I pulled out my "She Said Yes" book. Cassie Bernall was such an awesome chick. I've read that book so many times. Some of the pages are LITERALLY, PHYSICALLY falling out. Like, you know how most books if you open them and put them on a table, one hand has to hold it down so it doesn't flop closed? Ya, my book lies flat on the table. Lol. I have like, notes written in there and highlighted passages. She was just crazy. She wasn't perfect by any means, I mean, the beginning of her life, actually up until about 2 years before she was killed... She was just with the wrong crowd. And I love that I can actually picture the important part of the book - when she accepts Christ - cuz it happened at Estes. I was like "Hey! I've been there!" And I could totally picture it. Two of my favorite quotes from the book, that don't even have to do with Cassie, they were from letters that her and her friend from church were writing to each other.. "If you don't start living for other people, you end up being consumed with yourself. Once you start giving, though, your emotional needs will eventually take care of themselves." and then other one, which I agree with and wish some people would understand, cuz it describes my friendships with certain people that not everyone agrees with.... "Teens just want to be real, and they want to be with people who are real - people who are themselves and don't care what others think". It's a good book. She Said Yes, by Misty Bernall.

FAITH is the decision to trust in something. EVERYONE has faith in something, but what is their faith in? BELIEF is when we hold something to be true. TRUTH is just your socially convicted view of reality. TRUTH is when we find out something is the way we thought it was. FAITH isn't tangible. CONVICTION is something you would break a friendship over. BELIEF characterizes how you live your life.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.
Philippians 4:8

Why spend time thinking and doing the little things that you know are not right... If God's telling you right there in Philippians what to think about, why think about other things... Why do things that you flatout know are not right? If you have to hide something from your parents, you know it's wrong. And you can't hide anything from God, and I'd be more worried about God's opinion of me than of my parents and friends...

Dan had an interesting topic the other night. And I keep thinking about it.

Why do I believe what I believe?

It's harder to explain than I thought. I mean, I know what I believe, and I know it's my faith, not my parents. It's just an interesting question. Why do I believe?

I like to think "Why not?" believe. There's no doubt in my mind about God. Why should I abandon something I believe in and know to be Truth? My new phrase about my faith is that my faith is a flawless faith. There's nothing wrong with it. It's a very plain and simple, black and white belief. I don't have to do good deeds so that they outweigh my my bad things. I can talk directly to Him, all the time, not go through His mother. I can pray however and whenever I want, not 5 times a day facing a specific direction. I don't have to go to a religious school and learn another language. I know for sure I'm going to Heaven. I have to believe in Jesus Christ and I'll be saved. That's it. And from that belief, it turned into a love and desire to learn more about God and what He did for me.

How do people go through life not knowing where their going? Are people really okay with living life with no purpose? Living their lives for themselves? Doing day to day activities, just to do them, not knowing what will happen when they die?

How do people celebrate Christmas without knowing about Jesus and His birth? People celebrating Christmas without knowing Him is like some stranger celebrating my birthday, without even knowing who I am. I'd be insulted. If I were Jesus, I'd probably be ticked off. If you don't believe in Jesus and His incredible story, then why don't you just celebrate Christmas in like, March? It's just a day for you to give presents to each other, right? I think if you're gonna celebrate it without knowing the reasons... Just do it on a different day instead of His birthday....

During Civics today, we had this debate about keeping "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. And Mr Tran deided which side of the argument we were on, and of course, I got put on the side that said it was unconstitutional to have it in the pledge. So I just decided to stay quite during the first hald of the debate. But that didn't keep my mind from thinking. Saying "under God" doesn't mean that you pledge your life to God. It's just stating the fact that this nation was built on the faith of believing in God. You can't change history. George Washington and so many others in history were Christians, and that can't be changed. So why pretend that this nation doesn't stand under God. And the second point, you're not forced to say the pledge. If you don't want to pledge allegiance and say "under God".. Then don't. It really is that simple. If we were to suddenly decide to take out the statement "under God" out of the pledge, well, then we better start rewriting the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Cuz guess what, the same God that we're "under", is mentioned in both of those documents. And they are the basis of this country. Why change history? And what makes me mad, is that all these athiests get mad about saying "under God" and that "we don't believe in God".. Well, if that's the case, I never again want to hear an athiest say "Oh my God". You claim there isn't a God, so don't use His name like that. God doesn't exist, right? And don't say to "Go to hell".. Cuz if you don't believe in God, then you most likely don't believe in Satan, Heaven, or Hell. Don't condemn someone to a nonexistent place. Don't use the Lord's name in vain if you don't mean it. Some people are like "It's just an expression." You don't hear me say "Oh my Buddha". Cuz I don't believe in Buddha, so I'm not gonna yell at him for something that he had no say in.