Christmas

One Minute Sermon by Tamara Lowe

To be a Survivor in this Amazing Race with a Need for Speed, you need God's grace. And if you're Desperate like Housewives watching Days of our Lives, you can't cope without hope and that's not on a soap.
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If you're looking to Oprah or Dr. Phil, you can shop non-stop or pop a pill but the void won't fill and the pain won't heal 'til you love the One that hung on a hill.
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Kick 'em back in your La-Z-Boy Easy Chair watching Who Want's To Be A Millionaire. Nah! You're not gonna find it there. No American Idol or Council Tribal has the final answer that will satisfy you. CSI aint got a clue. SVU don't know what to do. Not the ER, the OC, nothing on a CD, TV, DVD, or MP3 can save you and me. CNN's got no Good News. Here's the headline, "YOU MUST CHOOSE."
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It's not a simple life Paris Hilton. It's treading on thin ice living in sin. You can be an Apprentice for Donald Trump or eat Fear Factor fast food from a dump. You can be a Heavy Hitter or Wheel of Fortune winner, a Fox News no-spin spinner or flat out sinner, but you better check this life that you're livin' and make sure your sins are forgiven.
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I bet you 50 Cents: Elvis done, came and went. And eventually every Black-Eyed Pea, Gwen Stefani, P-Diddy and Britney, every wanna-be on MTV with their Icy Bling, every Dixie Chick that sings, they all gonna see the King of Kings. I don't care if you're J Lo, Leno, or Bono. One thing you gotta know, someday you're gonna die bro. Then where are you gonna go?
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Hey, I'm not talking some punk junk that is irrelevant like your Grandma's church from way back when. It's not some preacher feature on TBN that you need to be liking or listening. The real Superstar is Jesus Christ. He's the Way, He's the Truth, and the Life. One day he's going to split the sky. He is the Brightest Light and the Highest High.
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And so, what I came to say and what I'm telling you is don't buy that stupid stuff they be selling you. It's all designed to fill your head and waste your space until you're dead. Here's the bottom line in my rhyme -- Give your life to God while there is still time.

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Very Inspiring.

Cassandra Falun <3

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for a merciful God. The supplier of peace. Our God is an awesome God, He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power, & love our God is an awesome God. I am thankful for the wonderful people he has surrounded me with. You guys are amazing and I am wishing that God will give you a great, fantastic Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all <3 Spread the love
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Love Always & Forever,
Cassandra Falun

