To all of you guys out there!

To all of the guys out there, 

I know I am young, I do not have kids, not even married, but this was placed on my heart tonight and thought I would share my thoughts. 
Whether you are a father yet, or not to that point in your life. 
Most men when they have a boy, they instantly start thinking of all of the "manly" things they can do together. Go fishing, hunting, and playing sports. I have heard many stories of men when they find out they are having a girl, while they are excited, their heart sort of skips a beat, because they know nothing about little girls. From my past experience I just want to let you know a few things that will mean a lot to your daughter, that you might not have thought of or would even think would mean a thing to them. 
1) Let her dance on your feet. She will remember this, I promise! She will remember saying "Dance with me daddy" and you letting her stand on your feet while you spun her around and around. I know it is something simple, but you will see that it brings joy to her eyes, and will talk about it years and years down the road. 
2) Take her fishing, hunting, play sports with her. Start at a young age, show her you want to spend time with her. She might squeal at getting dirty, and cry because you killed a fish, but she will remember these precious memories with you taking time and spending it with her. 
3) Whether she is into sports, band, dance, gymnastics or riding horses. Go to her events. Be the loudest in the crowd! Don't be ashamed. You might embarrass her in the moment, but in the long run she will remember her dad being the loudest EVER in the crowd at her events. It will be a cool story to tell her kids. 
4) Take her out once a month on a "father-daughter" date. Do something she wants to do. It might be something you really like, like bowling, but it might also be shopping or getting a pedicure. Show her she is special and let it be 'her' night. Get to know her, before you blink she will be all grown up. Those years as a child/teen are precious, don't waste the moments. 
5) When she is around and even when she is not, treat other women with respect. How you treat other women, is going to be what she takes from guys when she is older and dating, and looking for a spouse. I know you want her to find someone who treats her with respect so treat other women with respect. 

Again, just my thoughts and what has been on my heart. I might be way off, but from my perspective as a woman and daughter, these are some things that I wish I would have experienced, things I could tell my kids someday. I promise, they will mean more to your daughter than you could ever imagine. 

Love, 
A daughter

Father's Day

Father's day is tomorrow, well technically today since it is 12:19. I already have half of my FaceBook posting about father's day and how their dad is the "best dad ever", and all this other sweet and mushy stuff. I'm not trying to be negative, and I do love that these people truly look up to their father's and see them as a role model. Me on the other hand, am having a hard time saying just half of what everybody is saying. My dad wasn't a HORRIBLE dad, but I wouldn't say I look up to him either. However, I have learned what to not take from guys, and things that I know I don't want in a boyfriend, or husband (for future). He has secretly shown me how I should not raise my kids, and I am learning from the way he has treated his. Again, he is not a terrible father and I love my dad. In a way I do constantly strive for his approval, and his love for me, which usually I end up upset with the outcome.

I was sitting here looking at all of the posts on FaceBook in tears wishing I had a father who let me dance on his feet as a child, who would take me fishing even though I would have screamed at the thought of putting an innocent worm on the hook, and I don't even want to think about how I would react to a fish ending up on the end of that line. I wish I had a father who came to all of my events and was the loudest in the crowd when it was my turn to perform, who brought me roses to a dance recital, who called me just to say hi, who took me on "father-daughter" dates to show that I am special, who treated women with respect, and would have taught me not to let a man treat me differently. My father has done a lot for me financially, but I am having a hard time remembering when he showed me he loved me without buying me something, or bringing up the fact of all the stuff he has bought me in my life here on Earth.

In all honesty, I wouldn't care if my dad just quit with everything financially and just started to call me on a daily basis just to check up on me, who would send me a letter just to tell me he was thinking about me, who would want to spend some father daughter time together without drinking. I don't want to dwell on that though. I want to focus on another Father of mine. A father that isn't exactly on this earth but has been a father for me from day 1 and will forever be a father. I might not have realized how much he has been for me in the past but now I see how true he always has been. It doesn't matter whether your father is a great father, an absent father, still living, or has passed away, you will always always always have a father. Your father created you just the way you are. He loved you before you were born. He knows everything about you, and still cares for you through your messes. He forgives you, and took nails in his hands and feet for you. He loved YOU enough to die a painful death for you even though he knew you would betray him, deny him to your friends, and sin against him, and yet he still showed his love for you. That's a father. One who is there for you through the ups and the downs. Who never leaves you nor forsakes you. Who wants you to run to him and dance on his feet. Turn to him. He loves you , cares for you, wants you to share your heart with him. Pour it out. Don't dwell on the hurtful things from your earthly father, instead turn to the perfect heavenly father that created you! He won't let you down, I promise!(:

God Bless,
Ariel

Kick back, and relax!

