1,440 Minutes

Note: This is Part 1 in the Time Series. To read Part 2, click here. Also, please keep in mind that I am writing these posts while in the learning stage. I am in no way perfect, and I am not claiming to have fully transformed my life in all of these areas. I still struggle with many of these areas myself. Even though I struggle, I want to write about what God has been doing in my life and how He is changing me. Every time I loosen my grasp on a fragment of my life and give it to Him, He changes it for His glory. It's a process, and it doesn't happen all at once, but in time I hope I will be evidence of a life fully poured out to Him.

"God has entrusted us with the precious gift of time.  Twenty-four hours in every day; seven days in a week; every day significant, every hour important, every moment of value to God.  Yet how many of those moments are truly being used for His glory?  If we are honest, many of us would have to admit that though we profess Jesus Christ to be our highest priority, our lives proclaim something quite different." - Leslie Ludy 

Time. It is always present, the steady "tick-tock" of the clock. It often seems to move very slow when we are waiting for something and very quickly when we are enjoying ourselves. God has given us time. It is a precious gift from Him. However, our time on earth will not last forever, and nobody but God knows when our time has almost run out.

"God gives us time. But who has time for God? This may not make any good sense." - Ann Voskamp

One of the most important aspects of our lives that we must put under the reign of God is our time. It is an issue that strikes particularly strongly with me because I have always had trouble managing my time. I have not been a good steward over the precious minutes that God has entrusted to me...in fact, I have wasted a lot of time in my life. Likely, you can say the same. But giving God our time is vital if we want to live a life set apart for Him. If we truly claim to love Him above all else, our time will reflect that claim.

Leslie Ludy states in one of her devotionals that a young woman once approached her and said, "I spend more time on Facebok than I do in prayer or studying the Word of God." This is something that most of us could easily say. Maybe for you it isn't Facebook. Maybe it's the Internet, Movies, or TV Shows. Maybe it's even things that are considered good uses of time...reading, art, hanging out with friends, or sports. But when our lives get so full and busy that we don't have time for God, we will be empty inside.

I think if we honestly look at our lives, most of us cannot truly say, "I don't have time for God." We have time...we just choose to spend it elsewhere. We spend it on Facebook, on blogs, or watching TV. We justify away..."They are Christian blogs," or, "I have to have a social life, don't I?" But if we are honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that a lot of our time is being wasted on things that have no eternal value.

What if we decided to change that? What if we decided that instead of spending two hours in Facebook, we'd spend them in the Word? It doesn't mean that we have to give up our computer time, movies, TV shows, or our friends. Maybe God will ask you to give up your time waster for a season, in order to grow closer to Him, and maybe certain time wasters are better eliminated from your life alltogether. But ultimately, many potential time wasters will likely have a place in our life. Let me ask you again...what if we decided to spend less time on Facebook, and more time in the Word? What if we watched two TV shows instead of four this week, and spent the time we would have been watching, praying and memorizing Scripture? What if we got even more radical...what if we gave up some of our time wasters altoghether, for a season or forever, in order to spend more time with God?

I think it's worth a lot of thought. When you add up all of your wasted, fruitless time, whatever it may be spent on...are you spending more time on those useless, temporary things than with God? And if the answer is yes, than we have something that we must seriously think about. If we claim to love God more than anything else in the world, like He commands us to...can we honestly use our time for our own selfish gains and think it is okay?

I have a particular problem with the Internet. Ever since I can remember, I have found it easy to spend countless hours on the net. Countless hours that could have been better spent being invested in prayer or in His Word. I have struggled with this, but the past few months the Holy Spirit has been really convicting me to finally rip apart from this unhealthy attatchment. It is hard...bad habits can take such a strong hold on your life. But I am not doing it in my strength...I am doing it in His. I am praying and asking Him to help me, and in return He asks that I do my part and be open to His guidance.

