My Mom Is The Greatest!

Here's an essay I wrote about my Mom for a contest...and I just got the news that I was in the top 10 finalists!! I'm pretty excited! So the voting begins April 12, be sure and vote here: http://www.craterlakeford.com/mothers-day-contest.htm

Why My Mom is The Greatest

Words cannot even begin to express how much my Mom does each day, how much love and tender care she pours out on each of her eight children, yes eight! She had each one of us and she taught (and is still teaching) each one of us at home. She truly is AMAZING!! Through her life she will have spent over 36 year’s homeschooling all of us kids from preschool to high-school  On top of teaching the kids, she makes meals for the family, cleans the house (which is an ongoing mess), does the laundry (yes with this many in the house there is a continual pile of dirty clothes), and not only that but she takes care of our 95 year old Great Grandpa! The love and service she demonstrates daily toward him alone is remarkable. She makes and feeds him food, cleans his clothes, bedding, and so much more every day, and never complains!

My Mom is a servant, she is constantly laying down her own needs for those of others, especially her children.

She also volunteers, on top of everything she does at our home, to serve those in the community. Mom volunteers at a Pregnancy Center, helping, mentoring and teaching young mothers and those in need. She truly is a huge blessing to so many and we want to bless her, for she deserves it and more!

All 8 of us kids can truly say “Our Mom is the GREATEST!!!”

Don't Take Life for Granted

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"Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.  But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk,  the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.  And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. -Luke 12:42-48


I read this verse in my Bible reading today, and it just hit me...Don't take life for granted! Live every day for Christs glory so that you won't regret it later!


Last month I lost a friend, his name was Josh Eddy. I've been wanting to write about it, I just haven't really had the words. I didn't know him all that well, but the legacy he left is so inspiring. His blog has made such an impact on so many lives after his death. I would strongly encourage you to check it out here, or like his page on facebook. 


Well I have really been thinking about life and death, and what is really important. When I read this parable, it made me think. I don't know when I am going to leave this earth, or when Christ will come back. And often I get so caught up in everyday life, I just forget what's really important. 
Maybe I'm taking this verse out of context, but it did make me think: Am I an unfaithful servant, am I wasting life, and will I regret what I've done or not done? Christ can take me or come when I don't expect it, and am I ready?


Josh Eddy was ready, he lived his life to it's very fullest. He loved life. He was such and encouragement to me, to live a life fully for Christ, to give Him my EVERYTHING!! This is my hope, I pray God will use me to shine forth His glory, to be a light to the world! I want to LIVE for YOU!! <3

Declaring His Glory

Looking at the night skies always amazes me, the beauty and majesty is breathtaking!

A few years ago I competed in a speech competition and did a speech on the stars. As I studied it more and more I was blown away by the greatness of it all! But what was really amazing to me was the great vastness of it all, it's crazy how small our planet is in space.

Our planet is so small when we compare it to the sun, but then you look at the sun next to other huge stars, it is tiny!!
Our planet earth is a small part of a solar system that is 7.3 billion miles across. This solar system is a little speck in the galaxy called the Milky Way which is about 100,000 light years across. And the Milky Way is small in comparison to the billions of other galaxies! Makes me feel pretty small.


You may ask, "Why? Whats the point of all that space?" 
Well Psalm 19:1 says  "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." It's all about God! I guess we don't have to worry about it, cause it's not about us, if it was than it would be a waste of space. But it's all about God! The heavens are just a small reflection of His glory!! All that space out there with us on a tiny spec of it tells us all about our insignificance and also all about God’s glory! He created it to shine forth His majesty and glory, and it really is AMAZING!!
Have a good night, and don't forget to thank God for His beauty we all get to share in! :)

An Empty Tomb

                                   Source

As we approach Easter, we often think of colored eggs, cute little bunnies, pink dresses, and maybe an Easter sermon.      
But is this really what Easter is about? Have we lost the meaning of this day? As I ponder this day, and actually  realize what happened, it gives me a different perspective. Tonight was the night Jesus would be betrayed by His own disciple, tonight was the night He was delivered into the hands of those who hated Him, tonight was the night He was abandoned by His disciples, tonight He was sentenced to death, tonight He was cruelly beaten unmercifully, tonight He was mocked and made to wear a crown of thorns, tonight He suffered unimaginable excruciating pain, tonight was the night those hands that healed the sick, made the blind see and the lame walk, those hands were nailed to a cross! Tonight the Savior of the world died and was placed in a tomb.
All this happened tonight.

Why? Why did the perfect Son of God die the death of a criminal? Why would He allow this to happen?
Well it all goes back to the very beginning....
When mankind rebelled against God and sin was brought into the world. It was then that the heart of all humanity was turned away from God. It was our sin that nailed Christ to the cross. It was our punishment that He took on Himself, we deserved His death!! Yet He gave His life so that we might have eternal life!!! He conquered death when He arose from the grave after 3 days! He crushed the serpents head, ascended into Heaven and is now ruling over the world as King!!!
I thank you God, for your AMAZING LOVE which you showed for us this night!

