :) and then this last weekend, i went to a church fun day at a church near wem which involved more sun, croquet (which i can't say i was that great at), a golf thing (or that) and then a big game of rounders :) had a lovely time getting to know people there. then had another lovely day on the sunday going to the services at wem, and spending an afternoon with the lord family and a few others watching the football... all in all, a really really good weekend :)

am SO looking forward to summer- a family holiday in spain, and camp! only thing missing is my new quay UBM (beach mission) which i will really, really miss :(

pretty much an update of the last few weeks really :) am just generally really happy at the moment :)

am going to start taking my camera whenever i go on days out now, and add some to the blog! no pictures so far, another disgrace.

starting filling in my ucas application for university, scary, scary stuff. i don't feel old enough to be doing that!

been thinking a lot recently about what i want to do at university- i've wanted to study medicine for years, but have changed my mind recently, for a number of reasons that i'd glossed over before, i think. or not thought of. it's been a really hard decision, becuse it's been my ambition for a while now, but it's not going to work out for me.

slightly strangely, i'm now looking at doing a totally unrelated degree, and stuffing the sciences altogether! i think i'd now rather do an arts degree and then i can decide what to do with that once i'm done :) looking at international relations at the moment, perhaps with a language, most likely french, as that's what i'm studying now, but my favourite university (not that i've actually VISITED any) offers beginners spanish with it :) which could be an interesting option, i think. i'm looking at exeter, bath and bristol, but from the prospectuses and a LOT of research, i think i like exeter best so far :) it's exciting times, but lots of decision making to do!

this is rather an epic post, so i will stop now :) au revoir!

thoughts.

today, i got back from a very refreshing and lovely holiday :) it was definitely a good break and i really enjoyed it :)

so i missed blogging at easter, so i'll catch up now! i always fail to be overwhelmed enough by the sacrifice made for me at the cross. i will never understand why the perfect man would die a horrific death and have his Father turn His back on him- for me? the fact remains that i can never thank Him enough for doing that for me; however hard i try, however much i strive to be like Jesus, i will never get there. unlike so many religions, it doesn't end there. i don't need to do thousands of good deeds to get me into heaven, because Jesus Christ, who was sinless and perfect, took the punishment for me- not only that, but was willing to do so! that's how i know how priviliged i am, to have such a saviour,

musings :)

i'm finding it very difficult to type this. not due to what i'm writing, but mainly due to the fact that i have a fat kitten sprawled across my lap, who is insisting on resting his paws on my arms. and purring loudly, and swishing his tail. i love my kitten :)

so today is monday. so yesterday was sunday. if i'm honest, the passage i'm going to share wasn't even preached on last night, it was the couple of verses after, and i was GUTTED we didn't get to it. what was preached on was treasures in jars of clay, but i've already quoted that verse once in this blog :)

so here goes. 2 corinthians chapter four verses sixteen to eighteen.

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal".

this was also one of the verses of the week on my first ever beach mission, and i love it :) it's amazing how we can think we have massive troubles and issues, but they are actually light and momentary- especially compared to the glory we can look forward to!

we sang a song at the end of our service yesterday, which really connected to the sermon, and i liked it, so here's a verse. maaaaaaan, all i do is share songs!

"God is at work in us,
His purpose to perform
Building a kingdom of power not of words
Where things impossible
By faith shall me made possible
Let’s give the glory to Him now

Though we are weak
His grace is everything we need
We’re made of clay but His treasure is within
He turns our weaknesses into His opportunities
So that the glory goes to Him"

i've waffled today. my friend emma says i'm a champion waffler, and i have to agree. it's also the only exams i do well in- those i'm allowed to waffle in. so french speaking, fine. french reading/listening, not so fine :)

in a few days i'm away for two weeks, so will be going offline, over Easter as well, which is sad. But I will hopefully get chance to blog again before then :)

over and out ♥




i never understood why they say over and out, and now i've ruined the effect :/ gutted.

hmm :)

well well well :) not blogged for a while, been busy, as usual!
since the 16th february! very sorry ;)

soooo, since then. i went to the house of a friend from camp over half term- Coralie Severs :) and had a lovely time! my brother turnes 18 last week- scary stuff, he can vote?! will definitely put some pictures up :) he got "Guitar Hero" for the Xbox, which I can hear now.... i knew there was a reason he doesn't play the guitar!

got some exam results from the exams i did in january last thursday, and am over the moon with the results :) not sure how they happened though!

this monday, i went on a "doctor day" at leighton hospital, for sixth form students who are prospective medical students :) it was better than i expected actually, and i can now take blood, put gastric tubes in, perform lumber punctures and intubations...