What about you, friend? Have you been using your time for God's glory? Have you set aside time each day to have a quiet time to read His Word and pray? Have you given Him your life, laying yourself down as a sacrifice for Him? It won't be easy, but I am praying for each one of you who reads this, and if you ask God to help you, you will be tapping in to the most powerful Source in the universe. So sit down, pull out your Bible, and pray to God to help you decide honestly what changes need to be made in your life. Ask yourself if you have truly offered God your 1,440 minutes. Seek God and hold closely to what He speaks to your heart. Think about what changes you need to make so that you will not be building God into your life, but instead building your life around Him.

"Today’s young women aren’t finding Him because we aren’t searching for Him with all our hearts.  We are too preoccupied with checking our Facebook, watching reality shows, downloading the latest songs on iTunes, and obsessing over Hollywood’s newest production to let our entire beings be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us...Only when we are willing to give Him the best hours of our day - rather than whatever is left after we’ve wasted most of our time on selfish pleasure - will we truly experience vibrant intimacy with our Heavenly King." - Leslie Ludy

My First Love: Abandoning Self and Loving Christ

When I was in eighth grade, some of my closer friends and people from other groups formed a new "group". It wasn't a conscious decision on any of our parts, but we just drifted together, and so all of us became a "group of friends". It was new and exciting, and the group dynamics were interesting and funny, as it tends to be with a large group of people. I didn't see anything wrong with being a part of this group...they weren't the "bad kids". In fact, many of them were very good kids as eighth graders today go. But something changed about me when I joined that group. 


Here I was, trying to live out my life for God, still learning what it meant to be a follower of Christ, but I had lost something. I felt myself drifting away from God...not in an obvious way, as I still prayed and desired to follow God in all that I did. But something was growing in me...a desire to please my friends. Not only to please my friends, but to impress them, therefore pleasing myself. I wanted to be liked. I wanted people to think that I was witty and fun to be around. It became a performance to me, and I pulled on a mask and pushed God into the back corner. He was part of my life, and I wanted to serve Him, but I served myself first. Each day I would come home with an empty pit in my stomach. Something wasn't right, but every time God's spirit nudged me, I would jerk away. 


Sometimes I would hear Him. I would hear Him and I would write in my journal about how I needed to be completely His. In fact, I would pray that I could live for Him and be a light to my friends, to reveal God to them through me. I would pray that I could be authentic and take of the mask I can so carefully crafted. But I just couldn't do it. Time after time I pushed God away. The mask stayed firmly in place. I didn't realize that it was only when I let go of myself that God could truly shine through me.

“Only when self moves out of the way can His spectacular glory come cascading through your life. When Jesus is in His rightful place, all insecurity will fade away and His lasting loveliness will become the mark of your life.” ― Leslie Ludy, The Lost Art of True Beauty

I recommitted myself to God time and time again, but I was not willing to give up my desire for approval, so I just returned to my old ways time and time again. I was trying to fit God into my life, but I wasn't willing to die to my self. I wasn't willing to crucify myself alongside Christ and be made new with His Resurrection. I needed to be able to unflinchingly say: 

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

I wanted God in my life, but I wanted to serve myself, too...and by serving myself, I left very little room for God.

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24)

I was trying to serve two masters. One was my selfish desires...for approval, for attention and popularity. The other one was God. The trouble was, once I got through serving my self, I didn't have enough left of myself to let God work through me. I didn't know it then, but I had chosen the master I was choosing to truly serve, and it was certainly not God.

It wasn't until I got sick and had to homeschool for many, many months that I truly began to heal. Slowly I began to discover what it meant to put God first. I have only begun to discover it, and I have only begun to live it out. I am not perfect. Every day I learn what this means more and more. And each time I find out more about what it means to truly love God, I see how far I have to go. I will keep learning and growing and never give up, for I want to abandon myself to God completely.

The Bible says:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5, Luke 10:27, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30). 

To love God more than anything in the world, we must love God with all of us. Every bit of who I am must become His. It means that we must give more than most are willing to give, knowing that when we do, we will be rewarded beyond compare. We won't be rewarded in an earthly way...we likely will not become famous, or popular, wealthy or praised. In fact, sometimes we might be disliked just because we have abandoned our whole self to Christ. We may have to lose many things once we are no longer living for ourselves. It might be painful to let them go, but the ones who choose to love the Lord more than anything else gain a heavenly reward...they receive peace, love, and joy beyond compare. They truly experience God, who is far sweeter than any earthly pleasure ever could be.