Who would have known that taking a day off every now and then, kicking back and relaxing for just a day, would be completely worth it? Why did no one tell me this before I made plans for every second of every day of my ENTIRE summer? Come on, who kept this secret from me? Who failed to inform me that I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion just within the first third of the summer and beg for the school year to start so I could finally have some time to relax? Yeah, well no one told me that so I am just going to say that it was everybody's fault. Not fair? I'm sorry, okay well I should have known after all the summers and semesters where I feel like this! 

I told myself last year that the next summer I was going to not plan a whole lot and was just going to relax. Do you think that happened? Oh not at all! This summer is busier than the last, and if it keeps going at this rate I don't even want to imagine what next summer is going to be like. 

Today, I realized more than ever before how important it is to take that time to yourself. To just kick back and relax for a day. To take a moment from ministry and refuel yourself. You will burn out, you will get tired, you will want to quit. We need to train ourselves in a way to focus on Christ and to keep going. Training in a way that we won't burn out. Being in a place that builds us up not tear us down. I am searching for this place, I am working on training, and it is getting hard. I think I am going to have to take a step back and reevaluate everything and try it all over again, because I am tired, and I am worn out completely. I don't want this for ministry or myself, and for sure don't want it for you either which is why I am posting about this. 

I have a tendency to not be able to say "NO!" so I get way too much on my plate than I can't handle and just keep piling it all up. It all becomes too overwhelming so I want to give up and start back sliding. This is why God told us to take the Sabbath day and keep it holy. We need that time to refuel our minds, and hearts. That time to rest to start back to ministry again. You need a break, I need a break. (Listen to me preaching to myself) You can't burn out on ministry because you are tired. Take a step back, take a breath and after you are rested take it back head on. I will be doing this right after my next three super busy, non-stop weeks are over. I can't help that I have already planned babysitting, VBS, and dance camps all in the same 2 weeks and will be going non-stop from 7-10 everyday. It is a done deal and I am trying my hardest to face it in a positive way! 

It is now time for me to try to get some sleep before I have to babysit tomorrow morning! 

God Bless, and don't forget to take a rest!

Ariel

Long Time, No See

Dear Bloggers,

It has been a while since I have typed a new post. It has been on my planner for a good two months, so I guess it is finally time to actually post something, huh?

My life has been, what you could say, hectic yet calm. I am super busy with babysitting, and working the nursery, yet I feel like I don't have anything to do. Maybe it is because when I babysit, it is two-twelve year olds and they pretty much take care of themselves. It's not bad work just tiring. The kids tend to wear me out just about every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but that's what they are suppose to do right?

Yesterday, my brother came to live with me for 5 days. I haven't got to really spend much time with him yet, but I will tomorrow and the next day! He got in trouble at work today, and while the lady was explaining to me what happened I broke down in tears. I know I shouldn't have, and that was not professional as his care taker but all the emotions started flowing and I couldn't stop them. I was already upset with the fact that my dad doesn't seem to care that my brother looks up to him as much as he does, and doesn't act like he wants to ever see my brother. Then they brought up possible assault charges against my special needs brother. Needless to say, I broke down. I am already an extremely emotional person, and so this was not helping. I'm not even completely sure why I completely broke down, but I did.

On a different note, my devotional every morning has been so challenging. It's suppose to, right?!? Well it sure is. This morning it was about getting rid of the excess in our lives, the things that we could live without, and that might be tearing us down. Also, it was challenging you to get rid of the neutral things as well. The things that aren't building you up but aren't tearing you down, because obviously if it isn't building you up it can only take you one way. I have done a lot of evaluating the last 13-14 hours about what those two things consist of. I have come up with a lot of things and will post a new blog about it tomorrow (hopefully).

Sorry this was more informational on my life instead of spiritual. I felt like I needed to catch up with you all first, so you would know how the spiritual is relating to my life.

God Bless,
Ariel(:

Typical Tuesday.

