Summertime with Smacks!

Hello Friends!

So I’ve decided to try to blog about this summer. I’ve had several people ask me to keep them updated, and while I’d love to contact each and everyone of you, I know it will be virtually impossible, so I figured this is the best way.
So, today is the eve of our trip to TX. We are actually arriving at a lakehouse owned by some friends of ours right outside of Athens, TX. And Sunday afternoon we will head to Pine Cove. Myself, my brother Ross, and my friend Kirstyn will be driving in a rented car tomorrow.
This is going to be a bit short because I’ve still got to keep packing and go to bed and get ready to help drive tomorrow. But just know that this summer is the most conflicted I’ve felt out of any summer I’ve gone to Pine Cove.
On one hand I am SUPER excited to go to camp. I love being at Pine Cove and serving the families and staff that come every week. But on the other hand I want to stay in Nashville. I realized that this will most likely be the last summer I spend living in Nashville, and there will also be a lot of fun things happening in Nashville too. Also, this summer I feel more connected to a larger group of people, and I know that a lot of things change in 3 months and there is a part of me that wants to be here to experience those changes.
I know the Lord is going to some great things this summer. I know He is always working in my life, and Pine Cove is a way He works in concentrated doses.
So, I will try to write a blog while on the road to give you more information, but I thought I’d at least let you know that I’m going to try to write on here every weekend. Have a wonderful summer! Pine Cove Bluffs Summer 2011!!
In Him,
Reba Smackentire

All the Single Ladies (and Men)

What do roses, hearts, chocolate, and a four-letter word have in common? They’re all items used to celebrate the momentous holiday that is fast approaching us. Never have I met a holiday that evokes so many diverse emotions. I know people who LOVE Valentine’s Day, it the one holiday they look forward to the most. On the other end of the spectrum I know people who loathe Valentine’s Day; it is just a day that reminds them how single and un-loveable they are. Others think Valentine’s Day was created to elevate one’s stress level with all the worrying about getting the perfect gift. Some people forget about Valentine’s day, so for them, its just another occasion for their significant other to get upset with them.
But all of this emotion begs the question, what is Valentines’ Day? Why all the big fuss? According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary a Valentine is either “a sweetheart chosen or complimented on Valentine’s Day, or a gift or greeting sent or given especially to a sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, or something (as a movie or piece of writing) expressing uncritical praise or affection.”
I made a feeble attempt to look up the tradition of Valentine’s Day, but when I discovered the Wikipedia entry was over 4 pages long, I decided it wasn’t that important. I could harp on how society has turned a day about love into an opportunity to make more money, but that is what our society does. Get over it. But rather I’d like to address the issue near and dear to my heart: being single on Valentine’s Day. As a disclaimer these are my own feelings and musings expressed, and mainly I am asking questions in hopes that someone out there will identify with me.
I would like to start by saying what this blog is not. It is not an opportunity for me to gripe and say “woe is me”, nor am I trying to get a sympathy date. Rather, I am hoping to encourage my fellow siblings in Christ in validating their feelings and combating them with the truth of God’s Word.
I remember the first time I became aware of the fact that I didn’t have a “valentine”. It was during my freshman year of college. Suddenly all the girls I knew were stressing out over who would be their valentine that year. I am ashamed to admit that I was semi-caught up in that, mentally appraising boys, trying to “feel out the relationships”, and becoming more and more depressed the closer the day approached without a man in sight. After that year I decided to stop stressing about it. I must say, I have spent the past 21 years without a valentine (if you don’t count my family, that is), and I have enjoyed each one better than the last.
This year, however, I began to ponder what it means to be single. The more I enjoy my single life I begin to understand why Paul encouraged us to stay this way. While I do hope that this gift of singleness is only for a season, I continually am asking myself, why would Paul say that it is better to be single? First of all I have to remind myself, that while prompted by the Holy Spirit, this is Paul’s opinion about being single. But you have to admit, his reasons are good. He says that the appointed time is short and we are to live for Christ. 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 says, “I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.” How can you argue with that reasoning? Yet while I wholeheartedly agree with Paul, my emotions and desires are saying something different, and a little holiday called Valentine’s Day does not help that situation.
So for those of you who are pining for a valentine of epic proportion, let me encourage you. We have been giving the best Valentine of all! Valentine’s Day is all about love, right? Well, we have the best love of all. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.” If that’s the case than Jesus is the greatest love because he laid down His life for you and for me. His love is unconditional. He will never leave us, nor forsake us (Duet. 31:6,8; Heb. 13:5). His perfect love cast out all fear (1 John 4:18), so we don’t have to fear Him leaving us, hating us, getting annoyed with our imperfections, or hurting us in any way. His love is ultimate, and therefore we can hold our heads up high because we have the best love of all.
I know some of you are thinking that this is all well and good, but sometimes you want a tangible representation of love. Something/someone that you can hold, hug, and hear actual words from. Let me tell you, I’ve been there and I am there a lot. Something the Lord is teaching me, is to see Him in the little things. The Lord uses His people as a tangible representation of Himself. There are times when I get a hug from a friend, a smile, or encouraging word and I see the Lord in it. This did not just happen. It was a process of me asking the Lord to reveal Himself to me thru His people, and I still have to fight the voice in my head that likes to remind me that a person said something nice, not the Lord thru that person. Let me encourage you to do this, and even in your loneliest moments when you think that being single is a curse and Paul was smoking something when he wrote the verses in 1 Corinthians, you’ll begin to feel the love of the Lord surround you, and you’ll find your lonely moments becoming less and less.
I don’t know if any of this made any sense, or if you even care about what I said. But I would like to say that even if no one in the world loves you. You have a Man who loved you SO much He was willing to give up everything for you. So on this Valentine’s Day don’t get S.A.D (Singles Awareness Day), get L.O.V.E. (Loving Our Valentines Eternally) (I don’t know, I made that up on the spot).

