Investing your kisses.

I'm sitting here this morning looking out the window and just thinking... thinking about life and love and everything else that comes across my mind...
Of course being a girl, though, it always seems to wander to the more romantic side of life... dating, kissing for the first time, getting married... ya know the normal stuff;)
Sitting here contemplating all this I was thinking, "why?" Why am I keeping myself for my husband? Why am I not dating every guy that comes across my path? Why am I not making out with random guys...? Why?
It's not like it says not to in the bible... it's just not super clear about all of that unfortunately!
Yes, it says to live in purity... but what is defined as purity? Especially in our day and age compared to theirs?
So thinking about why... I realized that it all goes back to vision. For me in my life I know that if I have a purpose and vision guiding me I'm going to say no to opportunities that come my way that don't line up with that or are distracting... it keeps me on course and it's the most direct path to what I am called to do! I have a view on the future and that is going to give me permission to say no, now. Even though it may be hard I know that the future outcome is worth it.
I feel it's the same in relationships and the physical sides of them, also. If my goal is a strong healthy marriage without a ton of baggage or hurts from the past what can I say no to now to get to that place? (Not saying that you can't have a great marriage and have a lot of baggage from the past cause there is always grace and redemption... but if I can make the choice now to not have to go through all of that... now's the time to choose!)

Dating just for the heck of dating... I would LOVE to go out and date someone right now... it'd be so fun.. I get some nice attention and I get that "guy" spot in me filled for awhile! It be a blast! But in the long run what's it for? To satisfy my needs right now. Bad investment of time and energy-emotionally and physically. It's like a mini divorce in the end.
Kissing just for the heck of kissing... Gosh that would be nice if some guy that I kinda liked just came wrapped his arms around me picked me up and kissed me... it'd be so amazing. For that minute. Annnddd a couple minutes after of course....
But what about thinking about that same kiss when I'm going to kiss my future husband for the first time and starting to compare the two... and all that mess? Not a good investment for my original goal.
Same for everything else in between... as far as sleeping with someone... not a good investment for the end goal. Obviously.
All these things develop emotional and physical ties to these people as well as terrible heartbreak that can mostly be avoided if we have our eyes on the future...

What is an investment? Something that you put away right now...so that it can be even bigger and greater in the future.
All these things that I am saving are investments that I am putting into a "long term investment fund" for my marriage. Yeah it's hard! It's crazy hard sometimes.
But in the end if you really look at it obviously most of the world has not been thinking about their investments much if most of the marriages are ending these days...
So I'm ready to change that statistic. And hold these things so precious... not being the lazy servant but the wise one. Having an eye for the future and not just the NOW pleasures.

Matt 25:14-28
It will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

The Source.

Wow. I’m sorry I’ve neglected this blog for so long. Looking at the date of when I last posted I understand as I started teaching photography internships then throughout the summer pretty non stop. Finally getting time to reflect over the year and see what God has done has given me inspiration to write again! Hopefully there will be more posts in the next couple weeks as well!

Well, this past 6 months or so has been like no other in my life. I had close to 20 interns that came and lived with me for 10 days to learn everything about how to start their company, it was amazing time as I hosted 6 internships throughout the summer. Late nights, early mornings, long deep talks, ect. I definitely get pumped up from all of that..but it is constant pouring out all of who you are...which can be draining sometimes.

After the internships came to a close I started hanging out with a new group of friends! Growing up homeschooled and then starting my business very young I never really had a group of people that I would just hang out with...that was more what I would do with my family.

I got SO excited about this whole new experience that I literally wanted to hang out ALL the time. And we did! Ha! After awhile though and the “honeymoon” phase started dying down. I came to realize that I was completely drained in every area: physically-cause we were staying up SO late all the time; emotionally-cause I wasn’t around anyone that I had known for a long time; spiritually-cause I was putting all the fun times first before God and not making Him a priority at all; and even business wise I kinda checked out cause I was so worn out from the summer.

Finally, I was starting to feel the pressure of all this...and went to God. Duh! Can’t believe we do that once the heat turns out...rather than when everything is fine! It’s completely backwards!
He really ministered to me about first to inspect the walls(boundaries) in my life to see if I had let any get torn down or corrupted. To not open any door to the enemy in my life. Not even a crack. Also, he showed me that if I really want to see His signs and wonders and miracles in my life and others...I can keep hoping and hoping...but if a cord is hoping for power but is laying on the ground not plugged in, no matter how much it hopes for it it won’t get power until it’s PLUGGED IN! Whoa! What a concept! ha! He was showing me that I simply need to stay SO connected to Him and His spirit. To not ignore it. That yeah I can have these fun times and all but to never put him on the back burner through it all otherwise these, fruitful times won’t ever happen. They’ll stay purposeless useless...but fun times.

I was trying to draw strength from myself to be able to impact people. But that can only last so long until you burn out. Staying connected to that outlet(God) constantly...you can keep pouring out and overflowing all the time...and HE gives you the strength to do it! And keeps those walls intact too!! Sooo today....inspect those walls in your life, don’t open the door to the enemy. And STAY PLUGGED IN to THE Source! I love you all!!

Getting your eyes off love

Finally back to posting! :)
I have been talking to a lot of people lately about exhausting your single years!
If you really look around VERY few people actually take advantage of being single! Basically you’re little, young, too young to date, then 16 or 18…sometimes younger than that and people start dating! Then break up, then drama, then find someone else and repeat the process until they get married!

If you look around basically every song, every movie, most ads are all about love or being in a relationship! It’s what our culture is driven by! People want to feel needed AND they need a time filler cause otherwise they don’t know what to do with their time!

I was listening to the radio the other day and really got so sad after listening to it because they were interviewing people and almost all of them said all they loved to do was go to parties, go to the movies, and hang out with their friends and boyfriends! What a waste of precious time! Now don’t get me wrong…I absolutely LOVE to do all of that..(except haven’t hung out with a boyfriend yet;)…but it’s not what I live for or what most of my time consists of!

You see once we get married, which I know a lot of you are looking forward to, you have a WHOLE new set of responsibilities..and your life is not your own! And that is for the REST of your life too!

Why not use these VERY few years before you get married to see the world, discover who God’s really created YOU to be, pursue your dreams for your life, and impact people’s lives! Then you’ll look back at those single years and won’t have regrets but will have exhausted every minute of it not waiting around for a guy or filling up the time with time wasters but living it to the complete full!!

I know that right now….I don’t care if I get married in 3, 5, 8 years or even ever! I’m so absolutely content in where God has me and in ALLLLLL that he has me doing that I’m such on a high right now! I KNOW that this is the way to be single…not desperate, lonely, or drama filled. But so satisfied with life and not having to be distracted with every distraction the world sends my way! It’s THE most fulfilling thing ever! HA…and I thought I wanted to get married when I was 18;)…LOL