Public School: Keeping Focused

When I first decided that I was going to go back into the high school, I knew that I needed to be completely sure of what my goals would be in going back to the high school, and that this was exactly what I was supposed to be doing. So I took some time praying about it to see God's opinion and have his hand in the process. When I felt that God was saying yes to be going back to the high school, I knew I had to keep a few very important things in mind. The first is that there is no way I can survive this on my own. I mean really, trying to survive in a public high school is kinda crazy! Without God in the picture, I knew I would fail. I also knew I not only needed to maintain a close relationship with God throughout my time at the high school, but he needed to be my main focus the entire time. Nothing could be placed before him or this was simply not going to work.

Well these goals started out fine in the beginning. The first few weeks of high school were great. I was focused. I kept God close to me by keeping him in my prayers, thoughts, and actions throughout every day. I kept a close relationship with him and as long as I did that, I did way more then survive at the high school. In fact, one could almost say that I thrived there. But then I started allowing other things to appear more important. Other things would take up my time, my thoughts, and my energy. Instead of spending time talking to God, I would be spending time worrying about an upcoming test or what someone would think about me if I did this or that. Well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I was destined to start failing. And fail I sure did. I actually started coming to a point that I was no longer craving talking to God. I was getting so caught up in all these other worldly things that I was starting to no longer see the big picture. My view was becoming more and more limited. I started being more stressed out, not having as much fun, and snapping at my friends more. Things were not working.


“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Matthew 6:24


"And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'" Matthew 22:37

So is we are supposed to love God with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our soul, then that means there is no room for anything else. Nothing should ever take God's place. Well the more time that I spent worrying and stressing or being occupied in other things that were not about God, the more that I started taking my eyes off of God and I started allowing my heart to stray away from God. This was exactly what I knew I could not do in the very beginning when I signed up for public school. I knew I needed to be completely focused on God. Not partially focused, but completely focused. So this was where I went wrong.

So here is my encouragement to you. Keep focused on what really matters in life. Instead of worrying about that big test you have next week, if you and your best friend are still going to be friends in the next 2 years, or if that cute guy is going to ask you to the winter dance, spend some time getting to know your creator. The more and more you get to know him, the less and less time you will spend worrying about these little things that don't matter. The results will be beautiful. :)

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

Facing the Unknown

Hey guys! :)


I've just about disappeared off the face of the earth when it comes to blogging. Well I finally decided it would be a good idea to get back into the swing of things, and start blogging again! I recently moved from doing an online public high school to a traditional public school system, so I have been trying to get the hang of things there and not get too bogged down with school work and sports. A friend of mine brought it to my attention that I should start blogging again, and maybe start blogging about my experiences at the high school and my transition from going to an online school to a public school. So in the future weeks, I will be talking about topics related to high school students as well. :) So now that you're all updated as far as my school change goes, I had something on my mind that I felt like I should share with you guys. Enjoy! :)


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I don't know about you, but I personally don't like much change in my life. Overall, I am perfectly content to stay in the same patterns and habits that I have been doing for years, and never change anything about them. You might be thinking, "Well why? Don't you want to try new things?" The answer to that is yes, of course. But sometimes I can get into the habit of thinking that life would be easier if I didn't try new things. If I just stayed in the same old patterns that I have been keeping up for years and never change a thing. Sure, I'm kinda right. Life would be a lot easier. But God wants us to be a light for others to see, and for me, this meant going back to the public school.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16(NIV)

Trying new things can be very scary. I think just at anyone you meet can tell you that the unknown can be a little nerve wracking, if not downright frightening. As humans, we try to take control of the situation and make sense of everything ourselves. As soon as we can't make sense of something ourselves, we panic. But when life changes and things start working a little differently then we're normally used to, why do we panic? Doesn't God tell us not to be afraid when trouble arises?

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." Isaiah 41:10(NIV)

When we are placed in scary situations, it is very important to really remember just how big our God is. Why do we freak out when we're moving to a new school, a new city, a new state? Why do we freak out when things don't go as planned? Because even though they are unplanned on our part, they are all apart of God's plan. Keep these things in mind the next time you start to worry about something small and trivial. We have a BIG God. Why do we worry about the little things? God says that he will always take care of us, no matter what happens in our life.

"Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?" Matthew 6:26(NIV)


** Another good passage in the Bible to read when you are afraid or worried is Psalms 23. :)

Camp NaNo Update- Day 23

Total Word Count: 59,571
Total Word Count Goal For The Day: Again, not a concern at the moment. ;)
Mood: Tired
Update: So now is where you are sitting here thinking, "Didn't she win NaNo already? Why is she posting another update?" Well even though I have officially crossed the finish line, I decided I wanted to create another personal goal for myself. To push myself just a little harder this month. So pretty much, this is what happened. When I crossed the 50K finish line, I stopped and took a break. A little over a week break actually, with only a few thousand words being written over that time. For the longest time, I was continually beating myself up over it. Saying things to myself like, "I should be writing", "Why am I ignoring my novel?", and "Was I in this just for the word count?" Well I figured out the answers to these questions. I was just tired. I had written so many words in such little time, I was just tired of writing. So I kinda took a sigh of relief when I crossed the goal. Well now my motivation is back up, and I'm excited to keep going! My personal goal is to make it to 60K, but I just might have to change that goal here soon. ;) I'm a little close to that goal already!

I know I have told you all this so many times, but once again I wanted to stop and thank all of you who have been supporting me this month! Writing a novel in a month has been an insane but amazing experience, and one I hope I will never forget. (: So a huge thank you to everyone out there who has been encouraging me when I need it most! *hands you a s'more*

One last thing before I go! I still can't quite make up my mind about whether or not I should participate in the August Camp NaNo! It starts next month, so I need to start trying to decide if I want to participate or not. If you could please vote on the poll to the right of the blog, and let me know your opinion, it would be greatly appreciated! Love you guys!

Setting an Example

You should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. -- 1 Timothy 4: 12

What comes to mind when you think about a role model? Some would think of celebrities, actors, actresses, your pastor, a family friend, or overall just someone that others look up to. I mean I'm sure we all have someone in our life that we can honestly see as a role model. For some of us, this could even be your mom or dad. But have you ever really stopped to see what the word role model really means? Let's take a quick look at what a dictionary says a role model is.

Role Model- Noun: A person looked to by others as an example to be imitated.

A person looked to by other...as an example to others. Hmmm... go back up and read the Bible verse in 1 Timothy. You might find a few similarities with this definition and that Bible verse. God calls Christians to be role models in Christ to shine His light to others. I'm sure for most of you, this is not any new news. But I have a crazy idea for you, that you might want to spend some time thinking about this month.

Have you ever maybe thought that YOU could be setting an example for someone else?

Honestly, I don't think this question comes to mind very often. We know that our little sisters or brothers tend to look up to us. We know that we have other people we look up to. But have we ever really stopped to think that we are setting an example for someone else? I know for me, I really never thought about it. Maybe you're in the same boat too. Stop and think for a second. Do you go to church, or youth group? You are setting an example there. Walk into Wal-mart? You're setting an example there too. Go to the local mall with your friends? More examples being set.

The thing is, we can set a good example, or a bad example. Of course, as Christians, we want to strive to set good examples everywhere we go that will shine all of the glory back on God. Sometimes it is easy to get trapped into the lie that we don't set an example for anyone. But believe it or not, you are setting an example to many, many people. You just might not know it yet, but you are. :) I wanted to take this post to encourage you today. We are all setting an example, but what kind of example are we setting? We want to strive to be setting a Godly example in everything we do. You never know who you just might be setting an example for.

Looking Back at NaNo Goals

So remember when I had that post, back in the last few days before July started that contained my goals for NaNo and what I wanted to get out of all of this madness?(If not, check it out here first.) Well now that I have officially crossed the 50,000 word count goal, I decided it would be a good time to look back on my goals for all this madness. Technically I will still be writing throughout the entire month, so I think I'll be checking in at the very end with my final word count. But for now, we have some goals to look at. I had a few things that I wanted to make sure happened during Camp NaNo. I had never expected any of this, so I was new to the entire thing. So next to the goal I'm going to list, I'm going to update you on how that goal went and weather or not I succeeded at that personal goal of mine. (:

Have Fun- Succeeded! This goal most definitely was accomplished this month, and I'm sure it will continue to be fulfilled! The planning stage itself was stressful and difficult, but once I actually sat down and started writing, I had a lot of fun. Writing became something that was fun. So much fun that I would write for hours. It was awesome.

