Have you ever had one of those nights when you just can't fall asleep? Regardless of the fact that you are dead tired and should be able to catch some z's for at least 12 - 14 hours?

I had one of those for the past two nights. The first night I just put my Zune on and ignored everything else.

The second night, however, I remembered something that Konan Stephens had said last week at SNED Senior High Camp. It was something along that lines of sometimes we get so caught up in talking to God [prayer] that we forget to allow Him time to speak back to us.

So I prayed for a bit and then was like "ok God. Your turn." (don't laugh, it was like 1am...I wasn't fully cognizant.)

Anyway, I gave Him some time and He used it. He had placed a few people on my heart recently and during that minute or two of silence He said something to the effect of...in your busy days, you may forget that you promised to pray for someone. Or you may push aside the thought to pray for your family [brothers & sisters in Christ], but here in the quiet is your chance.

After that, I spent around an hour praying. For specific people, for our district, etc. I fell back asleep somewhere in there, and didn't wake up until ~9am.

Now the lyrics to one of Phil Wickham's songs keeps popping into my head.

"Here in the quiet, speak to me now. My ears are open..."

So I'm not sure what I had hoped to accomplish with this post, but hopefully it has encouraged you and given you some food for thought. :-]

~CAL

Love vs. Hate

In our lives, we're always going to face trials. Have to deal with people we don't necessarily like. And as I was doing some stuff for youth group, I was looking through some verses and came across Matthew 5:44. It says "...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

As I read that, it hit me that sometimes it is so much easier to hate than it is to love. Hating someone (or disliking them) can sometimes take almost no thought or effort.

To love someone, truly love them, regardless of whether or not we like them, takes effort.

A LOT of it.

Trust me. I know. :-]

So instead of complaining about someone, take the time to pray for them.

You may find that you end up happier or more joyous. I know I have.

Peace y'all.

~Corey Anne

P.S.
I know I wrote about this verse a little while ago...but obviously I needed to see it again! :-]

Instantaneously

We live in a world where we want instant gratification. What does that mean to you?

Creation...how can a person doubt?

As I was flying to Florida yesterday, I looked out the plane window and wondered at God's creation. Honestly, I can't comprehend how a person could ever doubt that there is a God. The beauty of His creation should be more than enough to convince a person.

Now just a question. Not sure where it came from...but it popped into my head on Wednesday night during worship. Let me know what you think of it: When does acting become truth and why does truth become acting? Or why does passion become acting??

~Corey Anne

Facebook and God

I was sitting in class today when I thought of this....

Do you ever think about how often most of us check our Facebook (myspace, blog, etc) to see what our friends have to say to us??

And think of how little we check our Bible's to see what our Creator has to say to us.

Doesn't make sense...does it?

~Corey Anne

Silence vs. Noise

I getting ready to shower today when I thought of this.

Speaking into the silence can be so much harder than speaking into the noise.

Take for example at youth convention.

The atmosphere at convention gives a person a natural spiritual "high."

We're more than willing to speak in tongues, to pray for others, to simply open our mouths and speak. But as soon as we get home from convention (or camp, w/e) we're surrounded by the silence, and it's so much harder to break it.

Yes, there are times when we need to wait in silence, but we often have to break it to worship our King.

I'll add more to this later.
Caio!
~Corey Anne

Matthew 5:44

"...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

So the Bible is filled with little tidbits of helpful info such as Matt. 5:44. We just have to remember to look for them. Sometimes, we see them, but sometimes because we don't like one part, we choose to ignore it.

And to be completely frank with y'all, my human nature doesn't want me to be living this verse. And honestly, until I started writing this, I didn't realize just how much I needed this verse (funny how God works all this out). Instead of dwelling on myself and how I may or may not be being mistreated, I need to pray for the other person. A while ago, God helped show me how to love everyone, regardless of my initial reaction to a person. He helped me to see a person for who they are, whether or not I would want to be "best friends" with them. So I had half this verse down. Now I just need to work on praying for those who "persecute" me.

You will probably never know what is going on in the life of someone that is giving you problems. So while you should try and resolve the conflict, also pray for that person.
Alright, if that helped you in some way...then my job is done.

Later y'all.
~Corey Anne