Wow is too long. Beautiful is too short.

What's the first thing you say when you see something like this? "Wow"? "Beautiful"? "Amazing"?
Honestly I just stand there with my mouth open like a silly doofes. Because words simply can't express how outstanding this is to me. It's just stunning! (nope doesn't cut it.) Check this video out.

Now how do you feel? For me I felt pretty.....small......just tiny. I suddenly realized just how small I was in this huge universe. And God is bigger than all of this! Why would such a magnificent God be concerned about such a insignificant person such as I?
But that's not the case. God created me. He created everything about me. He decided my dark, thick brown hair, nearly black eyes, pixie nose, and even the birthmark on my shoulder. He decided my talents for music, drawing, crafts and animals. And He chose everything about you. He decided what kinds of foods you would like, the way you laugh, what skin color you have, all the way down to how many hairs you have on your head. He took the time and love to make a unique person called, you.
What he can't decide, is what you do with your life. 
God didn't create us to be puppets on a string. He made us with freewill. We need to choose what to do with our life. 
I try to stay connected to God by praying and reading my bible. Some days I'm more into it than others. Some days I don't even want to read my bible at all. I have other things I need to do. God will understand right? But what does God say?
Matthew 6:33 
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
No matter what God must come first. He created us and gave us everything we have. The very least we can do is spend time learning about him.  Check this out. It sent me spinning.

 
 
I love this guy! He makes it so clear. If you haven't read his book Crazy Love, than you should. I love it!!!!
Your relationship with God depends on your attitude towards Him. And....for the longest time I didn't get that. Yes I prayed, sure I read my bible, and yes I love God with my heart.
                                                                       That changed.
I've read through the bible 8 times in the last 4 years. I never thought I would be able to do that. What changed? How did I get into this? Well....it's partially because I got challenged by my mom to do a 90 day bible challenge. My mom didn't think I could do it and I was out to prove her wrong. What started as a pride issue, ended with something totally different. When I finished the bible I thought, "Wow. That was cool. But reading through that fast, I'm sure I missed some stuff. I'll read it again slower so I can glean out as much as I can." That's when I did a Chronological plan over the next 6 months. After that it was a part of me. I was used to waking up and reading my bible first thing. It became a habit, setting my mood for the rest of the day. And you know what. I find something new ever single time I read the bible. I find myself realizing how important God treats His Word. He wants us to live by it. But we can only live by it if we know it.
Reading the bible so many times also gave me a new perspective on prayer. For me prayer used to be that little way to ask God for the things I needed. And throw in a few "thank you's" so make Him happy.
Have you ever read the prayers in the bible? Just check out Psalms. The very last Psalm, Psalm 150 goes,
 Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

It's like poetry. When David composes those Psalms, he's trying his best to express his wonder and joy at the Creator. His relationship is so intimate, that he praises God with everything he has. His soul is singing out. That's why the angels sang, "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty." Because just one Holy isn't enough. If you were to say Holy 100,000,000 times it wouldn't be enough! God's magnificence can't be exaggerated. That's when I got it. Suddenly I wanted to sing out praises to God. The feeling was so overwhelming that simply saying, "You are wonderful God." didn't do a thing. I wanted to praise God like David did. After reading the Psalms so many times I knew how he did that. So I started praising God like David did. And it felt so good. I praised God until I couldn't find anymore words. I was left with a feeling of love and felt truly close to God. After that I wanted more. I wanted more of God.
 I'll never be perfect. Only Jesus can be that. But I wanted to please God. If I died right now I want to hear God say, "Well done."
                   And I'm going to live my life for those two words.
What are you going to live for?