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!

Is Beauty Really Only Skin Deep?

So... I wrote this a couple of days ago and I hesitated putting it up for everyone to see. Its slightly personal and I'm a little leery of putting such personal things online anymore. But I think its something to be said. And I really think I'm gonna start blogging again. Enjoy!

Do you think I’m beautiful?

I found myself writing those words during a class at MTSU this week. As soon as I wrote it I asked myself why. And I realized it’s a question that I have been asking a lot lately. Not out loud of course, but in my mind I find myself asking that question. Now there are certain people I know that think I’m beautiful. I know that my family thinks I’m beautiful, I know my close friends think I’m beautiful, and I know my Heavenly Father thinks I’m beautiful. Something that might strike people as strange is that I think I’m beautiful. I don’t mean to sound stuck up, but when I look in the mirror I love what I see. Of course I think there are things that could change, but they don’t worry me, I don’t obsess over them. I like the way I look. I like my smile, my nose, my eyes; I even like the mole on my cheek that people try to pick off J. When I look in the mirror I see a person who is fearfully and wonderfully made and the Lord didn’t make a mistake, His hand did not slip while forming my being. I do have moments when I am insecure and I nitpick over my face or body, but for the most part I am confident in my beauty. Yet with all this confidence why did I write that question and to whom was it directed? I’ll tell you.

It was directed at you.

The person reading this blog that is not my family or a close friend. It is directed at every guy I come across in my lifetime. Do you want honest? When it comes to my looks, it took me a long time to be confident and like the way I look. Yet every insecurity I had comes flooding back to me every time I pass an unmarried man. It’s sad, I know, but I find myself wondering if guys think I’m beautiful. But its not just men, its women as well. When I’m at school I find myself wondering what the other girls at school think of me. Are they jealous of my looks? Do they think I’m uglier than they are? How do they think I compare to the girl I’m sitting next to?

