Singing for Jesus

So today, my stepdad made kind of a unkind comment that really got to me.
I was outside singing praises when I see that he and my mum is outside, which was fine.
But then he says "you don't sing very nice", that hurt my feelings. Not necessarily because I think my voice is great, but because I have quite a low self esteem from before, and it didn't really boost it.
Now, of course I don't want people to lie, but when it's something you love to do, then it hurts.
Being hurt by the comment, I pretended not to care and said "I don't sing for you", and it didn't really hit me until "One Way, Jesus" by Hillsong started playing.

I realized that of course I didn't sing for my stepdad, or anyone else for that matter. I sang for Jesus, and I don't think He cares whether or not my voice is pitch perfect. I think what matters to Him is that I spent time with Him and that I was praising Him. I was prioritizing Him instead of something else.

My mum came to talk to me 20 minutes later and said that I didn't have a bad singing voice, and that my stepdad had only said that because he heard me singing a song that I wasn't singing completly (meaning I probably stopped singing, then started, then mumbled or something). But I simply decided that, I wouldn't care.

Because now I know that I don't sing for anyone else. They can think I have the worst voice in the whole world, but it won't matter, because I'm singing for Jesus and not for them. And Jesus loves me no matter how bad I sing.

Why I Say Grace Before I Eat

Ever since I've become a Christian, I try to remember to say grace or sing before every meal. This has cause some of my family members to look at me a bit weirdly, so I thought I would share why I decided to start saying grace before I eat.

Ever since I was born, I've been taught to say "thank you for the food" to whoever made it and served it, and to this day, that is something I still do. So why is it so different, and why do people look at me weirdly when I start to pray or sing before I start eating? Technically, I've been doing what I've been taught all along: thank the someone that put food on the table for you to eat.

Now, of course, it's usually my parents that put the food on the table, so of course I thank them. But there wouldn't be very much to thank them for if God had not provided us with that food on beforehand.
He created this world, so He also created what I eat. And if I'm supposed to thank whoever put food on my table, it only makes sense to thank Him, because without Him- I wouldn't exist, nor would my parents, or the food I'm given.

So if you ever wonder why someone wants to pray or sing grace before they eat, it might be because they were taught to thank whoever put food on their table- which in all cases happens to be God.

I love God!

I am so thankful that I have God in my life, I have never felt the amount of love I do now, and that's His work! It feels so amazing to be in His love and feeling love, and spreading love.

Today my cousin was at our house and as kids we would fight as siblings, but as we have both grown up (he is 16, I think) we don't really fight anymore, but I still consider him a brother in many ways. I did not know that he would come, but I was really happy to see him, as it's been a while. And I remembered that he is going to start a school that doesn't have a very good reputation, and I also know that there has been rumors of drugs being there.

What's interesting that this popped into my mind is because at Youth Group we had a visit from a previous drug-user who spoke about how it was and why we should never ever try drugs and about how he used to be maybe the dangerous people in Norway, but was changed completely by Jesus! His testimony is amazing, but- on to the point. He has written a lot of books, one of them that's about drugs, and so I bought that one (and the rest of his books), but when I saw my cousin, who I really care about, I thought that he probably needs it more than me.

Now, don't get me wrong. I know he is smart, and that he probably wouldn't get into drugs, but I didn't want to risk anything because I know how bad peer pressure can be and because I know the reputation of his future school. So I asked if he liked reading, which he didn't really, but I said that I thought he might like the book and that it was about drugs. I also clarified that I don't think he would try drugs, but that if he is ever tempted then he has read the book and know what it will lead to.
This is not something I would've done before, because I didn't really have Christ that prominent in my life, but I am learning to put others before myself, and because I had heard the author speak about it, I already knew his story so I thought that my cousin would probably get more out of the book, if he decides to read it.

After I had given him the book, I decided I wanted to go to bed. So I gave my mum a hug, and told her I loved her (I do this every night though) and then I questioned if I should do the same to my cousin and my step-dad, and I decided that I would give them a hug and tell them I loved them to.
And it felt so good to do that!

Spreading love and showing that you love someone is an amazing feeling, and I encourage everyone to tell the people that you love that, well... You love them. It'll probably make their day better and make them feel loved and appriciated.

"Today is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118:24

Today is one of these days where I am rejoicing and being glad because of what the Lord has made.

Today I was blessed by getting to witness 4 teenagers from the church where I go get confimated.

The confirmants themselves played a big part in today's service, and it was so amazing to see. 

They had two small plays for us. 

