Spiritual Disciplines- Fasting

Food.
       Amazing Right? Just imagine smashing your face into a glorious pile of raspberries, chocolate chip cookies, kombucha, margarita pizza, and MACAROONS! (sorry I got a bit excited- those are my absolute FAVORITE foods in the WORLD! ....okay lets add Haitian Patay in there too)    So God gave us these foods to enjoy! So when we talk about fasting, why does God call us to abstain from food? If it is necessary for our health- why would he ask us to put our physical and mental health and happiness?

 Well, God calls us to Hate our mothers and fathers in comparison to how much you love God. The same thing goes for food, he want to be (and is) more important than those raspberry macaroons and gorgeous chocolate chip cookies. He desires us to hunger for him just like we hunger for food after a long day without much food!

Now, fasting is really cool when it comes to this. It is practicing abstaining from food in order to focus on God and what he wants to say to you. It creates the opportunity for us to choose to desire God as much as we desire food.
  
Fasting is not necessarily only for food, it is also taking away anything that distracts you from God away, so you can focus on God!
  So would you be willing to fast to know God? Would you be willing to give up social media for God? Would you be willing to give up your comfort for your relationship with Jesus?

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Advice for incoming students

            Dear incoming underclassmen. Welcome, welcome to the school unlike any other. In this place you will be confused, angry, disappointed, discouraged, unmotivated and lost. Does it sound fun to you? Does this sound like all of your fears of high school merged into one sentence? Does it kind of want to make you cry? Does it make you excited? For me as an incoming freshman, I definitively was NOT excited for this school, I was NOT happy about going to a school where not a single one of my close friends were going, and I was NOT about to give into any stereotype that are so frequently fulfilled by the thousands upon thousands of other high school freshman girls. I wanted to be set apart, but I wanted a group of friends. I wanted to be good at classes but I was constantly discouraged by the fact that I didn’t know anyone in this school, and I just wanted to be accepted. Does this sound like you? Does it not? Are you still scared that this place will be horrible? That high school will be like every Disney movie? I know as a new student at Faith Bible, I felt all of those things. I heard a whole list of lies about who I was, who I wasn’t, what crowd I would fit into, and how I would be judged, and I believed every single one of them. So, my dear friends, if you haven’t been scared off yet, let me tell you something very important. Do NOT believe any of the lies that are thrown at you because Faith Bible is so VERY different. This school is full of people who actually care about you, everyone will know you by name. Your classes are small enough to where they become your closest friends. The teachers genuinely care, and will talk to you and help you out when you need it. Everyone here cares about YOU, they want you to be YOU, they want you to see GOD, and they want you to experience LOVE. My first months of school were not the greatest, I was doing volleyball at the time (take into account that I am not athletic AT ALL), and I didn’t want to show up to school, or go to volleyball workouts, I didn’t like anything at all. But the upperclassmen girls wanted to me feel welcome, and loved. And in all honesty, the people at faithbible, all of the students made me love this school.  So now that you know that this school isn’t scary, the people aren’t out to get you, I want to share with you a couple important things I wish I knew as an incoming freshman. (you should actually do these things, just do them. Don’t try and get around them because these are things you NEED to do)

1.)  Try out a sport you have never done before

       High school gives you an amazing opportunity to participate in sports, if you aren’t athletic don’t feel pressured, but it is definitively something you should try. Also, because it is a small school, you will become fast friends with your team and your coach!

2.)  Do your homework.

No, seriously do this. As a freshman I thought that colleges only would look at my junior and senior year, but it doesn’t work that way. High school grades are cumulative- so your bad math grade freshman year directly affects your college acceptance. So, a way to make sure that you get good grades, is DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Don’t push it off one day, I mean sure, you COULD get away with it, but that doesn’t mean that you SHOULD get away with it, or that it’s a good, fun idea.

3.)   ASK QUESTIONS

When you don’t understand something, ask how to do it. If you don’t understand the concept, don’t expect you to be able to teach it to yourself out of the book at home. I can assure you, the teachers make what’s in the book easier. So, ask them questions, they give you direct answers, not some weird confusing thing from the book.

