Snowed In!!

So this past week I have been in New York for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. It has been so awesome! I have been dressing backstage for many different designers. Its been such an incredible experience. It was my 3rd fashion week, however my first time in February. It was cold, very cold but God definitely moved in BIG ways. I was able to pray for and encourage many models. I also go to build relationships with dressers and supervisors. God is really moving in the fashion industry and doing big things. One of my favorite stories was being able to bless one of our supervisors who was getting sick! I was able to bless her with a Starbucks card and Emergency. She was so thankful we were able to exchange info and I was able to share Jesus with her. Another story that was amazing; is I was standing in the sun warming up and a lady came up and wanted me to go with her to watch a show that she had bought tickets for. She was all alone from Australia and I was ale to be her friend for the afternoon and pray and talk with her. It was such a blessing! Some key verses that we focused on this past week to guide our outreach were:

Proverbs 3

New Living Translation (NLT)

Trusting in the Lord

3 My child, never forget the things I have taught you.
    Store my commands in your heart.
2 If you do this, you will live many years,
    and your life will be satisfying.
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
    Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
    Write them deep within your heart.
4 Then you will find favor with both God and people,
    and you will earn a good reputation.

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take.

7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
    Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 Then you will have healing for your body
    and strength for your bones.

Ezekiel 2

New Living Translation (NLT)

“4 They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ 5 And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for remember, they are rebels—at least they will know they have had a prophet among them.

6 “Son of man, do not fear them or their words. Don’t be afraid even though their threats surround you like nettles and briers and stinging scorpions. Do not be dismayed by their dark scowls, even though they are rebels. 7 You must give them my messages whether they listen or not. But they won’t listen, for they are completely rebellious! 8 Son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not join them in their rebellion. Open your mouth, and eat what I give you.”

Here are some pics from the last week. The pictures of the models are not mine they are taken from the internet however they are a few of the models I dressed for various shows.  Oh and by the way I am suppose to leave today (Thursday) and am stuck here because of a winter storm until Sunday!

New York Fashion Week!!

So tomorrow (Wednesday) morning I will be on a plane headed to New York for Fashion Week! This is my third fashion week in New York however it is my first one in February. I have been to two others that are in September. A few days ago when I realized how quickly this week had approached I started to doubt. I was feeling overwhelmed and stressed and like it was pointless for me to go. I felt like I had no purpose or reason to go. So I started praying. I was praying for God to give me a vision and a theme. He clearly kept giving me two words over and over every time I prayed. JOY and LIGHT were the words and it gave me a clear theme and purpose. Having this new vision took the stress completely away. I think its really fascinating that those were the two words. I think joy is interesting because that was something that I already had been wanting to work on so having it as a theme for Fashion week will be a challenge. Especially since there usually isn't much joy backstage until the show is over and only if the show went perfectly. I absolutely love that Light is my second word. Backstage and every area in New York needs light and I am so glad that God really brought that to my attention.

Key Verses:

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 5:14-16

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Please keep me and my friends  in your prayers as we volunteer backstage in New York.

Submit To Your Husband...Love Your Wife

Ephesians 5:22-33

New Living Translation (NLT)

22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything.
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. 28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

I read these verses the other day for about the 100th time and God just hit me hard with a new revelation. I am not married but I definitely plan on it in the future, however I am so excited He showed me this now and not after struggling for five years in a marriage. The first thing that I was struck by was why in the world did God give the wife such a hard task and the husband such an easy task! I mean come on, submitting to someone is so much harder than loving someone that you have chosen to spend the rest of your life with. However very quickly God reminded me on how very different men and women are. I think its easy to love but submitting is a difficult area and that is exactly why it is written this way to men and women, because its not just me its many like this. God knew exactly who needed to hear what!

The next thing that He taught me in these verses was that when He is talking of how the women should submit, it compares it to submitting to Him. And I thought to myself; its not hard to submit God that is what I want to do with all my heart. So why would it be hard to submit to my husband? And then He hit me again, I know God loves me so so so much there is no doubt in my mind! That is why I want to submit to Him with my whole heart. However from these verses it is implying that it is hard for husbands to show love (not putting them down in anyway it is just not as wired in them as it is in women) and thats when the curtains opened. In my personal opinion submitting becomes harder when the husband is not showing love. So if love is hard for the man it makes sense why submitting is hard for the woman, if we submit because of love. I am not saying that it is the husbands fault but it did open my eyes to see why it could be so hard for each person to follow the command if one is not.

