Glamorous

I had this semi-recent discovery and it kind of made me question myself. Here's the deal. I get up in the morning and spend about an hour doing my hair, makeup, and getting dressed. I like looking nice. I don't look amazing every day, I get that, but I do kind of care what people think when they look at me, and like most other girls, I'll add about 30 minutes to my preparation time in order to try to impress a guy I like.

Don't misunderstand what I'm about to say. I don't think it's wrong to try to look presentable.

I started to worry about something. What if I spend more time trying to make what's on the outside look nice, but forget to care about what is on the inside? The Bible tells women that beauty is fleeting and the more I think about it, the more that starts to burn. If we care more about how we look than who we are, we've completely missed it. How we dress ourselves up and appear to others is so surface. God knows the depths of our hearts. He cares more about your heart than your hair. Just as a guy should.

A guy will not like you more if you put on eye-liner that matches your shoes, but if you are selfless, he will see that. A guy will not care if one piece of your hair isn't perfectly straight, but if  you have slept around, he's going to be hurt. A guy will not care if your jeans have weird pockets, but he will notice if you have a bad attitude all the time.

Maybe some of us girls are focusing on the wrong thing.

Challenge: 
Just like you add 30 minutes to the time you take to get ready for a date, add 30 minutes once a week to your time in the Word. Call it a daddy-daughter date if you want. Read some Scripture, then pray. I would try reading Proverbs 31. It talks about how to be a woman of God.

I'm going to take the challenge. Are you?

Not every picture has to be so glamorous (;

Laying Down Myself
Kenzie Mason 

Essence of Innocence

I'm not going to assume that anyone reads this blog, nor am I going to assume that should anyone read it, they will be reading from a Christian perspective. So you might not agree with me. That's ok. I understand. 

I don't know about you, but when I think about God, I think of words like mighty, powerful, omniscient (all knowing), creator, sustainer, king, lord, and just. That's just one side of Him. On the other hand he is love, joy, hope, compassion, and mercy. Those are all words that clearly describe God to me, but one thing I rarely think about is INNOCENT.

Let's step back and find the meaning of the word innocent. 

Innocent: free from guilt or sin especially through lack of knowledge of evil 

I wouldn't go as far as to say that God doesn't have knowledge of evil. I think that He knows evil because He watched as it destroyed the perfect creation that He carefully thought of. I think a Father  has a good sense of what it is that takes and destroys His children. 

I would say that God doesn't know evil. He can not associate himself with it. In that, He is innocent. 

How amazing is that?! I mean I walk throughout pretty much every day with some kind of guilt. It could be from, "I should have said 'I love you' to my brother this morning," or it could be, "I shouldn't have lied to my mom like that." Either way, it's constantly there. It's so comforting to me to know that the God that I serve walked on this earth and was very much like me, yet he still maintained this innocence. 

In Isaiah 53:7 it says:

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; 

like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, 

so He did not open His mouth.

I don't think that the reason for Jesus's silence was because of fear, but because of innocence. He was innocent like a lamb or a sheep and yet he bore our sins on the cross. His innocence was necessary because only a clean sacrifice could take away our sins. Should we say that Christ was not innocent, that God is not innocent, we lose salvation. We lose hope. We lose our lives that we have laid down to a lie. Luckily, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that atoned for our sins, bringing us back to a Father with outstretched arms running to His children who are turning back to him. 

What an awesome God we serve. 

Laying Down Myself
Kenzie Mason

Artist

I can't speak for anyone else, but in my personal opinion, art class is the worst class ever. I like my teacher (for the most part) and I like the people in my class, but I hate art. I'm not good at it. We had to do a self portrait a little less than a month ago and I think I completely proved that I am incapable of drawing...or painting...or really even tracing. I'd like to pretend I'm good at it but I'm not.

Now I'm about to shift gears, you'll see where this is going in a second, just stay with me.

A few days ago I was driving to my best friend and cousin, Sunni's house. I was passing by Southeast with all the big trees around and literally stopped the car in the middle of the road. Don't worry, no cars were around. What laid around me was one of the most exquisite looking scenes. On my left I saw the cross of the building laying against the beautiful pink/orange/purple sunset. The colors were magnificent. Something totally supernatural. Then I noticed the fall leaves in their varieties of orange and red and brown with the contrast of the lively green grass. I wish everyone could experience that sight for a moment. As if the scene wasn't enough, the words "His love never fails" rang through the radio of my car.
He is an amazing artist. He created the actual things that we base our art on. We can never create it quite like He can and it just makes me realize all over again that I could never compare to Him.
To conclude, I'd like to share a quote that hangs in our art room at school that completely sums this up. It's by Andy Grimes.

"Art is a collaboration between God and the artist. The less the artist does, the better."