            4.) Be yourself!
                      Our school has a unique mixture of people, and all of them fit in... I found that                         During my Freshman year, I tried becoming someone I was not, and It made                         me so sad! It wasn't until I was encouraged to be my weird self, that I was truly comfortable at this school. Be yourself! It feels WONDERFUL!
   5.) Be aware of what is happening on the inside- and be prepared for it to change!
            Being aware of where you are mentally and spiritually, this school is blessed with the opprotunity to be a christian school, take advantage of it! Your spiritual growth will give you energy to go through the hard days at faith bible, and the ones filled with work. Once God is your #1, your heart and mind will be at rest, your life will make sense, and you will have someone that gives you peace in your stress. 

No matter what, remember that Faith Bible is full of people who genuinely care about how you are doing! Even if you don't feel that at first- it is true!


PS. use the prayer wall!

            

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high school life

i think its hard for everyone in high school to get through without falling into some temptation. its important to always keep your girl friends above any boy that shows up, and if you do get involved with a boy have a girl friend keep you acountable. have those conversations about boundries, try to be friends before any thing else, that can help to make things less about phisical and more about the other person as a person not just an attractive body.
      there are also temptations for not doing school work which i fail at keeping that up. i think it should be the main priority going through high school because thats the reason you get up every morning to go to school to learn. usually im more focosed on social life which is important but not as important as grades which affect wheater or not you go to collage. so its important to keep that a priority.
        its also hard to make sure your not disrespecting your parents through the stress of work and everything else in life. i know ive disrespected my parents a lot through the last 2 years. your relationship with your parents is an important relationship not just for money... but also they support you where ever you end up going in life. and they can help with home work unless your a smarty pants:). but i know i really need to work on keeping my pations because parents have feelings to and ive probably hurt them more than i know but they still have stayed with me through all the crap ive given them which is really impresive for how much ive thrown at them.

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Fasting

                                             

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                                               Fasting                                                 

Fasting- A spiritual discipline and a willingness to give up something important such as food, drink, phones, TV, electronics, ect., to spend time with the Lord

One main reason for fasting is to give up something important to spend that time with God in any situation. A lot of people fast to help them make a difficult decision where they need God's guidance

100%. Fasting helps you feel closer to God and can help give you a clearer perspective. 

A common story in the Bible about fasting is when Moses received the commandments. 

                                                                         Deuteronomy 9:9-18

Moses fasted for 40 days when he went upon the mountain to receive the commandments 

Fasting is not an easy thing. You have to be strong against temptation and you have to have willingness. If you don't want to fast it wont be as effective. You don't have to start out with 40 days of fasting, maybe start out with skipping one meal a day. Then skip more. Then skip a day, and so on. Below is a list of bible verses about fasting:

Isaiah 58

2 Samuel 12:23

1 Kings 21:9

Nehemiah 9:1

Ester 4:3

Ester 9:31

Psalm 35:13

Psalm 109:24

Isaiah 58:1,3,4,6

Jeremiah 36:6,9

Daniel 9:3

Joel 2:12

Zechariah 7:1

Matthew 4:2, 6:16,18, 9:14

Mark 2:18

Luke 2:37, 5:33

Acts 13:2, 14:23

      

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Life in High School

   Advice for Life in High School

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

~Ephesians 5:15-16

High School. I have many different words to describe high school. 

Hard.

Easy.

Exciting.

Terrifying.

Adventurous.

Amazing.

Exhausting.

Social.

Academic.

All of these words are what comes to mind when someone asks me about high school. 

Some people say "If you just survive high school you'll be okay", but when every anybody says this a question always comes to mind. "What if I don't want to just survive, what if I want to live?"

One of my favorite sayings is "surviving is different than living".

Surviving is just getting by and staying alive. 

Living is having experiences and adventures. 

So how do you live during high school? How do you manage your time? How do you maintain a constant relationship with God? How am I supposed to act in high school as a Christian? What am I supposed to think and say? 

