Just Listen

Here's some statistics:

• EVERY DAY there are approximately 11 youth suicides.
• EVERY 2 HOURS AND 11 MINUTES a person under the age of 25 completes suicide.
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens.
• Suicide is second leading cause of death in colleges.
• For every suicide completion, there are between 50 and 200 attempts.
• CDC Youth Risk Survey: 8.5% of students in grades 9-12 reported a suicide attempt in the past year.
• 25% of high-school students report suicidal thoughts.
  
• The suicide attempt rate is increasing for youths ages 10-14.
• Suicide had the same risk and protective factors as other problem behaviors, such as drugs, violence, and risky sexual activities.
• A recent survey of high-school students found that almost 1 in 5 had seriously considered suicide; more than 1 in 6 had made plans to attempt suicide; and more than 1 in 12 had made a suicide attempt in the past year.

These literally shocked me. Here lately, God has really been pushing suicide awareness on my mind. I mean, a lot of people think, "Oh, none of my friends are suicidal! They'd tell me!" I am glad to say that I have never had a friend who has committed suicide, but that doesn't mean that I never will have one in the future. Hopefully, I can be the person that helps prevent it.

Something I've learned the hard way is that not everybody is what they seem. For all we know, someone who looks happy could be having a really really tough time at home. Or someone who has a genuine smile and laugh could really be dying inside. It really kills me, thinking that maybe someone I know could be going through an extremely tough time and I don't know about it. I don't want anybody to think that I won't care.

My biggest fear is that somebody will hurt themselves because I didn't notice warning signs earlier. A lot of people just need somebody to listen to them, and somebody to understand and not judge them. I've really been trying to become more of a listener and less of a talker, but it's kind of hard for me to just shut up and listen.

Love,
Kirstin

I'm Walkin' On Sunshine!

If you follow this blog and not my other blog, then you should really follow my other one, also. I try to equal out my blog posts between the two, so I'm not swamping one and ignoring the other. The other one is also shared with my two best buds, Tonya and Amanda. They are both really creative, and they have some smart things to say. There is a lot of posts that have no relevance and are really retarded, but they are still nice to read. :D

I just posted on the other one about the "interesting" events of my day, and if you care about my well-being, you should read it. LINK TO THE POST!

I'd just like to give a little shoutout to my friend, Melissa Cherry who lives in ENGLAND (It is England, right?) Isn't that cool that she lives there? I would DIE to visit there sometime! It's one of my life goals! Anyways, I'd like to thank her for encouraging my blogging! :D THANK YOU MELISSA!

Hope you all have had an awesome day! :)

Love,
Kirstin

Amnesia and "Love"

So today as I was driving my little car to Lafayette, I thought of a GREAT subject to write about! Of course, due to my selective amnesia, I have forgotten it. Instead, I shall write about something ELSE that's on my mind, even though I'm pretty darn sure I've written about it before. The subject is on three words.

I love you.

I can't even BEGIN to express to you how much it irks me to hear young teenagers saying this to their boyfriend/girlfriend. It is one of very few things that actually makes me angry! The words to them mean "Well I like you a whole lot, and I am attracted to you, so I MUST love you!" In all honesty, I think over 95% of them are just infatuated. I know that to them it SEEMS like they are in love, because the other person is just perfect for them and they get along great and have good chemistry, but do they REALLY love them? Probably not.

In my own opinion, you can't love somebody unless you have the love of God. If you ARE a Christian and so is your boyfriend/girlfriend, then is the relationship you have together glorifying God? That's all that really matters in the long run anyway. We're here to ultimately glorify God, and God doesn't want you to be in a relationship if it is hindering you from following the Lord. Then again, sometimes God puts people together so you can strengthen one another in your walk with God, and encourage each other to follow God.

I have been asked before why I have never had a real boyfriend. Do you want my honest opinion on why I don't have a boyfriend? I will SURE tell you. I am scared of having one. There, I said it. I am SCARED! I'm scared that I'll just be following my own desires instead of God's. I'm scared that I'll turn into one of those lovey dovey couples that are annoying. I'm scared that I'll accidentally leave my friends behind. Do you have any idea how hard that was for me to admit? Wow, I feel like a new person, getting all that out. I don't really think I've told that to anyone before. *BIIIG sigh*

Well, I'm done for the night. Adios.

-Kirstin

Charlie Changed My Life

So I was sitting on facebook, going down my homepage when I see a post of a video of a kid with extremely red hair. I watch the video, get a few laughs, and go to the youtube channel to see if this one kid's hair is REALLY that naturally red. Turns out, it's not. This kid (Charlie is his name) is really good looking, by the way. (Just thought I'd mention that. I had to tell SOMEONE!) He has a British-sounding accent, so that automatically makes him a billion times more attractive.



