An Update on Life.

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! I have been busy, busy, busy!
To start, in February my sister and I went to WinterFest for the first time, and if you've never been, I highly recommend trying to squeeze in next year. Here are a few pictures I got:

 Phil Wickam! Eekk! He was awesome!

 It was so packed!

 Newsboys!

 This is how close we were, we could literally reach out and touch them.

My bestie and me at Tanger Outlets:) 

That was a trip I will remember forever, and I'm already counting down the days until next Winterfest.

Kevin Wallis, Reggie Dabbs, and Francis Chan's sermons were amazing, it was overall one of the best experiences I've ever had. 

Sprinkler Fun!

Yes, one of my toenails is painted white... Don't judge.

Here are some of my MANY photoshoots that I have done lately:

My little sister:)

Cousins:)

Cade's Cove, my siblings.

The three youngest kids.

Jamison (Little Bro)

Superman!

My Bestfriend and I did a little photoshoot together, she got sick on the day of a dance she was supposed to go to, so the next day we went to lunch together, and went back to her house for some pictures in her dress:)  

I just love how her hair and everything turned out!

Isn't she so pretty?! 

Me at Cade's Cove. My sister took these.

Random shots. 

THe Hill Kids:) They are so adorable!

I'll try and post more often, but until next time,

LiLi Brown

Boy Meets Girl; Part 3: Battling Temptation

Temptation: noun
a desire to do something, esp. something wrong or unwise.

Everyone is tempted by something or another at sometime in their life, and people are tempted by different thing than others, but everyone is tempted, and everyone will be tempted at some point. The question is: How do I overcome the temptations that life throws at me? Here are 10 ways to beat temptation, it's not going to be easy, but it is SO worth it! And temptation isn't just temptations that you are thinking of, or even other big things like, drugs, stealing, and alcohol. What about lying? That's a temptation...
10 Ways to Beat Temptation:1. Accept the responsibility for your own moral purity.-Girls, don't expect your boyfriend to do it for you!-Guys, same for you the girls aren't going to be pure for you.-It's a joint effort, if your boyfriend/girlfriend isn't willing to be pure, ditch him! 2. Recognize and remove the things that make you stumble.- If you are doing stuff that isn't pleasing to God, don't do it.- What Instagram hashtags are you following? Would you want everyone to know?- If something, or someone is making you stubble, then remove them from your life. For example: If you are having a hard time staying away from bad stuff on the internet when you get out of school, and your parents aren't home from work, recognize that and ask your parents to take the phone away for the time they aren't home. - You can't do it on your own! If you think you can, good luck, because it's not going to work! You need someone to help you.
3. Small compromises will lead to big trouble.-When it you get a really big snow, and you want to make the BIGGEST snowman ever! So you get a little bit of snow, pat it into a ball, and roll it in the snow, the more you roll the bigger it gets, and before you know it, you have a HUGE snowball, then when all the other snow is gone, that huge snowball is there, sticking out like a sore thumb. Just like a snowball the same is with relationships, that one kiss you had the other day may not be that big of a deal to you, but its just going to get worse from there, and there are consequences!- If you go off road you will wreck!
4. Be honest about the influences in your life.-The music you listens to effects you, you can say that it doesn't, but the fact remains, it does!It effects you a lot more that bible verses effect you, what is it we get tattoos of? What are we writing on our walls? In and on our notebooks and journals? Song lyrics! So you cant say it doesn't effect you. It effects the people you hang around, what you wear, the way you talk, dress, and act toward others. If you are listening to trashy music, you are going to be attracted to trashy people, and you will lower your standards. -The internet effects you a ton! The average teen spends 31 house a week online. You can't say that doesn't effect you!-And the average teen watches 30 hours of tv a week. - If something if influencing you in a bad way, you need to get rid of it! Even if it is your best friend...
5. Don't be the source of temptation for someone else.- Girls, don't be strutting yourself around like you're all "it" you shouldn't be trying to tempt other guys to want you.- Guys, don't show off to get all the girls attention.
6. Take your thoughts captive.- What are your thoughts? Are they pure and Godly?- Most of the time your thought become your actions.-Sometimes you get bad thoughts in you head that are from way off in left field, and you have no clue how they got there. But try and get them out, you may have to read a scripture, think of rainbows and ponies, you may even have to get out a red-back hymnal and sing old songs, what ever you have to do to get the thought out of your head! And not only get the bad thoughts out, replace them with healthy ones. -What if all your thought were played on a screen like a movie? Would you be proud of them?
7. Prioritize God's word.- If you aren't spending time reading scripture, you can't expect to be this great christian.- Like I said before, the average teen spends 31 hours a week online, and 30 hours a week watching tv, and according to a study done by Pew Internet and American Life Project, more than 75% of todays teens have a cell phone, that's up 45% from 2004. About 88% of all teen cell phone users are texters. More than half of teen texters report texting on a daily basis. In fact, 1 in 3 teens send more than 100 messages per day (that's about 3,000 messages a month.) About 15% of teen texters  send more than 200 texts a day, or 6,000 texts a month! Some of these teens admitted to sleeping with their phones under their pillow so it will vibrate when they get a text. -Reading scripture is vital in being a christian! And beating temptation.
8. Visualise the consequences.- What would happen if you were caught???-What would your parents say if they found out?- Most importantly what would God think of your thoughts? He knows every thought you have!
9. Saving yourself should be top priority.-Saving yourself for the person you marry, the person you spend the rest of you life with, should be most important.
10. Forgive yourself and other key people in your life.- You can't hold grudges forever.- You have to move on from your past, it's done it's over, you can't relive it, so move on.
Here are some scriptures that go along with all of that.

