!Hola!

Right now i'm helping Janae getting a blog. It's actually been pretty fun. Over the break I went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolin. I went with my family, the Campbells (again, oh man, j/k), the Poths, and we got to see the Hills. It was TONZ of fun. I got to spend time with Lindsey Poth alot, especially going shopping. :) They had a HUGE outlet mall down there and we spent alot of time there. Well, i post more about that later, but i have to go! Luv ya'll and have an awesome week!

Read Galatians chapter 5 sometime. Really convicting.

My Week

Well hey guys! I thought i would just tell you all about my week.

Sunday: THE COLTS LOST!!!!agh!!! that made me really mad, especially since the Blakes went!lol

Monday: i had a Spanish final that was kinda hard. I got like a C on that. stink.

Tuesday: i had a history and english final. Got good grades on those. I went Christmas shopping with Abbie and got all my friends christmas presents and spent all of my money!:-)

Wednesday: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL OF 2005!!! Robbie Summer's skit was hilarious and Miguel was really good! I almost got in an accident during my all-star drive. (it was a blonde moment) My Grandma came and we went to the Dutton's house and i learn how to play black-jack and 5 card stud. it's fun!

Today: Finished my brother's Christmas present and had another all-star drive. That went well and tonight we opened Christmas presents b/c we are leaving tomorrow to go to Myrtle Beach.

Well i have to go for now. (i haven't packed yet) :) I'll try to post more later tonight. Luv ya'll and have a wonderful, relaxing, stress-free Christmas Break!

~MERRY CHRISTMAS!~

Is my goal Christ, or to please others?

I was going to post on the dating topic that has gotten around to everybody's blog, but I decided not to head that direction, so hopefully this topic will be more appealing to you and won't create too much controversy.

So, tonight was the Stewardship, Thanksgiving and Praise service. It was really great and the worship was awesome. one of the secretarys at the church has worked there for 25 years and they had all her family come up to surprise her. well one of her sons now lives in Virginia, but he came to my church awhile back and was my sunday school teacher. i started talking to him after the service, just catching up and everything and he started talking about his youthgroup and asked me about mine.

I started telling him about the committee we now have and how it's just getting started. i mentioned the fact that the people on the committee are mostly the people who come to activities and have input in sunday school conversations. so he asked me why that is. i didn't know what to say at first, so i said that it's probably because i (and possibly others) tend to judge people by the way they act and what they talk about, and i see what is going on the outside and i don't feel comfortable with it, so I (we) don't reach out to them and make them feel comfortable about being with us. he just mentioned that really, what those people think doesn't matter at all in eterninty! if Christ was really evident in my life and i have an awesome relationship with him, i should want to share that with others NO MATTER WHAT!!

i was just thinking about that alot once i got home. why am i so afraid to voice my opinion of Christ and share the great news to others and encourage them to grow in their relationship with Christ and experience the joy in it? it makes me wonder if i truly have a deep relationship with my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

so i started to look for some verses and i'll share them with you and if you have any comments please make them, but make sure it's encouraging and not tearing anybody down.

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time,

but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light

the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts;

and then each man's praise will come to him from God.

I Corinthians 4:5

You have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong,

but freedom to love and serve each other.

Galations 5:13

that's it for now, and more might be coming soon...

MY WEEK

Hey Guys! My week is going okay. The soccer guys are leaving today, which is like half of our class!lol well, last night was the Heritage Hall game and the JV vball won, but Varsity lost by ONLY 3 points! it was an awesome game! Lindsey says hi by the way!lol Yeah, Lindsey did something to her leg/knee yesterday, so she couldn't play last night, which was a real bummer, but it was probably good that she didn't have to ride on the bus on the way home. So, i really can't think of anything to write.

Mr. Blake's dad died Sunday morning so keep them in your prayers. OH!!!! i have a couple of verses for you guys: well actually i have a quote, but will do the verses later:

"Every one of us has a measure of advesity,

And God Himself is the One who measured it out.

And for that reason,

every person has something in his or her life

That God doesn't want to hear complaints about."

