In honor of Haiti: My song, “Not Forgotten”

One year ago, today, Haiti was struck by a 7.0 earthquake that devastated their country. Exactly one year later, the country is still in ruins and in need of much help. Over a million people are living in tents with unspeakable conditions. Of the survivors still living in tents, approximately 380,000 are children. Women and children, as young as 4 and 5, are being raped by gangs operating unchecked in the 1,200 refugee camps.

Though money has been pledged to help Haiti from several countries, most of that money and help has yet to arrive. I was shocked to hear that less than 5% of the debris from the earthquake has been cleared… leaving enough to fill dump trucks parked bumper to bumper halfway around the world. (information from http://bit.ly/ifEaxF)

While it has been a year since this tragedy, it is clear that the Haitian people are still in great need of prayers and help. Though a year of other disasters and needs have piled up since theirs, they cannot be forgotten.

Soon after Haiti was hit, I shared that I would be releasing a song that I had written and recorded for them which would benefit World Vision. My plans to release that song were altered, and I was unable to release it as I had planned. Now, in order to share the song with you, I have made a video of remembrance to honor this day one year ago. I will let you know when the song is available to be purchased for the proceeds to support World Vision.

For now, may this song and video be a reminder for us to pray and help in whatever way we can. May the precious Haitian people know they are not forgotten.

All of the work on the song was generously donated by: Chris Omartian, who wrote the song with me and produced it, Paul Allen, who played guitars and Tony Palacios, who mixed it.

The Start of A New Year

Everyone loves a new beginning. Just like the phrase, “out with the old, in with the new”, it’s a chance to put past things behind us and start fresh.

The New Year always brings a string of resolutions and reflections, and I’ve usually been the type of person to make a whole list of personal ideals for the upcoming year. If you saw my blog post last year at this time, you’ll see what I mean. 😉

This year, however, I didn’t make a 10 ft scroll of promises, but I focused in on something that I found even more beneficial. With my notebook and pen in hand, I wrote out 3 bad things that happened to me in 2010, and 3 good things. I then listed some things that I was looking forward to potentially happening this year, and a few key things that I’d love for the Lord to strengthen me in.

What was fascinating to me was with these things clearly laid out before me I was able to see a direct correlation between the struggles of my year in 2010, and the blessings. Each one of my three negatives were then followed by either a fulfillment of the need or loss, or an answer that I had been searching for… and those were the three highlights of my year. I didn’t notice this direct connection until after it was written and staring me in the face. The “aha” moment was astounding, and left me dumbfounded at the Lord’s in-genus provision!

This beautiful discovery of God’s hand in my 2010, gave me a platform to see the new 2011 from. It’s like peeking back in a book at the chapter you left off in and refreshing yourself on what it said. Suddenly it gives context to the next chapter that you’re about to embark on. When you know where you came from, you can know where to begin.

As I sat and stared at the new number, 2-0-1-1, I felt the need to dedicate myself and the year to the Lord. I gave Him my dreams for the year and the things that I’m most excited and hopeful about – giving Him permission to do as He sees fit and knowing full well that may not look like what I had envisioned. I dedicated my heart, my time and my relationships. This new year is more about dedication for me than it is about my resolutions. I found so much peace and excitement in putting this year in God’s hands rather than clinging to the list in my own.

Action Challenge: I challenge you, if you haven’t already, to seriously dedicate this 2011 year of your life to Him. Share with Him your dreams, your hopes, your needs, and lay them at His feet where they belong. If there are things in your life that you know you need to turn from, make this the year that you start anew. When we submit ourself to the author of our lives, we will never be disappointed by the story He writes.

The Christmas Challenge

It’s time for a challenge. The Christmas Challenge!

This is a season of giving gifts… because we were given the GREATEST gift, Jesus Christ. But along with that gift, we were each given personal, unique gifts to use in serving others. These gifts come in the form of things like compassion, encouragement, generosity, teaching, leadership, hospitality, behind-the-scenes serving… and sooo many others. A gift can be as broad as “being wise” and as specific as “being a good cook”. The Bible says… we each have them! A special set of gifts of our very own.