“When we are passionately in love with our Prince, we put Him above all else--not just in theory, but also practically, in every moment of our day-to-day lives. We live for the applause of heaven. Our longings are not for people's approval but only for more and more of Him. We are marked by an effortless, unshakable strength that is found in the presence of our perfect Lover.” ― Leslie Ludy, Authentic Beauty: The Shaping of a Set-Apart Young Woman 

We must love God with all of us. What does that mean? What does that mean, truly, today? The answers are within the pages of His Word. We must get on our knees and pray that He teaches us how to be completely His. Some of the answers we find might scare us. They might make us angry...they may make us uncomfortable. The truth often does that...but we must not back down. If we truly want to follow Christ, we will step up boldly and say "yes!" to everything He asks of us, and with His power we can become what He wants us to be.

“We mustn't claim to stand for our King but then deny Him by living a fleshly existence. Our King's Mighties don't shy away from the blazing searchlight of God's Word, but rather, willingly expose their souls and cry, 'Dear King, if there be anything that stands between You and me, if there be anything that shrouds Your glory, if there be anything that will weaken my sword in battle, purge it, slay it, utterly destroy it!” ― Eric Ludy, Wrestling Prayer

On our own, this seems impossible. On our own, we will try forever and we will fail. But with His power...His unimaginable, limitless power...we can grow. If we abide in Him and depend on Him, He will change us and help us to live our lives for His glory. For "what is impossible for mortals is possible for God." - Luke 18:27. With God anything is possible, if you allow His power to work through you. And when you pray sincerely that He might live in you and through you...that is a prayer that He will never refuse.

“Don’t pray that God would teach you how to love like He loves; pray that He would fill you with Himself and that He would love in and through you. Don’t pray that He would teach you to have joy; pray that the living God full of joy would enter into you. Don’t pray that He would teach you how to be peaceful; ask for the God of peace, the Prince of peace to infill you. Because if you try to imitate in your own strength, you will be a miserable replica. But if you allow the impartation of Jesus Christ to overtake you, suddenly it all works because it is Him imitating Himself, and He is very good at being God.” ― Eric Ludy 

No one can serve two masters. So we must choose. Will we choose to serve God, or the world? Will we choose to depend on others to support our self esteem, or will our worth come from Him alone?  Will we choose to worship God...or merely ourselves?

Book Review: Purity's Big Payoff / Premarital Sex is a Big Rip-off

I received a complimentary copy of this book from from Book Crash . "Purity's Big Payoff / Premarital Sex is a Big Rip-off" is a flip book edited by Donna Lee Schillinger. One side of the book is titled "Purity's Big Payoff", and it contains various true stories written by those who followed the path to purity and how their "white wedding" positively impacted their marriage and life in general. It was affirming to hear from those who had followed the path of purity, as it is encouraging in a world that generally does not value purity anymore. The other side of the book required you to literally flip the book over. It was titled "Premarital Sex is a Big Rip-off". In a similar style, it contained true stories written by those who did not follow the path to purity but wished that they had. It was very affirming to see the heartbreak and suffering caused by the lifestyles that these people had lived. Many of them had thought that it was "no big deal" but went on to experience the consequences of their actions. It was encouraging to see that purity is the right decision, and eye opening to see what the results might be if you make the opposite decision.

We live in a world today where purity is a fairly odd concept. In the general public, choosing to wait until marriage is considered an old and rigid conviction. Even those who do believe in waiting until marriage for intercourse, they often don't understand the "spirit" of purity...that it is about far more than just "crossing the line". I feel this book did communicate that, as one of the essays in the "Premarital Sex is a Big Rip-off" side of the book did, in fact, "wait" until marriage. She said that she originally thought that her story would belong on the purity side of the book, but as she began to write it she realized that though she abstained from the final act, she had participated in anything short of it. Her actions were impure even though she hadn't "crossed the forbidden line". This was impurity too, as she came to see, and therefore her story ended up on the regret side of the book.