One was about how you needed a "ticket" to get into Heaven, and that that "ticket" was Jesus Christ and having accepted Him into your life and as your savior, and that no matter how good you were (by your own and the worlds standard) you could not be let into Heaven without Jesus.

The second one was about being sad and feeling down, and not knowing why, and about how you should ask Jesus to be a part of your life and that you would feel better and that your life would change for the better by accepting Him, and inviting Him into your life.

They also talked about the fruits of the Spirit, which are, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (you can find this in Galathians 5:22-23). Some of the things they spoke about (they had made a tree, and put cutouts of fruit on it and written the words of the fruit of the Spirit on it, so creative!) were love and faithfulness, and each person said what that was to them, and when the girl that spoke about faithfulness she said something along the lines of "when I think of faithfulness I think of good friends, family and God. About someone who loves you no matter what and who never leaves you, even if you do something wrong" and my heart was filled with joy. The other confirmants also had really good things to say, but the faithfullness one really stuck with me.

I am so proud of them, they are such amazing people. I find so much joy in being around them, and I hope that with the time to come, they grow even closer to God. I pray that they seek Him all day, every day, because He will surely bless them.

The pastor also talked about the Good Shepherd and how Jesus wants to be your friend, and that nothing can separate you from His love.

So Thank You, God for blessing me with so much more than I deserve.

MemoryBox

Vilde: Yeah, people are behind you.
Me: What?!

I almost looked behind me, which is funny, because she wasn't talking about people standing physically behind me but behind me as in supporting me.

Being Remembered

Being remembered

I am so excited right now because my mum met my favorite teacher (I had her from 8-10 grade) today and she remembered me. We were 90 students in our year, and she still remembers me four years later, so clearly, I must have made an impact on her. Now, I will say that she has been one of the adults that have shaped my life the most. She definitely gave me determination and belief that I was actually a good writer.

So upon meeting my mum, she asked what I was doing now and what my plans were, and when my mum told her that I am planning on studying in the US, she was really impressed and thought that I was brave for wanting that. And when she learned that I wanted to study psychology and nutrition, she said “yeah, I can imagine she’ll do good in psychology”, which really meant a lot for me to hear.

It really made my day hearing that.

Going to Café Riis

So a couple of days ago, some of my friends and I went to a Café called Café Riis here in Moss, and it was so cozy. I had never been there before, so I didn’t quite know the way, but it turns out that it was just above the library!

When my friend and I went it was really windy out, so windy that I had to force the door to close. But we still made our way across the bridge to meet up with my other chums. It was super cozy inside and the people working there were really nice.

Now, because my friend (Vilde) and I are going to the American College of Norway, it is kind of a given that we speak English to each other. So whilst contemplating what we were going to get, we were talking in English and the guy in the line before us turns around to ask us where we’re from. We said that we were from Norway, but he had a hard time believing that none of us was American or had American parents. So when he learned that I had never been to America, and that I had learned English by watching TV, he said “I’ll pretend to believe you” then he smiled and wished us a good night before he went to his seat. He was super nice and it turns out that he was from Washington but now lives in Moss, so it was cool to meet someone that spoke English and that were willing to strike up a conversation with us (with Norwegians not being too fond of talking to strangers unless they’ve had a drink).

After ordering our drinks (Ice tea for Vilde, hot chocolate for me- yum) we went and sat with our friends and chatted about school, work, panopticism and the fashion industry. It was really interesting because we are all so different and we are all going to study very different things, so Ra (one of my friends) would say a lot of interesting things about chemistry and biology that I had never known before.

We were going to leave around 10 pm, and as Ra and Mika got dressed, Vilde looked at some pictures and I heard someone speaking English and it really sounded like they were from the UK, so I said to Vilde that I thought they might be Irish. Vilde being Vilde, she went over and asked them (whereas I went and ‘hid’ with my other friends because I hadn’t meant for her to ask, it was merely and observation that I wanted to share with her). It was funny because one of them said “I’m from England, now I’m offended” in a jokey way, so she asked the other one and it turns out that he was from Scotland. By the time she had striked up a conversation with them I had come back to her because I was curious. Turns out that they too were living in Moss and the Scottish actually knew where our school was because he had taken a Norwegian course there! They offered us a seat, but as we were about to leave, we had to decline. But it was really nice talking to them, even if it was only for five minutes.

I’m really happy I went there. And talking to people I didn’t know was less terrifying than I thought it would be(probably because Vilde was with me and she is very talkative. Also, I wouldn’t have been speaking English had it not been for her being there, so thanks Vilde). It kind of opened my eyes and made me realize that maybe talking to people I don’t know is not as hard or scary as I think it is.