Its interesting because a couple of weeks ago I saw 2 videos of dramatic readings of poems. Both were women, both were essentially talking about beauty. They were talking about how the American society has placed such a burden on women today to be beautiful by the media’s standards, to be beautiful as defined by men today; but if we as women are trying to measure up to that standard of beautiful we will always fall short. Its like (in a crude way) a sinful person trying to match up to the holiness of God. Its impossible. Yet we as women try to attain it. We try our best to be beautiful for the men in our lives, and sadly our family’s opinion doesn’t count. We try so hard to achieve the outer beauty so that a guy will talk to us, cherish us, and not look at any other women. We starve ourselves, hate ourselves, primp, squish, and go through rigorous unnatural treatment to make ourselves into something that the Bible calls “fleeting and vain”.

Why? Why do we worry? If it doesn’t last. If the person we want to affirm us has nothing to do with how we were made or what we’re worth. Why? I don’t know why. I don’t know why we care so much. Or let me rephrase that. I don’t know why I care so much. I guess its human nature. I guess because no matter how much I don’t want it to, the media has an influence on me. I remember not so long ago when I could identify with the Barlow Girl song “Mirror” the lyrics are “Mirror, mirror on the wall. Have I got it? ‘Cause mirror you’ve always told me, who I am. I finding its not easy, to be perfect” and I would stop there. Striving, always striving was my state. I hated myself, my weight, I hated that I didn’t look like the other girls I danced with. Several times I would pray for the Lord to perform a miracle and make me skinny (because that was my definition of beautiful). I can’t tell you when it changed… I think it was a slow process, but one day I realized that I like what I see in the mirror. Yes, I could stand to lose some weight; yes, I don’t look like the other girls I dance with, but it is not going to define my beauty and it was most certainly not going to determine whether or not I liked myself. Now I can proudly sing the rest of the song that goes, “(to the mirror) sorry, you don’t define me. Sorry you don’t own me. Who are you to tell me that I’m less than what I should be, who are you? I don’t need to listen to the list of things I should do, who are you? You don’t define me.” I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 113:14). I know that charm is deceitful and beauty vain (Proverbs 31:30). And I know that I am to adorn myself with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4).

These are the truths I hold close to and strive to be every day. Yet one of my favorite songs on the radio right now is the Bruno Mars song “Just the Way You Are”. Why? Because I imagine one day a guy singing that to me. Not my family, not my friends, not the Lord, but a boy. A sinful, human boy. Regardless of what I know and hold true in my heart about beauty, I still want it from another source. What does that mean? Does it mean that I have not truly accepted what the Lord says about my beauty? I mean, I know I can apply that song to Him or my family and it works, but I still have that longing.

I’m not really sure where this is headed, but I guess it’s a shout out to you ladies out there who are worried because a man outside your family hasn’t told you how beautiful you are yet. Don’t worry, I’m right there with you. And please know reader this is not something I wrote to make you feel sorry, or get more compliments on how good I look. I know I look good J I’m just confessing an area of weakness I sometimes have.

Know this. If anything I’ve said resonated with you let me remind you of a Man who loves you way more than you deserve or think. He was willing to die for you. He formed your innermost being, He knows your innermost thoughts, and He knows your innermost desires. And He whispers softly and sweetly to you, “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” (Song of Solomon 4:7) Love and acceptance makes a person beautiful. So go be beautiful for the world to see because you have the greatest Love, the love of the King!

Fresh Start

Hello Blogger World.

How are you? Its been almost a year since I've been on here... I'm really bad about writing, but I've decided to give blogging another try. Now I can already tell you that I won't update very often. My life is really crazy and I should be spending time doing homework and such. But I think it might be fun to try my hand at blogging again and see what happens.


Here's to hoping!!

Happy Post-Thanksgiving!!

I LOVE Thanksgiving! It is my all time favorite holiday. Our friends from Dallas travel up every year and we combine Thanksgiving dinners, the food and fellowship is superb. This year was a little different. Our friends came early to see me in the musical.
The musical was fun. I enjoyed every moment, I got to play the "swing" and fill in for people who weren't there during the dress rehearsals. It was a lot of fun. I enjoy the spur of the moment, racking my brain to remember the persons lines and where they are on stage.
God is doing some crazy things in my life... It seems like the "word of the day" is faith. A lot of things are up in the air right now, mainly like what to do with my future. It'll be interesting to see what God has for my future. In a way I'm enjoying the ride, but its hard to be patient sometimes and wait to see whats going to happen.