Ephesians 6:10-18

10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13-18 Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.

1 Corinthians 10:13

13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

Galatians 5:16

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness.

James 4:7

7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

James 1:14

The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

Romans 12:2

Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

LiLi

Boy meets Girl; Part 2: Dating

Boy Meets Girl Part 2

Song of Solomon 8:4  

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

2 Timothy 2:22

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Especially remember Proverbs 4:23 

Guard your heart above all else,

for it determines the course of your life.

How do you Guard Your Heart?
If you are supposed to guard your heart in dating, how do you do it? There is only one other verse in the Bible that uses the phrase ‘guard your heart’, and that verse gives us the answer to the question of how to guard your heart in life in general and in dating in particular.
In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul says, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Paul tells us that prayer is the pathway to guarding our hearts and minds with the peace of God.
Peace comes as a comfort rooted in our trust in God that is expressed in the process of prayer. So, guarding your heart is the result of clear communication.
It begins with prayer to God (as Paul lays out in Philippians 4:6-7) and overflows into communication with the other person.
The key to guarding your heart is to talk to God about the relationship before you talk to the other person about the relationship.
When do hearts become unguarded?
Hearts become unguarded when you move too fast in the relationship–becoming too vulnerable too quickly. You must lay a foundation of friendship before building a house of intimacy.
Second, hearts become unguarded when you are not seeking God’s desires for the relationship. Instead of depending on your own understanding and priorities for the relationship, you must seek God’s heart.
Third, hearts become unguarded when there is poor communication about the relationship. This can include poor communication with God in prayer or poor communication with the other person in discussion. If you are too afraid to talk to either of them about an aspect of your relationship, then you probably shouldn’t be involved in it.
Why do you Guard Your Heart?
To understand why you should guard your heart, you must understand what Israel would have understood Solomon to be saying in Proverbs 4:23. Most importantly, they did not understand this passage to have anything to do with Americanized dating. While we view the heart as the seat of our emotions and our will, Israel understood the heart to be the center of the whole person–not just the source of emotions and will but also of wisdom and perspective. In essence, the heart referred to who you are as a person.
Solomon rightly realized that what you do flows from who you are. That’s why he instructs Israel to guard the heart (who you are) because the wellspring of life (what you do) flows from it. Therefore, it is essential for you to guard your heart in dating because what you do in a dating relationship flows from who you are in a dating relationship.
Most books on dating treat the idea of guarding your heart as if it merely involves protecting yourself from too much intimacy with someone of the opposite sex. But guarding your heart is so much more than this! It’s a call to protect your character in all that you do. You need to catch that vision to make sure your dating life is healthy.

When it comes to guy / girl relationships that go beyond just friends, we’ve got to get it right.  Because so many people get it wrong and it ends up crippling so many emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Things GIRLS wish GUYS knew about dating:

1. Guys – the ladies want to be your girlfriend, not your mother.

• Guys – the ladies want YOU to take the lead.  Do the date planning, lead the way, be assertive and know what’s going on – they DON’T want a mamma’s boy that they have to lead, coddle along, pick up after and manage…

If you have to end up being his mamma – drop him.