(LORD CHANGE MY ATTITUDE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE)

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't blogged in a long time! Well today JV volleyball lost their first game this season! We were all bummed. I think it'll help us grow alot more in intensity and enthuisism. (spl?) What bums me is when i finally get in my head to hustle and be ready for the ball and run all over the court and try to attempt to do it, i still get talked to by my coaches to do even better. so tonight i tried to play my spot well and i did a little bit better by my SETS still aren't doing well at all!!!! so i'm trying to work on that more. anyway, just pray for the team and that we'll learn from this and hopefully be more unified because of it. Well i luv ya'll and i hope you have a great week and remember that God puts everything into your life for a purpose and make sure you use that opportunity!!!

~*~rachelle~*~

btw, we now have a youthgroup blog: DEEPER

Even MORE pictures!!lol

Well i was going to post more pics, but it wasn't working for some reason, but some of the pics below are from AiG and Igloo! Enjoy!

PICTURES!!!

Retreat

Hey Everyone! Well retreat was today and yesterday. It was great! I definately think that it was better than last year's. My favorite skit last night was Mr. Heim's....THE HORSE!!!lol. He really looked like mr. Harmless with those glasses! crazy. The services were really good and our testimony time was awesome. it was amazing what alot of people did this summer. Today though we had our student mentor meeting w/ Mr. Grass. He gave us an assignment to sit with someone who we were close to at lunch and just talk about God! He also told us to talk about our goals for the school year. I was with Lindsey, Emily H, and Justin. We had a good time. We went around and told one goal and then we just talked about each person's goal and how we can help each other in that way, etc. One thing Justin said was throughout the day reminding yourself what your goal is. LIke what is your goal in saying something sarcastic to someone. Or what is my goal in going to this activity or whatever you're doing. So, if your goal in doing that or saying something isn't to glorify or please God, then it's a sin. But the whole focus of doing this is to see where your heart is and your main focus. Is it to please God, yourself, or others. We started to try it throughout that afternoon, and man! It is HARD. Just saying one little comment can be a sin or something that isn't pleasing to God. Well, since we had to share our goals, i'm going to post mine:

1. To be more of a spiritual leader. Making sure that I talk about God througout the day and not be embarassed about it.

2. Making sure that God IS #1 in my life. Mr. Grass asked some ?'s today and one of them was: "who is the Lord of your life?" Is it really Christ in mine or is it me? To be honest it is me ALOT!

3. To add on to the last one, not having a fear of man or of others, putting my trust in God. When i am the "lord" of my life, i want to please others and myself. So i have this fear of what would this person think if i did this, what would happen if i did or said this to a certian person. i realize now though that fear is a sin!!! So every time i'm afraid to take a stand or something, i'm sinning. wow. really strikes me!

Some of these aren't really measurable, but i just kinda came up with them today, so if you can think of anything that can help me, that would be great! Luv you all! And i hope you guys are striving to please God in all that you do! It can be really hard sometimes, but hopefully there are people around you to encourage you in that path. Oh, i just thought of another goal:

4. To encourage others to be on fire for Christ. If i want people to encourage me, i need to first encourage them.

That's it for now! Sorry this is a long one, but i haven't posted in awhile.

~*~rachelle~*~

To Annie

I thought I would dedicate a post to Mrs. Hill. She left for Florida Friday and i wasn't able to say goodbye. i miss her soooo much and I will probably miss her more once school starts. Annie, your baby is soooo adorable. you are going to be and are an awesome parent! i'm so glad you and Josh stayed w/ my family during the February Conference. i'm going to miss you guys coming over for cookouts. I remember the times you and Josh would come over and watch a movie and then you would fall asleep on the couch @ 10:00. You were the best b-ball coach too! you were always there to encourage me to do better and that God put everything in my life for a reason! Remember, "look there's the Lafayette White house!!" hahaha. I can't believe i only knew you and Josh for 3 yrs. it felt like 10! I'm going to miss you guys! Tell little Noah hi for me! Hopefully i can see you in the fall. Love you all!
~*~rachelle~*~