Walking the road to freedom

The year is still young. 2010 just came in less than 3 months ago, but I already feel like this is going to be a year of journeys... for me at least. I'm continuing my journey as a first-time public high schooler, and going on some new endeavors in that. For example, I had to ride the bus to school, and chase it, all in one week! All thanks to the 3 feet of snow that is FINALLY melting away! I find it funny that while I'm focused on all of these firsts, my AP English teacher is focused on the lasts. Every couple of weeks she'll say something random to the senior AP class. Something like, "This is your last second day of February as high schoolers!" or something crazy like that. Did I mention getting called down to the Principal's office for the first time? Every morning I've heard the PA buzz at least once, but the person on the other end, whoever it may be, always asked for someone else (it's really funny when they call the wrong room, by the way). Then one morning, the system buzzed three times as always, the teacher said hello, and then the person on the other end asked, "Is Stacey Whitaker in class?" the response was a suspicious "Yes." I thought maybe I left my headlights on because... well... I do that a lot. I was wrong.

"We need her to come down to the office with her things."

My classmates broke out into the loudest collective "Ooooooooohhhhhhh!!!!" Really, it was hilarious. Walking through the hallways, I was almost hoping for it to be something interesting. Well, obviously, or else I'd be wasting life. I met with a few others who had been called down too for the exact same thing - some stupid Facebook dispute between our school and another. Me and my classmates only stepped in as voices of reason, for lack of better words. The principals of both schools got involved. The moral of this story is: don't think your principal doesn't have a Facebook. They do, and they probably keep pretty good tabs on what their students are posting.

....... That story has nothing to do with this post, really. And what's really sad is that this happened several weeks ago. But, hopefully it entertained you some. I'm still such a high school newbie. Ha! Anyway...

What was I talking about? Oh right. Journeys. Another journey was the 30/29 Days to Live thing, which recently concluded. It was very insightful, and left an impression on me so I am very thankful for it. :) A pending journey that's been on my mind a lot is actually more like a small but large step - a step out of childhood into the adult world. That's right, graduation and college are approaching! I'm so excited. Then there are two newer journeys (I promise, I'm getting as tired of using that word as you are of reading it by now), and the cool thing about them is that they could very well blend into one another. As I mentioned in the last post, I'm starting an extended Bible study using Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Then today, we started a new series at church that about 59 other churches are doing too. It's called Free.* That's right, with the asterisk and everything.

Pilgrim's Progress follows the story of a man named Christian who lives in the City of Destruction, and after acquiring a heavy burden on his back, flees the city and sets out on an adventure to enter the Kingdom of God. What's interesting is that the first several few chapters lead up to Christian coming to this place called Salvation. It's essentially a hill with the cross on top. When he comes to it, the burden on his back falls off and falls into Hell. Christian finally is freed from said burden and can continue his journey to enter the Kingdom of God. This just so happens to be where I left off last before starting this Free.* journey with church, and I guess, sort of sets the mark for where I'd like to be. Free.* involves a lot of private journaling, and so far, the journaling has set a huge burden on my back, kind of like Christian. I practically had a knot in my throat earlier while I was working through the prompts in the journal, because they made me realize some pretty harsh things about myself, things that no one else but God knew, and things that have me in bondage right now, even as I type this. I'll probably be doing more praying and thinking tonight than sleeping, which is probably a good thing.


"TOTAL FREEDOM MEANS LIVING COMPLETELY FEARLESSLY,
PAATIONATELY AND JOYFULLY - REGARDLESS
OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES, NOT BECAUSE OF THEM

Are you free?"

Not right now, but, I feel a change coming. :)

The white death... it's everywhere!!!

