Should I Date?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In todays culture, it's hard to get out of higschool without the pressure to date, and in highschool, dating can be one guy for all four years, or it can mean meaningless, selfish relationships, just going through guys like new underwear. By the time you are finished with school, you're in the double digets of how many guys you've been with!

 

It is love that should drive Christian teens to date, but it should not be the shallow version of love. When you date, it should be taken seriously. You should know the person you are dating and know their beliefs.

You should check your potential boyfriend against the values listed in 1 Corinthians 13. Ask yourself if the two of you are patient and kind to one another. Are you envious of one another? Do you boast about one another or to each other? Go through the characteristics to measure your relationship.

 

The number one thing you should look at is yourself. Why do you feel the need to date? Does your need come from pressure from school, friends or family? Are you mature enough to handle caring for someone else, and being in a steady relationship with that person? Do you like this guy because of his ultra hottness, or because he has a gentle spirit and a leading personality that you would one day love to see in a future partener? Does he share the same faith as you? (2 Corinthians 6:14) Make sure you are only dating those who share your beliefs. Otherwise you may find that your relationship is a struggle rather than a joy.

 

I can't say this enough, PRAY before you act one something that 'everyone else is doing' or pushing you to do. If God says no than that means no. He knows what he's talking about and he's protecting you from future harm or heartbreak. Be careful of recreational dating, where you date for the sake of dating. God calls us to love one another, but the scripture is clear that He asks us to be careful. While love is a beautiful thing, the breaking off of relationships is hard. There is a reason they call it a “broken heart.” God understands the power in love and the damage a broken heart can do. This is why it is important for Christian teens to really pray, know their hearts, and listen to God when they decide to date.

 

Did you know that Haley HATES rollercoasters?!?!

Fruit of the Spirit Part 1~ Renee Arnold

If you look in Galatians 5:22-23, you will see a list of character qualities that you've probabaly heard rattled off many times before. This list contains love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness and self-control. These verses says that the Holy Spirit in us will produce these qualities, just like a good tree grows good fruit. Even if you've been a Christian a long time, that doesn't mean you're not going to struggle with these things. It just means that they should be developing as you mature in your faith. Over the next few months, I will write about two of these fruits at a time so it's not an overload on your system when you read 6 whole paragraphs on virtues at once.

Love may seem like the easiest out of all of them because we talk about love a lot in our culture. We usually say "I love you" to at least one or two people a day, wheather it be our parents, boyfriend, siblings or best friend. We kind of toss the term around csually, but what is true love? The love like Jesus had for us, where he was willing to be tortured for us. But, you don't need to die a grusome death to love someone. Loving someone can be as simple as helping them through a tough time, sitting with an outcast during lunch, giving cookies to a neighbor in need, or showing Christ your love worshiping and making a habit of reading your Bible every night. Love is so much more then three words, our world lacks people who genuinely care. Make a decision today to reach out in the form of a loving gesture to one unlikely person this week!

The next fruit found in Galatians is joy. Joy is a funny word, the dictionary describes it as a feeling of pleasure and happiness. That makes no sense becasue that would mean the Bible says it's a sin to be sad which is certainly not true. Even Jesus had times when he was upset and didn't feel happy and He lived a blameless life. Biblical joy is always having hope in Jesus Christ and not dwelling on the bad in your life. Even when everything else goes wrong, you know you have Jesus, and He will help you through. Lean on Him and you will find this subtle inner happiness no matter what you're facing, that's what joy is.

Keep your eyes out for my article on peace and patience!

Love,

Renee

 

 

Did you know that Renee has a reaccuring dream about an alligator??

Candy Apples~ Heather Young

Candy apples are a great way to start off the season of fall! Here are just a couple of recipes that you can enjoy while you do your homework, or whenever you’re not busy!

Seattle Caramel Apples

Ingredients:

3 Granny Smith apples

3 wooden sticks

½ of 14-ounce package of individual caramels

1 tablespoons of water

¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 1/12 cups of trail mix

½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Remove the stem from each apple and press a craft stick into the top.

2. Place apples on a cookie sheet covered with lightly greased aluminum foil.

3. If the caramels are individually wrapped, unwrap them and then combine caramels and water in a saucepan over low heat.

4. Cook, stirring often, until caramel melts and is smooth.

5. Stir in the vanilla.

6. Dip each apple into the caramel and gently run apples around insides of saucepan to scrape off some of the caramel. Scrape excess caramel from the apple bottoms using the side of the saucepan.

7. Place the apples in the fridge for 10-15 minutes, then take a damp paper towel and pat the caramel so it will get sticky again.

