A picture really does say a thousand words.

Some poeple look at this picture & see airplane exhaust; I look at this picture & see a Cross. The same Cross that my Savior was crucified on. The same Cross where Jesus' blood was shed to cover all of my sins & give me new life. I love you, Jesus!

A Rock & a Hard Place:

"Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
   I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
   When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place,
   it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
   The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
   all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
   That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
 trade the creation just for you."
=Isaiah 42:1-4=

When I think about being between a rock & a hard place, I think of no other verse than the one I listed above. Isaiah 42:1-4 says everything I'm about to say in a nutshell. When we're in over our head, He is right there with us. Right HERE with us. In this very moment. When we're in rough waters, we will not go down.... "There's a raging sea right in front of me wants to pull me in, bring me to my knees, so let the waters rise if You want them to; I will follow You, I will follow You." And my favorite: When we're in between a rock & a hard place, it will NOT be a dead end--- So many times in life we face trials & tribulations. We lost patience & become irritable with God's "perfect timing." We begin to doubt our faith, trust & out hope in God because we don't understand why things are happening? My friend & I have a saying, "When it rains, it pours." Ain't that the truth, ya'll!? I know in my life, that quote speaks louder than anything at times! And it gets so frustrating! As you guys know in my last post, two of my friends were in a terrible car accident on Christmas Eve. Travis went to be with the Lord today(rejoicing in that) but it's still really difficult when a young person, 17, is killed in a tragic accident. Especially one you know. On top of that, the devil decided to crush me with his ever famous "singleness" shpill in my life. At first it worked & I started looking at girls who seemed to have everything, I mean EVERYTHING going for them. Beauty, Personality, Boyfriends, ya know... the whole sha-bang! But then in my spirits I sweetly heard..."When you're between a rock & a hard place, it won't be a dead end." And I immediately felt God telling me to open my bible to this verse & just meditate in His presence for a bit. So that's exactly what I did & it is exactly what I needed to heart  gain the courage to tell the devil to flee from my mind & my thoughts right then! He no longer had control over them! and guess what? He fleed. Why? Because he is scared to death of Jesus. The bible says that one shout of "JESUS!" makes him shiver & run away. What a BABY! :) When I flipped open to this passage the first two lines took my breath away... "Don't be afraid, I have redeemed you! I've called your name... YOU ARE MINE!" Wow. If that's not beautiful, I honestly don't know what is. Ya see what I realized I had that most of these girls did not was the wisdom God! And not only that but a HEART FOR GOD! I don't know if you can tell but I have a deep, burning passion for my Lord. My purpose while I'm here on this earth is to shine brighter than any star in the sky for my Jesus & I continue to due that more and more each day. Though I may not have some of the things these girls had, I really had SO MUCH MORE! A pure & whole relationship with God is worth more than anything else in this world. Even a stupid boyfriend. I am falling in love with Jesus Christ & that is the greatest love story that will ever be told. When life throws you curve balls, let God bat. It might sound cheesy but it will make your life twenty times easier.  Another verse that continues to ring in my mind when I am facing turmoil is this: "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." Mattew 5:2

My prayer for all of you is that as you face turmoil this week, or maybe you get stuck between a rock & a hard place....you will ask God to place these verses upon your heart. You will cry out to & ask Him to give you MORE OF HIM & less of you! Because the more of ourselves we rid away, the more room there is for Jesus to move into our hearts.

                                      

                                          With love,

                                   Tay :)

A Cry for Help & A Christmas Story.

If you're reading this, drop everything you're doing and pray for the life of Travis McAfee.

Travis & his girlfriend Ashley Shipley, both students of Southside were in a car accident this evening in Kansas. From what we've gathered they hit ice & the car flipped. I'm not certain how many times. They were both sent to ICU. Ashley broke her jaw and will have surgery Sunday. Travis is in a coma in ICU with low brain activity, but he is stable. If I know anything, I know that God can perform miracles. Why? Because I am a walking miracle. I was in a rollover car accident two years ago December 15th. We hit ice, flipped over the guard rail, and rolled up to 7 times. If I can walk out of that alive I know that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MY GOD! HE HOLDS THE WORLD IN HIS HANDS! And tonight, I know that He is holding Travis & Ashley in the palm of that very hand. So please PRAY!


