"I Will Follow"

Hey, 

Here is the song of the week!!  This week we are going to strive to follow Christ, and I want to know how you are doing that!!  Let me know!! 

~Olivia~ 

"Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you"  

~Chris Tomlin's "Follow You"

Update, Announcement, Requests!

Hey Everyone!

Hope y'all had a happy Thanksgiving!  Olivia's post on Thanksgiving and finding joy in it was really thought provoking and made me thankful for her writing abilities! :)

We're excited about the responses we have received.  Just this weekened, we added 2 more volunteers to our list.  We're now up to 13 people!  Anywhere close to the 200 we're hoping for? No, not yet!  But we're making progress!  Please continue to spread the word to your friends.  A way you might do this is by sending out our link (www.voicesoftheinnocent.blogspot.com) in an email to everyone in your address book.

Also, I'd like to let y'all know that V.O.T.I is now listed on http://www.prolifeblogs.com/.  I applied for listing on here some time ago, and never received a response from them.  I had practically forgotten about them when I received an acceptance email today! :) But anyhow, we're now on there, so hopefully, they'll direct some more readers to the blog!

I thought it be cool if everyone sent in the name of the newspaper that they were sending their pro-life letter to.  Please leave the name of the newspaper that will receive your letter here on the blog in a comment or email it to us. We’d enjoy hearing from y’all, so please try and do this for us!

--Emily--

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!!  I hope that no matter what kind of circumstances your going through right now, that you will take time today to reflect on everything that God has done for you, and know that no matter what, God will hold you together, and bring you through.  
Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for everything that God has done for us, and I know that all of us who are in Christ can thank Him for many things that the He has done, even in the midst of trials. If you are in Christ, and can't find one thing to be thankful this Thanksgiving, I truly feel sorry for you, because we have the most wonderful gift that God has given us to be thankful for-eternal life!!  And that is something that, if you are in Christ, even in the valley, you can give thanks to God.  
So, I challenge you..... if you are in the dumps (if you will allow to put it that way!!-), find something to be thankful for, and ask God to bring to your remembrance things that he has done for you..... God desires that you would praise Him!!  And for those of you who are thanking God for bring you through a trial, or God has been blessing you, set a time before this day is done to praise God for EVERYTHING He has done for you!!  And I don't mean, "And thank you for everything that You have done for us, and for you grace," and I'm not making fun of anyone...... but try to be specific in what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving!!  God continues to bless us in so many way even when we don't deserve it, and we ought to be the most thankful people on the face of the earth!! =) 
Happy Thanksgiving!!

~Olivia~

"Enter into His gate with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.  For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to ALL generations."  ~Psalm 100:4,5

"Thanksgiving" by A.M.B.

I have  a friend whom God has blessed with an amazing talent for writing poetry is VERY and writes poetry on a variety of things!  I have to remind myself not to be envious of her talent, because I CAN NOT write poetry to save my life, and I often ask God why I can't have that same talent.  Whenever she reads me a new poem that she has written, I always sit back, and marvel at her talent!!  So I asked my friend if she had any poems on Thanksgiving that she would be willing to let me publish, and this is the one that I have decided to use.  I hope that you enjoy it!! 

Thanksgiving

There was the first Thanksgiving in 1621,

With fowl of the air and lots of venison,

To thank the Lord for the gifts He had given them,

Chief Massasoit brought 90 Wampanoag men.

Governor Bradford declared this a day

To give thanks to God and to feast and to pray.

In the year 1863 Lincoln declared a holiday

For America to give thanks and it still is that way.

Every year we take special time to give thanks to God,

And remember how much He gives us help in our plod.

And maybe we think of those people long ago,

And of their great celebration and know

  That we are so very much blessed,

And we always should have such great thankfulness.

~Olivia

How Great is Our God

Hey everyone,
  It is well known by MANY people that I know that I am a total music freak!!  I love listening to K-Love on the computer, and I have to have it on ALL the time (but my mom doesn't always let me :\)!!  Chris Tomlin is probably my all time favorite (I have others, but Chris Tomlin is at the top of my list!!) because he has such a gift to write music to touch hearts across the U.S., and beyond!!   And so many of his songs have changed lives!!  One of my favorites is "How Great is Our God"!!  Evey time I hear that song on the radio, or when I sing it in church, it makes me want to stand up, and raise my hands to Him!!
  
"How great is our God, sing with me,
  How great is our God, and all will sing
  How great, how great is our God"  

~Olivia

35 Reasons Not to Sin

This came off the Rebelution's blog...

35 REASONS NOT TO SIN

• Because a little sin leads to more sin.
• Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
• Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
• Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
• Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
• Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
• Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
• Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
• Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
• Because my sin saddens the godly.
• Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
• Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
• Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
• Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
• Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
• Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
• Because my sin may influence others to sin.
• Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
• Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
• Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
• Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
• Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
• Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
• Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
• Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
• Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
• Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
• Because my sin is adultery with the world.
• Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
• Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
• Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
• Because to sin is not to love Christ.
• Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
• Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on it’s own.
• Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

Thanks Jennifer! =)

Have y’all been noticing the pretty new blog button on our side bar? Is it just me, or is it not perfect?! :) I’d like to thank Jennifer for so graciously helping us with this (BTW, the TRANSFORMED GENERATION blog is hers…really great thoughts on there-you should totally check it out!)! I am not a tech savvy teen (who is dealing dial up internet-which can make things difficult!:), so doing something which may seem pretty basic like making a blog button seemed totally overwhelming to me. But Jenn kindly offered to help me with the button-and I’d like to say thanks to her for it!

The blog button isn’t the only thing I love on this blog: I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE seeing comments. So comment often! I want to hear feedback from y’all; I want to hear what you think! So please, please-leave a comment and share your thoughts with the V.O.T.I world!:)

Thanks!

--Emily--