Part of the title I would say is true, the other part not so much. Yes it is Tuesday, or it was about an hour ago, but it was FAR from typical. We have had a group of Chi Alpha students from University of Louisiana, Lafayette here on our campus for the past few days. They are on Mardi Gras break right now so they sent their group out through Texas to help reach to other campus'. It has been a great opportunity that these others leaders have not only poured into our campus but have poured into our Chi Alpha Leaders. Sometimes, as a leader I forget that I need to be poured into as well. I spend so much time pouring into others that I forget about myself.

It is so cool to look at the last 2 years to see how much I have changed, then to look at a year, and now to look back just in the past few days to see where I have grown. By this I mean not only spiritually, but also personally, socially. I was able to go out onto my campus here, where I will see the same people for the next 3 years and I talked to random people. Asking them "if they had a prayer request that would be answered what would it be?" And also asking for "their opinion of past generations and current generations, how they have changed in religion sense." It was such a growing experience for myself and many others in Chi Alpha. I was able to see other students who aren't "leaders" stepping up and doing these as well (called 2x2s). We even had a few come for Cajun Night, along with service because of us reaching out to our campus just in a couple days. God is starting change right NOW! I am so honored to be a part of this plan for SFASU.

Walking out in Faith.

There is a bit of background story here.

When I started college a year and a half ago, (That is really hard to believe that I have been here for a year and a half.) It was time and time ago I heard the sermon about Jesus and Peter walking on water. We have all heard the story. You step out in faith and keep your eyes on Jesus you can walk on water. But every single time I heard it in this period, it wasn't about really the walking on water per se, it was stepping out in faith into this big world unknown and knowing that God is going to take care of you. Stepping out of your comfort zone into a place that is dark, and uneven, and needs to hear Jesus.

While I was going through the Leadership Training Class to become a small group leader for Chi Alpha this message kept popping up about walking on water. Sometimes it was a sermon, or someone quoting that phrase, or a book title at Wal-Mart, or even a song. It never failed that it was going to show up somewhere. At this point I was dead set on NOT being a small group leader. When I started the class I was NOT going to be a small group leader. Then this walking on water thing would come up, someone would talk about it, it never failed. It was like a knock upside the head from God saying "Okay I have tried to give you clue after clue about what you are suppose to be doing, but since you aren't taking it I am going to make it so obvious, there is going to be NO way that you can get around it." And of course he kept to his word. I then became the thing I said I would NEVER do. I became a small group leader.

I use this as a testimony over and over with my girls in my small group. You never know what God has in store for you, and a lot of times it might be that very one thing that you DO NOT want to do. I still don't think they get it. Most of them are still living so much in the world that it is hard to see Jesus through them. That is my goal this semester. Is to show them that living for Jesus is not such a horrible thing with a ton of rules and horrible lifestyle. It is a choice to make for the better of yourself and the world. To honor and glorify our King. To show him that we are giving that up to him. Giving up the world, that we really don't need that since we have Him! It will be a struggle but am excited for what God has in store for my small group girls.

Okay now onto the real meat of this story.
This morning when I was laying in bed checking twitter and facebook since I don't have classes today,  one of the twitter pages I am following posted a picture that said, "Faith is taking the first step. Even when you don't see the whole staircase." written by Martin Luther King. Of course, the thought of walking on water kept flowing through my brain. Not really sure why other than the picture, but then it clicked. If you have been reading my posts lately you know that I am struggling with whether I am suppose to try to go on a mission trip out of the country, (I really want to go to Eurasia) or if I am to stay here, just not sure and have been praying for direction. This was my sign from God. I do not know the whole staircase, I do know that I am to go into the mission field. That is my first step. I have two different people I am talking to at the moment about mission trips, but not clear on which one. As of right now, I am taking that first step, getting all of the information, talking to parents, PRAYING, and then God will lead me to the next step. Again, I may still not be able to see the whole staircase, I may only see a step at a time, but through Faith, I know GOd has what is right for me in mind and knows that I am willing to do whatever He wants me to do. (WOW! Bold statement)

I am ready to do God's will not only here at college, or in my town, or in my state, or even in the US, but also around the world. I am ready to take that step of Faith. (Just like walking on water!) It is crazy how a year and a half later the same message is still applying to me full force! AH. Goes to show how amazing our God is. Just love Him! Keep praying for me friends. If you have any words of encouragement, words from God, bible verses to help me along, your story, or just want me to know you are praying, you can comment or email me at arielpaige5893@yahoo.com I would love to hear from you.

God Bless!

