Cup of Thoughts

How great is the love of the Father  that we're called the children of God Abram, a man whose years almost exceeded a century's, was surprised by the presence of God. Abram being in the presence of a Holy God fell facedown as God spoke to him. God made a covenant with him 5 chapters before this point. The covenant He speaks now is entirely different though. This covenant was so certain, God changed Abram's name to Abraham and his wife's name Sarai to Sarah. So that it would be an everlasting reminder of the promise. 'Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. ' Genesis 17:5-6  Abram means "exalted father." Abraham means "father of many." 'God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name. I will bless her; indeed, I will gi...

I got to travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana again for a mission trip! This year 2 new guys came along with us. There were a total of 18 people (adults + kiddos) . We packed everything into our new little trailer Saturday, June 23rd. Came to church Sunday morning and then after my Pastor got finished preaching, we went to eat the meal some of our sweet church family made us. Once we ate, we piled up in the church van and headed north. My youth pastor, LD (Larry David), appointed us to be more accountable on this trip. Which meant that we each had an important role to play. Some of us got bathroom duty, and sous chef, and then some of the veterans in the group were responsible for giving away Bibles and motivating the rest of the group to hand them out (that was me!). That plan turned out really good. Everyone knew what their job was, and whoever was finished with theirs helped the person that wasn't done. We stopped right before Cincinnati for a bathroom break. ...

I know we've all had that lecture before.  "You need to wear longer shorts." "Put some leggings on!" "Go change that outfit." "You're not going out of the house like that." Most of the time our answer is, " but everyone else is wearing it ," or " it's in style. " It's so hard shopping for modest clothing as a girl, I know. I've wandered around Forever 21 trying to find something that will at least cover my belly button. Even though it's hard to find, it's worth it. Trust me, do not conform to the world's average. Because the world's average is wearing party clothes and attracting sin wherever you go. The world says, " wear what you want to wear, nobody cares ," " if you have the body, show it off ," and "the more skin you show, the tighter your clothes are, the more guys will chase after you ." Don't believe those lies. People do car...

I'm about to work my last shift at Dinner Bell. Last night it really hit me that all of this was coming to the last page. I've been there since April 2016. Wow. Just thinking back on how much I have truly grown and learned so much because of my first job. I remember my boss now, calling me then, asking if I was interested in working as a hostess. I just got back from our 1st Out West trip. I didn't really have any plans for another job, so I said: "that I'd pray about it." And I did. One evening while I was there with a group in the back, I asked the lady at the counter for an application, which is now a good friend of mine. She is is a recovered addict and is now the manager. I love her sweet soul and passion for Jesus. We've had many heart-to-heart talks over the years and exciting adventures together. My first day, the Owner's sister was working with me and made me a list of all the things I need to do with helpful tips and encouraging...

I haven't been able to write as many blog posts recently. Keeping up with appointments, school tasks, work schedules, and another blog to keep up with, leaves me little time to pick up a book to read, let alone sit down to write. However, this afternoon I set aside my excuses and I am writing. Finally! Here are few life updates and personal stuff I just feel led to talk about! How is school going? Good! Really good, actually. I've gained speed as well as experience in foiling techniques and color. I used to say my favorite thing to do was cutting. But, after a while, it gets kind of repetitive. Although the fun pixie cut I got to do a couple of weeks ago was super fun. I have now labeled highlights and balayage my favorite. It leads me to the realization that I have prepared my whole life with painting, therefore, foiling and coloring comes naturally. The ability to change a simple canvas into something that will transform into anything is beautiful. When will you be fini...

Worship is such an important necessity in our relationship with Christ. In fact, the Bible actually says that we are commanded to worship the One True God (Exodus 20:4) .  Worshiping God is a way to express our love and reverent adoration.  Sometimes while driving to school I'll crank up the speakers so that I don't have to hear my own voice, and sing the loudest I can with lyrics just for honoring God.  Most of the time when someones mentions ' worship ', or ' worship service ' they're talking about the 15-20 minutes of the choir singing hymns before the preacher gets up to the podium and gives a sermon. Lyrics can be more than just lyrics. Hymnals can become a foundation for your praising. I have to admit, sometimes I just sing because everyone else is. It's easy to get in the motions and get distracted. But when we say the Lord's name and His grace with a voided meaning, isn't it the same as taking His name in vain? Worshiping...

Oftentimes, when we think of 'dreams' we think of things that more than likely won't happen. Why do we do that? Why do we belittle our dreams when we start to grow up? I remember dreaming up my future house. I had every little thing planned out. I knew exactly what my house mat was going to look like. My kitchen was going to be white, along with my cabinets and little counter stools. All of my future ducks were in a row, named and all. My future husband is going to be tall and handsome with green eyes, obviously. I had high standards when I was younger, why am I not as passionate about them now? They're still dreams, right? I still would love to have those things. Perhaps as we get older we tend to realize that the world is tougher than we thought it was. Even if you lose sight of your dreams for a little while, you can still achieve them. Never doubt yourself. Invest in yourself and you will go further than you can ever imagine.   Dreams can change too. W...

Over Christmas, several people asked me to paint Christmas tags. The outcome of it was amazing! I was inspired to create an online shop afterward. For personal reasons, I chose Redbubble to process my art into merchandise.  If you're interested in seeing my work, head on over to my shop ! If there is anything that you would like customized you may write me a message on Redbubble , or contact me through my Facebook page ! ♡Anna

The next morning, after Crazy Horse , we went to Mount Rushmore. You might recognize this picture from my bubble braid tutorial ! This is a panorama standing before Mount Rushmore. After standing there for several minutes acting like the typical tourists, we decided to take a trail to get a closer look. Little did we know, that the trail makes a loop and only half of it is non-strenuous. Each of the presidents had their own profile viewing, which was neat This is one of the views that features all of them. This was taken inside of the Sculpture's Studio. You can't really see it very well, but the miniature sculpture was the ideal piece by Gutzon Borglum, which never got finished completely. The actual monument should have gone all the way down to the mid-length of their uniforms.  Thomas Jefferson ice cream. The old-fashioned vanilla ice cream was made from the president's very own recipe . ...