I ruined America

As children we mimic our parents. When they get up, we get up. When they stretch, we stretch. When they curse, we curse. When they pray, we pray.

My mom always had a prayer journal and I remember being about six years old and starting my own. Hers was peach with flowers on it, so feminine. Mine was red with a big cow on the front of it. Hers had beautiful descriptions of who God was to her, prayers for my sisters and I and our spouses even though we were so young. Mine had prayers like: "Help my feel better from that one Thursday. Touch me and HEEL me Lord." and "Help me do well in the talent show next week while I sing 'Brother For Sale'". My oh my, how your prayers change as you are molded into an older, more mature person. (I still have a cow journal though)

I remember every night, sitting around the round, dark brown, horribly ugly kitchen table getting ready to eat. Even if our family was busy we still made time to sit at the table together and talk about the day. Every night my dad would bless the food. He always ended each prayer the same; "In Jesus name, most of all bless this country, Amen!" That turned into a routine for me as well. Every prayer, didn't matter if it was in the morning, during the day or at night, I would always end with "In Jesus name, most of all bless this country, Amen!"

As I grew up I started my own prayer routine. After summer camps I prayed every hour of every day for about two weeks straight and then it would fade to once a day, once a week, once a month and then eventually to when I needed things. And most of the time I would fall asleep before I got to the end, before I got to "Bless this country".

The older I got, the worst the world seemed. Is it just because I was more aware now that I am older? Or it because I, like millions of others have forgotten how to pray for our country?

When we turn on the news it is only full of hate, lies, theft, murder, rape, war...the list could go on and on. I don't even watch the news anymore because I am so disgusted with America. My heart just breaks for what is happening and where we, as a country, are headed. God turned is back on Sodom and Gomorrah when they were disobeying God. Studying the days of Sodom and Gomorrah (or the days of Noah as most call it) I feel like I am only reading news of what is happening now.

For those who don't know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah here it is: Genesis 19.

This scares me and should scare you. I am not writing this so that it makes you laugh because of my awesome prayer journal I had/have. I am writing this as a warning. It is not too late. God has not turned His back on America, yet. But He will soon, if things do not change. In order for things to change there must be prayer. We get together to watch football or to enjoy the nice weather that we finally have but do we ever get together just to pray? We need to start making it a routine. Not a yearly thing, on the National Day of Prayer. But an every day thing. Prayer DOES change God's mind.

I ruined America. You ruined America. We ruined America. But it is not too late. 

BEAUTIFUL

I wanted to share a short story and song with you. Tonight we had an awesome life group. We took a minute and wrote a letter to our biggest enemy. No matter what it was. A person or a thing, that brings us down. As crazy as it may seem I am going to share mine. Not my letter, because at the end of the bible study we went outside and burned our letters. :) Once they are forgiven, they are forgotten, that was pretty much the lesson I was going for.
Mine was Beauty. Seeing myself as God has created me is something that I struggle with daily. I have a wonderful family and an amazing boyfriend who remind that I am beautiful every day. And I nod, with the occasional smile, to show them I am acknowledging what they say. But why do I have such a hard time believing it?
I think, as a woman, I compare myself to other people more than I should. Yes, I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made but I allow Satan to overrule that thought. I allow him to fill my mind with lies. My biggest enemy for so long was the mirror. I didn't want to see what I started to believe. The book that really helped me through some rough times was Captivating, by John and Staci Eldridge. It is such an amazing book and I really encourage EVERY woman, young and old, to read that book. Not just read it but really study it. It changed my life.

If you do or have ever struggled with this know that God made you JUST the way you are. The thing that you may despise about yourself God took time to create it perfectly. How awesome is that? HE IS SO GOOD! This video is not the original...I can't find it if there is one. But this one was the best on out there lol ENJOY

Who I am...

Hey guys! So...like I have time to blog...ha! Oh well...felt like it was what I needed to do. Sometimes I just have so much to say and not enough people to listen. LOL I will give you a little insight on who I am before I go into my first blog.
My name is Brianna and I am 23. I love the Lord and my family and my wonderful boyfriend (who will one day be my husband! :) ) I am involved in our youth group at our awesome church and I just adore those students! I started a ministry downtown with my boyfriend, Benny, and our amazing friends, Jonah and Ashley. We go downtown on Friday nights and worship the Lord on the streets. Some people love it, others do not, but we are following God and showing his love, so we know we are protected.
I bet you are wondering where my blog name came from. Well, you see I was on a journey in Europe and came across 3 monks...okay, not really. I wish I had a cool story for it...but to be honest I posted a status on facebook that asked for someone to tell me something that described me so that I could name my blog and the first three people to respond pretty much named my blog. So, special thanks to Benny, Jordan and Brenda ;)
Why did I start the blog? Well, 1) I was way too addicted to hulu.com. I am telling you, I watched more TV shows on there than I ever did when I actually had cable. 2) Like I said earlier, I have too much to say and not enough people to listen to me. But most importantly, 3) I am not a preacher, I am not a minister or a perfect person who is coming to say that everyone is going to hell because they have sinned. I am far from that. But I am hoping that sharing some of my stories and what I go through on a day to day basis will inspire you. God has been there for me more than anyone and I would be a fool to not give him the glory. So I pray that whatever I do say will maybe help you or encourage you.
I am more than open to emails or comments on here or facebook if you ever have questions or comments that you want to share. I know that what I say may offend people, but if I was worried about offending people then I don't think I could truly call myself a CHRISTIAN.