... all on dummies!

but, to be fair, they were surprisingly realistic, and quite fun!

wanted to share a verse or two from a song that we sing in church; it's called "Above the voices of the world around me", and i love it :)

Above the voices of the world around me,
my hopes and dreams, my cares and loves and fears,
the long-awaited call of Christ has found me,
the voice of Jesus echoes in my ears:
`I gave my life to break the cords that bind you,
I rose from death to set your spirit free;
turn from your sins and put the past behind you,
take up your cross and come and follow me.'

What can I offer him who calls me to him?
Only the wastes of sin and self and shame;
a mind confused, a heart that never knew him,
a tongue unskilled at naming Jesus' Name.
Yet at your call, and hungry for your blessing,
drawn by that cross which moves a heart of stone,
now Lord I come, my tale of sin confessing,
and in repentance turn to you alone.

Lord, I believe; help now my unbelieving;
I come in faith because your promise stands.
Your word of pardon and of peace receiving,
all that I am I place within your hands.
Let me become what you shall choose to make me,
freed from the guilt and burden of my sins.
Jesus is mine, who never shall forsake me,and in his love my new-born life begins.

♥



ps. there are these little things on the bottom of this post; they remind me of "liking" facebook statuses. choose one, please? it's nice to have some feedback, i've realised there are no bad ones, so will change it now! loves.

friendship ♥

lots of things happening over the past few weeks and months have made me realise how truly fortunate i am to have my friends. they're all from different places and backgrounds, but all of them are an encouragement to me, all the time :)

one of these people is naomi foulkes :) i have absolutely no idea where she gets them from, but she always has some amazing things written in the little box on her facebook profile, and i hope she doesn't mind that i'm sharing them here :)

"But by my rebellion i'm not what i was supposed to be. By His wonderful grace i am not what i was. And by that same grace i will one day be what He intended♥"

and one more for now:
'We never know how much one loves us till we know how much he is willing to endure and suffer for us: and it is the suffering element that measures love'

and to echo the words of Paul, in Philippians Chapter One,
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

adopted into His family!

found this today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t-NAum8kY8, have a watch :) in case you don't have time, i'll explain what it is :) it's of the 400m men's sprint in the barcelona olympics, and one of the runners falls to the ground half way through, in a lot of pain from his leg. the clip shows the other competitors finishing the race while he is still on the ground, until he gets up and begins to limp around the track, to finish the race. he's coming up to the last 100m or so, when a man runs out onto the track to him, and fights off security to get to him. it's the runner's father, and he supports him and runs the last few metres with him.

i have an amazing father, who would no doubt do that for me if i was in that circumstance. however, no earthly father can be as loving or as great as our Heavenly Father, who gives us all things :) He adopted us into His family, and chose us to be His sons. I think that's pretty amazing :) it also reminds me that, as a Christian, i have a race to run, and if i can't quite make it, or face troubles along the way, my Father will pick me up and help me or carry me through :)

i reckon i'm pretty fortunate to have the most amazing dad ever, and then to be able to call the Living God my father also :)






someone somewhere must be reading these posts, because i'm getting a few views! leave a comment? xxx

monday :)

i NEED to get some pictures on this blog! lots happening this half term, so will definitely get some up :) really looking forward to it!

my beautiful cousin, and my auntie and uncle (not that they're not beautiful ;) ) came up yesterday, which was lovely :) apart from the fact that katie wanted to catnap cass :)

today's been sloooooooooow, but i have the afternoon off tomorrow, so that should cheer me up! if i forget about the biology exam in the morning...

"but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

well well well :)

i PROMISED to write again soon. and i'm doing so now :) so it depends what you class as soon, i guess.

i'm looking forward to a good weekend at the moment, it's friday night, and tomorrow i'm off to liverpool, shopping with some rather lovely people :) then it's too an eighties themed 17th party, which will be interesting to say the least ;) and on sunday, my lovely cousins+auntie+uncle are coming ;) in no particular order!

more SNOW and ICE this week, a bit pathetic, but enough for me to slip over twice on monday :/ that hurt. a lot.

my dad and i just gave the cat a bath. which was interesting, as he hated it. but he was, eventually, happy enough to sit in my arms wrapped in a towel while his fluff was being dried and styled by my dad :) now he's curled up, giving himself a clean, which he obviously thinks is better!

i've been loving this song this week, pure ancient, but good all the same :)


He gives us more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sends us more strength when the labours increase,
To greater affliction, He adds His great mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