Motivation

I'm not saying that there aren't struggles. I see them every single day as I walk through the hallways at my school. It isn't that I think that private school is better than public school, but what an amazing opportunity. I walk into my school every day not judged for the way I want to lay down myself for Christ. I'm not persecuted. There are some who are not so fortunate. I started to question myself though, not because I think that the environment I'm in is bad, but because its almost too good. We look at one another and we see each others works: how this person gave out meals yesterday, how that person is leading a bible study, how that guy invited the outsider at church to go play basketball, and how that girl gave advice to some freshmen. But is that what it's all about? I'm not saying these are bad things. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm just challenged to think isn't there more? What is out motivation?

Don't think I'm insane but I'm going to answer my own question. We do these things because of our love for people. Where does that love come from? It's simple. Because our the overflow of God's love for us, we have compassion and love others.

It's so easy to forget that. I constantly have to check my motives and some times I let things slip through the cracks...

I hope that my motivation will always be that God loved me so much that I can't help but want to love other people. Maybe God would be able to use all of us more if we laid aside our selfish ambitions. Maybe we would see that we are made for more.

Laying Down Myself
Kenzie Mason

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (Philippians 2:3 NIV)

The Lucky One

So tonight, I'm listening to one of my favorite artists new albums...yes, it is Taylor Swift's RED. I don't care if you do or don't like Taylor Swift, but I think there's a lot to be said about the song, "The Lucky One". In this song, she talks about the negative side to being famous. Most of us "regular people" can't imagine the negatives to walking around and everyone singing your songs, knowing your name, and paying thousands of dollars for anything that your name touches. She makes it pretty clear that society tells us to strive for this wealth and fame, but in the end, she basically agrees with Solomon in Ecclesiastes...it's all just meaningless. I'm not saying that Taylor Swift is the current Solomon, however I think that this song is a good way to relate our culture today to an issue that the Scripture deals with. In the song, Taylor shows us what the problem is with our world, and like a lot of things, in the Scriptures, we find the answer. If you worry about where your purpose and fulfillment is coming from, I'd really encourage you to read through Ecclesiastes. It's not very long, but very helpful. Solomon gives us a pretty straight forward answer and tells us where our purpose is found. And SPOILER ALERT: It's found in God and His will for us. What hope! Many people in this world will get to the end of their lives and say, "I still feel so empty. Some of the most famous people have done it. Jim Carrey was quoted saying,

I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.

I wouldn't say I agree with everything Jim Carrey says, but this really hits home for me. If you had everything you could ever wish for, would you be satisfied and fulfilled, or would you be left still wanting more?

Laying Down Myself
Kenzie Mason

Support!

Today, I'm sick! Meaning I'm laying in bed, not feeling good, super bored, and missing church. I feel like I'm not with my family and I miss them so much. I realize today as I lay here in bed that I am blessed by the people around me who support me. My friends and family are so loving and always make me feel like no matter how things seem right now, they will always be there to have my back. I have too many people in my life that I should thank for being that to me. So right now, I'd like to step back from my idea that things are all about me, and say that I couldn't do anything I do without the support of my friends and family. They are the ones who remind me that God is always in control, who accept the way that I am despite my faults, and the ones who remind me of the blessings I have in my life. They are also the ones who lovingly correct me. I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. I still have some way to go, but I have a feeling that as I continue to grow and walk, they will be behind me cheering me on and I will be that for them too. I love each of you! Thanks so much (:

Some amazing girls that go to my school. Tori, Nessa, Me, Leah, Rach, Jess, Linds, and Stacy.

Nessa, Me, and Rach after Powderpuff.

These are the senior girls on the soccer team and some of my best friends! 

There's Macy, Me, Leah, Rach, Holli, Nessa, and Linds! 

Me and my very best friend and cousin, Sunni.

Laying Down Myself
Kenzie Mason

Welcome (:

In the world that we live in, desiring what is in our own interest is so common and easy. I've tried striving for my own happiness, purpose, and significance and have only found emptiness in what the world promises will be my everything. After I decided that I can't live for myself, I found a hope beyond what I can even understand. All I know is that His love and grace has covered me and has given me everything that the world promised, but with more hope and acceptance that it ever thought about offering. I have hope for my future because I know the One who is in charge of it. I used to waste so much time worrying about myself and not caring about other people, but it is past time for that to change. It's time to know who I am and what I'm living for. 

I hope that as I live and learn and write, people can read the realness and relate to it. I'm going to talk about my struggles, concerns, and observations. If you want to read a blog about someone perfect who lives a perfect life, you've come to the wrong place. If you want someone who will write to please you, you're at the wrong place. If you want to know what I think about life, learn about God, and change about myself, then welcome to "Laying Down Myself". 

The reason I named this blog "Laying Down Myself" is because of Luke 9:23 

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

Taking up the cross means laying down your hopes, loves, desires, and life and taking up righteousness, true love, hope, and salvation. It's an amazingly beautiful and an extremely difficult transition. I can't wait to be open and honest and have a place to think. So without further ado, welcome to my life. 

Laying Down Myself
Kenzie Mason