So this Christmas, my challenge to you is to use your gift. Any gift. Do something that you normally wouldn’t – that puts you in a place where you are serving another person’s need this season.

For some people, Christmas can be the hardest time of year. Many can’t afford to buy their children Christmas presents. Some don’t even have a home to decorate or put a tree in. Others are away from family, or have a broken home.

How can you use your gifts to help? Is there one person or family that you know who has a need this Christmas? Is there a homeless shelter that is looking for volunteers? Is there a place you could set up a free hot cider stand and ask to pray for each person you give the cider to? Is there a gift on your Christmas list that you know someone else could use more than you? Is there a song you could sing or a word you could speak to someone who may need it more than you know?

This is the Christmas Challenge… and I’m doing it too. I have a few things in mind that I’m going to do this month, and will share with you what they are and how they go. Pray about it, and see what the Lord would have you do. I’m praying that each of you will take this challenge – I’m looking forward to hearing from those who do. Let’s encourage each other with our stories!

Each one of us has a gift. What will you give?

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

The “Thankful Box”

There’s something beautiful about being thankful.

When I was little, I made a box called the “Thankful Box”. It was a box where you’d put the list of things that you were thankful for after writing them out. My family used to do that each year, but for some reason we hadn’t in a little while.

Last night, we rekindled that old tradition. We got out some index cards and scribbled down the things that we were thankful for this year. After we finished our dinner, we opened the box and picked out the first card. One by one, we went around the dinner table sharing what we had written and what we were thankful for. What initially seemed like a cute little thing to do, turned into hardly a dry eye at the table. As we took this moment to share our thanks… for each other, for God, for our lives and the blessings of the wild journey we’ve all been on… there was something so deeply profound that came out of our words. There was something about sharing and recognizing our gratitude that was so overwhelming – like the deepest joy you can imagine.

I read in my devotional the other day that thankfulness is God’s love language which enables us to communicate intimately with Him. That really struck me because if thankfulness is one of the main ways that God wants us to show our love for Him… I feel like I haven’t been loving Him very well. I realized I sometimes carry around a spirit of ungratefulness and even entitlement to God and His love.

I heard a speaker the other night who asked a question that I’ve been thinking about for days. It was this: If God never did ONE more thing for you in your life, would you still be thankful?

I stopped. Would I?

Here’s the thing. Even if God never did one more thing for me in my life… I have every reason in the world to be grateful to Him and give Him my life. He’s the creator of the Universe who came down to earth to take on MY death and save me. How could I ever demand more from Him?

But then the speaker said, with gentleness in his voice and reassurance in his eyes…”But God is a good God and He will be with you and He delights in blessing you.” Suddenly, my heart was just so humbled. God has already given me everything… but He loves me enough to not stop there.

I have every reason to be thankful.

The Start of A Movement

If you know me, you most likely know that I’m passionate about busting things like apathy and encouraging people to not waste their lives. Some would say I’m the Anti-Apathy/ Don’t-Waste-Your-Life-Girl. And, yeah… they’d be right!

But the heart of the message is a lot deeper than those cute catch phrases. If we’re going to not waste our lives, what are we going to do with our lives? If we’re going to be against apathy, then what are we going to be for?

I believe teens and young adults have been stripped of their value by society and left floundering for their purpose. There’s an aimlessness that’s rising out of the “lost cause” mindset that we’ve been fed. It walks among us, it wrestles within us. It keeps us sitting down when we should be standing up.

It’s time for things to change.

God has called me to start a movement called, “Wake Up, Generation”, whose goal is to awaken young people to break the chains of apathy, reclaim their value and live out the incredible, God-given mission for their lives. I am currently working on a book that lays out the heart of this movement and what it truly looks like to use our lives. I would love prayers as publishing opportunities are in the works.