The final thing that really got me was that God compares loving the wife, to loving one's own body. That just kind of made me chuckle because most men I know don't really have an issue with loving their bodies (which is a wonderful gift). I love how God gives each side a very relevant comparison. If He would of said wives love your husbands like you love your own body we would be in a world of trouble since that is women's biggest struggle body image! 

I love how God can show you new things even if you have read the verses many many times before. I also am so glad to know that God has designed marriage to be one of the greatest covenants and I can't wait to enter into one day.

Managing God's Money

At Models For Christ we have been doing a study by Randy Alcorn on Managing God's Money.  It has really been convicting me on how everything I have is not mine but all God's. It really has shown to make sure my treasure is stored up in heaven and not here on earth.

Matthew 6:19-21

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Jesus shows us two treasures in this passage: earthly and heavenly. Money is only of a temporary value- unless it is spent, used or shared to further the kingdom of Heaven. Moths destroy fabric, metals rust, thieves steal and the list goes with fire and floods. No earthly treasure is safe. Material things just won't stand the test of time but they also don't stand God's test. Its not morally wrong to have material wealth it is just a poor investment. When we are told by investors to think 30 years ahead to plan for our finical future, Christ is telling us to think a million years a head to plan for our eternal future. Treasures on earth last a short time, Treasure in Heaven last for eternity. 

What does it mean to store up your treasure in Heaven? We store up heavenly treasure by holding loosely, sharing freely and giving away earthly treasures for God;s Kingdom purpose. We need to be open to the what the Holy Spirit is telling us to do with our possessions. We cannot be selfish or unwilling to do what God is asking us to do with our money. Its not wrong to have things and enjoy them it becomes wrong when they are your treasure and you are unwilling to give them up when God asks of it. 

Proverbs 22:9

Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.

A Little Update :)

So I just wanted to give a quick update on my life! Its pretty amazing right now!!! I got back about a week ago from a month long break. I enjoyed Christmas and New Years at my home in Arizona with friends and family and it was simply great. I got time to rest and also hang out with friends. I am now back and California and took no time hopping back into ministry. We are planning events, running a Beauty Arise Track for the YWAM LA base and getting ready for New York Fashion Week that will be February 6th- 13th. Then a few days after that I leave to Alaska to work a winter fair and then a couple days after I get home, its LA Fashion week. So a busy next few weeks but its a very exciting time and I am so happy to have so many amazing opportunities that God has provided me with to glorify Him. At times I don't always think I have the most amazing life, sometimes I just really wish I was living a normal life. I wish I was married, or I wish I had an office job, but then God just blows me away by showing how He has given me the life that is perfect for me. God has equipped me with just the right tools to carry out my life in a way to glorify Him an I am so very thankful. So when I come across times where I feel not so enthused about my life I just look back and reflect on so many of the amazing things God has done for me and provided for me to do.

FacePaint stand in Alaska!

Original Beauty Arise girls at an event!

Shopping for the Calling All Skaters School!

Christmas Time Outreach!

Dance Group!

Christmas Eve service

My cousin and I

Raina (a model I dressed) at LA Fashion Week

LA Fashion Week

Hayden and I

Outreach at Santa Monica for Christmas!

P.S- I started Aerial Dance classes they are AMAZING!

Security And Not A Free Pass

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." John 10:28-29, ESV

John chapter ten is foundational to understand the security of your salvation. 

I grew up in a church where we had eternal in-security! We never knew we could have eternal security in Jesus Christ. We would come forward to be "re-saved" as often as we had the opportunity. Every time I did something wrong, I thought I would need to get "saved" again. I got justification—how I have right-standing with God—confused with sanctification, God's process of making me more like Jesus. 

I didn't understand how the Lord makes us more and more like Jesus. I didn't understand how the Holy Spirit works in our life to get victory over sin. I didn't understand that I am secure in Christ. I just needed to know how to walk and grow in grace. I was trying to again lay the foundation of forgiveness and "trying" to be saved again and again. 

Jesus never did say that you needed to be born again, and again, and again. Right? He just said, "You must be born again." Once. If that's for real, then you are secure in the Lord. He has you in His hand. The Father has you in His hand. There is this double grip on you! It's a life-changing experience to know you are saved by Jesus and that He's the Author of eternal salvation!

