When I was about 15 I started to develop this idea in my head that I would be married by the time I was 22. I don't know why I chose that age but it became almost like a deadline. If I wasn't married by that time then something was wrong with me and I was never going to find someone to love me.
I did a leadership/pastoral internship at my church for two years right after high school, and I figured that was the perfect place to find someone! I had no doubt in my mind that I would meet someone and we would start dating after graduation and I would be married well before my "deadline". Start having kids by the age of 25, be on staff at church and have a wonderful husband who adores me and makes just enough money for us to live comfortably. There you have it. My life plan. I never really got to planning anything past the getting married part.
Well...guess how old I am. That's right--22. Am I married? Nope. Am I at least dating someone? Nope. Is it the end of the world like I thought it was going to be?
Not at all.
I can honestly say that I have never been more happy to be single than I am right now. There's plenty of people around me in healthy, long lasting relationships, but I just don't want that right now. I really never thought I would say that. The thought of being single and alone has consumed my thoughts, fears, dreams, goals for so long I can't even tell you when it first began! All I wanted was to be married. And I can't even tell you why. I think I thought it would make me into a whole new person and I would be like super woman or something. But now I see girls in their teens with the sole ambition of getting married and I worry.
As women, why do we define ourselves by what men think of us?
Better yet, why does our outer appearance generally determine our confidence and self worth?
Aye. These are the type of questions none of us want to ask ourselves. I work in cosmetics so some people might say I'm a hypocrite, but makeup doesn't define me. It is, however, part of me. I'm an artist. Makeup is my paint and your face is my canvas. But now I'm getting off topic.
My whole point is that life is not about finding that perfect person to spend the rest of your life with. I grew up feeling that way (probably from all the romantic fiction novels I just loved to read), and I know a lot of other women feel that way too.
I challenge you to dream. To set goals. To travel. To be independent.
We are just as intelligent as men. We can be doctors, lawyers, engineers, astronauts, scientists, missionaries, artists. So why not? What's stopping you? Someone once said, "Youth is wasted on the young." And that person was right. In our youth we long to be adults. We rush to get married and start families. Five years down the road we feel trapped and stuck, we don't have dreams or goals anymore.
I challenge you to take advantage of your youth and do the things you won't be able to do once you're settled down and have a family. Make a difference in this world. Pursue what you're passionate about. Find a way to be happy without the affection of a man. You shouldn't need a boyfriend to make you happy, you need to find joy within yourself. True joy comes from knowing God, so that's a great place to start. Seek His heart and you will find many things--some that you didn't even go looking for.
Faith.Hope.Love.
Chelsea Rae
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
You are loved
I want to offer some encouragement for anyone who is feeling down. Whether you're feeling depressed, alone, purposeless, unloved, unattractive, bitter, left behind, forgotten, unworthy, ashamed, unlovable... Just know that God loves you. And as Phu said tonight, God has confidence in you.
God knew you and had a plan for you before you were born. He cares about you. He will never leave you or forsake you.
It's so easy to think God has abandoned us. It's easy to let ourselves get overwhelmed by the thought that we're alone and God has deserted us. That's honestly what we deserve. Every single one of us. We're all just rotten, sinful people. We live our lives trying to minimize our sin so we don't feel guilty about it, even when the Bible says it's just as bad to think a bad thought as it is to murder someone. We're selfish, self-righteous, prideful, ignorant people. We absolutely must be honest with ourselves and admit that we're all in the same boat. In God's eyes, even the most sinless person's heart is like a dirty old rag you just cleaned the toilet with.
It's only natural to feel that God has abandoned you and left you to fend for yourself. After all the sins you've committed? How could He stay? How could He have any confidence in you whatsoever? You don't even have confidence in yourself at this point.
We do not in any way deserve His love or His presence in our lives. But guess what? His love isn't like ours. It isn't based on circumstances or emotions or feelings. He loves us because He created us and chose from the very beginning to stick with us each individually no matter how hard we try to push Him way. He has already forgiven you of your sins before the words "I'm sorry" can pass through your lips.
He has not abandoned you.
He has not disowned you.
He has not forgotten you.
And He never will. He created you with a plan in mind. You are one of a kind. Your combination of gifts, talents and skills is unique and beautiful. YOU are beautiful.
I challenge you to sit still and think for a moment about how God sees you. As His most precious creation, the only thing He made in His image.
Do you believe that He believes in you?
God knew you and had a plan for you before you were born. He cares about you. He will never leave you or forsake you.
It's so easy to think God has abandoned us. It's easy to let ourselves get overwhelmed by the thought that we're alone and God has deserted us. That's honestly what we deserve. Every single one of us. We're all just rotten, sinful people. We live our lives trying to minimize our sin so we don't feel guilty about it, even when the Bible says it's just as bad to think a bad thought as it is to murder someone. We're selfish, self-righteous, prideful, ignorant people. We absolutely must be honest with ourselves and admit that we're all in the same boat. In God's eyes, even the most sinless person's heart is like a dirty old rag you just cleaned the toilet with.
It's only natural to feel that God has abandoned you and left you to fend for yourself. After all the sins you've committed? How could He stay? How could He have any confidence in you whatsoever? You don't even have confidence in yourself at this point.