I would like to conclude with some of the lyrics to one of my favorite songs, it just fit in so well with this post:

You Love Me Anyway- By Sidewalk Prophets

I am the thorn in Your crown

But You love me anyway

I am the sweat from Your brow

But You love me anyway

I am the nail in Your wrist

But You love me anyway

I am Judas’ kiss

But You love me anyway

See now, I am the man who yelled out from the crowd

For Your blood to be spilled on this earth shaking 

ground

Yes then, I turned away with a smile on my face

With this sin in my heart tried to bury Your grace

And then alone in the night, I still called out for You

So ashamed of my life, my life, my life

But You love me anyway

It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known

Yes,You love me anyway

Oh Lord, how You love me

The Hunger Games: Review

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(Warning: You probably don't want to read if you haven't seen the movies, there are spoilers)

I've been taking an 'Art, Movies, and Worldview' class in college, which has been really cool! It's been so much fun to be examining the worldview behind movies (and we get to watch movies for homework!)
So this last week we were assigned to watch the Hunger Games for class. Which was cool, cause I just felt so left out, cause honestly, I had never even heard about the book until the movie came out! And it is so popular right now, I was excited to watch it from a biblical perspective and examine the worldview and meaning behind.

So, what do I think?...Well this movie left me confused, I liked and yet hated it. The whole fact that they were forcing these young kids to kill each other was just horrible. But I liked how they did show it in a bad light, which is what Suzanne Collins had in mind when she wrote the books. However, when you think how wrong it was for all the people from the Capitol to be taking so much delight in the big 'show' of the Hunger Games...and yet we are all in there watching them as well, and taking delight in the violence. I know that in our culture today we do take delight in violence. It's all over the place. I think that when watching this with the wrong perspective can have a dangerous effect on those who actually do lean toward violence.

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Yet there are some good things as well in this movie. The main character- Katniss Everdeen, played a Christ-like role when she volunteered as tribute for her sister Prim. She was willing to die in the place of her sister, which is what Christ has done for us.
I was disappointed though when she did kill two of the tributes, I guess I just thought she would make it through without actually killing. But one was in self-defense and also she killed out of pity, for he was suffering, but that brings up another whole topic on when is it right to kill? If old people are suffering is it right to put them out of their misery? But, this is a big topic, so I won't go there right now.
Yet she never actually hunted someone down and killed them, like the other tributes were doing. She was a hunter we saw at the begining, and it would have been easy, yet she didn't, she stayed in trees and away from the fighting if possible.

Ethics- What is right and wrong?
When you watch this movie we can see that it is going against: Tyranny-Materialism-Violence-
Yet there is no standard for whats right and wrong. We as Christians use the Bible as our ultimate standard of truth, yet for the unbeliever, they don't have a set standard to actually criticize these by. In order to come against these things (tyranny, materialism, and violence) they have to borrow from our worldview. Which is constantly happening with the non-Chrisian worldviews.
They make you wander on whats right and whats wrong? Is it ok to kill when you're forced to? When is suicide right? Near the end Katniss and Peeta are about to commit suicide, but they are stopped..but is this ethically right? But there's also the question of whether or not she was actually meaning to do it, because she does keep saying to Peeta 'Trust me'.

There are lot's of questions and so much to say about this movie, I have only said a little bit. I haven't even talked about all the different characters. But lots of this came from what I learned today in my class, and I just wanted to share it while it was fresh on my mind. I hope it made sense, I'm not much of a writer and sometimes I just ramble away without making sense.

So what do you think? What did you like/dislike about the movie?

I didn't really mean to go all against this movie, there was good things to it, and it was a very well done movie I have to say. I did enjoy it, and I think I'll have to read the books now!

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Writers Block...

{Sigh}...I've been trying to get this paper written, for college..and yes, I'm stuck. Writers block. Ugh, I hate it when that happens. So I just decided to distract myself with drinking tea and blogging. Good way to clear the head right? Ok, I feel like I'm just rambling away without even making any sense. Sorry.

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So, I'm writing my paper on the Redemption. And wow, learning this in deep has been so good. I'm taking a class and we are reading over Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion. It's been so good, sometimes can be really deep and can take awhile to get, but its all definitely worth it in the end! Do you ever get that feeling where you're like "Wow, I learned something. I feel so smart!" Haha, sounds a little weird, but it feels good to learn. Anyways, this post is getting boring, so I better get back to work. <3

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

"Over six hundred years ago, God raised up a man named Patrick, to take the gospel of Christ to the people of Ireland. Seldom in church history has any missionary been blessed with a more fruitful ministry. The preaching of Patrick was used by God to transform many of the Irish people from idol worshiping pagans into servants of the one true God of Scripture. May his story encourage twenty-first century Christians to be faithful to the Great Commission of Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."

~Taken from the book- Saint Patrick by Michael McHughe

The story of Saint Patrick is such an inspiring tale...to see how the light of the gospel spread to a country in the dark. 

Patrick was kidnapped from his home in Britannia and sold into slavery at the age of 16. He lived as a lonely shepherd for 6 years, and there, in the lonely hills of Ireland, Patrick turned back to God, and became a truly strong and devout Christian. These years were preparing him for his great missionary's work! Admonished by an angel he, after six years fled from his cruel master and bent his steps towards the west. When he finally arrives home, he realizes that God is calling him back to the land of his captivity. In 433, Patrick began his great work in Ireland. The rest of his life was spent in bringing thousands of Irish people to Christ. This is why he was known for 'driving the snakes out of Ireland', for he drove all the evil druids and kings to their knees before God! Patrick's life deserves to be remembered today! Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!!