I hope you all are doing well in cyber-land.
Love,
Raychel Raye

Life... What am I after? Life what does it mean?

Those are the lyrics to some song... I think its a Broadway musical but I couldn't tell you for sure.
Wow! I've been crazy busy. I haven't had the time to update lately. We only have 3 weeks left until the play and my life has been insane!

The biggest things, is that 2 of my best friends got boyfriends within a week of each other. It is exciting to get a front row seat to all of this, but weird to think that we're at the age where these relationships could potentially last... I see my friends and their boyfriends choosing people that they are compatible with on more than just the "I think your hott" level. But they are making decisions based off of character and life values. But that is another blog for another day.

One thing I wanted to blog on is the recent election. I am the last person that should be talking because I didn't keep up with any of the politics I just know that I personally didn't like either of the candidate. But I been watching facebook and the freak out is ridiculous... people are so ignorant. One, because even though they may think Obama is the wrong choice, they don't see a HUGE leap in history... to think that 50 years ago Obama wouldn't have been able to go the same movie theater as white people in some states. And now we have a black man (or rather half black man) as president, speaks a lot to how America has changed.

The main thing I can't get over is the fact that so many of my friends on facebook that claim to be Christians are the ones freaking out and putting the worst facebook status... We must remember that God is in control. Yes, He gives us a free will, but it is He who allows kings to reign and He allows them to fall.
Another thing that struck me, was when talking to other people how incredibly happy they were. People were telling me that they were crying and today just felt different. One girl told me "it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders". It made me so sad... both reactions have shown me how much we have come to trust man and not God. Even believers, whether you are SO excited about Obama, or you think its the end of the world.

All I have to say is... I am GLAD my hope is not in man. But in the God of this universe who uses the earth for His footstool and heaven for His thrown. He knows for everything there is a time, season, and purpose. And He and only He can change the heart of rulers and people around the world. He knows how many breaths we are going to take, He knows what is going to happen to America and the world as a whole.
I am reminded of a verse, or rather many, but I think automatically to Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." and I just found this one Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."

So for those of us who claim to know Jesus. Let us not look to man to fix or create our problems. But let us look to the creator of the universe. Who knew all this was going to happen before time began. Let us pray as Jesus would have us pray for our future leader, and let us do our part as Americans and Christians and work to spread the love of God through out this land.

My Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And He is faithful ALWAYS!!

Love you all,
Raychel

Car Wreck

Yes that's right. I had my first car wreck tonight!
The story:
I co-lead a bible study of 9th grade girls and I was taking one of my girls home after our bible study. She lives on the edge of a busy street, and we were waiting for traffic to clear so I could turn into her house. I was stopped and had my blinkers on the the next thing I knew I herd screeching tires and a crash. My car lurched forward and I looked and saw that the car behind me was completely totaled. I checked to make sure my girl was ok, then we called 911. The guy who hit us was ok too, but his car was totaled. My car, at first glance just broke a taillight and the muffler broke off, we'll see what the mechanic says tomorrow. Both our parents arrived on the scene, and my girl was able to go home. I think we'll all be a little sore tomorrow, but God was good and protected us.He also protected my car.

All I could think, was how good God was to protect us. And (honestly) I was so glad my car wasn't as damaged as the other guys. I just kept thanking God for protecting my car. (haha)

You know, life is so incredibly short. And although nothing major happened tonight. Our lives could have been over in an instant. I think many times I as so married to this life, that I forget about the purpose of my life. I get caught up in work, dance, boys, family, fitting in, the whole 9 yards. And yet, all that I am called to be in this life is a light and reflection of Jesus Christ. If I had died, what kind of difference for Christ would my life have made? If you died today what kind of difference would your life make for Christ... wow. Deep stuff (I preaching to myself here)

I hope you all are doing well in cyber land:) I will try and keep you updated often.

God Bless.

In His Grace and Eternal Mercy,
Raye