So the sky just dumped about 6 inches of white death over the area and is going to drop about 2 more overnight which means...... ANOTHER SNOW DAY!!! Oddly enough, I'm not entirely excited to say that, so ignore the caps and the last two exclamation points. Snow days are bittersweet to me. I love being temporarily freed from the stresses of school, but then I miss my friends. In these last months I've had the privilege to develop friendships with many of the kids at Winton Woods High. Because of them, I wouldn't trade the decision to go to public school for the world. :) Back to the snow day... I'm a little more excited this time around. There's this test coming up in Chemistry..... yeah. I want to go out and play in the snow tomorrow. I haven't done that since before high school. Maybe I grew up too fast.

Now that school is closed for another day I'm able to get on with something I've been wanting to do for a while. Read John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. I've read this book several times already, and loved it more each time. But the copy I have has Biblical references and lots of them on just about every page. Basically I'm going to do a Bible study using Pilgrim's Progress. Such a great book. I'd recommend to anyone who calls themselves a Christ follower. I'm really excited to read it again!

I've been mulling over a few options for the talent show at school. On that note, let me confess... that I am an American Idol junkie. Don't worry, this will all come together soon. Every season I find myself rooting for the contestants who choose to sing inspiring songs week after week after week. David Archuleta, for example. I'm really inspired by him and other contestants, so I've decided to sing an inspiring song at the talent show. I'm deciding between Better Days by Goo Goo Dolls, We Need Each Other by Sanctus Real, and a worship song. I want to sing something that will leave an impression on the people who watch/listen, or send a positive message to them. Music is a great way to send messages. :)

I'll be posting again soon. This Pilgrim's Progress inspired Bible study might give me some better things to talk about. Those are definitely some books you should pick up if you have the chance. The Bible and Pilgrim's Progress. Books for the soul. :)

29 Days to Live - Day 19 - Video update

29 Days to Live - Day 7 - More questions to ponder

Woohoo!!! We've made it to the one week mark on this crazy, challenging journey! Yet, as exciting as that is, it's also kind of nerve wracking. Just a little. I look back on the week and wonder if I did anything really significant, and I find myself worrying that I didn't. Sure, I have been motivated to live in ways that I haven't before, but what have I done for others? That's what's really important. So, this morning in church our youth pastor continued the series by asking two more questions:


1. What would you die for? My mind went straight to my loved ones when I heard this question. Some people admit that they wouldn't die for most of the people they know, which is completely understandable. At first I felt the same way, but then I came across a passage of Scripture.

Romans 5:6 - 8 (NLT)
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

After reading this I thought about my friends and relatives. If Jesus Christ Himself gave His life to save my friends and family, then who am I to be any different? Phillipians 2:3 says "in humility consider others better than yourselves." Taking this verse to heart, I really do think I would die for someone else. And if I was ever in a situation in which I had the option to deny my faith in Christ or die, I would choose death. So I would die for people and for my faith.


2. What would you live for? This question really struck a nerve with me. At first my mind instantly threw out answers. But then I stopped to think... if I really felt that I had things to truly live for, then why haven't I been truly living? Throughout my 17 years of life I've just been getting through each day waiting for the next to come. With further thought I came up with two answers for this question: that I would live to show people the life that has been given to me through Christ Jesus, and that I would live to be closer to my Lord. I want to begin doing this! But sometimes I just don't know where to begin. This will definitely be on my heart and mind for the next few days.

29 Days to Live - Day 6 - "We're all in this together!"

As I mentioned in the post before, I went to an overnight event to help watch over the middle school students as they participated in wild and crazy tournaments all night. It was really, really fun, but the best part about it was that I was surrounded by people the entire time. I got to hang out with some really great middle school students for most of it. When they weren't playing in a tournament I was able to pull a few of them aside and learn more about their lives, or I just had the honor to hang out with the group as a whole which was so much fun! When I wasn't doing this I was with some of my close friends, so all night I was with people. This got me thinking about the fact that... well, we (being everyone) really are in this crazy thing called life together. Hopefully that explains the High School Musical lyrics in the post title. So why don't we make it like a team sport? You know, helping each other, being helped, supporting one another, and reaching the top goals together!