So after watching that video, I started wondering what I would look like with dark red hair. With the nifty little Photoshop I have on my computer, I set to make myself a red head. I always thought that I would look TERRIBLE as a red head, but actually, I don't look that bad!

Before

After

So now after seeing what I would look like, my heart is set on dying it. I'm of course going to wait until after graduation, but me and Ryan both made a deal and shook hands on both of us dying our hair red. :)

What are your thoughts on me as a red head?

Love,
The Almost-Ginger

I need some prayer, peeps!

From planning graduation, having two weeks to finish the yearbook, and dealing with some other stuff, I'm feeling REALLY stressed out and worried. Just today I almost started crying just from feeling so overwhelmed by it all. I know that everything will turn out fine, but right now it's just like there's so much to get done, and very little time!

So if you can, just say a little prayer for me not to feel so stressed, and to put it in God's hands.

Anyways, enough of that. If I think of it too long, I'll get in a bad mood.

I love how at the end of the day I can always just crash on the bed and just think and pray. It's what I look forward to during the day. I'm always thinking "Oh man, I can't wait to go to bed." Of course, some nights I just fall asleep within minutes, and others I lie awake for hours. But it's a comforting thought to know that whatever I'm feeling and whatever I'm going through, I'll always have that time of night when I can just lay on my bed and let it all out to God before going to sleep.

I love God. It's the best thought knowing that you can tell God anything, no matter how pointless and retarded, and He will not ignore you. I just tell God EVERYTHING that's on my mind, even if it's a funny thing that happened during the day. Of course, He already knows it, but it makes me feel better actually whispering it to Him and trying not to laugh. I remember one night when I was talking to Him, I had to bury my face in my pillow so I wouldn't burst out laughing! It makes me happy just thinking about it! :)

There are so many things I look forward to seeing and hearing in heaven. I can't wait to feel God hugging me and actually speaking out loud to ME! But I think the thing that I look forward to most in heaven is hearing God's laugh. It must sound marvelous. I wonder if He ever cracks up laughing at things we do here on earth.

Well I think I'm done for today! :D Have a good day, everyone!

LOTS of love,
Kirstin

Duuude!

So today when my parents and I were on our way to Lebanon, I started to tell a story. I began by addressing my parents (mainly Fabio [Dad]) as "Dude". I didn't even realize I said it until a few words in when Fabio said "Did you just call me dude?" Mom said "No honey, I think she called us both dude." Me replying with "Uhhh, sorry..."

So anyways, the point of this short post is this. It's weird that I say things without even realizing that I say them. O_O

-Kirstin

Stupid Cat!

Have you ever realized how tiny and insignificant we are, and how we somehow seem to think so much of ourselves? We think that our lives are so important while we are here on earth.
Compared to God, we are nothing. NOTHING!

I, for one, lose sight of the big picture. That we aren't here for our pleasure, that we are here for God's pleasure to be used by Him! It's hard for me to focus on that! I think I just get so caught up in the here and now, and I make such a big deal out of stupid little things that mean jack squat to God, that I get majorly distracted.

I just got distracted by the cat and I totally lost my train of thought. -_-

Okay, now off to go do the dishes.

Lots of Love,
Kirstin

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I am so sick of hearing perverted jokes all the time. I wish I could have lived in a time where most boys would actually try to earn respect, instead of trying to look macho by being perverts. These days, even girls are starting to say perverted things. I'll admit, I've said "That's what she said" more than once, before I actually knew what it meant.

From now on, if any of my friends say anything perverted, I'm just going to ask them to be quiet and respect the fact that I don't want to hear it. I am constantly convicted when I hear professed Christians say nasty things and I don't stand up for God. I'm tired of feeling that guilt!

I'm not saying that I am perfect, God knows that I'm not. I constantly make mistakes, get annoyed at small things I shouldn't, complain a lot (evidence being this blog), and I fall short on an hourly basis.

I have so many things on my mind right now, but it would take hours to get it all down. I'll just paraphrase some of the stuff.

It kind of annoys me that my most popular post was the letter to my crush. Is it that important, really? I think I'm going to delete it soon, just because of the fact that I hate that people read that so much.

So I posted a status on facebook saying "It irks me when girls say how boys need to be gentlemen when the girls aren't willing to be ladylike" in reference to this blog post by Amanda. Well honestly, I think we have a twisted version of what being ladylike means. It doesn't mean that you always wear dresses, act girly, and have a good posture. In my opinion it's a P31W (Psalms 31 Woman.)

That's all I'm saying for now. I really should get back to happy posts. :P

Lots of Love,
Kirstin