Observations on Worship

Last night, I went to the singing worship at Downtown Church of Christ and on Thursday, I went to the singing devo that is on campus. And both times, I was moved to tears. So I got to thinking. How awesome is worship going to be in heaven?

We think worship sounds great if there are 100 people there. What about the billions of people in the world that will go to heaven? And then you factor in generations. There will be more people in heaven than we can fathom..and some day we will all be praising God. It was very humbling and exciting at the same time.

So my encouragement is to worship God this week with your life, whether by praying or being nice to someone or whatever you choose to do.

Be salt and light!!

~Hannah~

Live Like You Were Dying

One of my favorite country songs is a song by Tim McGraw entitled "Live like you were dying". This song has been one of my favorites for awhile, as it really speaks to me. So first, I would encourage you to listen to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNWg5DlWVa8

This song really encourages me to be a better person. I know that may sound a little strange, but imagine if everyone lived as if today was their last. Don't get me wrong, I think we do need to make plans for the future. But if everyone lived like they were dying, I think people would be more forgiving, more loving, and kinder in general to people. Life is too short to live any other way than to live every day to it's full potential.

So this is my encouragement for this week. Pray that God shows you ways to be kind to people and to open your heart to forgive those who need forgiving. Live your life to it's fullest- love deeper, speak sweeter, and give forgiveness to those you've been denying. Especially the love deeper part, because love covers over a multitude of sins :)

Have a WONDERFUL week, and be salt and light!!
~Hannah Stone~

"Christmas time" is over...now what?

So, I love Christmas. I know that's probably a very cliché statement, but it's such a wonderful season. For the couple of weeks leading up to Christmas, people are just nicer. Granted, there will still be the grumpy people that are grumpy no matter what. But there is just a feeling in the air around Christmas that makes everything seem...well, magical. Yes, I said it. Magical. It's “the most wonderful time of the year”, as the popular song states. There seems to be less people honking at cars on the road. People seem more apt to let someone cut in on the highway, or even in line at a store if they are in a hurry. Christmas is the only time strangers can stand on other stranger's porches and sing songs to them and it's not considered strange. You see people donating time and money to the Salvation Army, you see people going out of their way to help complete strangers. My church does a wonderful outreach called “stars of hope”, and every year I am amazed at the outpouring of love and kindness I see from the members of the church. I could tell a hundred stories from the past few years of helping with the stars of hope, but more details on that may be for another time. My point is, Christmas is a time when you see people reaching out to help each other and there is a feeling of peace.

Here we are, a couple weeks later. Life is back to normal. People are honking again, cutting people off on the highway, and I'm pretty sure if someone stood on my porch and started singing to me, I would probably be a little weirded out. There are no more Salvation Army people on the street corners, and it seems that the Christmas spirit has been replaced by the complacency and routine that exists for about 50 weeks of the year. This makes me sad.

Why do we wait until Christmas to go out of our way to help people? Why does the patience and love that seems to abound at Christmas suddenly disappear? Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth. Yes I know, I know. He was probably born in the spring because the evidence suggests (insert facts indicating Jesus was born in the spring here). But we don't know the exact date. And quite frankly, I don't think that it matters when someone was born, just that we remember and celebrate it. So, December 25 is as good a day as any to celebrate Jesus' birth around the world. But as Christians, we don't just celebrate his birth on Christmas and then let it go. We celebrate his birth, and his life, and his death and resurrection all year round. We do more good things around Christmas in the name of Jesus. Why should that be different than the other 364 days? I think that in some ways, Christmas should be just another time of the year that Christians do great things to help people. How great will the day be when every day is like Christmas? Not in the sense of getting presents, but in going out of our way to help strangers just because it's the right thing to do.

So this is my challenge to you. Not just for today, or this week, or this year. But always try to keep the same attitude that you have at Christmas. Always be looking for ways to improve someone's life, whether a closest friend or a stranger. And remember, by doing this, you might be entertaining an angel.

MerryAlways-Christmas, and be salt and light!!

~Hannah~

Picnic lunch with great friends=perfect day.

Today I got the opportunity to go to lunch with two of my best friends. Not only a lunch...a picnic lunch at botanic gardens. It was beautiful and the best weather. I know I've already written a post about friends, but I wanted to reemphasize what wonderful friends I have. Matthew is one of my best friends, and we can talk about anything. Katie has been one of my best friends for a long time, and I can always count on her to make me smile or laugh when I need to. What makes them such good friends is that we can have great conversations about God and life in general. Today was such a good day, and now I'm in a really good mood. It made me really think about how blessed I am. I know I've said this a lot in previous posts. But think about you and your life. Do you have friends that you can tell anything to? Have you thanked God for them lately? I really took my friends for granted, and then when I got to college I realized how much they really impacted my life. My challenge for this week is to think about your good friends, the ones that your closest to, and thank God for them. And then thank them for being there for you and let them know how much they mean to you.

Be salt and light!!
~Hannah~

I'm Back :)

So, I came home for Christmas break and took about a month off from the blog, because I was so busy. I'm back in full force now, and excited about writing about my Christmas and other such things. Today I just wanted to talk a little bit about my family. I have the best family ever, hands down. I got the opportunity to see my close family and extended family. My family is a very close bunch, and I will definitely be dedicating more blogs to them. But this Christmas really let me appreciate more what a wonderful family I have and how truly blessed I am. They're so much fun to be around, and we are always laughing and talking. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. People make fun of me because I tend to go a little overboard in my enthusiasm for the holiday, but it's a time when you just get to relax and be around family and friends. You also see more kindness in people (more about that in my next post). I mainly just wanted to write to say that I'm back, and that I've already started writing my next several blog posts. I hope your Christmas was wonderful!

Be salt and light!
~Hannah~