Sexual Healing

---~So lets look at the subject, I’ll tell you why I’m disgusted. So tonight SEX will be the topic of our discussion. So see sex isn’t evil, for marriage is why God made it. But, I know you’re gunna be like oh come on man that is so out dated! This is 2011 bro we do it for recreation. And heyy when you’re in college you do it while you’re wasted. But, I wanna question this logic. I wanna pop off the seal. I wanna question something that we already think is a done deal. So take a rape victim for example and once its revealed. When her bruises go away is she really healed? Nahh the damage has lasted, you can see it in her eyes. But, if it was abused recreation why did it ruin her life? I mean if sex is just for fun, why does it take such a tole? Maybe it’s because you don’t just have sex with a body, you have sex with a soul. Which for me there ain’t no premarital lovin. It ain’t just cause I don’t want a baby in the oven, it’s because I want to stay pure till the day that I am a husband. But see this wasn’t always me. That’s a guarantee. Let’s go back in the past and see who I used to be. Now, growing up I never learned how to treat a lady. If I learned one thing from my Dad, it would be to leave the mom ditch the baby. I don’t say that to get sympathy I say that to be real. ‘Cause according to stats about %40 of you know how that feels. So I let the TV show me what the music already told me. No Dad at home so I was letting MTV mould me. They sold me, so my life revolved around what girl I could get next. My life revolved around this girl named SEX. Sure I’d get her out on the text, but I have to confess, it seemed the longer we dated the bigger the mess. Then my girlfriend was late on that time of the month. If you know what I mean you’ll understand why my heart sunk. I started to think about abortion, I started to butter it up. But it’s funny they don’t make condoms for sin, you can’t just cover it up. It was just a scare but I knew a father I did not wanna be. It was funny how it was pro life until it happened to me. So dudes think twice before you desire her just because she’s hott. The truth is your body makes a promise whether you do or not. Sorry lets get back to the main topic. There are dudes who pressure her even when she says stop it. You’re not a man, you’re just a boy who can shave and put on a good cover. ‘Cause if you don’t respect her when she says no, then you certainly don’t love her. So start studying her heart and stop studying her booty or maybe invest the same amount of time in her that you do in Call Of Duty. What makes you think you can get this girl and all the sudden get naughty? ‘Cause you should have to touch her heart and mind first before you ever touch her body. She longs to be excepted, she longs to be loved. So, she gives herself up for another guys lust. She thinks it feels good at first, but then she gets bitter. ‘Cause the promise of satisfaction never delivers. She’s like I don’t want to, but it’s just too tempting. So she keeps opening up the present just to find that it’s empty. And then she starts to get confused. She keeps getting rejected by all these dudes. They tell her on a scale of 1-10 she is a 2. But that ain’t true. If she only knew, that Jesus, He loves and respects us. Even when you don’t want Him, He will never reject us. He heals us from that sin that totally infects us. He does what condoms can’t, He emotionally protects us. I know that some of you who hear this are gunna wanna endight me. But we gotta think rightly so I’m gunna ask politely. Can you even really say this isn’t true? Just slightly. I mean we touch the forbidden fruit not to realize that it is poison ivy. Now we’re numb and we’re itchin and we got a distorted psychy. You don’t think you just do it like your name was Nike. Not realizing the prices of you actions are oh so pricey. This last story though is for those who think they’re too dirty. This last story though is for those who think they’re unworthy. Read John chapter 8, the woman caught in adultery. The religious leader throws her naked in the temple while she yells don’t murder me! They say Jesus the law commands us to stone this woman and you hear the hate in their tone. Jesus pauses and says, “for who it is without sin, you can cast the first stone.” I mean can you imagine the sound of silence all around. You hear footsteps walk away and you hear stones hit the ground. Then Jesus kneels down and the woman thought it was her demise. He lifts up her face, you can see the grace within his eyes. He says, “I don’t condemn you, go and sin no more. I love you. I accept you. Mercy is yours.” But if you’re anything like me, you’ll be like no that can’t be. Why would he ever die for me? See but then I saw that scene where I was redeemed. He reached out and touched me and said Jeff you’re free! Instantly I was wearing the brightest robe I had ever seen. I was perfectly spotless, I was perfectly clean. So bright in fact I thought I’d go blind. I said whose is this and He said actually it’s mine. So think twice before you eat wat society feeds us. Come follow the king, His name is Jesus.~---

I found this touching and something worth sharing. A student wrote that speech.

Love Always & Forever,

Cassandra Falun

Lost Generation

I am part of a lost generation

I realize this may be a shock but

“Happiness comes from within”

Is a lie, and

“Money will make me happy”

So in 30 years I will tell my children

They are not the most important thing in my life.

My employer will know that I have my priorities straight because

work

is more important than

family

I tell you this

Once upon a time

Families stayed together

But this will not be true in my era

This is a quick fix society

Experts tell me

30 years from now I will be celebrating my 10^th anniversary of my divorce

I do not concede that

I will live in a country of my own making

in the future

environmental destruction will be the norm.

No longer can it be said that

My peers and I care about this earth

It will be evident that

My generation is apathetic and lethargic

It is foolish to presume that

There is hope.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it.

There is hope.

It is foolish to presume that

My generation is apathetic and lethargic

It will be evident that

My peers and I care about this earth

No longer can it be said that

Environmental destruction will be the norm.

In the future

I will live in a country of my own making.

I do not concede that

30 years from now I will be celebrating my 10^th anniversary of my divorce

Experts tell me

This is a quick fix society

But this will not be true in my era

Families stayed together

Once upon a time.

I tell you this

Family

Is more important than work

My employer will know that I have my priorities straight because

They are not the most important thing in my life,

So in 30 years I will tell my children

“Money will make me happy”

Is a lie, and

“Happiness comes from within”.

I realize this may be a shock but

I can change the world and so can you.