Over all, I felt it was a fairly good read. It was interesting and encouraged me along the path of purity. However, I have read books that are far more convincing and edifying than this one in the way of purity. For example, Eric and Leslie Ludy's books far outshine it, and I would more quickly recommend any one of their books than this one. Another book that I found tackled the topic in a more convincing way than this one is "How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul" by Jason and Crystalina Evert. The fact that I would recommend other books on this subject more strongly causes me to give this a good instead of great review.

One statement made in the book didn't sit particularly well with me. I knew what they meant, but I felt it wasn't laid out clear enough. The "author" (or editor) of the book stated that purity is a personal conviction between a person and God. I agree with this to a point, it was just that she could have made it a little more clear. What I think she meant, and what she could have stated more strongly, was that past a certain point, the level of purity you pursue becomes a decision. Everyone, of course, should limit their involvement to hand holding and light kissing. I believe what she was referring to was convictions that were stronger than just that. For example, some people choose not to kiss until they have been dating for a year, some people choose to wait to kiss until engagement, and others save their first kiss for their wedding day. This I agree is a personal choice and is between a person and God, but the editor/author of the book did not make this clear enough. Someone could mistakenly believe she meant that the choice to remain pure (whether or not to have intercourse before marriage) was between a person and God and if a person felt God was allowing them to "try things out" before marriage, that they could do so without being wrong. That, of course, is incorrect, and was one of the only parts of the book that did not sit well with me.

Other than that, I would say this is a fairly good read and is encourages the reader to stay on the path of purity, or if they have already left that path, to return to it once again. It helps the reader to see that saying no to premarital sex is not just about restraint and "thou shalt not" but about freedom and saying "no" to something harmful and "yes" to something better.

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from the publisher through theBookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Golden Calf in My Living Room

In Exodus 32, the Israelites have been brought out of Egypt and they are waiting for Moses to return to them. He's meeting God on a mountain, and while he is away, the Israelites make a statue of a calf out of gold and worship it with singing and dancing. The Lord sees this, and He is angry.

Today is the same as yesterday... God still does not want anything to come before Him. Because nothing in this world is worthy of being placed higher than God. Yet each and everyday, we place other things higher than God. I should know.... I have idols too.

... Join me today at The Catholic Young Woman.

Book Review: The Hiding Place

I began reading this book because I had heard about Corrie ten Boom countless times from Leslie Ludy of Set Apart Girl Magazine. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, as it had a fairly old cover and was considered an autobiography. Well, that's what I get for judging a book by it's cover...it is an amazing story! The first few pages didn't draw me in particularly quickly, but once I was the done the first couple of chapters I was hooked. I never knew that an autobiography could be so interesting! 

Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Betsie, live in Holland in World War II. They get involved with the "underground", a secretive group of people hiding Jews from the Germans. They build a secret room and risk their lives to save the Jewish people under their care, complete with many thrilling and page turning adventures. It is a true story, but it reads like a novel, and made me long for the type of relationship that Corrie and Betsie shared with God. Even among violence, desolation, and suffering, Corrie and Betsie turn to God for strength and support, and they hold on to hope, even when their world is falling apart around them. Their words they spoke and the life they lived are not things I will easily forget, and this is definitely a book I will be returning to again and again.

"There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety...let us pray that we may always know it!" - Betsie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

“If God has shown us bad times ahead, it's enough for me that He knows about them. That's why He sometimes shows us things, you know - to tell us that this too is in His hands.”  - The Hiding Place

"Happiness isn't something that depends on our surroundings...it's something we make inside ourselves." - Corrie's mother, The Hiding Place

"I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do." - Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

 "There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still."  Betsie ten Boom, The Hiding Place

Above: Corrie Ten Boom, and The Secret Room in the Beje (the ten Boom's house).

Below: The film made from the book.