This is a morning devotion I got the other day and I loved it so much I had to share. We serve such an incredible God to give us such a security, but its not a free pass. This was another devotion that I read the a few days ago that I thought explained it perfectly. 


Would the truth of the eternal security of the believer encourage people to think they have the liberty to go out and live like they did before they were saved?

Many people think that it is more motivating for Christians to live a holy life to tell them that if they sin they could be lost. 

No! What needs to be done is to teach Scripture. The Scripture says that a real believer is secure in the Lord. But it also clearly teaches that a real believer won't want to sin—not on purpose! 

As a real believer you don't plan to practice sin. That's not the way a real believer thinks. You may stumble and fall, but you aren't planning and practicing sin. Like I've said, "You're not going to be sinless, but you are going to be sinning less." Right? That's because the Lord is working in your life, and He's growing you in His grace. 

I know that in my experience rather than making me feel like I can go out and do whatever I want, knowing that I am secure had the very opposite effect in my life. I live a much more careful life knowing that I am saved forever than I ever did when I was living to try to be saved.  

Time Flies...Be Still...

I used to hear my mom say, time goes by so fast it feels like yesterday was the day you were born or something to that effect. I used to think what are you talking about it feels like I have been 12 for forever! And she would say just wait until you’re an adult and you will know what I am talking about. Well now I am 21 and guess what she was right! Even while I was in high school it felt like time flew by. Travelling with the carnival really contributes to that fact because of the weird schedule and hours.  Time is such a precious gift God has given us and it can be wasted or used to glorify Him. It’s your choice He gives everyone the exact same amount of it.  Wasting your time can be a joy stealer because once the day has gone and you did nothing productive it can cause you to be disappointed and unhappy. Especially when you deliberately ignore a task God has called you to do. However there is another side to this. Being over productive constantly can also cause depression.  I love this example with sheep:

Sheep become downcast for many reasons, one is because they're carrying too much wool. This is a problem of the super-productive sheep.

The life purpose of a sheep is to produce wool, and that's something the shepherd wants from the sheep. The more wool the sheep produces, the more enjoyment the shepherd gets out of that sheep, and the more pleasure he has in that sheep. It pleases the shepherd that the sheep bear much wool. You know what I think is significant about this? The sheep that have the most wool are in the most danger of being unstable. A wrong step and they can be knocked over while another sheep without as much wool might be able to get right back on its feet. 

We don't often talk about the problems of those who are faithfully serving the Lord. We tend to focus in on the sheep that are depressed, or the wayward and lost sheep. But, what about the super-productive sheep? They're producing so much for the Lord! The Lord's so pleased with that harvest, and yet they're in danger. Are you faithfully serving God? Then you're in danger! You could easily fall over and not get up. 

What are we to do, how do we encourage others who are in danger? HOPE IN GOD! Your Shepherd loves you, and in His great mercy, He's coming to you – even today – to lift you up. He'll get you back up. Maybe He will take some of that wool off so it doesn't happen again. Don't worry! It'll grow back. To be sheared by the Good Shepherd isn't a tragedy. It brings Him pleasure and glory to harvest what's already been done. Some of us are walking around like we feel naked. Can you imagine how a sheep feels right after it's been shorn? One minute, you have all this wool, and the next minute you look like your old, scrawny self! I bet they feel like hiding, feeling naked. (Insert from Grace Mail)

I love the fact that our Shepherd doesn’t want us to be overworked. He wants us to be balanced to we can continue in our walk.

We walk by faith, not by sight.

—2 Corinthians 5:7

The inspired writers of Scripture did not use the phrase walk by faith in a random way. Those three words are there for a purpose. Notice that the Bible doesn't tell us to sprint by faith; it tells us to walk by faith. To walk speaks of continual, regulated motion. Many believers have their bursts of energy. For a few months, they run. Then they collapse for a while. They need to learn what it is to walk with God.

God wants us to be able to continue on the journey with Him all of our lives so we need to pace ourselves so we can complete the tasks God has set before us to the best of our ability. We can’t burn out on the first leg of it. Our Father also wants us to spend valuable quiet time with Him. And if we are so busy sprinting we will miss the quiet shady trees along the way where He just wants us to take a rest and be still in His presence.

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God”

Some Carnival Fun Photos :)