Ariel(:

Let's go to Egypt.

Before I get started I need to back up just a little bit. Let's go back 3 semesters ago. Now we are in Fall 2011. When I applied for college my major was Special Education and Deaf Education. Special Education was always put before Deaf Education. When I went to orientation I changed my major to Special Education and Dance. My first two-three months of school I prayed, asked what profession I was suppose to be in. I wanted to go into what God wanted to lead me into. Not what I wanted to do myself. I felt that God was leading me towards Deaf Education but never got a clear reading on it. One day I decided I was just going to change my major and that if he didn't like it he was just going to have to show that to me later. Apparently, I was sort of doubting my decision because when i got to the room to change my major, I stood outside the door and told God, "Now you have about 10 seconds to reveal to me that Deaf Education is not to be my major." I slowly turned the doorknob and walked into the office. The receptionist asked me what I was there for. I explained to her what I was doing, gave her my ID# and waited for her response. She asked me again what I was planning on doing, I told her "I am changing from a Special Education, and Dance major to a plain simple deaf Education major" She laughed and said, "honey, you are registered as a Deaf Education major" I simply told her that there must be a mistake. She explained to me that I was not, and I thanked her and left. It was at that moment I KNEW for a fact that Deaf Education is where I am suppose to be, then my next question was WHY? 

They say that little kids love the question WHY? But I have gotten to the point that I have loved saying it as well even as a 19 year old college student. So since then, a little over a year, I have struggled with WHY am I a Deaf Education major. God has a reason for it, and seriously, I want to know NOW! As you can see I can be a little impatient. That, I am working on. My prayer for over a year has been just that. WHY AM I A DEAF EDUCATION MAJOR?! 

A few weekends ago I went to a conference called TWMS3 (I have posted about it in a previous post). I was excited to go to TWMS but I had NO CLUE what it was going to be. I had seen a couple of promo videos, but that was it. I was not ready for what I was going to experience. From the moment you walk into the doors and leave three days later, you are completely engulfed in God and his presence. Missionaries from all over the world took time out of their missions work, and time with family to spend time with us college students, getting to know us, and our passions. It was extremely humbling to know that these missionaries were not there to be glorified themselves but instead to glorify God and get to know us personally. It was amazing. 

While being at TWMS, I was determined to figure out what it is that I am suppose to be doing in my life. What am I to do with my major? I visited a few tables, talked with many different people, and got lots of contacts. When I went to the Eurasia Experience there was something different. Something clicked that hadn't the whole time I had been there. You actually felt like you were in Eurasia, in the Arab world. It was seriously a scary place. I was thrown in jail because they didn't believe that I wasn't a missionary. The whole time I never felt frightened. I felt normal, almost as comfortable as I was at home. Again, it was something that clicked. It was at this moment that I knew what God was trying to tell me. I was meant for missions work. I was meant to work with children in other countries that wouldn't normally get an education. I have the advantage of speaking a different language to those that normally don't get reached. This is my chance to make a difference. 

Fast forward to a few days ago. I was on twitter, as usual, and came across a post by @CopticOrphans, which led me to a video and it broke my heart. Coptic Orphans is in Egypt, and I emailed them about mission opportunities for the summer. She emailed me back with more information and I have been praying about it ever since, if I am suppose to go this summer and which group I am to go with. This might just be me being excited and wanting to go to Egypt but in my math class one of the examples had India in it. (India is in the Middle East near (kind of) Egypt. Then one of the kids in the nursery today brought over a book to read to her. Out of the 50 books we have, she brought the one about moses. A tiny book. On the first page it talked about Egypt. Again, I am not sure if I am just over exaggerating, but I feel like it is a sign from God. I will be praying about it for a few more days and see if God leads me to anything else. 

If it is decided that I am going to Egypt then I will have to talk to my parents. That is the scariest part. My mom would be the easy one to talk to since she is a Christian and understands me more than my dad does. My dad is a completely different story though. That is just a hard situation for me. I know that if this is where I am suppose to go then God will work things out for my good. I am not worried about it and won't worry about it. It is all in God's hands at this moment. He has complete control over it.

What I want to ask you readers. Will you please pray with me, pray for a clear decision, pray for the words to tell my parents, pray for the funds, and means of going to Egypt. (It is not cheap) Pray for a strong heart and a willing mind. Love you guys and thank you for praying with me!

God Bless,

Ariel Vickers