Tag: advice

Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

I love my Life Group

#Appreciationpost

Identity informs action.  If you identify as a child of God, Don’t say you are and choose to live like a lone ranger.  Find a group of people who will walk alongside you and help you become the person God intended you to be! I love my sisters in my life group. They have helped me stretch my faith and see where I need to grow. I love how this group is not afraid to dig deep into scripture and wrestle with it all the wild, knowing that God brought us together for a reason and that he loved us and gives us Grace❤️

My Spring 2033 life group
Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

When Faith affects Finances

But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but throughout the entire province! Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!” At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. Paul wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t let him. Some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater. Inside, the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence and tried to speak. But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. “Citizens of Ephesus,” he said. “Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven. Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess.
Acts of the Apostles 19:26‭-‬37 NLT

Does idolatry still exist today?

Yes

Idolatry is taking good things and making them ultimate things

Tim Keller

Three Observations about Idolatry

1. Idols are everywhere.

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.
Acts of the Apostles 17:16 NLT

2. Idols are empty

“Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
Acts of the Apostles 14:15 NLT

3. Idols are expensive

and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.
Acts of the Apostles 17:25 NLT

What are you known for?

The first Christians were:

1. Missional

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts of the Apostles 1:8 NLT

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19‭-‬20 NLT

2. Pro Jesus not anti everything else

3. Known for who they followed not for what they opposed

Memory Verse

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
1 Peter 3:15 NIV

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Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

Six things the class of 2022 needs to know

This is advice from a member of the class of 2000

1. Your graduation day is the beginning of your adult life.

2. You can do anything; choose to do something instead of nothing.

3. Know that keeping up your education does not mean that you have to sit in a classroom.

4. If you feel stuck in life, help someone else

5. Go out on your own often, even if you choose to live at home. Time away from your protective bubble will help you understand what you want in your life.

6. You’ve got this! Keep God at the center of your life, and all will work out.

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advocacy, Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

The CP Tag

1.  What type of CP do you have?

I have spastic diplegia CP

2. How did you get CP?

I was born 11 weeks early and I was diagnosed with hydrocephulus.  I got my CP diagnosis when I was one year old. 

3. How did you Feel about CP growing up?

When I was little, I did not feel different from my friends.  I participated in all the activities at my church; choir, Sunday School youth group, and camp.  I also went to concerts with my friends when I was a teenager, and I. Also played baseball.   My dad was my coach.

4. Do you ever think about what life would be like without CP? 

Yes, I do.  Sometimes I think about it more often than others.  When I think about it, I think about how easy it would be to do different tasks like get out of the house.

5. How has CP impacted my life?

Having CP has definitely impacted my life mentally and emotionally as well as physically. It’s a pain in the butt to do specific tasks, and when I was younger, it was hard to be taken out of school because of surgery recovery. Weekly physical therapy was also something I did not like. 

6. How was schooling with CP?

It wasn’t a nightmare, but it was a headache.  I often had to advocate for what I wanted, and it was often assumed that I would do less than I knew I was capable of doing.

7. How has CP Changed throughout your life?

When I was little, I accepted my CP, and I didn’t think I was different; it was until seventh grade that things got difficult for me because someone who was getting teased in school started teasing me. The relationship I have with myself and myself and my CP is great.  I have learned that it’s important to have a sense of community and being connected to the Rollettes and the Boundless Babe Society. 

8.  How will things change for people with disabilities?

I hope that there will be tons of changes for people with disabilities. The first thing I would like to see happen is that crip casting is no longer allowed in movies and TV shows, and theatre productions.  I would love to see the Broadway community truly become accessible to performers who have disabilities by making the bathrooms backstage fully accessible by the standards of ADA ( Americans with Disabilities Act). I would also love to see the standards for people to be financially independent and responsible because, as the situation is now, we have to settle for a life in which we cannot be in marriage because of fear that too much financ l gain would cause us to lose our insurance.

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fanfiction

Nikki Meets Nessa at Shiz University

Nikki Meets Nessa

One day a young woman named Nikki visited her new school Shiz University. She was a lover of performing arts and was a member of her church choir, and she loved cheering on her professional performer friends at small venues in her town. Nikki also loved gushing about her friends on her podcast Encouragement Notes.

One day, before class Nikki noticed a young woman sitting by herself. Being the extrovert she is, Nikki strolled up to the woman and introduced herself.

Hey, I’m Nikki! I’m new here; what’s your Name?

The shy woman smiled and said,

Hi,

I’m Nessa Rose

Nice to meet you, Nessa. How long have you been coming here?

My sister Elphaba and I have been students here for a year; I’m waiting for her to get out of her sorcery seminar.

After a few minutes of silence, Nessa got the courage to ask,

Nikki, why do you use a chair with wheels? I don’t like being in one; it makes me feel weird.

First of all, Nessa, I get it; I’ve been through times when I thought I was weird too.

At the last school, I was at, someone came up to me and asked if I would get any better. I went into shock and didn’t say anything.

I’ve also heard the question, how do we describe you? People who don’t know me often think I’m strange, and I used to agree with them and believe that I needed to be fixed somehow, but this past year has been life-changing for me! All of the ideas I had about myself have been challenged in a good way because I met a group of women who look like me. They are members of a group called the Rollettes members of their dance classes. You ought to look into the classes.

As Nikki finishes gushing about the team, Elphaba comes up to Nikki and Nessa; she’s pretty but Nikki could tell that people had considered her strange as well because she was green.

Hi Elphaba! This is my new friend Nikki; she’s been telling me all about her life and the people she has met. I think I want to try one of the dance classes she goes to. They meet on Tuesday. I want to go check it out. It sounds like fun!

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Faith, Dance, Books, advocacy

The Advice I would Give to my Teenage self

This is my cousin and I after my high school graduation

There are so many things that I would want to tell my younger self. The first thing I would say to myself is to cherish the relationships that you often take for granted because even those small things that annoy the hell out of you now will be the things that you miss when God decides he wants someone home.

The second thing that I need you to know is that you don’t have to be the girl who has a ten-year plan. At 14, you’re going to feel like you have everything in life figured out, at an event at USC is where you discover your love for speaking to audiences, but in your first speech, you tell the audience that your dream is to become a special education teacher, when what God had planned for you is to become a public speaker via cool technology that seems impossible to dream up.

When you get your final volunteer teaching internship, and you start to feel you’re not respected and treated as an adult by your peers, make the hard and fast decision to leave; it’s not giving up. At this point in your life, you’ve spent a decade doing something that you fell out of love with a long time ago but kept doing because you were the girl who knew what she wanted.

When you quit volunteering, you need to start something called a podcast, and it should be called Encouragement Notes. You need to do this because being a coach for a multi-level marketing company called Beachbody has led you to a life of taking selfies and talking about overpriced products, and the entire experience is making you pushy with your friends and family.

Starting a podcast will be easier than you think; find an app on the cell phone that you have, pull out your most recent sermon notes from your purse, and start reading them as if you are talking to someone who missed Church on Sunday.

Lastly, Stop using the words Just and Nothing when people ask you

1. What did you do today? or

2. What do you do?

Be confident that the Lord is using what you are doing, even though you are doing it from home.

You Got This! God is not done with you yet!