It is very important to surround yourselves with people who will help you in life, because the truth is that no one can do it alone. Even Jesus Christ surrounded Himself with people! I don't mean the thousands who came to see Him perform miracles on a day to day basis, I mean the 12 disciples He chose to be close to Him at all times. Think about it; the Son of God who had all inhabitants and armies of angels at His disposal, yet when He became human He still desired that close circle to be with Him as He began His ministry. I think if Jesus Himself wanted friends to be with Him through His life, we more than likely need friends of our own. There's a song that makes me think a lot about needing friendship:


Be Love by Plus One
"If you need love take the time and be love
Breathe it out,
Create love, and see how things can turn."


Going into a brand new week I'd like to encourage you to do what those lyrics say. Whether you're in need of love or not (if you have a beating heart you probably do), be a shining example of love to someone, or a multitude of people! Talk to someone - going past the standard 'what's ups' and 'how are yous', compliment them, take someone out for lunch, invite someone to hang out, give a hug, give a gift... be love! Surround yourself with people who will be there for you during this little thing called life. :)

29 Days to Live - Day 6 - Youth

One thing I think is important (it's on my bucket list) is investing time in youth. By youth I mean people who haven't lived as long as I have. In recent years I've been surrounded by people who are a little further down the road than I am, and I am very thankful for their insight, guidance, and care. I've been reflecting on all of this for a while now (even before the 29 Days to Live thing started), and have been kind of awestruck by the amount of time my older peers have invested in me. Because of them I am where I am in life today. :)

I really want to follow the wonderful example my peers have set for me. Sure, I'm not the wisest person in the world. In fact, I'm far from it. But what's the point of life experience if it's not going to be shared? To me that's like winning the lottery and then keeping all the money to yourself. Honestly, if you win billions of dollars and spend it all on yourself, it's not going to go very far. Life, however, has so much more worth than that. Life is priceless! Sharing it - your stories, experiences, and the lessons you've learned - for the benefit of others could mean the world to someone. So here's a challenge for you:

Invest in a life younger than your own. Find someone and take them under your wing. Maybe someone who is enduring a hardship that you've already been through. Get to know them - connect, learn their story, and give them guidance if ever needed. Speaking as someone who has been blessed with this already, I can say it's something I would not trade.

I have a lot of cousins, and quite a few who are younger than me. Two of them are closer to my age than the others, so I'm really wanting to deepen my relationships with them. Lately I've been drawn to the freshmen at my school as well, so if any of them are reading this then I say hey, let's chat sometime. :) I've also been drawn to middle school students. Tonight I'll actually be going to an event for the middle school youth ministry at my church. It's an overnight at the YMCA, so I'm really excited for it! Whoa! I should actually be leaving for that here in a few minutes.

That's all I have today. Do you accept the challenge? ;)

29 Days to Live - Day 5 - What does the Bible say?

Today, I've really tried to focus on what the Bible says about life and living. So I went to Biblegateway.com, typed 'live' into the search bar, and scrounged through the results. Here are the ones that stuck out to me:

Psalm 118:17 (NLT)
I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the Lord has done.


Proverbs 9:6 (NLT)
Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment.


Ecclesiastes 11:8 (NIV)
However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all.


Isaiah 36:15 - 16 (NIV)
But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul. Lord, by such things men live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live.


Ezekiel 16:6 (NLT)
But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’


Ezekiel 18:32 (NLT)
I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!


Amos 5:4 (NLT)
Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: "Come back to me and live!"


Amos 5:14 (NLT)
Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed.


Matthew 4:3 - 4 (NIV)
The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."


John 14:19 (NLT)
Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.


Romans 6:1 - 11 (NIV)
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.


2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)
We live by faith, not by sight.


Galations 2:19 - 20 (NIV)
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.


1 Thessalonians 3:8 (NIV)
For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.


1 Peter 2:16
Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.