2. Guys – tell the ladies what you appreciate about them, but don’t focus primarily on their appearance.

• Guys – it’s about who these ladies are… not about how they look.  Sure, they want to look good, but they gain all sorts of confidence when they are noticed and affirmed for who they are beyond the outer appearance.  

If he can’t compliment you past what you look like … shallow… drop him.

3. Guys – be a man. Don’t be a player.

• You have a responsibility to help guard the young lady’s heart.  If the relationship isn’t going anywhere or if your feelings change, be good enough to not let it drag out… talk it out, and end it before it goes further.  
• Be clear about your intentions and refuse to play emotional games.
• Girls hearts get tied up a lot quicker than guys do – you’re a real man when you have the guts to make it your responsibility to guard her heart.

If he’s keeping you on a leash while running around with other girls… drop him.

4. Guys – set yourself apart from all the other guys they’ve dated – control yourself.

• First and foremost – she needs to be treated like a princess and not a call girl.  Because she IS a princess – she’s a daughter of the King.
• In a dating relationship, strength is having your character be more powerful than you hormones.
• When you push too far physically, it’s not love.  It’s selfish.  You’re in it to get what you want – and you disrespect and devalue her.
• When you control yourself and treat her with the respect she deserves, you become the guy every girl is looking for.

5. Guys – the most attractive thing you can ever be is a man full of Godly character, guts, and integrity.

• You’re not expected to be perfect – but if you’re going to enter the arena of a relationship, you are expected to step up.
• Lead spiritually
• Guard your heart and her heart
• Walk with integrity
• Treat her how she should be treated
• Be committed to growing closer to God
• When you do that – you stand head and shoulders above the crowd.

Things GUYS wish GIRLS knew about dating:

1. Ladies – help a guy out in their battle against lust.

• In your relationships – help, don’t hinder.
• Guys are visual – dress like a lady and respect the guys around you – especially if there is one that you are dating.  
• Hey ladies – guys really do want to win the battle – even if sometimes it seems like they shut their brains off. Help them be men of purity and integrity – they need you to.
• Guys NEED modesty from girls, even if they don’t always act like they want it.

2. Ladies – the less you date, the more attractive you are to the right guys.

• When you’ve dated the whole basketball team and half of the grade ahead of you, hate to say it… it comes across as cheap and easy.  The right guys are looking for a girl that is confident, classy, has high standards…
• When you concentrate on being the right girl – you attract the right guy.
• How do you become the right girl?  Start with having the 2 main relationships in you life intact – 1)God  2)Yourself.
• When your relationship with God and yourself is right – you know you’re loved, accepted, have purpose, have incredible value, you don’t go looking for it from guys, you don’t try to find acceptance in relationships, you don’t have to go around completing what’s missing in you…

Also – you know what guys love?  They want the impression from you that you could date anybody if you WANTED to, but you’re too selective to go out with just ANYBODY.

3. Ladies – let the guy initiate and pursue.

• I know that girls chase guys now days… but ladies, when you come on strong, you really come off as desperate.  
• Let the guys take the initiative – don’t be so crazy with the calls and the texts… and if a guy isn’t calling you much, the painful truth here is that he’s probably not as interested in you as you are in him…

• Remember this – as the dependency GROWS, the relationship GOES.
• Don’t smother the guy 27/7 – when you come off as emotionally needy or a control freak, or clingy or possessive, guys run.  They start feeling caged in, trapped or smothered.  
• Give the brother some air – let him spend time with his guy friends.
• Truth be told – YOU need to spend time with your girl friends.

4. Ladies – realize that guys and girls communicate on different levels.

• Guy and girls communicate differently.
• Let me explain – when a guy says “I’ve never felt this way about a girl before….”
• What he means is – I didn’t feel these exact same feelings with the last girl I was interested in.
• Here’s what the girl HEARS though – “I’m crazy about you. We are probably soul mates because I’ve never met anyone in the world like you before. I probably need to go buy a wedding magazine and make bridal plans…”

• Here’s another one – when a guy says “I love you…”
• He’s using it in the same sense he would when he’s talking to his mom or the way he feels about football.
• Girls hear – “you are my one and only.  You are the queen of my life.  I want us to grow old together…”

When a guys says things – he means what he says… just not with the same intensity that a girl takes it.

Here’s a tip – save your “I love you’s”

They’re pretty special.

5. Ladies – find your security in Christ, not in a guy.

• Ladies – a guy can’t be Jesus in your life.
• He cant save you. Fix you. Be your everything.