My Christmas Story:

My great grandmother, Sweet Maw, has been in the nursing home for the past couple of months. She is decreasing fast but we already know she is ready to be with the Lord when He decides to take her. My mother and Maw are very close and always have been. So tonight, she went to visit for a couple of hours. There was a man. An old man. Who she has seen everytime she's gone to visit Maw... so when she got back to my grandma's she asked her about the old man. And my grandma went on to tell this story.....

This old man's wife was diagnosed with Alzheimers and lives in the nursing home. He had been gonig to the nursing home FIVE times a day to sit with his wife. FIVE times a day. He did this until his doctor told him that he could do it no longer. The doctor said, "You're going to kill yourself trying to get back and forth from this nursing home five times a day. Your health can't take it anymore." Did he take it down to one visit a day? Oh no, his love for his beautiful wife was much stronger than that. He obeyed the doctor by going down to four visits a day. Yes, four visits. The story goes that when this man's wife got crushed with the news of being diagnosed with this horrible disease, she sweetly looked at her husband with tear-filled eyes and said this, "Promise....promise you'll take care of me....even when I don't remember you?" The man, hiding the tears, picked up her cheek and replied, "You didn't even have to ask, it will always be my pleasure taking care of you...even when you don't remember me." As if this wasn't tearjerking enough, I thought about Jesus. I thought about all the times we selfishy turn away from our Father. The times His face dimly fades from our lives and we start to cover him up with sinful things and begin to forget about Him. Yet when we do this, we don't ask if God will take care of us. I don't remember one time I strayed away from the Lord and asked him to take care of me. But you see... this is where the beauty of the Lord lies, deep within His gentle heart. When we stray we don't HAVE to ask God to take care of us when we don't remember him. He does it JOYFULLY. He CHOOSES to carry the weight of our sin on HIS SHOULDERS. He picks up our dirty face and says, "My Child... I will always take care of you... even when you don't remember me."

Be blessed.

LETTER FOR AFRICA:

 Writing usually comes easily for me but for some reason I’ve been stuck on this letter for a couple weeks now. I sit down to write it and that’s about as far as I seem to get. It’s just so surreal to me that I’m actually writing a letter for Africa, the continent that first stole my heart when I stayed up to late writing an English paper.  For any of you ‘ABC Family’ watchers out there, you know that if you’re up a little too late like I was, you’re going to catch the ever famous “700 Club.” Not the regular “700 Club”, but the one where the gray-headed man goes out into the streets of Africa, steps into the mud built huts of Kampala, and reaches down to pick up a little boy with blackened skin and sheer hope in his eyes.

            I will forever remember this moment, not only because it was the night I fell in love with Africa and all of Its people, but it was the first moment that my heart severely ached for someone other than myself. Not just for a person, but a child. Not just a child, but a little boy. Not just a boy, but an orphan. On this night, my love story with a continent named Africa began. I started looking up scriptures about missions, orphans and widows, I spent hours watching videos and looking at pictures of the precious, wide-eyed children that had stolen my heart. Soon, it became a pattern. The more I fell in love with Jesus, the more I fell in love with Africa.

            I’ve prayed and prayed for opportunities to be able to go and though a couple came up throughout my past summer, nothing seemed to fall into place. But I didn’t let that ruin my hopes and dreams of one day setting foot on African soil. One of my good friends, Chanley Tiffee, started an organization called ‘Open Your Eyes’ when she was twelve years old. Yes, you heard me right, twelve. Her website is listed at the bottom of this letter and I greatly encourage you to check out the wonderful things she is doing for young girls in Uganda. She took her first trip to the continent we both love, this past October and got to see the dream God gave her at twelve years old come to life five years later. She stood in front of the school the girls attend and got to meet each and every one of their thankful faces. To make this long letter shorter, Chanley asked me if I would like to go back to Kampala, Uganda with her this summer. My immediate response to her offer was a loud “YES,” followed with a “You’re not joking are you?!” She assured me again and again throughout the next twenty minutes that she wasn’t joking as I ran around in circles overjoyed, shouting “I’m going to Africa! I’m going to Africa!”  My parents are wonderful supporters of my dreams and know how passionate I am about going overseas so it was a no brainer what their answer would be. They called me in the living room, and graciously said “Taylor...of course you can go!” My heart was filled with joy that I can’t even begin to describe.

