Words of Wisdom

Gail: Keep Christ first.

Leah: My life verse this past year is Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart and lean NOT on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." I've learned to ask God for His understanding of situations/circumstances and lay mine aside. Plus to bring small concerns/ details to Him, praying about everything before I act. His Way, His Will, His direction are the best for you!








Linda: Stay focused on the Lord. Don't fall back into your old ways. Remember to forgive yourself for your past. God knows you're not perfect and will stumble but it's okay no one is perfect. I know it's hard but in everything you do ask God first and let it be His will. Keep yourself surrounded with other Christians because everyone else will make you stumble. Through Christ you can do anything. I know you will do great things and God bless you.







Taeilorae: Honestly one of the best advices I can give you is to give God your first FRUITS! In tithing, and in your bible time. Let's say you have school at 8 am, wake yourself up and try and spend at least 15 minutes with God. Worshipping, journaling to Him, or just reading some scriptures and writing down what you interpret. I think you're a great girl and I know you will be trying your hardest to give God your full attention/ love. Just make sure you tithe and really dig deep in your Bible. Let him lead your every move and wait to do things with His confirmation.

Brian P. Duarte: Abby, I just want to say I love your energy and your passion. In the short time that I have gotten to know you, it's clear that you are a no nonsense type of person. You go head first in all that you do. You remind me a little of myself when I was your age. You do nothing halfway. I am going to tell you this is a great thing. Yes, that's right. My slogan if you were to know me well is "all in," heart, mind, and soul. Okay so with that said, I am going to "encourage" you to use the God given talents He has blessed you with: passion, intensity, and zest for life and relationships, outgoing personality, and sassiness (yes this is a good thing if it's used in a godly way- not sure exactly what that looks like, but the Lord does LOL!)
What I'm trying to say is that God has given you the gift of life. He has redeemed and restored you. There is no going back! Use the gifts God has blessed you with for His purpose: to always be kind, always show love (no matter how hard it is!) always speak with gentleness and always be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your walk with Jesus has many blessings but it holds a tremendous opportunity to be more like Him. My advice is to know Jesus more and more. How He looks at life, wants you to live life, and how He dealt with struggles and challenges. This is your life long journey.
You will never go wrong modeling your life after Jesus. With it, you will lose friends, face persecution, and others will be rude and laugh at you. But take heart, the world hated Jesus, it's going to hate you. Why am I saying this? Because that's what Jesus SAID. But He also said your reward is not on this earth but in Heaven, it doesn't mean He won't bless you on this earth, but keep in mind there will be times you will question our Lord's path for you. But know He has your back, He loves you and wants to use you for His purpose.
Abby, I see great things in your future. You have an amazing testimony, use it for good. Change lives for girls and for others that need to hear your story. But remember stay humble and always, I mean always, give God the Glory! I will be praying for you that you will be a light that shines and burns brightly.
May God bless your heart,
Brian

Carla Geiser:
First off, I will give you some of my favorite verses.
"Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4
"O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10
My advice is to be grounded in the word of God. Hold tight to friends that will encourage you and help build you up in Christ. Find someone that will keep you accountable with everything. Love you and I am so excited to see what God has for you!
Love, Carla



Sandra:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Abby I am so thrilled to have met you and serve with you on this team. It was a great honor to hear your testimony and watch you get baptized in the Nile River.
I truly believe that the Lord does have plans for you- that's why you are here. And an awesome future as well. Just continue to listen to what God has to say to you. Always surround yourself with positive Christian people. Stay focused on your goals in life and you will do really well. I know that your parents are really proud of you and so are those of us on this team.

Love you Abby, Sandra Otis



Tighe Cordry:
Abby,
I wanted to tell you how much your testimony touched me this morning & wanted to share my stories. Two years ago I found percocet and norcos in our medicine cabinet and I tried them out of curiosity. This quickly turned into a year of sniffing oxycontins, opanas, & climaxed when I shot up for the first time with a drug 60x more potent than heroin. The Lord protected me from overdosing many times & protected me driving while nodding off. After shooting up the Lord broke me immediately. The Word became living & the Lord revealed Himself to me. He gave me the choice to follow Him or continue in shame and sin. Obviously it was an easy choice to make! I've grown so much since the Lord delivered me from pain medication & so much sin 10 months ago. I pray the same growth will continue in you. Anton & I prayed over you last night and I feel He has already answered that prayer in many ways how He's touched you this morning. Put on the armor of God in Ephesians 6 daily, and keep losing yourself & gaining Christ. Proud of you!
Your brother,
Tighe