I struggle with all of these questions myself and I'm still learning. 

1) How do you live during high school?  

Living during high school is one of the hardest parts, because then there are also sub-categories for this question, but what I can say is make the most of every opportunity. Join a sport. Be on student council. Lead a club. Go on a missions trip. Do not fear to do any of these things if you are sure God is calling you to them. If you are unsure about doing something, pray about it. I gave up a great opportunity because I was scared and now its too late. I have made my peace with it but I  decided that I'm not gonna give up another opportunity like that again out of fear.

2) How do you manage your time?

Time management can be super difficult and it can be hard to stay on task and get everything done that you need to get done, especially if you play a sport.

Step 1: Make a plan

Often times I write on my phone what needs to be done and then I check stuff of as I finish it. When I make a plan I get stuff done, but when I don't everything gets scattered.

Step 2: Find motivation 

Give yourself a goal and maybe even a prize for motivation. I will tell myself that "you can talk to your friends when you finish *task*"

I notice that that is something that works for me.

Step 3: Follow through 

So you have your plan and motivation, now fulfill it. Live it out and I promise you, you will feel great when your done.

3) How do you maintain a constant relationship with God?

This is my main struggle. What I can say is pray, read your bible, and hang out with other believers. If no one in your school or at home is a Christian, there is youth group and Sunday services. I attend a Christian school and my family is Christian and I still go to both of those because they are beneficial. 

4) How do you act as a Christian as a high school-er?
They best way to answer this question is to go straight to the bible. It says in the bible how all Christians should act, adult or teen or even children. 
Galatians 1:10 
Matthew 6:24 

5) What am I supposed to say and think?
Its hard to know what your supposed to say or what to think about. You have society telling you one way and a church telling you another way, but the best way to figure this out is to think through what you're going to say. I understand that this can be hard at times; I sometimes forget to think before I say. With your words you are either gonna bring someone up or tear them down. I personally hate tearing people down so I try really hard not to tear them down, but we all slip up at times. So next time your friends are talking about the new girl say something nice about her or don't say anything at all. Think about that next time you say something. 
The Bible says to not have impure thoughts, but that is also super difficult. But what you think is how you will start acting.

High school is tough and I''m sure you will make it, just remember to live and love all the time.   

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Experiencing High School to the Fullest

It makes me sad to think about all the people who go through high school dreading everyday, not reaching out to people and making friends, and avoiding the opportunities high school has to offer. High school is such an enjoyable time of life that causes you to find out who you're going to be, what friends you'll have, your interests, and even just to have fun in the midst of learning new things that will allow you to move on and begin life full of even more opportunities. 

Specifically, high school students struggle a great amount with relationships, both as friends and as "special friends". Personally, I have only had one dating relationship with a boy and am still continuing in that relationship. We met in school our freshman year, got to know each other during sophomore year, and became an official couple the summer before our junior year. Our story is complicated, but beautiful. Both he and I desire God first in every aspect of our lives, especially in our dating/marriage relationships. We sought God together in deciding what was best for us during each season of life. Don't get me wrong, it was very difficult knowing we liked one another but not becoming a serious couple. But having a period of time where we stayed just as friends and actually getting to know one another without the distraction of being a couple was very beneficial and life-giving part of our story. Through it, we have been able to become best friends and see things we like in one another and become comfortable around each other. The night before we became an official couple, without knowing that we would actually be official the next day, I prayed that if God wanted us together, that my now boyfriend would make the first move and bring up the conversation, otherwise I would start the conversation with the idea that we would decide to go all in or not at all. That next day when we went and spent time in Portland, something was holding me back from starting the conversation when an opportunity arose. Sure enough, he started the conversation before I even needed to. What an answer to prayer!!! Later on I learned that he had prayed about asking me to date him the same night I had. So to sum it up, God worked in both of us and brought us together beautifully in His will and timing! Now we are together and loving one another more and more day by day.