Ode to Inner Beauty

Dear Paul Gomille,

I read a newspaper article about you a couple of weeks ago. It was about how you were suspended from school after writing a valentine's letter to the female population of your school on inner beauty. I read it with a bit of fascination because to tell you the truth, it's not often you hear young people taking a stand such as this one, especially young men taking a stand on such a controversial topic such as female modesty. There's been a lot of talk regarding your letter after the newspaper article, and I'm certainly not here to debate whether or not you should have been suspended. I am here, however, as part of your intended audience, to give you my thoughts on your letter. Most of all, I am here to thank you for the words you wrote.

You wrote a letter praising the beauty that comes from a woman of modesty, a woman of mystery, a woman who says that a man must be worthy of her before she gives herself to him. You said that "real attractiveness comes from having a certain dignity. It comes from having class. It comes fro being true to yourself, being yourself, and being comfortable in your own skin." How come so few people these days can see that? It is not only the girls that are blind to this. In fact, girls are fairly correct when they say "boys don't like modesty". Most boys don't. If a girl wants to appeal to "most boys", a great body, lots of makeup and revealing clothing are just the ticket. Does that make it right? No. I think that is what your letter said so well.

I know you have received some scathing remarks about your letter, but I just want to say this: it's to be expected, really. We live in a feminist culture. We live in a culture of both women and men who have been lied to, and who have believed the lie. Men have been led to believe that a women is something to have fun with, no much more than an object, to satisfy your impatient desires. Women that have been led to believe that there is power in dressing provocatively. It's an easy lie to believe, about that power. The power to draw men to yourself, to attract attention, to fill up the dry desert of want, to try to fill in the parts of yourself that are incomplete. It never really works, though, and that's what women these days won't admit...sensuality isn't power, modesty is.

You see, our feminist culture has created a world of women who do not want to be equal to men... they want to be men. They want to be just like men, to say that not only are men and women equal, they are the same. There is no difference between them. Biologically, that is not true. Mentally, that is not true. Emotionally, that is not true. Spiritually, that is not true. But even so, women keep on believing it. And along with that belief came the one that women should be able to do whatever they want without any thought to how it affects the men around them. Modesty is one of the clearest examples of this. When women dress revealingly, they are asking for attention, not respect. They are turning a head, not turning a heart. And when men use what women are presenting to be used, their feminine hearts are torn apart. We live in a culture of wounded women, putting on a brave face saying that immodesty brings them power. But it doesn't. It brings them pain.

Then men like you stand up and say: you don't have to do this. You are damaging yourself, trying to look beautiful but not becoming beautiful. You said in your letter that "real attractiveness comes from having a certain dignity." Enough dignity to know that you deserve respect, deserve someone to love you for your heart and soul and not your outer shell. You speak God's words in that letter, and He works through you. Then people tell you the inevitable: you are controlling, you are unloving, you are judgmental. Yes, people who take a stand like you can make a lot of people uncomfortable, especially the girls that do dress in revealing clothing, that do try to fit into the crowd. You make them uncomfortable because you are telling them the way they are living is not the way God wants them to. You are telling them to change. And at first glance, some people might say that is unloving, judgmental, or controlling, but as Christians we should know better. You are not saying, change because you are not good enough. You are saying, change because you are good enough, because you're better than this. Change because you are hurting yourself. Isn't it love to tell someone to change so that they will stop hurting themselves, so that they can become truly fulfilled and happy?

Jesus loves each and every one of us more than we could ever fathom, and He came to earth in part to ask us to change. He loved us enough to tell us we don't have to live in darkness anymore. And I think that you, Paul Gomille, were far from unloving. You stood up and showed true love, sacrificial love, for your female peers, and you told them the truth. Not what was comfortable, but what was true, because you knew that if only they would listen the truth would set them free.

You've have received persecution for your words. But Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:10) Even if it seems like the whole world thinks you've done wrong, hear this: keep speaking up. Keep telling your sisters how beautiful they are. Keep telling them that God has a greater purpose for them, a greater love for them than this world could ever provide. Keep telling them that modesty is power, that dignity is beautiful.

