When my mind is full of too many things, and I just need to clear my mind, I have a few places that help me do so. 

I have always had a love for the ocean, and large lakes. I could sit on the shore and watch and listen to the waves come in all day if I could! It's my home away from home, and it helps me clear my mind when nothing else can. Too bad I don't live near either... 

You could call me a nature freak. Go ahead, you know you want to! All my versions of paradise are places that are surrounded by nature, and only nature. Civilisation actually bugs me. No lie. I could NEVER live in the big cities... There is absolutely no way! If there ain't no sign of life, there ain't gonna be a sign of me! 

I don't know where I get this insane love for the outdoors. I think it comes with my fascination of beautiful scenery. I think that's also why I have such a huge passion for travelling. I want to travel to every single place in this world that there is to travel to. Guess I'm gonna have to marry a very rich man! 

Where is your place for peace?

Last weekend I had the privilege to take a trip to Chicago, Illinois with 60 other youth. Wait... 60?! Yes that's right. 60. Big group eh? 

So why exactly did we take a bunch of awesome hooligans down the U S of A? For one very incredible conference called Dare 2 Share. This was my 4th year, so I was there mainly to help "first timers" understand what this conference is all about. Oh yeah that reminds me... I should probably tell you what Dare 2 Share is all about! Well, it Dares us to Share! But to share what exactly? Nothing other than the G.O.S.P.E.L. In other words, we are challenged and taught to share our faith with our friends. And the "GOSPEL" is one way to share it! So hey, guess what? I'm going to share it with you right now! It's pretty awesome so here it goes! 

"God creates us to be with him."
God created us, He made us each unique, and knew who we were going to become before we were even brought into this world. He knows your hopes and dreams, and even the number of hairs on your head. He wants us to live for him, and trust in him only because he knows what is best for us. 

"Our sins separate us from God."
Every time we sin, and do something that God does not agree with, it creates a wall that separates us from the guidance of our God. He is not the one that moves away from you, but rather you are the one that moves away from him because you have chosen to disobey him. Sin is the one thing that God can not tolerate. 

"Sins can not be removed by good deeds." No matter how many good things we do for other people, it does not erase the sins that we have made. It may make us feel a little better about ourselves, but it will never ever fill the gap of hurt and and confusion that only our God can fulfil. 

"Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again." Because God loves us SO much, he sent is one and only son to pay for our mistakes. He took all of our sin to the cross, and sacrificed his life, to forgive us for our sins. Not only did he pay the price, but he came back to life to spread the good news of the one true God that wants to save us from the darkness of sin. 

"Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life." If we give our life to God, He will always provide for us. He is our God of the impossible, and we can do anything through him who gives us strength. If we believe, and live all out for God, he promises us that when we die, we will live up in heaven with him. 

"Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever." When we give our life over to God, he promises us that he will reward us in heaven. The things of this life are nothing compared to the beauty and wonder of the things that God has for us in heaven. 

Here's a link to an awesome video done by one of the leaders of Dare 2 Share to share the GOSPEL in his own rap! It's truly amazing I insist that you check it out! http://youtu.be/Ymfh6RJezQ4 

I know that this is hard to take in, and it's confusing, and you probably have like a millions questions. So please feel free to ask a question in the comments bellow, and I will gladly answer them in the best way that I can! 

I was born with no skin on the shins of my legs. 

You right now: "Are you serious??"
Yes, actually I am very serious! This strange and just about never heard of defect is called Criticula Aplaisia. It usually occurs on the stomach or scalp, but this time round, it was somewhere completely different. The nurses at the hospital where I was born were completely clueless to what was wrong with me. My poor parents were terrified, and the nurses made it sound like it was their fault that their child had some strange defect! So where did we go from there? None other than the incredible Sick Kids hospital. The doctor that was assigned to me knew exactly what I had the moment he saw me. And he quickly reassured my parents that what I had was only a genetic skin defect. My parents had done nothing wrong. He also said that he had never seen it occur on the legs before, let alone he has not had many, if at all any patients with the same skin defect. 

It took just over a year for my skin to heal. With special care, and many bandages, my legs have cleared up quite well. It now looks like I have had a bad accident with fire, and burnt my skin. That's often what people assume when they see the effected area of my legs up close. Sometimes it bothers me, and am embarrassed because no one else looks like me with the shiny and somewhat wrinkly looking skin. But I am also very thankful that all I have is a skin defect, and not something that could have been much worse. 

I tell you this story because I believe that we are all unique in our own way. You may not have some weird looking skin on your legs like me, but you certainly are someone special. Never, ever knock yourself down because you think you aren't good enough, aren't smart enough, or even not handsome/beautiful. You are made the way you are for a reason. We all have our weaknesses, but we have more strengths than we will ever realise. Always be yourself, and be proud of who you are! 

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." - Psalm 139:14 

"When I can't find the words
To say how much it hurts
You are the healing in my heart
When all that I can see
Are broken memories
You are the light that's in the dark

You are the song
You are the song I'm singing
You are the air
You are the air I breathe in
You are the hope
You are the hope I'm needin'
Whoa
You are

And when my circumstance
Leaves me with empty hands
You're the provider of my needs
When all my dirtiness
Has left me helpless
You are the rain that washes me

If I had no voice, if I had no tongue
I would dance for You like the rising sun
And when that day comes and I see Your face
I will shout Your endless, glorious praise" ~Colton Dixon 

This song describes the incredible wonders of the one and only God I follow. These words mean so much to me, and encourage me that my God is so powerful, and He can help me through any situation that I face. 

If you want to listen to the whole song, click on this link:
http://youtu.be/YM8hxE-j4T8

If this song or this posts makes you want to know more, please feel free to ask. I will be posting a lot more about my faith in the up-coming posts. 

    Every year, I attend many conferences. They each offer teachings, and a hope
to inspire and motivate us. Although most of them are inspiring, they always
seem to be based around the same technique to do so. Conferences have
techniques? Yeah, actually they do! If you think about it, doesn’t each one have
speakers do a presentation, made to inspire you? To motivate you? To light your
fire? Yep! You bet they do! 


     Now you may be wondering what my big deal is…. Isn’t it a good thing to
motivate us? Yes, it is a very good and important thing. We teenagers can be
very lazy at times… Let’s be honest! But don’t you think they shouldn’t just
leave us hanging? Because most times they do… “Do what makes you happy!” or,
“Find your passion, and live it out!” oh and don’t forget the all important,
“You can change the world!!”…. How? That’s my question. I always feel that they
don’t give us legitimate ways to do all of these things. I mean, when it comes
to “changing the world”, they tell us to donate to charities, and recycle to
save wildlife. These are both VERY great actions to take, but they are very
small actions at that! Some of us really want to make a big difference in our
world, but we very little get chance to do so! I believe that there are so many
young people who have the capability to REALLY make a difference. I hope that
soon enough we can come together to actually impact this world of ours!