Grow As A Writer- Succeeded !For me, this goal meant that I would just grow. Get better at writing, learn to not be so self critical and such. And to be honest, this one was difficult at times. There were times where I thought that this was just crazy and it was sure not helping me grow as a writer. But this entire month has been a growing experience, and I can't wait to keep writing and see how much more growth I achieve.

Just Write- Succeeded! I wanted to be able to get rid of my inner editor for a month. I might have finished early, but this goal still applies. I want to be able to look back and say, "That might not have been the best rough draft in the world, but all rough drafts need work. I was able to get rid of my inner editor and just write. And that's what I came here to do." Sometimes I think we all need to get rid of our inner editor when writing. Otherwise we can be too self critical. So this one was difficult, and I struggled, but all in all I succeeded! (:

Reach 50,000- Succeeded! This one actually was more of a side goal. I was so hesitant to even put this as a goal, because reaching something this big seemed quite scary, to be honest. But sometimes you have to not worry about your word count and just write. My other goals helped me with this. So even though this one is just a side goal, it is such a huge accomplishment.

So there were my goals for this month of Camp NaNo! I still have 19 days remaining in this month. Anything's possible. (: I'll update you all through the entire month, just not nearly as frequently. Remember to vote on the poll on the right hand side of the blog, you're opinion really does count. Thanks again for your support, you guys are awesome!

Camp NaNo Update- Day 10- WINNER!!!

Total Word Count: 50,803
Total Word Count Goal For The Day: Who cares?!
Mood: Acomplished!!
Update: I DID IT! WHOOOOOOOOOO! Earlier in the day I officially crossed that finish line! I strongly believe that this Camp NaNo will be one I will remember for quite awhile now. Not only was this NaNo my very first NaNo ever, but it was also the very first Camp NaNo ever offered. I also succeeded at my goal of writing 50,000 words in a month. And I actually went one step beyond that and wrote that many words in about 10 days. My goal for next time I try this? Finish in a week. ;) I wish I was kidding, but one day I'd love to give that a try. I know, I know. I'm loosing it. :D

Tomorrow I'll publish a post that contains the goals that I set for myself, and what happened to those goals while I wrote this month. I think I'll shock myself. Some of you may have noticed the purple, little word counter on the right hand side of my blog. I have been updating that regularly throughout Camp NaNo. I wanted to let you know that I will continue to be updating that this month, because I will continue writing. I also think I will continue to update my blog here on my progress, just maybe not as frequently as I did during NaNo. We'll see.Now that my goal has officially been passed, I want to see how much farther I can take it. Sure, I don't think I'm going to be writing nearly as much every day(we hope to protect my sanity- oh wait, too late) but we'll see what happens! (:

A huge THANK YOU to every single person who has been supporting me through this. Some of you were here with me from the planning stage on, and others joined me later on in the month. Whichever category you fall under, thanks for helping me out with this! You're awesome and your support means a lot. <3


SO! I have a question for all of you, and your opinion matters here. Camp NaNo is also offered next month. What do you guys think? Do you think I should try it again? Next month, right after this one? Dang, that would be difficult but a lot of fun. I want to know your opinion! If you want, head on over to the poll on the right side of the blog here and vote for me. It would mean a lot. (: Thanks so much!

Camp NaNo Update- Day 7

Total Word Count: 37,707
Total Word Count Goal For The Day: 11,291
Mood: Tired but Excited!
Update: Well I am so close! I think it's safe to say I'm in the home stretch right now!I have to admit it, I never thought I would even make it this far, let alone within the first 7 days. Can you believe it guys? NaNo has only been in progress for a week! Yippie! So I think I might be able to relax a little more and not stress so much. But it's so funny because I was actually planning on not writing at all today, but you won't guess what happened. I wrote today anyway! The dang book keeps calling me back. Makes me wonder if it will do that the entire time I'm writing it. Goodness, can you believe the mental mess I'd be in if I kept up this pace for a month? XD Don't even want to go there.

But thanks so much for everyone who has been supporting me this week, and for the 2 weeks before NaNo that I spent planning all of this. All of you have been so supportive and encouraging, and I could not have done any of this without you! So a big THANK YOU to everyone who has been supporting me during this crazy month. (:

To all you other crazy people out there doing NaNo too(that's alright, I'm just as crazy): How has this first week gone for you? Do you have any tips that you think would help other people doing NaNo? Leave them in the comments section, and I will compile your tips for a post later this month. Can't wait to hear from you!