His love has no limit,
His grace has no measure,
His power has no boundary known among men,
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,He gives us and gives us and gives yet again.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed when the day is half-done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

i think they're some amazing words, and have been really encouraging for me this week :)






the cat's sitting on my lap now. damp cat. yum.

been a while!

been a busy bee lately, so haven't blogged, and this isn't a long one!
the simms family have a new kitten, which we got today, called cassian :) he's beautiful! lots of exams and busy times, longer post soon! x

not much to write <3

title explains why this one is a short one! but had this song in my head all day, so had to share it :)

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

exam tomorrow, bit worried tbh. my french homework this week, is to bake something french. i have been scouring the web for something interesting, and have ended up with chocolate cake :/ aka, gateaux. therefore it's french. or roulade, but i can't decide.

snow's melting, i hate it when it's all slushy and muddy. much prefer the candyfloss look! and, the car didn't even need defrosting this morning, it was 1 degree! could practically sunbathe :)

:) x

revising times, challenges and encouragements.

as-level modules and as-level general studies this next week, so been revising :( i really struggle with getting worried for exams, but it's so comforting to know that God has a plan for me and will always love me :)

had cu yesterday, which is always exciting to be part of, and had 12 people, which is encouraging :) i'm doing my first talk next week, which is scary stuff! even scarier, is that i'm talking about quiet times, and i can't say i've perfected mine to be honest, so that's been a challenge as well.

a friend from college is getting baptised tomorrow, which is also amazing, unfortunately i can't make it, but i reckon it takes guts to stand up for Jesus in such a public way.

aiming to spend less time on facebook this week, and more time with the book that is God's inspired, holy word! always a challenge to spend more time with God, but ultimately, He needs to be first in my life.

been listening to a song a lot recently, by Fernando Ortega, called Give me Jesus. it's super challenging, but a lovely song, it talks about how we should want Jesus alone, and how we should sort of give up the world for him?

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise,
give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus.

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone,
give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus.

When I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die,
give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
You can have all this world,
But give me Jesus.

today ♥

another snow day today :) which is good! had a lovely lie in and then did some revision. which isn't so good :(

off for another snow walk with Heidi in a few minutes which will be nice, pictures later maybe?

ooh, and this is where i got my url from! it wasn't my first choice, but it's still lovely :) it's a song by Stuart Townend, also called Salvation's Song.

LOVED BEFORE THE DAWN OF TIME,
Chosen by my Maker,
Hidden in my Saviour:
I am His and He is mine,
Cherished for eternity.

When I'm stained with guilt and sin,
He is there to lift me,
Heal me and forgive me;
Gives me strength to stand again,
Stronger than I was before.

So with every breath that I am given
I will sing salvation's song;
And I'll join the chorus of creation
Giving praise to Christ alone.

All the chains of Satan's curse
Lifted through His offering,
Satisfied through suffering;
All the blessings He deserves
Poured on my unworthy soul.

So with every breath that I am given
I will sing salvation's song;
And I'll join the chorus of creation
Giving praise to Christ alone.

Singing glory, honour, wisdom, power
To the Lamb upon the throne.
Hallelujah, I will lift Him high.
Singing glory, honour, wisdom, power
To the Lamb upon the throne.
Hallelujah I will sing with every breath that I am given
I will sing salvation's song;
And I'll join the chorus of creation
Giving praise to Christ alone.

Stars will fade and mountains fall;
Christ will shine forever,
Love's unfading splendour.
Earth and heaven will bow in awe,
Joining in salvation's song.

snow day :)

well well :) first post of the blog!

before i start talking about my beautiful day, i think i'll explain why my blog is call morethanconquerors :) tomorrow, i'll explain the url maybe :)

i've taken the phrase morethanconquerors from Romans Chapter Eight- favourite Bible passage?

It's a long passage so i won't write the whole thing :)

from verse 35... "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

I think that's a real encouragement :)




moving onto my snow day. it was FABULOUS :)

started with a wake up call from my mum, "wake up... it's very white outside!" which was exciting :) and then a phone call from Jess Budd, to tell me she wasn't going in :) so i was ringing round people, finding out if it was open.

so i trekked to college, to find out that i had to go to double biology :/ and i had to do my mock exam :(

except halfway through the exam, a women came in and told us COLLEGE WAS CLOSED :) so i went home with emma and rachael for some sledging, snowman making, and COOL RUNNINGS watching :)

then a snowball fight with the sister, which was fun, followed by a winter walk. where i kept having sudden urges to sit down, so i was wet :)

reminded me of this: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow”