Bailey Gundry (Becoming Girls Conference Intern)

Bailey is a Becoming Conference attender turned Intern. You're going to love her. Guaranteed. ~Julianna

Wait, WHY does God Love Me? | A Reminder of God's Love

Faith is defined as having a confident TRUST in someone or something...

Trust is reliance on the integrity, strength, ability of a person. 

I am going to be very real right now. Lately I have been struggling with having faith in God and knowing that when I fail, He will be right there to pick me up. I have been struggling with my heart all week going back and forth between feeling so cruddy and trashy because of the amount I have messed up and remembering to rejoice in the fact that I am redeemed and made new by the blood of the lamb. 

I know, its a hard truth to live into sometimes, but we have to TRUST and have FAITH in the Lord.

Why??

He knows my name... Isaiah 43:1

He sees my every move... Psalm 139:7

He thinks about me... Psalm 139:17

He is with me... Joshua 1:9

He will fight for me... Exodus 14:14

He made me in His image... Genesis 1:27

He is my safe place... Psalm 62:6-8

He has a plan for me... Jeremiah 29:11

He is GOOD... Psalm 119:68

He is freedom... 2 Corinthians 3:17

He is always with me... Matthew 28:20

After everything I have done and everything Christ knows I will do, He will still love me. He holds me in the palm of his hand and nothing, "no power in hell and no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand." He is and always be my protector and the only one who will love me with endless grace, mercy and forgiveness. 

Remember that lovlies. You are a redeemed, beautiful creation of God.

Love,
Sam


Samantha is on our Becoming Intern Team and loves talking with middle school and high school girls about all things beauty, God,  writing and boys. She is currently studying to be an Ultra-Sound Technician. 

Spring Break is the Best Kind of Break

Spring break is by far, the best break from school. 
It's not as long as Christmas break, but it comes exactly at the time of year when you're banging your head against the classroom wall and looking for any and every reason to skip school. It's as if the teachers knew that and all gathered and said, "Hey, let's skip school!" Am I right??


So what does a teenage girl do when she has two weeks of nothing scheduled? Go to the mall? Friends' houses? Movies? Hunger Games?! (That's a whole other post, that Madi will probably write.)


I know how it is to have free time and be so excited about all the things I could do. But one day, when I was in high school, a friend encouraged me to thinking outside the box. She asked me the same question I just asked you: What does a teenage girl do when she has two weeks of nothing scheduled? I told her my amazing plans and she smiled.


Then she asked if I wanted to go with her to the local nursing home. She was going to paint all the ladies nails and brush their hair and sing them songs. I was astonished. Really? I didn't even know you could do that. 


Long story short, I went and it was one of the most amazing days of my life! To see their faces light up and their smiles so big and bright pink (because we gave them lipstick!) was more than memorable in my eyes. And to think, all it took was one day of my Spring Break. 


So this is my challenge for us these next two weeks:
What can you do this Spring Break, that will make someone else smile? 

Photo Credit

Oh Clothes!

i love looking through pictures like this and pretending like i have a virtual closet... clothes, clothes, clothes!

{i love this look so much! the hair and the glasses and the HAT!!}

{very NY i think}

{absolute favorite!! so adorable, i want it all... including the coffee ;)}

be brave with your wardrobe girlies, branch out and try new things!!

<3 always,

Don't Be the Good Girl

Growing up, I always considered myself a good girl. 

I went to church, followed the rules, and made the right friends. When others made mistakes or choices I didn’t agree with, I would never do that rolled off my condescending tongue so easily you couldn’t not believe me, even if you tried. After all, I even believed myself.

That is, until I did that. And this. And a little more that. And pretty soon, I found myself in a desperate place with a thousand “I’d never do that’s” already done and more guilt in my soul than I ever expected to deal with.

Too many of us live in that good girl trap. 

We think what we do is who we are, and as long as we play by the rules and don’t disappoint anyone, we’re okay. But the truth is, none of us are okay, and believing we are is our first mistake.

Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Matthew 26:35

Like Peter, we believe there are certain mistakes we aren’t capable of making. And like Peter, we’re wrong. The assumption that we are somehow immune to certain temptations is dangerous because it leads us into compromising situations. 

For me, it meant going places I didn’t belong, dating people I shouldn’t have dated, and making little choices that led to big, fat mistakes. I thought I could handle them because I  was strong enough, smart enough, good enough. It wasn’t until I saw my weakness that I realized true strength is only found in Jesus.

The good news is, we don’t have to stop at realizing how weak we are. 

God asks us to give up the good girl game because He wants to lead us to something so much better: our true identities.

Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in his name, He gave them the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

There is a big difference between simply believing in God and living as His child. He doesn’t want us to be good just because we think we should or because other people think we should.

He wants us to live for Him because we are His daughters. 

He has great plans for us. 

He loves us. 

He thinks we are beautiful. 

He knows who we were created to be because He designed us, and no matter what we do or don’t do, our identity is in Him and Him alone.

After Peter realized he had done exactly what he told Jesus he would never do, he cried, and not just a few tears. In fact, the Bible says he “went outside and wept bitterly.”  I’ve been there, too. I have wept bitterly over things I honestly thought I would never do, and I have experienced shame, regret, and disappointment in such heavy doses my stomach still turns when I think back on it. But I’ve realized now there is no such thing as a good girl. I wasn’t one growing up and I’m not one now.

I am God’s girl. And being His is so much sweeter than just being good.

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Brittany Williamson is a 20something who loves frappuccinos, salty air, and Texas. You can read more about her on www.faithinbetween.com and www.facebook.com/faithinbetween.

Here it comes!

Oye Vay... 2011 is almost over! Can you believe it? 

So much has happened and so much awaits- it makes me scared, excited, impatient and nostalgic all at the same time. This year has been a huge growing period in my life. I have done so many things this year that I never would have done if was not for the courage through God. 

Major Things From My Life- 2011

• Because of Him, I have been able to continue conquering my fears and breaking my bondage of anxiety.
• I have applied for college (even though going away scares the living daylights out of me).
• My first relationship!! Not like i'm excited about that or anything...
• It was the last year that my whole family will ever live under the same roof again.
• I got my license
• I became a blog writer for you lovlies, and an intern for that matter.
• I grew closer to my family and began a relationship with another family very near and dear to my heart.

Soooooo much stuff and now, it begins again. A new year, new experiences, new chances to step out and grow in the girl God has picked you to be!
I can't wait for 2012 and I'm sure you're pretty excited too.


Anyone have plans?? Goals? Dreams?

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, and to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences."

Love always,

Do You Like Surprises?

Interesting fact about me: I love surprises!! Giving or recieving... surprises rock =)

I don't know what it is about them:
The Anticipation or maybe
The Happiness or maybe
The Unexpectedness or maybe
The Spontaneity of them!

Who knows... but surprises have been some of the best times in my life.


What about you? 
Have you ever recieved a surprise that blew your mind?
Have you ever given a surprise that was totally thoughtful and made the other person incredibly joyful?


Tell us, tell us!


-Sam

It's the Gospel: Love + Movement

 Think on this lovlies-

All we did was nothing and love still came...

What love? Jesus' love. God's love. 


How true is that?!!! While we were in our sin, consumed with ourselves and everything the world enticed us with, Christ put himself upon that cross and suffered so much pain FOR US.

So we would KNOW His love beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The days we are struggling with inadequacy, with feelings of lonliness, with those thoughts that nothing we will or can ever do is good enough REMEMBER that Christ loved us as the ugly, faithless, disgusting sinners that we WERE. We WERE...

But because of the love that came, we are seen as beautiful and pure daughters of God! We do not have to do anything ever... it was all paid in blood, an action that can never be revoked or taken away. 


He loved us then, He loves us now, and He will love us in the future no matter what happens.

Now GO! Let's move forward into the world and freely give love to others unconditionally because that is what was done for us.

1 John 4:17-18

"By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear."

Until next time beautiful and redeemed girls <3

Just Breathe

Well hello there! it has been quite a while since i've posted anything but oh how i have missed you oh so terribly much!

Life is crazy- there is so much going on between school and ASB, uprising and high school group, family, friends, boyfriend, job... oye vay!! it is such a balancing act but in the crazy busy times of life i see Christ so much. it struck me towards the end of last school year when i was anxious and stressed and worried and stressed and exhausted and stressed.

 SLAP! it hit me...

Why was I trying to find peace anywhere other than Christ? I had been trying to find rest in physical things and totally forgot to look to the cross and the peace that is always offered to us.

I mean don't get me wrong- catching up on that blog that you haven't read for weeks is great and so is sitting down with a cup of coffee or tea (or whatever beverage you delight in) but for me, often times my head just keeps going! and then I stress out more because i'm not doing something that is on my list.

So all of this to say that I was reminded to run to Jesus and JUST BREATHE Him in when I'm feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. so as this school year gets off to a running flying start, take time to sit for 5 minutes and just talk to God or listen for Him.

“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 is always one that I go back to time and time again. I will sit and as much as my mind wants to go to a thousand different places, I just repeat this verse over and over again. It may sound nuts, but for me, it helps.

Breathe in... Breathe out... repeat if/when necessary!


Praying for all of you and your weeks, until next time

She Dreams: Xenia from The Voice

She's the girl who wooed America. 

That's right. Temecula, California has been put on the map by this sweet girl. Shy and quiet, but with some heart melting pipes,Xenia showed the world that she is just getting started. 

I had the honor of being able to interview Xenia. We both attend the same church and she was in my small group back when I volunteered in high school youth group. [And she helped me out with our Girls' Conference video too! see it here] Everything you've seen on TV is her. She's real, she's a gem of a girl, and she loves Jesus. 

So without further ado... {sorry about the wind!}





Be looking out for great things from this girl! You can get her songs on iTunes!

Xenia's Music
Find Xenia on Facebook
Follow Xenia on Twitter

WHAT DO YOU DREAM ABOUT?

Love,