All this to say, my first point and advice to you is: put God first! Not only in dating, but friendships and all other areas of your life. Bring all your cares to the Lord and surrender them, trusting that whatever He has in store is with your best interest at heart. Make sure your relationship with God is solid and your first priority before entering into a dating relationship and keep pursuing Him no matter what. And when you're dating someone, pursue God together! Pray for one another, send each other verses, have conversations about Him, etc. God will most definitely and gladly bless that. 

Now, when you date in high school, it can be a very complicated thing. You want to spend all your time with that other person. It can become very easy to be distracted by them...distracted from other people, school work, opportunities, God, you name it. But I cannot express enough how important it is to make sure that friendships are not pushed to the side, that school work still stays important, and most importantly that your relationship with Jesus Christ is your first priority and still growing. Yes I say all these things, but they are easier said than done. I have struggled with this very much. Even though this is true, it is so life giving when I make time for other friends and work well in school on top of investing a healthy amount into my significant other. I cannot stress enough that Jesus needs to be first in both people's lives! I have noticed that when I am not putting Jesus first in my life and seeking Him, my relationship with my boyfriend starts to not go very well. I get annoyed, I have a poor attitude, etc. But when Jesus is on the throne of my heart and on the throne of my boyfriends heart, we are both individually joyful and our relationship with each other is a huge blessing to enjoy that is given by God. Unfortunately, some relationships simply don't last. If that's the case and you didn't invest in your friendships, school, family, and God, you may very well feel empty. There is so much more to life than boys, especially in high school. They are a huge blessing, but they cannot be our everything. They cannot fulfill. Only God can. 

So if you do date in high school, great! But I encourage you to pray about where you're at in life, what your relationship with God is like, if you're ready for a relationship like that, etc. Make sure you date a guy that loves the Lord more than he loves you. Date a guy that desires the same things you do, especially when it comes to your spiritual lives. Date a guy that spends time with and pursues the Lord and is respectful and encouraging of your own spiritual needs and spiritual walk. Become friends before you date. I cannot say enough how wonderful a relationship like that is. Put Jesus first! Significant others are blessings, not fulfillment or everything that is important in life.  

Also, one of the best dates ever is going to your favorite coffee shop and just sitting and talking about what God is doing in your life and just how great God is. It is so life giving, fun, and brings joy! Proof again that Jesus needs to be first!  

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surviving High School

Surviving High school

        There are many different struggles that come with high school; first of all we are all just trying to discover who we are. Puberty and hormones play a huge role in High school as you are starting to like the opposite sex. I think one of the biggest parts of high school is who you make friends with; pier pressure is very real in this stage of life. I am so grateful that I go to a Christian school where I can express myself freely without being judged. No matter where you go there will always be that pier pressure, but it is more common among bigger schools. To be honest, I am one to easily give in to pier pressure, and that is why I am so grateful to be at a small Christian school.

      I huge portion of my life I spent trying to find my identity and this was hard because it took countless times of failure before I finally understood who I was.Before I knew who I was, I would find reassurance and comfort in boys. That was my fall back plan every time I felt down or needed a complement I would find peace when my guy friends or boyfriend would compliment me. This had become a part of me, and my reality to make myself feel better was to receive compliments. This was terrible because when I lost a boyfriend I no longer had that comforter.  I would then make fun of others to make me feel better about myself. This had now consumed me and become a part of my everyday life. I could not change it, or at least I did not think that I could. 

     When I came to Faith Bible High school I realized that I had become the person I was in middle school because of the people I hung out with. I was surrounding myself with bitter and negative people and I started to rot inside. I had become just like them. I did not know I would make a change, but I knew I had to do something before this turned into my permanent identity. As I started reading my Bible and surrounding myself with Christian friends, my attitude towards life started changing. I became less and less focused on myself and I started to develop a new joy, a pure joy. As I learned more about Christ I found that my new identity was in Him and that I was made new because of Him. 

     Throughout my life, the biggest lesson I have learned is to love one another. That is one of God's greatest gifts and commands to man kind. When you love you keep no record of wrongs. When you love, you take the focus off of yourself. When you love, you see a greater picture. Love overcomes everything.

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