            What will we be doing?  During our trip we will be working with the IMFC missionaries in the slums of Kampala. We will go from house to house; spending hours listening to people’s stories and sharing the beautiful hope that comes in knowing Jesus Christ. We will also be going to a few prisons, schools and orphanages with the intentions of serving in any way possible. We will be meeting a team led by Chanley’s Uncle, who is a youth pastor in Georgia, in Amsterdam.

            Cost?  As you can imagine traveling to a third world country is quite expensive. My total cost will be about three thousand dollars which will include my shots, flights, hospitality, etc. This trip is so important to me that I will NOT let the cost stop me from going. Whatever it takes, I will do. I have chosen to make Africa my graduation present which is why I sent out this letter. It’s kind of early I know, but I want to make sure that I have all the expenses needed ahead of time to ensure I’ll be able to go! If you received this letter, know that you are obviously a huge blessing to me. It’s because of YOU that I’ll be able to watch this dream of mine come true. The point of this letter was NOT to make anyone feel obligated to send me money though it would be greatly appreciated if you did. The smallest amount is the biggest blessing!

          Whether God is calling me to missions or not, going to Africa is a desire of my heart that I’ve had for years. Africa is going to be a life changing experience and I am thrilled to see what the Lord is going to do through me during my stay. I will carry this trip with me forever and know that YOU have played a huge part in this amazing experience! I can’t wait for the next season of my life… Africa and College? Two thousand and eleven is going to be a great year! I’m going to leave you with some verses that are dear to my heart....

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “ Jeremiah 29:11

“Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.” James 1:27

"Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan." Exodus 22:22

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." Psalm 68:5

"The poor and homeless are desperate for water, their tongues parched and no water to be found. But I'm there to be found, I'm there for them, and I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty." Isaiah 41:17

www.openyoureyesproject.org

For God’s Glory,

Taylor Bramlett

Authentic Beauty:

For the past couple weeks I have been reading Authentic Beauty by Leslie Ludy. Girls our there, I strongly suggest you to read any book ever written by her or her husband, Eric Ludy. Especially the two that they wrote together, 'When God Writes Your Love Story' & 'When Dreams Come True.' And guys out there, read them too :) They have both helped me tremendously in my singleness. Authentic Beauty is all about becoming a set apart Woman of God. Though it is close to impossible in this world and generation we live in, it is MORE THAN WORTH IT to become completely lost and in love with MY Savior. And that is what I'm really taking in from this book. I'm desperately in love with my Maker but a lot of the time I catch my 'non-dating' issue bringing worry into my mind and I lose track of this beautiful, irreplaceable, romantic relationship that I have with Jesus Christ. So this book has helped me to realize that all I need to worry about is falling deeper & deeper in love with Jesus and as I do that, my prince charming will come soon enough. But Jesus Christ is my ultimate PRINCE! And forever will be! I'm going to share a passage from the book that really hit me today! :)

"Feminine mystique begins with guarding the most precious part of our existence: our intimacy with our Prince. (And our Prince, by the way, is the most gallant, chivalrous Gentleman of all time!) As we spend time in His presence, we become more like Him. As we become more like Him, we learn to guard what is sacred-just as he does. As His cherished princesses, we learn to protect the essence of who we are rather than letting it be trampled in the mud. We learn to keep the most intimate aspects of our being set apart for the eyes of our Prince alone."

Girls: Be Women of mystery!

Guys: Be like Jesus! 