In the mean time, if this is a rising movement… there needs to be action. I am going to be throwing out some “action challenges” in these next few months – some big, some small. As we take these challenges I expect a greater adventure to unfold than we ever dared to foresee.

“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made… Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. (10) You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.” Isaiah 43:7-8,10

It’s an honor to be on this journey with you as we serve a God who has mind-blowing plans for you and me.

The Thousand Roads

Right now, many of us are at a crossroad. We could stay straight, turn left or right, go to the side or up or down. Some of you may be about to graduate from High School. Others might have lost their job. Perhaps some are leading an unhealthy lifestyle… and know it needs to change. 

Wherever you are at your crossroad, there’s a lot of paths that you could take from here. So how do you begin to choose which way you go?

The other day, I sat down with a pen and paper and literally began to write down every direction that I could imagine myself going in right now. When I had scribbled out all the options I could think of, I have to admit, I was pretty overwhelmed.

When I sat there with a thousand different roads seemingly before me, my thoughts initially felt as jumbled as my crowded piece of paper. I can see why some people just choose to escape and “check out” when it comes to major life decisions rather than really digging in to think things through. Could that be what some of us have done?

I see it all the time. Instead of really buckling down and facing some of the choices that are set before us, we choose escape. We welcome the fact that the world doesn’t encourage making hard decisions and really getting serious about things. We think, “If I can coast my way through, that’s good enough for me…”

But is it? At some point, we all choose a direction. Whether consciously or not.

On the piece of paper with my many scribbled out “path options”, were two in particular that stuck out to me the most – all the other choices seemed to pale in comparison. If anything, they seemed to point to those two main things that I apparently really care about doing. (might I just add that those 2 things were the biggest, craziest things on my list??)

Suddenly, what had seemed like a mass confusion of overwhelming choices became narrowed down to a handful. When I really stopped for a second to think about these big, hard, life things… I realized that maybe there weren’t a thousand paths after all. Maybe I was actually made for one.

Maybe the purpose that was inside me was reaching for the things on that list that had the most to do with my passion… perhaps a passion that I hadn’t even fully discovered yet. But regardless, I seemed to know which 2 things on the list to pick… though they were the craziest, most improbable ones.

>> ACTION CHALLENGE << If you feel you are at a crossroad in your life with many paths set before you, take a minute to write down all the paths you’d consider taking right now. ie: Career, School, Relationships, Living locations. Include the “crazy dream” paths, as well as the seemingly logical/practical paths. After you have it written down, read it over and see what sticks out to you. What could you take or leave? What do you keep coming back to? Circle the things that seem to jump out to your heart the most. Those are the things that are most likely not options to ignore. This means you are meant to do them… they are part of your path.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

*If you do this action challenge, I’d love to hear what you found if you care to share!

Blame The Screen

Imagine this. It’s 1:53 PM and you’re late for a meeting. The computer you’ve been counting on to finish an important document is officially frozen and refuses to let you even move the mouse to click “Restart”. 

This is the moment when all tact goes out the window. As you shout at, and pound on your computer, you imagine throwing it across the room and making it regret treating you this way! What nerve!

Wait… really?

You slowly gather your composure and glance around the room to make sure no one just witnessed your private war with your computer. You know it’s just an electronic device, but you still choose to blame it for maliciously trying to ruin your day and make you late.

Read the rest here: http://www.facebook.com/notes/my-broken-palace/blame-the-screen/169322476418509

I wrote this blog for MyBrokenPalace.com, a website whose desire is for no one to deal with the crushing weight of loneliness, depression, anxiety, stress, abuse, addictions, or thoughts of suicide alone.

This Should Make Your Jaw Drop

My friend and I were hanging out the other night at her apartment, just talking and catching up on some of what we had been up to this summer. Somehow we began looking up some youtube videos of different artists and bands. Eventually, we landed on one video that I hadn’t seen before from one of the most popular artists right now. Can I just tell you that we were appalled? As our jaws dropped, we couldn’t believe that what we were watching had actually been released as a public, new music video! It was beyond disgusting. More like, disturbing. Is this supposed to be the new “norm”?