• Seek to become a woman of integrity.  Be a girl who makes her relationship with Jesus Christ her primary security.

Never become so preoccupied with who you want that you forget to be who you are.

Do you know who you are?

Do you know that you are loved.  Do you know that you are accepted?  Do you know that you are forgiven?

Boy meets Girl; Part 1: Friendship

At my youth group, the pastor is preaching on the book: "Boy meets Girl," it was so good and great tips for anyone, not just those who are in a relationship! So I wanted to share it with everyone:)
Here are the notes from the sermon:

Guy / Girls relationships are complicated!  We need some Godly principals to help us navigate what happens when BOY meets GIRL.  

• Let me say this – the best romantic relationships are birthed out of Godly friendships…

• Guy and girls friendships are great.  We can’t avoid the fact that guys and girls are going to be around eachother – but guys and girls are different – so let’s talk about how we need to approach a healthy, Godly friendship between a guy and a girl so things don’t get too complicated…

Let’s lay out some scripture when it comes to friendship:

Friendship is IMPORTANT
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NIV Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Seek the RIGHT friends.
Proverbs 12:26 NIV A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Proverbs also says bad company corrupts good character.

There is POWER in having the right friends
John 15:13 NIV Greater Love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Proverbs 27:17 NIV As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another
Proverbs17:17 NIV A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity
We have to have friends – and at this point in your lives, the company you keep with forcast your future… so choose wisely.  
Know this:  The 2 most important relationships in your life are 1) your relationship with God, and 2) your relationship with your self.  

• These 2 MUST be healthy.

When you have a relationship with God and know that you’re loved no matter what – it’s the game changer… it allows you to be filled with hope and confidence.  It allows you to be yourself… it allows you to be the godly, loyal friend, the iron sharpening iron.  
When its says no greater love has any one than this, than a man that lays down his life for his friends… know that Jesus modeled that for YOU when he layed down his life on the cross – sacrificing for our sins so that we could have a thriving relationship with God! He died, was buried, raised to life 3 days later – and will be coming again one day – He opened the door for us to be able to life FULL of faith, hope and love!
When we know God loves us and we love Him, it allows us to love us.  That in turn allows us to effectively love others…

Now… here’s the complicated stuff… Guy / Girl friendships… how do we do this right?
Lets start here…
Things GIRLS wish GUYS knew about friendship

1. Guys - Don’t send mixed signals!  Girls analyze EVERYTHING.  If you give a girl mixed signals sometimes that you’re “more than friends…” they’ll probably think you’re interested in them.  This can complicate things – she’ll end up liking you and you’ll have to deal with the situation or she’ll think you like her and she may get weird.  All the brothers – step up, be men that are careful with the ladies emotions and don’t send mixed signals!

2. Guys – Treat your friends that are girls like a sister.  Girls APPRECIATE when a guy watches out for them, has their back and does manly things for them.  Let’s face it – a lot of ladies in the room don’t have close relationships with their dads or brothers – it’s the world we live in… your friends that are girls need YOU to step up and provide a HEALTY guy friendship in their lives.  

• Have pure motives.  Don’t be the guy that does all the nice stuff just to get close to the girl he’s interested in – be a MAN – treat all ladies with respect, dignity
• Here’s a tip – you’ll never be more appealing to a girl than when you’re doing manly stuff – working hard, breaking a sweat, being someone that is SAFE – safe physically, emotionally, spiritually…

3. Guys – don’t treat girls like they’re one of the guys – because they’re not.  She may be your friend, but she’s not one of the bros.  Be tactful with what you say and how you say it.  

• Ladies – Let them treat you like a lady. And EXPECT it from them.  Don’t let a guy treat you like one of the fellas.  Help HIM step his game up by EXPECTING to be treated like the lady you are.  
• Guys – Help them avoid making stupid mistakes with other guys.  Guys know guys.  If he’s a punk that’s going to treat her wrong, tactfully say something.  And don’t go around sabotaging things for the girl you’re secretly interested in either… do it with a PURE motive.