~Unknown

Inspiration ~ Hope

"My name is Serena and I'm eleven years old and I have a disease called Primary Immune Disorder. Your bodies produce millions of white blood cells everyday, well mine only produces hundreds and my immune system doesn't work right and so in order to help I'm getting infusions. Prier to getting sick I could go to church on Wednesdays to be part of the choir for the kids, it was really fine and I could go to church on Sundays also. I wasn't sick every weekend and I didn't have to get infusions and I could play outside with my friends, have sleepovers, go to birthday parties like any normal kid could do. I can't go to birthday parties no more, I can't have sleepovers, I can't even go to my families birthday parties unless it's on a school night because I'm sick every weekend 'cause I get infusions. It's really hard because I don't even get to go to church anymore and that's something I really miss doing. This January my father died on a Thursday... he killed himself in Washington, Pennsylvania. The Police came to our house and my mother went out to talk to him and then she came back into the house with the officer and he was asking questions. My mom told me that something might have happened to daddy. She continued to talk to the Police and a few minutes later she told me he was dead and so I ran up to my room and cried. Now just recently my papa just passed away. Since my dad had died he was very close to me, he was like another father to me and I was very close to him. I was crying, I cried the whole way there and I went and sat on the lil' bench. I couldn't go into the house because the body was still there and I couldn't handle that. Momma went in there to help nana and I just sat on the bench and kept crying. I got to a point where I couldn't cry anymore and I just sat there. I sat there and thought about him... it was really sad. I know some of you know me, I know a lot of you know me because I used to go into church with my little mask on and shake everyone's hands, hugged the preacher and go sit down before the music ended. I miss you. I miss all of you, shaking your hands, hugging you and seeing you. I miss it all. These treatments aren't working. They're not working, I am still getting sick a lot. I need you to pray for me and I need you to think of me... and all of that. My favorite verse is {Hebrew 13:5 -- Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, cause God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."} This gives you a sense of comfort because he's always there, even when you think you are alone and you think no one understands... well he does! I'm not angry with God. I know He can do it, He will do it. I just have to have faith and believe in him, if I do he will heal me. It just takes some time."

This girl is an inspiration. She gave me hope as I struggle with everything that I find wrong with me. Trust, faith and belief is all I need and I say it millions of times in one day. He will heal me... but it all takes time. Thanks for everyone that has been there for me and praying for me I appreciate it. This little girl doesn't know us, but she needs prayer. We want to thank God for this little life and we pray that you will remove this obstacle, pray that you will cleanse her and set her free of all sicknesses. Jesus name...

Keep Serena in mind. <3

Love Always and Forever,
Cassandra Falun

Graduated o_O

Being graduated has made me more scared then ever. I am jobless, no one will hire me and I am prayin to God that this last interview will help me start my future.

Bein graduated:
-- makes me feel the pressure of movin out... but I can't afford it.
-- makes me wonder how I will be able to pay for my medication.
-- makes me think on how will I be able to go/get to school when I decide to go back.
-- makes me overwhelmed on how will I be able to survive not having a drivers license.
-- makes me think on how this will all turn out when it's all put together.
-- makes me wish that I just was back in elementary school when the biggest problem was deciding what color to use on a picture.
-- makes me think about how many times a day I use the word 'I'. How selfish I have become, when there are millions of others out there who don't even have the ability to go to school or even get to eat for that matter. Why don't I put everything in God's hands and trust/ believe he will help/ lead me in the right direction?
-- makes me scared.

I'm falling apart and I have lost my path... I know where to go, but I always get mad at myself for letting myself stray off so far... to do the things I did. I'm not proud.

But my favorite quote that I even put in my last post was:

"I don't have to know your name to know your pain...
I have my own.
I don't have to see your home to know your shame...
I have my own.
But someone loved me just the way I am,
And someone loves you just the way you are."
~Reggie Dabbs

That someone will always be in my heart... I asked him to be when I was 5 and he hasn't left my side.

Love Always & Forever ...:::Cassandra Falun:::...

Past, Present, Future

I have been reading this amazing book called "Reggie." There are so many ups and downs, it kind of reminds of my life in a sense. He is one of the best motivational speakers world wide. I saw him at YC (Youth Conference) which occurs every summer in Edmonton. I went for 4 consecutive years in a row. When he wrote this book it was/is an inspiration, bout his life and how he found his calling. He found it through listening. Hearing and listening are two totally different things. I think that is what one of societies or even maybe the problem between us and God. We are hearing but we aren't listening to what He wants us to fulfill.

It's the same with teachers or parents, people in authority. But, we also need to see that those who have nobody, they need someone to talk to. They can find anyone to hear them out, but it's rare for them to find someone who will sit down with them and listen, to encourage and give them advice.