7. Spread the trail mix out on a dinner plate.

8. Roll the apples in the mixture to coat.

9. Place the apples on the aluminum foil and chill.

10. Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl.

11. Cook the chips in the microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth.

12. Drizzle over the apples and return them to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

For those of you who aren’t huge fans of nuts or chocolate, this is the recipe for you!

Caramel Apples

Ingredients

3 apples

3 wooden sticks

½ of 14-ounce package of individual caramels

1 tablespoons of milk

Directions:

1. Remove the stem from each apple and press a craft stick into the top.

2. Butter a baking sheet or large plate.

3. Place caramels and milk in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 2 minutes, stirring once. Allow to cool briefly.

4. Roll each apple quickly in caramel sauce until well coated, and place each one on the prepared sheet to set.

Before eating these tasty treats, it’s a good idea to refrigerate them for 15-20 minutes so that the caramel will firm up.

Also, I found that the caramel I heated up in the pan was smoother than the caramel I heated up in the microwave—Just so you know! J

***Credit to http://allrecipes.com

Did you know that Heather loves Hershey's Dark Chocolate?!

Jean Purses~ Hogan Stevens

This is something my mother started doing a few years ago, and it really has become quite popular with everyone in my family. They’re cute, stylish, inexpensive…and the best part is that you can do it all yourself!

Start out by getting a pair of jeans. They don’t have to be a brand new pair; maybe you have some older ones that no longer fit, or you can even find nice jeans for a great price at thrift stores. One thing: Make sure the jeans you choose are a smaller sized pair, around size 9 or 8, because if you get them too big the purse will end up looking not as nice and compact.

Cut the legs of the jeans off just a little ways below the bottoms of the front pockets, and set the legs aside for later because you’ll need them again soon. Now, turning the rest of the jeans inside out, sew the bottom together with a sewing machine at the place you just finished taking off the legs.

When you are finished with that, you’ll need to go ahead and start on your shoulder strap for the purse. Taking one of the cut-off legs, snip off a strip however long you wish, though make sure to make the width twice as long as you want it to be, because you need to turn this strip over to the wrong side and sew both sides together. Once finished with the sewing, pull the strip out to its regular side, the one that matches the rest of the purse. Press it nice and flat.

Now, lay the shoulder strap aside for a moment and get back to the actual body of the purse. Choose some sort of fabric (perhaps a colorful old shirt or bandanna; it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive.) and cut out a belt for your jeans. Go about this the same way you made the shoulder strap--make it twice the preferred width, sew it together on the reverse side, and then pull it through right-side. Make sure you press it flat. And, just like any belt, thread it through the belt loops when you’re finished making it. You can tie it off in the front in a square knot, as we’ve done here.

Of course, you don’t have to make a belt if you don’t want, though I really do like the look it gives the purse. We usually sew our fabric to the jeans so that there’s no way it can come loose and fall off, but if you wanted you could probably make a few different belts and switch them out according to your outfit. Do whatever you wish--it’s your own little project, a way to let loose your creativity.

Let’s get back to the body of the purse. Go ahead and turn it inside out once more, because now it’s time to attach the shoulder strap you made earlier. Attach it on the inside of the purse, making sure each end is centered over the side seams of the jeans. If you’re not careful and accidentally sew the strap on crooked, it will end up not sitting on your shoulder quite right.

If you want a clasp for your purse to keep it closed, cut out a slightly rectangular strip from one of the legs, with one end slightly wider than the other. Decorate it with anything you like. We simply sewed on some more fabric. Now, cut a hole into the wider end of the strip, and then sew around the hole; otherwise, it may fray or split apart. As you can see in the pictures, my mother used a zigzag stitch in most of her work, just to give off a bit of a flare.

Once you are satisfied with the way your clasp looks, sew it onto the back of the inside of the purse, again making sure that everything is straight and even. For the fastener to clasp each side of the purse together, you may simply use any time of button or hook, or even the ties of the hand-made belt.

We’re through with the hard stuff! Now comes the fun part--the decorating. Buttons, tassels, patches, fabrics…The choices are nearly endless! In this particular purse, we simply sewed on some hand-cut hearts, again using the zigzag stitch.

If you feel like it, you can also make a cute little phone holder from what you have left from the legs. Remember the method: inside out, sew, pull right-side.

Let your creative juices flow! This is a purse you can make any way, YOUR way, so experiment. And most of all, have fun! If you have any questions about any of the steps, I would be glad to help out. Also, if you do end up making one of these purses, let us at LAT know! We love hearing back from our readers.

Did you know that Hogan is extremely double jointed?!