Even if you help just one girl to realize her true worth, it is worth it. So don't stop telling them just because some people have got it in their head that you are judgmental. When a person speaks the truth, that is natural. As long as you do it out of love, for both the girls that dress with dignity and modesty and the girls that do not, you are making a difference. As long as you are speaking the truth, you are making a difference. So what I am really here to say is this:

Thank you, Paul Gomille, and please, never stop telling us.

Sincerely,

Laura Olech

Paul Gomille's Letter:

"Could I please have your attention for a few moments? I guarantee you won’t regret listening to what I have to say. You definitely won’t regret hearing this in your life time, especially from a man of dignity. It’s an idea that I have held close to my heart even before the kilt controversy arose in the media. This message is not meant to address the kilt controversy directly by any means, but rather, this message is a general and all-encompassing statement. It is a message about the qualities that really matter in a woman, and what really makes a woman attractive. Although this speech has some relevance to the way women dress and present themselves nowadays, the message in this speech goes far beyond one’s preferences, or feelings of pressure, as it relates to the way they dress, and it goes far beyond any concept of modernity. It strikes at the very core of humanity itself, in an attempt to make a revelation of truth apparent to all of you, with awe inspiring certainty. If you read this, and receive anything less than a feeling of absolution from it, then I have committed a grave sin, a sin against myself and a sin against all of you.

The people this message concerns are the young women of this school, and of the world. In particular, it concerns the silent ones, the intelligent ones, the ones that don’t talk about people behind their backs, the ones that guys don’t flock to in droves, the ones that don’t dress in revealing clothing, the ones who would love to be in love, and the ones that are continually disappointed in their appearance because the only thing they have to compare themselves to are the women that have been put on pedestals by our society. This message also concerns those of you who may consider yourselves the so called “opposite” to the demographic I just described. The ones who do dress in revealing clothing, and the ones who try to fit in with the crowd.

You don’t need to dress or act a certain way to fit in, to feel attractive, or to BE attractive. You’re all far more attractive than you realize. All of you. But that’s not to say that you should all dress in revealing clothing. No, not at all. Sure, a girl who dresses that way might turn a few heads, and get some compliments. But real attractiveness doesn’t come from wearing the latest fashion, and it doesn’t come from being scantily clad in public, or putting on make-up, or having a pretty face, or a nice body. No. Real attractiveness comes from having a certain dignity. It comes from having class. It comes from being true to yourself, being yourself, and being comfortable in your own skin. This message is for all young women within the sound of my voice and beyond. You’re all beautiful. You all have inner beauty AND outer beauty."

Book Review: Christy Miller Collection, Volume 1

Just recently I finished reading Volume 1 of the Christy Miller series by Robin Jones Gunn. The first three books of the series are included in this volume, titled Summer Promise, A Whisper and A Wish, and Yours Forever. I really enjoyed them! Initially when I began reading I wasn't a fan of the writing style, but as I got further into them not only did the author's style begin to improve, but I was drawn into the stories.  

The books begin in the summer before Christy Miller's sophomore year in High School. Christy vacations in California with her aunt and uncle and begins to meet friends that introduce her to a new way of living. Christy's new "God lover" friends experience life in a way that she doesn't understand, but she is intrigued. When she commits her life to Jesus Christ, her life changes forever. Throughout the summer and the year to come, Christy learns a lot about God, love, and friendship, and the reader learns along with her as she makes mistakes and grows closer to God. 

I have really enjoyed the series so far, and I am about halfway through the second volume. There are four volumes in the collection, plus an extra "College Years" volume that comes after the series. There are also a few books based on the life of Katie Weldon, one of Christy's best friends, which takes place after Christy's series is finished.

Christy certainly isn't a perfect character, and I don't agree with the way she gives her heart away so readily and how focused on dating she can often get. Even so, she is committed to purity and to Godly relationships, all values that I support, and I support the good messages in the series overall. I would recommend these books to any Christian girl who is looking for an interesting series on a Christian teenager's life. 

Read more about the books at http://www.robingunn.com/books/.