We do not in any way deserve His love or His presence in our lives. But guess what? His love isn't like ours. It isn't based on circumstances or emotions or feelings. He loves us because He created us and chose from the very beginning to stick with us each individually no matter how hard we try to push Him way. He has already forgiven you of your sins before the words "I'm sorry" can pass through your lips.
He has not abandoned you.
He has not disowned you.
He has not forgotten you.
And He never will. He created you with a plan in mind. You are one of a kind. Your combination of gifts, talents and skills is unique and beautiful. YOU are beautiful.
I challenge you to sit still and think for a moment about how God sees you. As His most precious creation, the only thing He made in His image.
Do you believe that He believes in you?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Colton's international adventure
My precious, amazing, special, gifted, humble, God-fearing younger brother Colton is on a 5 month long mission trip right now and this is his most recent email back home. His is working with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) and he will be going to 3 or so different countries in a 5 month period. I love and miss him dearly and I wanted to share this email! I will be posting updates about him more regularly, but if you want to receive these emails regularly just give me your email address and I will have him add you to the list. =)
Dear Friends and Family,
From the Dominican Republic I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
It's been about two weeks now since I arrived to the Domincan Republic and things are going great! It's really hot here compared to Washington weather, for example its about 80 degrees at 10 o'clock in the morning and it's also very humid. I'm starting to get used to the weather and don't really mind it. It is true that literally everybody here loves baseball. The Dominican is huge on baseball and especially San Pedro, the city we have been in the last two weeks. We saw our first wild taranchula the other day too and it was...well...big. There is another DTS group here on base from Denver doing there Outreach too. So altogether there are 40 people on base and 5 staff. It's a small base so it has a really busy feel to it right now which I like especially over the Holidays.
So far we have been doing a lot of ministry with kids from the ages of 4 to 18. Our team goes to different churches and poor communities everyday and we teach lessons and share our testimonies. I've had the opportunity to share a message with a group of kids and also shared my testimony a few times. It is sometimes difficult to go day after day and pour yourself out to these kids when it's hard to see if there is any fruit but I was really encouraged when I heard a boy about 10 years old singing. He was singing "Christo es mi Superheroe" which means, Christ is my Superhero, to see the joy on these kids faces as they sing about Jesus is amazing. We have also been doing about two dramas everyday which have been really good, except on our first time where my friend Gabby broke her toothe during the drama. No one knew it happened until we finished and she got it fixed the next day. So yes the dramas do get pretty intense sometimes!
Here in San Pedro there is a lot of witchcraft and voodoo going on which was a surprise to us because we thought that was mainly in Haiti. It isn't something to fear but we have been praying a lot over this area and base and taking authority over those things in the name of Jesus. I know God has big plans for this YWAM Base here in San Pedro, which is only 9 months old, because this city definately needs the light of Christ and this base is bringing that light.
We'll be going to Santo Domingo, the capital, on the 2nd and will be there one week working with a pastor. Then we return to the base here in San Pedro for one week where we will be building houses for families. Then on the 17th we fly out to Oaxaca, Mexico.
Please keep my team in your prayers, to keep seeking God's heart and giving our all to the ministries we are part of. Thank you all for your love and support!
Also I've attached some pictures as well to this email.
In Christ,
Colton Faverty
______________________________________________________________
Dear Friends and Family,
From the Dominican Republic I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
It's been about two weeks now since I arrived to the Domincan Republic and things are going great! It's really hot here compared to Washington weather, for example its about 80 degrees at 10 o'clock in the morning and it's also very humid. I'm starting to get used to the weather and don't really mind it. It is true that literally everybody here loves baseball. The Dominican is huge on baseball and especially San Pedro, the city we have been in the last two weeks. We saw our first wild taranchula the other day too and it was...well...big. There is another DTS group here on base from Denver doing there Outreach too. So altogether there are 40 people on base and 5 staff. It's a small base so it has a really busy feel to it right now which I like especially over the Holidays.
So far we have been doing a lot of ministry with kids from the ages of 4 to 18. Our team goes to different churches and poor communities everyday and we teach lessons and share our testimonies. I've had the opportunity to share a message with a group of kids and also shared my testimony a few times. It is sometimes difficult to go day after day and pour yourself out to these kids when it's hard to see if there is any fruit but I was really encouraged when I heard a boy about 10 years old singing. He was singing "Christo es mi Superheroe" which means, Christ is my Superhero, to see the joy on these kids faces as they sing about Jesus is amazing. We have also been doing about two dramas everyday which have been really good, except on our first time where my friend Gabby broke her toothe during the drama. No one knew it happened until we finished and she got it fixed the next day. So yes the dramas do get pretty intense sometimes!
Here in San Pedro there is a lot of witchcraft and voodoo going on which was a surprise to us because we thought that was mainly in Haiti. It isn't something to fear but we have been praying a lot over this area and base and taking authority over those things in the name of Jesus. I know God has big plans for this YWAM Base here in San Pedro, which is only 9 months old, because this city definately needs the light of Christ and this base is bringing that light.
We'll be going to Santo Domingo, the capital, on the 2nd and will be there one week working with a pastor. Then we return to the base here in San Pedro for one week where we will be building houses for families. Then on the 17th we fly out to Oaxaca, Mexico.
Please keep my team in your prayers, to keep seeking God's heart and giving our all to the ministries we are part of. Thank you all for your love and support!
Also I've attached some pictures as well to this email.
In Christ,
Colton Faverty
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