Reggie loved football in High School... but, he wasn't floating around so well with the teachers. When an English teacher told him to write a poem about something he loved, this is what he said.

"I love football, yes I do. I love football, how 'bout you?"

The teacher didn't find it good, just found it silly. She wanted him to find depth, purpose underneath that poem. She gave him a second chance and it had to be handed in the next day. Like any kid who went to school doesn't like studying or homework and so he forgot to do it. He remembered right before his class and wrote the first thing on his mind, it went like this.

"I don't have to know your name to know your pain...
I have my own.
I don't have to see your home to know your shame...
I have my own.
But someone loved me just the way I am,
And someone loves you just the way you are."

It shows how much we over think, over analyze things. We as people just have to realize that it can be simple, yes simple. Simple little thoughts can show us what can lye in our future if we let God lead us with His strength.
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Love Always and Forever,
Cassandra Falun

Bits and Pieces

"You cannot change what has already happened. Good or bad, what is behind you is finished--you cannot take it back." ~Reggie Dabbs

We need to not worry 'bout what happened yesterday or way back when, or think 'bout our future too hard. We need to focus and live today as if it was our last.

Graduation

Wow!
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I can't believe I did it.
I went from being in Kindergarten and saying, "I can't wait till I'm done school!", and now I am a Graduated student of 2011 saying, "What do I do now?!". All these school years have gone by, the good times and the bad, crying and laughter, fighting and playing, obeying and disobeying (I was good at the second one o:) . No matter all the struggles I know I got through it by fighting and being determined to finish what I started, to see my future start to unfold.
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I did it!
Now I am just going and looking for a full time day job, just so I can relax for a year or two before I go straight into school. Maybe I will have a better thought on what I really want to do, something that shows who -I- am.
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Hope everyone has had a fantastic summer and good luck to the parents out there that are sending their kids back into school.
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Love yall!
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...:::Cassandra Falun:::... :)

Everything Has Changed

Everything has changed,

I feel empty inside.

The love I have for him was discovered,

I miss him so much!

The days we spent together were a blast.

I will never forget his smile,

The never ending laughter from his jokes,

I will love him forever!

My bro will always have the key to my heart.

Everyday I wake up

And I still can’t believe he is gone.

My bro,

My best friend,

The guy I miss fighting with,

Chillin with,

I miss his personality,

Overall I just want him back!

Without him,

My life is just not the same.

But,

I know God has a plan for him

And I knew that one day he’d leave.

Just wishing in my heart that is wasn’t so far away.

He has always been there for me,

But he’s my bro,

And I know he will never leave my side.

I love ya big bro! ♥ -xo- ♥

Love Always and Forever,

Cassandra Falun

Bits and Pieces

~You may fight with your sibling but when they move away you will miss them more that anything in the world!

What About Him Or Her?

Another day
I sit here thinking I am in more pain
The medical things I go through
But, no hope stands because they don't have money for a cure
We have the freedom
What about him or her?
His mind is filled with gory thoughts
What we find is normal
That normal is not normal for him
The pictures he drew,
Unbelievable.
Completely blowing my mind away.
And she, she was left behind to die
Her family couldn't afford her
As she hides under a table abandoned
Just skin and bones.
At the age of five she couldn't fend for herself,
She was just expected to die.
This is not a story 'bout him or her
It is about a person who is hurting deep inside.
Why are we just standing here?
The capability we have to help
But, the labels given to one another set us apart.
We are all human,
Unique in our own way.
The greed society has,
We binge
Our wardrobes are endless.
But what about him or her?
They are stuck with nothing,
Not even a family that loves them.
Don't let your hearts turn cold
It's cowardly to only think of ourselves
But, we can set them free,
Just with our love.
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~~By: Cassandra Siemens 2011
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I support a little boy and a little girl, they are actually fortunate to have a family, but the fact of the matter is, is what are we doing with our money?
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If there is a poor man among you, one of you brothers, in any of the towns of the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand to your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. ~ Deuteronomy 15:7
~~These attitudes are a world away from God's attitudes, as described in many verses in the Bible. Neediness arouses compassion in God-- and action. We may think: "Of course God loves the poor; he loves everybody." But it's not so simple as that; God's character is presented as a model for our own. If God values the poor, we have to think about what that means for us.

Cassandra Falun