Well I'll get right to the point. As I mentioned in my last post, I had started reading "Rachel's Tear's", it's a biography on one of the martyr's. I'll start out by saying that this book is one of the best books i've read in a while; yes the structure and grammer isn't there, but it was written by her family so it cancels out...sorry I have a pet peeve for grammer...anyway besides that, this book was amazing. It challenged me in so many areas of my life. One area of her life that stuck out to me was her reckless abandon for Christ; she put Him above everything else. She didn't care what her "friends" thought or anyone else; she only cared about pleasing her Father. She knew what she was here for and set about doing it. I can say all day long that I don't care what people think about me, which is partially true, but as I read the story of her life and the boldness of her faith, I find myself questioning what I really think. I find myself evaluating whether or not I care what other's think of me; and as i dwell on it, I find that deep down I do. From this book my conviction to find my security in Christ alone has only increased. I have to make it a priority to put what He thinks about me before what others think or believe. I don't want my way of thinking to limit Christ's influence in my life or in the life of my friends. I want to trust him completely.

Another thing I noticed about Rachel's character was her compassion for the people around her. It didn't matter who you were; you could have been the most hated person in school and she still would have reached out to you. Again, it goes back to that "I don't care what you think" attitude. I want the compassion she has. What was so great about it, which i greatly respect, is that she never really had to "preach" to someone to witness to them. The love she had for the people around her was evident to all and had a much greater impact than being 'religious'... Before reading this book, I was always under the impression that witnessing to someone was "preaching" at them. This book has greatly changed my prespective on the matter. I've realised that if I just show people true, genuine love, I'll almost never have to preach. I've also realized that the only way I can show people true, genuine love is if Christ's love is in me. Anything else would be fake and superficial...

I think one of the reasons this book has had such a profound impact on me is because it's not just a self-help book. It's doesn't just give you someone's view on a subject; this book is about this girl's life. I guess the view that I'm reading from just makes it so much more powerful.

And finally, I like to share with you a new conviction of mine about reading. If you don't know me, then i'll tell you right now, I'm an avid reader. I absolutley love to read. As soon as i'd finish one book, i'll go to another. The problem with that is that I would never give myself enough time to really apply what I've learned from these books. I'd read, say, "yep that's great" and move on. Well I don't want to do that any more. I want to find practical ways to put into practice the things I learn. So that's what I'm going to do. I got out my little notebook and a pen and im praying and thinking of ways to put this into play...so basically my soap box for this week, I'd like to encourage you to find practical ways to put into practice the Holy Spirit convicts you of...

so yeah that's it...and i'm mad that tori get's to eat sushi with my mom tonight and i don't...grrrr :(