4. Be a true friend, encourage with out getting mushy, and don’t misread the friendship for something more.  

• Be a real friend – not just when you need a research paper done. Or when there’s no one else to talk to.  Don’t make it one sided LISTEN!
• Encourage with out getting mushy – Guys use a lot of sarcasm – drop that with the ladies and encourage.  There’s enough negative stuff in the world and they don’t need more from their guy friends – here’s the deal – don’t get all mushy with it… Guys what YOU may think is sweet… comes off as CREEPY.  
• It leads to the next point…
• GUYS – don’t start reading into everything she does and think the friendship is going somewhere more… just because she laughs at what you say and likes hanging out with you doesn’t mean she wants to date you.  When you start getting weird and mushy… you’ll RUIN it!

5. Guys – be the hope that GODLY MEN really do exist in today’s culture

• Don’t try to be a knight in shining armor – be like Jesus.
• Be full of character, truth and integrity.
• Guard the ladies against the defrauding and cheap things that society tries to throw at them.
• Guys – notice your female friends for the RIGHT reasons.  The GODLY ladies don’t get enough of the shout outs.  Its time we start praising the ladies for being Godly and quit giving the attention to the ones who are selling themselves out.

We live in a broken world full of broken relationships, broken families… give them some HOPE as you step up as a MAN FILLED with the HOLY SPIRIT, Uncompromising, raising the bar, setting the standard high.

That’s what SHE needs from YOU as a friend.

• Be more than a friend that is a Christian, be a Christian friend.
• Step you’re spiritual game up and you’ll look like William Wallace from Braveheart to the ladies.  

Things that GUYS wish GIRLS knew about friendship.

1. Girls – the fellas want you to know that friendship is friendship – nothing more or less.

• Don’t let your mind get carried away and start thinking it’s more than it is… For a guy, nothing ruins a growing friendship quite like a clingy girl that is thinking “we’re falling in love…”
• If you want to run your guy friends off – get clingy and weird, taking your friendship and acting like its almost a dating relationship.
• If a guy wants to make it romantic – let him make the move.

Till then, treat them like a brother.

2. Girls – spare the fellas from the drama queen moments.

• Guys and girls are different – we’re not as emotional, we don’t get that.  And when friendships become a daily script of a soap opera, guys check out.  
• Be a drama queen with the other drama queens.
• Side note – Ladies, if HE is being a drama queen, tell him to stop…

3. Girls – don’t expect guys to read you minds!

• Girls have this built in ESP that God did not give to guys.  Guys are HORRIBLE mind readers.  Half the time we cant read our own minds.
• GUYS are REACTERS, GIRLS are RESPONDERS
• (drop something – guy’s response… oh, cool, there it is…
• Girls response… why is this here, who put it here, how long has this been here, where does it go, ….)
• If you’re upset with a guy, tell him… he probably has no clue…
• Girls – be patient with guys – we’re wired different! We’re a little more concrete and don’t pick up on “vibes” well and we’re not too good with expressing feelings.
• Girls – here’s a tip – when talking to a guy, ask him what he thinks, not how he feels…

4. Laugh, have fun, and be YOURSELF

• Guys like to laugh and have fun.
• Don’t worry so much
• Don’t worry so much about hair/makeup/etc… just be yourself.
• Just be full of life – you’ll be a friend that a guy is PROUD to have.

5. Don’t send mixed signals

• GIRLS – one of the worst things you can do is USE a GUY when you KNOW he’s falling for you.  
• Girls don’t want to be used by guys… so girls don’t use guys either.
• Don’t take advantage of a guy and lead him on, use him to feed a need for attention, fill in lonely gaps or boost your ego…
• GIRLS – help guys become the men of Godliness and character they are meant to be.
• Guys are tough on them selves – especially when they feel like they’ve failed.
• Give them hope by being a Godly woman and look for opportunities to build a guy up when you catch them doing something Christ – like.
• Girls – you have the power of influence.  You can influence guys to do what you want them to do, or you can influence them to be more and more like Jesus.

• Be that Christian friend that is helping the guys in their life to be all that God has called them to be.  
• Guys will honor and respect you for that.
• You’ll be an incredible friend if you do that.

Here’s the bottom line – when it comes to Guy / Girl friendships – both parties need to COMMIT to being GODLY FIRST!

• Ladies – can you be a Godly example of what young lady in today’s culture should be?  Can you help the Guys be the best they can be as men of God?
• Guys – can you commit to being Godly men – full of character and integrity? Can you help the ladies be Godly women and show them the respect they deserve and lead with Godly examples?

• When it comes to Boy meets Girl friendships, lets be GODLY FIRST.
• And when it comes to you personally – remember the 2 most important relationships MUST be your relationship with GOD and your relationship with your SELF.