As young people, we don’t have the benefit of ever really getting to see the world in a purer form than it is in now. Frankly, culture has been pretty twisted ever since we’ve known it. Morals and values haven’t been popular or  held in high esteem as long as we’ve known them. In that case, it could be easy to say about our culture, “that’s just the way it is” or “that’s how it’s always been”. Actually… it’s not.

Believe it or not, there was a time when modesty was the applauded standard. When purity was across the board encouraged. When people were expected to hold themselves with dignity and decency. Were there people who strayed from this? Of course! But it wasn’t broadcasted like it is today – and certainly not glorified!

Just because you and I have grown up in a world where indecency, provocativeness, unfaithfulness and filth is “normal”, doesn’t mean that we should become at all used to it. If we let ourselves become numb to these things, all the lines of right and wrong will be blurred.

The Bible says,

“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22

“… Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” 1 Timothy 5:22

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23

“The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure conscience and a sincere faith.” 1 Timothy 1:5

** “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17

I found it interesting, particularly in the last two verses, that love and wisdom were first of all defined by being pure. And I’m not just talking about the “True Love Waits” kind of pure. I’m talking about our mind… our heart… our motives being pure.

Scripture puts it best here as it says, “Finally, brothers,whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

This is what is to be in our heart!

When we are polluted by the world, we are diluted in our role for the Kingdom of God. As the ways and mindset of the world sets in, it pushes out the power and wisdom that comes from wholly walking with our Lord.

Take the time to examine your heart. Ask God to show you any areas that you have perhaps become numb and haven’t even realized. I’ve been amazed as I’ve done this as well.

Let the things that drop our jaw be the things that are actually beautiful…

a pure heart.

If Anyone Should Care, It’s Us.

Yesterday, I got to vote in the primary elections for the Governor of my state. It was only my second time voting, as my first experience was during the presidential elections right after I turned 18.

Though I’ve grown up in a very politically savy family, I confess that I haven’t been as engaged as I really should be. To me, and many others, the word “politics” usually has an ugly meaning attached to it that’s hypocritical, power-hungry and corrupt. While I used to want to brush off politics all together, I’ve realized how mistaken I was to turn my back on such a brewing, life-changing force. Yes, the political world IS full of slime… which is exactly why we need to get our heads out of the sand and understand what is being given and taken away from us right underneath our nose.

Unlike most other places in the world, you and I have the opportunity and FREEDOM to be a part of shaping how our country is run and how we are allowed to live our lives. This is a precious privilege that we cannot take lightly, or it will be taken away.

Young people, it is not acceptable for us to be disengaged or apathetic when it comes to what is going on politically in our country. Our lives and future, as well as the world around us, are being directly affected by the good or bad decisions being made by our leaders today. Every document that is signed, every law that is passed is currently laying the foundation for our future. Those who say they are “apathetic” towards politics are in essence saying they don’t care about who or what shapes their future! Wake up.

It’s not about a campaign. It’s about things like our personal freedom. Our religion. Our future families. Our ability to pursue our dreams. It’s about issues like abortion, war, national security, finances. While these words have a tendency to overwhelm and make some of us want to run, they are issues and realities that we need to open our eyes to.

Trust me, I’ll be the first person to tell you that I have a lot of learning to do. None of this stuff is something I would naturally read about on my spare time or listen for on the radio. However, I realize its importance, and WILL NOT be apathetic. I will care and learn as much as I can because I refuse to stand idly by while my freedom is tromped on and my future misshaped.

Though at times we may feel these things are irrelevant to us as young people… WE are the ones who will have to live long-term with the decisions that are currently being made. Not our parents. Not even the leaders.
Frankly, if anyone should care, it’s us.

SUSIE Magazine Interview

A little while ago, I did an interview for the SUSIE Magazine that was recently published in their June issue.

To read the article for yourself click here: https://paigehasastory.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/paige_susiespread.pdf