In honor of the most inspiring girl I've ever met

As you can tell I like to inspire people, but a lot of people inspire me as well. This week I have been blessed with doing a lot of work for my ministry, you can read more about it here,

And you can check out our website at riseaboveitmissions.weebly.com :) You can also follow us on twitter @RAIMissions and like our facebook page at www.facebook,com/RiseAboveItMissions

Anyways, not for the REAL subject of this post. A year and 7 months ago I met the most fascinating girl I've ever met, somehow this girl became my best friend and she is now my ministry partner. She fascinates me because nothing stops her, her she's a fighter, she's a competitor, she likes to get ahead in life, but not by stumbling over people, she likes to get ahead by facing her struggles up front and overcoming them.

I'm talking about Princess Faith. She has been through so much, not only has she struggled with her self image, her self confidence and coming out of her shell, but she has also had to go through the separation of her family due to the fact that they were homeless for a year, a fake accusation of child abuse, sickness and more recently the separation of her parents. Somehow she is not bitter, somehow she still loves God and she's still one of the sweetest people I know.

She amazes me because through it all she still has a heart for helping others, she still wants to be a light in the life of others. I think the world doesn't know how amazing she is, and tonight I want to honor her by truly expressing how much she means to me.

I have been blessed with the title of "ministry partner", you see Faith is blessed to have many Christian friends, many Christians best friends, she has known all of those people her entire life (literally) and yet she chose me, ME! To be her ministry partner, I met this girl just a year ago!! It's crazy! To this day I don't understand why she chose me, because I can be so selfish and so lazy at times and her heart for helping others is so much greater than mine. She has so many wonderful things to say and so many encouraging words and she's good at keeping up with the people that she helps. I'm so bad at all of that! And I'm not worthy of being her ministry partner. Because I'm strange, when I go through struggles I just look at the silver linings and everything just seems so easy for me, because I try to find the joy in it, I concentrate on how this will make me stronger and not the fact that this is hurting. My heart is fulfilled by my God and that's why when things happen to me now, I go into shock, but it takes more than a few words to shake me. But she knows about pain, she knows about hurting so much more than I do, and when someone she knows is hurting, she hurts with them. I can't do that, I can be totally sympathetic but I can't feel the pain that they feel. She does. She's wonderful because all she wants is to take away that person's pains and problems. She is incredible, and she loves to work out, which is the best picture of who she is: she will endure the pain as long as it means that she's getting stronger. That's who she is. A fighter.

I have seen her go through the worst days of her life and right after those days happen the first thing she does is seek how to help someone. She'll message people on tumblr, she'll help people on twitter, she'll blog about it, text someone something encouraging, ANYTHING to make someone feel better. And THAT gives her so much joy!! And it amazes me how quickly she can bounce back from any situation. I am not worthy to be her best friend, I am not worthy to be the one that she wants to share this ministry with, and yet, God has shown me His grace through her eyes, through her life. The more I learn about her, the more I realize that she is a force to be reckoned with, someone I could never match up to.

So many people look down on her, they underestimate her because she tends to be shy, they don't look closely at her talents, at her heart, so they just think she's just....Faith. She's just the girl that likes to make everyone's day and she's wonderful, she's great at that, she's the bomb.com, etc ect. No my friends, she is so much greater than that. She is the girl that loves God so much, that her way of honoring Him, of shining His light, of being in His presence IS being THE light....UNCONDITIONALLY!!! No matter how she feels, no matter what's going on, no matter what mood she's in, she will put others first. And she keeps trying and trying to let go of her fears, to listen to God. No she's not perfect, no she doesn't always gets it right but she ALWAYS TRIES! And to me, that's all that matters.

She's a champion, not a winner, a champion. She may not always win her battles, but she always trains herself to be ready for them. It's not about how many times she has overcome her struggles, to me, it's all about how she has used those struggles to her benefit and the benefit of those she tries to help.

Wow. Never in my life did I ever think I would be this blessed by God, No matter where we go in life, no matter where our friendship goes and even if tomorrow she decides to wake up and hate me for the rest of my life...she will remain to be the most selfless person I have ever met, and by far one of the toughest fighters.

Dear Faith,

All I can say is thank you. I truly love you to the moon and back. May the force be with you. Always.

Sincerely,

Your loving and unworthy friend.

