A Special Way to Pray

I was reading this magazine/devotional book. (I couldn't really decide what it was.) It had this little devotional that I wanted to share with you. This isn't the whole thing, but it is basically the main idea. I put it in my own words.

Do you ever get in a habit that when you pray it is kinda like you are just asking for things? I know I do. Here is a little model that we can follow called ACTS.

The "A" in ACTS stands for adoration. That means to sort of brag on God. Praise Him for how awesome he is. Adore Him. When you pray rember the things you love about him. Examples would be praising Him for His perfection, ability to forgive, His power, how much he loves us, and His gift of Jesus. Adortion helps us to take all our attention off ourselves and put it on God.

The "C" in ACTS stands for confession. Confession means to tell God what we did wrong, asking Him to forgive us, and to ask Him to help us to not do that thing again. Confessing our sin everyday helps us remember that sin is serious to God.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

The "T" in ACTS stands for thanks. We should have thanksgiving everyday, and thank God for His wonderful blessings. Since it is sometimes hard to forget to thank God you can have a prayer journal where you write down things your thankful for, blessings, and prayers.

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:8

The "S" in ACTS stands for supplication. That means asking God for somthing for ourselves or for others. Try to think of others before you think of yourself when you are praying. We should talk to God like we would with our mom or dad or even with our best friend. Tell Him everything!

ACTS helped me think more about the way I prayed. It helped me alot, and I hope it will help you.

Now, let me remind you of a free resource for girls like the book that I mentioned above. Growing in Grace is an online magazine for young ladies. You have to buy what I just reviewed, but GGM doesn't cost a thing! Be sure and give them a visit because the new July edition is out! Enjoy!

Fruit Pizza

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Galations 5:22-23

The other day we had a get together with my dad's side of the family to celebrate June birthdays. My mom wanted to make something fresh, but still sweet for everyone to enjoy. We decided to make Fruit Pizza. This recipe is a great summer treat, and will satisfy your sweet tooth.

What you need:

• store-bought refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• cream cheese
• any type of fruit you want to put on your pizza

Directions:

Press your cookie dough into a pizza pan. (You may need a rolling pin to flatten.) Bake according to the package's directions. Because of the cookies size you may need to bake a few minutes longer. While the cookie cools off, mix 8 ounces of cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a bowl. Next spread the mix on top of the cookie. Put sliced fruit on top of the pizza. I used blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, and kiwi. Once you are done place in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat. Voila! Fruit Pizza.


This is my favorite treat to eat and I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do.

Photo Contest

Hannah at Farmgirl in Flipflops is having a photo contest. Today is the last day to enter. I am kinda last minute, but oh well. Here are my pictures I took...

This one is for the catagory still life.

These two are for the nature catagory.

Ni Hao!

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15

KJV

I am guessing you probably don't get the title of this blog post. Am I right? Well here lately I have been learning Chinese, and Ni Hao means Hello. When I told my mom I wanted to learn a new language she asked me what language I was interested in so I told her Chinese.

She replied back, "Are you sure you don't want to try something a little easier like Spanish?"

I said," No I am up for the challenge."

At first my mother and I didn't know how I was going to learn. I sugjested Roseta Stone, but then my mom informed me that it could cost alot of money. So after figuring that out we shoved that thought out of our minds. Next we went to Walmart.com and serched for a Chinese lesson game. Up came on our computer screen a little picture of a Nintendo DS game called My Chinese Coach with a desicription about it. It was only about 30 dollars and looked like a much better deal. I saved up my money and before I new it I was at Walmart purchasing the game! Walmart has lots of other games that are simular to the game I bought. Including My Japanese Coach, My Spanish Coach, My French Coach, etc.

The reason I wanted to learn Chinese is becase someday I want to be a missionary in China (see verse at the beginning of this post). Also I want to meet the little girl we sponsor in China named Lisa. You can read about her here.

I think My Chinese coach is just as good as Roseta Stone just at a better price. It teaches you Chinese using a thing called Pinying. Pinying teaches you to learn Chinese through the latin alphabet. My game also teaches you how to write the characters for each word. Also in chinese there are four tones so things could look the same to us, but they have different meanings.

Now that you know that would you like to learn a few simple words in Chinese? Ok here we go...

Hello: ni hao

Thank you: xie xie ( You say the x like the word she)

How are you?: ni hao ma?

Good/Fine: hao

Goodbye: zai jian

You're welcome: bukeqi

My Alarm Clock Today

Do not watch until you have read the story that goes a long with the video.



It is summer time at my house right now. That means sleeping in, swimming, playing outside, etc. This morning I was sleeping in my bed when I suddenly was woken up by this racket at 8:30am. (You will get that once you hear the video.) The speaker was also turned up all the way and there was a lot of loud laughter. I am sure you can imagine my reaction to this. I jump out of bed. A chill goes through my body. I open my door to check and see if any aliens are invading and go up to my mother and ask in a loud tone, "What just woke me up, and why is it so loud?"

She then answers " Oh I am sorry I thought you were awake." She then told me I MUST watch this video. Guess what? I am suddenly caught up in the laughter too! Although I am still kind of drowsy from being up so early.

Since then I have probably watched this video ten times, and I am still not tired of it! So you absolutely must watch. Listen to my mother's advice. You will get a kick out of it! Trust me.

P.S. Make sure you don't have any siblings still sleeping!

Image Chef

A while ago I went to this place called Image Chef and made something cool. I posted about, but I haven't been since then... So I decided to go today and look what I made! My favorite shape is a peace sign and I love the saying "Live Laugh Love", I mixed them together and there you go! I made a master piece. ;D

From the Learning Room

What I am reading: The Swiss Family Robinson


Bible Verses: 1John 4:16, Romans 12:21, Luke 12:24, Psalm 46:1, and, Psalm 37:4


Prayer: For my Grandpa to get better, Miss Wanda, and my mom she has skin cancer.


Cooking: nothing right now


Homesteading: Cleaning up around the house


Pet Chores: Feed and Give the cat and dog water, brush my dog, Zoey and, take her for a walk


A photo I would like to share with you: You can't see me in the picture here, but I was feeding this dolphin at Sea World. I was on a field trip with my shcool. I might post a bout it a little later.