Darkness: Hello there long lost friend,
I'm sick and tired, please take my hand?
Let's walk until my mind is clear 
of all the things I once held dear. 
Fill up my mind with feel good lies, 
So I can ignore my Father's cry. 
I know He really cares for me 
but for right now, I can't come clean. 
There's something special about The Light, 
It doesn't let go, puts up a good fight.
It lets you run as far as you'd like,
until finally you realize Who's holding you tight. 

Ephesians 3:16-21:

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Waiting and Watching.

I pray to God-my life a prayer-
and wait for what He'll say and do.
My life's on the line before God, my Lord,
waiting and watching till morning,
waiting and watching till morning.
Psalm 130:5-8

CHRISTMAS BREAK! Glory to God! Maybe I'll be able to start blogging more! Today, I've been meditating on God's Word & I came across Psalm 130:5-8. It's pretty rad if you ask me. My biggest flaw in my Christian walk is my patience. I've always been a here & now kinda girl. I'm always on a schedule & if things don't match up with HOW I want them or WHEN I want them, I get very ansy. So this verse definitely stole my attention & caught my eye. Why? The part that obviously needs to be paid attention to is probably the line that is repeated double time. "Waiting and watching till morning." I've done some studying on every verse you can find about waiting, patience and everything else that has to do with God's timing. The most interesting thing I've found is that "patiently waiting" really means "waiting while I wait." HOLY COW! I'm terrible at waiting.... much alone WAITING WHILE WAITING!? God, that's so much for you to ask of me! Are you sure? (Insert God's laughter here.) ;) He's God. Of course He's sure. My life is my prayer. I wait for what He says and does. My life is ON THE LINE BEFORE MY GOD. God knows the next step I'm going to take, the next sentence I will speak and the next person that will walk into my life. NOT on my time; on His. If I gave my heart and emotions out to every guy that has ever pursued either of those things, I would have nothing left by this point. I thank my Father for setting me apart with my purity. I'm a Senior in high school. 17 years old. And I have never had my first kiss. Am I nun? No. That would be miserable. I do not think I am called to a life of singleness but through my teenage years,  Yes, I have definitely been called to singleness. And it's been a long, rocky, hard, lonely road but if it is going to glorify my God and in the end glorify my precious husband I will be single 110%. And that is what I have done. I want the next person I date to be my future husband. If that's 2 months, 2 years or even longer. I mean I wish it could be tomorrow but I have to die to my desires daily to glorify my Jesus. He is good and I put all my trust in the everlasting God. My sweet Man is out there somewher. God will always be MORE than enough for me though.

Waiting Patiently,
Tay.

Come After Me

Please stop walking in my mind,
I think about you all the time.
Just take your charm, pack up and leave,
I'll think of you when fall turns spring.
I'm writing this so I may see,
The best of you gets the worst of me.
Am I naive to sit and wonder?
This void I have is full of hunger.
You've always been the one whose set;
My standards high that no ones met.
It's not okay to wait for nothing,
Phone calls, texts, please just something.
Hoping that I'm worth the fight,
Waiting for you takes all my might.
Can you not see the want in my eyes?
Or is it so you just don't mind?
My feelings for you get stronger and stronger,
which is why I'll wait no longer.
Take me as I am or watch as I leave,
This is your last chance....Please, come after me.

Yours Not Mine

Hello bloggers, I'm going to start posting my poems on here because people have asked me to share them! This poem is entitled "Yours Not Mine," and is about a girl who forgot her first love, Jesus Christ. Enjoy :)

I don't know really what to say,
It's been so long since I called Your Name.
Darkness swallowed me, took me under,
For to long I've lived in wonder.
I'm at a loss for words, My God,
I don't know how I strayed so far.
I'm thankful for Your grace tonight.
I can finally lay my head down right.
You're The One who makes things new,
I need to surrender my all to You.
So take my heart, hold it in Your Hands,
I still believe in the purpose of Your Plan.
You never leave nor forsake me,
I confide in You; My Rock, My Safety.
I don't know where to go from here,
for the first time You feel so near.
Always there to grab my hand,
pull me up from the sinking sand.
My heart cries out to sing Your praise,
I'll never doubt Your sufficient grace.
There's something more I'm bound to find,
So take my life it's Yours not mine.