The End of an Era

Today marks the end of an era......and what a beautiful era it was!!!! Today was my official last day of high school EVER!!! And honestly, I am emotionally drained. I took my AP Psych final while crying and all I did all day was cry, stop crying, cry again.

The school that I attend right now was my dream school, ever since I was in 7th grade I wanted to go there, when mom would drive by that school I would be mesmerized and I could see myself there, I wanted to see myself there. When the time came, I was supposed to go to another school, and I was ok with that, but God kind of likes to do this thing where he'll tease me to see if I'll trust Him and after that, He'll usually give me what my heart desires. Without me knowing me, He was testing me, He was beginning to prepare me for what was coming.

You see it was in high school that I made the most important decision of my entire life, it was my sophomore year of high school that I decided that I wanted to follow Christ.

Many kids go to my school and they make a name for themselves for doing sports, or being in the plays, the musical, being in orchestra or choir or band, for being in the art program or for being one of those super smart kids, maybe they join an ethnic club so they dance with that club and that's how they're known, and although I did participate in many of those activities, that's not the name I made for myself. Somehow, I managed to make myself known for being a Christian, when people think of me they usually think of religion or Christ or the bible, I didn't know that could happen, I didn't know God could use me to do that. You see I'm going to miss my high school, THAT building, because it was there, at a public school, that God (somehow) brought me to Him. I think about that and it blows my mind to see how huge God's plan was for me, and how my plans were NOTHING compared to what He had in mind for me. That's why He wanted me there, because I belonged there! Because He needed me there.

I'm going to miss my friends, I don't know what it's going to be like to not see all these familiar faces in the hallways, or to not be in a class with a close friend. During high school, I have met some of the most incredible people ever, I have so many memories and so many great moments that will go with me wherever I go. I have made many friends during these 4 years and now we are all going to be scattered everywhere, and now it's time for these bonds to prove how strong they are. I know I'm going to grow apart from some people, some people will leave my life and some will come in, but these 4 years that I've shared with these people will never leave my memory. People may change but memories don't, and that's one of the most beautiful things in life, that blows my mind and I thank God for designing it that way.

I'm going to miss my teachers, during those 4 years I seriously had some of the greatest teachers, just today my division (or advisory) teacher got us a cake to celebrate that we were moving on! I had some cool teachers and some strict teachers, and those teachers that you can see yourself hanging out with, I had some teachers whose advice can still get me through life at times, I had extremely smart teachers and extremely annoying teachers but never in my 4 years of high school have I appreciated the education they have given me more than today, never have I loved each and every single one of them more than I do today. People say this and that about public school and I know that I myself have complained about them, but in all honesty, you find some of the most caring teachers in the world in public school. My teachers have encouraged me to go to tutoring, to seek help, they have helped me pass classes, they have helped me get to college and most of all, they have allowed me to share my beliefs in class and that, that is the greatest thing my teachers have done for me.

I'm going to miss everything about high school but I want to leave you guys with a few things that I have learned in high school, things that I have been learning since my freshman year up until this very last day. Here we go:

Enjoy EVERY SINGLE DAY because time flies.

4 years is too short, make friends and find people who will love you for you.

Don't try to fit in, don't loose yourself for the sake of finding others.

At the end of the day, you'll realize that you really truly do love these people.

Boyfriends and crushes?? Really not that important, I know, I had a mega crush on this mega handsome kid for 2 years and he barely talked to me and today, compared to everything else that happened in high school, it's not that important. Date all you want but never forget that boys should never be your priority in high school. Enjoy time with your friends.

Complain about homework and school all you want! Seriously, homework is annoying. But appreciate the fact that at least you're getting an education

And above all, please please please......to thine own self be true. You could go many different ways in high school, never compromise your convictions and always have a solid ground, your words should always match your actions.

I pray that during your high school years God will lead many of you to Him the way he led me.

I don't know what God has in store for me now that I'm going to college but I can guarantee one thing: whatever I have in mind for myself is nothing compared to what God wants to do with me in college. Yes, I'm terrified, yes, I hate change, but it is time to move on, it's time for me to spread the gospel somewhere else, for me to meet new people, to make new friends and new memories. I am extremely sad to be moving on but I'm excited to see where God wants to take me.

Lets see where God goes with this :) I'm graduating on Tuesday, after that....it's college time!!! Lets do this!