Happy Reformation Day!

  (Martin Luther did not say this on October 31st, more like six months later, but it's my favorite quote by him and I want to share it.) 

"...My conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot, and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, God help me Amen."

Happy Reformation Day!!!

Honor Your Hero!

Hey, y'all! :)

One of my favorite bloggers, Maddie, wrote a post about one of her heroes and why that person is her hero (great idea, Maddie!).

I was one of the ones she "tagged" to write a post about their hero.

So, even though I have more than one hero, I decided to write about Candace Cameron. If you've ever seen the show Full House, that name may sound familiar to you!

Candace played D.J. Tanner on Full House from about the time she was 10 to 18.

The main reason I chose Candace to write about is because she is a Christian actress.
Being an actress myself, I know how difficult it can be is to work in the acting industry and also be a Christian. She is an inspiration and an encouragement to me that it can be done; you can be an actress and have a close relationship with the Lord as well. It's not always easy, but it's possible.

Currently, Candace Cameron (now Candace Cameron Bure) is married and has three children (her daughter is actually one day younger than me!) and she is still acting. As of 2010, she was living in Los Angeles, California, acting in a series on ABC Family called Make It or Break It, portraying the character of Summer van Horne.

Candace also recently wrote a book titled, Reshaping It All:Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness.

Another interesting fact about Candace: her older brother, Kirk Cameron, starred on the family sitcom Growing Pains around the same time she was acting on Full House.

Candace Cameron has just always inspired me. It's rare that you find an actress who is a real Christian! She's always been someone I've wished to be like!

I'm giving Candace Cameron the award of integrity, as I'm sure it takes some to stand firm in her faith while being in 'show biz'!

the cast of Full House

Candace Cameron

And here are the rules for doing this and tagging your friends, too!

1.  Write some facts on your blog about the hero of your choice. 
2. Give one reason why you chose that particular person. 
3.  Make up an award for your hero (Ex.  Honoring George Washington for the courage he had and standing up for the land he believed in.  Thank you.) 
4.  Tag 5 friends
5.  Tell them they have to do it with the hero of their choice. 
6. Have fun!


Okay, now it's time to "tag" five bloggers to do this! (though I'm not sure I can come up with five people... :)) Ready?

• Keely
• Kady
• Rachel

 (And guys, don't feel pressured about doing this...it's just for fun. And it is fun! :))

Thanks, Maddie for the idea and for tagging me! 

Happiness vs. Joy

I read  this devotional about the difference between joy and happiness, and I couldn't have said it better myself!

This devotional also reminded me of a story...

The hymn "It Is Well with My Soul" is one of my very favorite hymns. And there is a history behind it that has always made me sort of want to cry.

It was written by a man named Horatio Spafford. Spafford wrote this well-known hymn during a very tragic period in his life.

In 1873, Spafford and his family planned to take a trip to England as a family holiday. Spafford was delayed because of business, so he sent his wife and four children ahead of him on a ship called, "Ville De Harve".  While this ship was crossing the Atlantic Ocean, it was hit by an iron sailing vessel, and 226 people lost their lives, including all of Spafford's four daughters. Only Spafford's wife survived.
Anna Spafford telegram-ed her husband when she arrived in England, beginning with, "Saved alone."

After receiving the telegram, Spafford then sailed to England to be with his wife. It is said that on that journey, he wrote "It Is Well with My Soul".

Here are the lyrics to this beautiful, very true, song:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul. 

(Refrain:)

It is well (it is well).
With my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul. 

Though Satan buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my soul.

(Refrain)

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought! 
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! 

(Refrain)

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pain shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

(Refrain)

And Lord, haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

(Refrain)


Horatio Spafford had joy, even in the midst of the great loss he had suffered. Happiness is just a feeling that can disappear in an instant, but if you truly have joy in Christ, it will remain with you forever, no matter what storms you are facing in your life.

Stepping Heavenward.

I love that book. I read it several months back, and really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it for young Christian girls to read. The book is Elizabeth Prentiss' journal all the way from when she was sixteen to when she was somewhere in her forties. She writes mainly about her journey to Christian maturity as she grows into womanhood. I can totally relate to her in the way that she just hates herself when she speaks too quickly in a harsh manner, and does not act in a way that pleases the Lord. She has a real desire to honor God in all of her actions, and it is just cool to see her change so much in the way she writes about the Lord over the course of her diary as she grows into a godly, kind, loving, gentle woman. She is a big inspiration to me.

Below is part of a journal entry that Elizabeth Prentiss wrote when she was nearing the end of the pages in her journal. At the time, she was sick and in bed, not knowing if she would live or die.


June 30-
Everybody wonders to see me once more interested  in my long-closed Journal, and becoming able to see the friends from whom I have been, in a measure, cut off. We cannot ask the meaning of this remarkable increase of strength.
I have no wish to choose. But I have come to the last page of my Journal, and living or dying, shall write in this volume no more. It closes a life of much childishness and great sinfulness, whose record makes me blush with shame, but I no longer need to relieve my heart with seeking sympathy in its unconscious pages, nor do I believe it good to go on analyzing it as I have done. I have had large experiences of both joy and sorrow; I have seen the nakedness and emptiness, and I have seen the beauty and sweetness of life. What I have to say now, let me say to Jesus. What time and strength I used to spend in writing here, let me now spend in praying for all men, for all sufferers, for all who are out of the way, for all whom I love. And their name is Legion, for I love everybody. 
Yes, I love everybody! That crowning joy has come to me at last. Christ is in my soul; He is mine; I am as conscious of it as that my husband and children are mine; and His Spirit flows forth from mine in the calm peace of a river, whose banks are green with grass, and glad with flowers. If I die it will be to leave a wearied and worn body, and a sinful soul, to go joyfully to be with Christ, to be weary and to sin no more. If  live, I shall find much blessed work to do for Him. So living or dying, I shall be the Lord's.