Traditions

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I love baking cookies, putting up the Christmas tree, shopping for friends, having fun with family, and the joy that comes along with Christmas. I look forward to it every year. My family traditions are probably my favorite part of the season. My family has some very fun traditions. We celebrate with my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and my cousins. We always have a lot of fun watching my 2-year-old cousin, Levi, excitedly open his presents.

My favorite tradition is what my parents, siblings, and I do on Christmas Eve. We always stay at home and eat finger foods. We either play games or watch movies, or sometimes even both. We eat cheese and crackers, trail bologna, pretzels, chips–pretty much any finger food you can imagine. My mom usually gets sparkling grape juice for us to drink. Even though Christmas Eve is my parent’s anniversary, they always spend it with their kids. They have their anniversary dinner the night before and have fun with their kids on their anniversary. They give their time to us.

My second favorite tradition is that we always have French toast or pancakes on Christmas morning. We have orange juice, cranberry juice, and grape juice. My dad always makes it and my sister usually helps. It’s always delicious. After we eat, we clean up, and then go and open our presents.

I am very grateful that my family gives time to spend with each other. We all have such busy lives that we don’t get to be together as a family all that often. I am very thankful that we can spend Christmas and Christmas Eve together. I am looking forward to Christmas this year. I hope that everyone has a good Christmas and has fun with their families and friends. Take the time this year to reflect on and appreciate the special traditions you have with your family.

By Lizzy Morgan

Family Ties

I have been very blessed throughout my life. I have a mother who loves me and siblings who I actually enjoy being around. I was born in a country where I have freedom to attend church and share my beliefs. I have no fear of being beaten because I’m a woman, and I have the opportunity to receive a good education. There is so much in my life that I don’t deserve and I try to spend every day being continually thankful for it.

I have also had my fair share of tragedy and suffering in my lifetime. My family has been hurt by someone we should have been able to trust, and some bad decisions have been made as the result. This brings me to the point of this article. Even though we are Christians, we are not guaranteed a perfect, easy life, but what we are guaranteed is the constant presence and love of God (Matt. 5:45).

When tragedy struck my family, my grandparents gave me a small foot-shaped keychain with words that I could never forget. It is a famous poem that many people have heard and it is written in many different versions, but the one I have always known goes something like this, “Lord, you said once I decided to follow you we would walk side by side through life. But when I needed you most I only saw one set of footprints in the sand.’ The Lord replied, ‘I love you and I would never leave you during your times of trial and suffering. When you saw only one set of footprints in the sand, it was then that I carried you.’” (Mary Stevenson, 1984)

These few sentences have stayed with me since the young age of six and have often reminded me where to turn. God is there whenever we need Him and gives us exactly what we need when it’s needed––just like He did when He put it on my grandparents’ hearts to buy me that keychain (Phil. 4:6-7). Because God knew that I would need it in my life and that it would help me press on through the hard stuff.

There have been times when I foolishly chose to pull away from God rather than strive to be closer and I always ended up regretting it (Romans 12:12).  So as a Christian I would have to say that when things are not going the way you have planned in your mind just remember God will take care of you and something good can come from it if you choose to let it (James 1:2-4).

Don’t be afraid to be confused or angry about the sad things that happen in your life, but do always remember that God doesn’t want you to be hurt or upset and He will help you get through it. God never leaves us, and when we work diligently at our relationship with Him we can become exactly what He designed us to be!

Getting Close

The first time I saw the sand and the ocean as far as my eyes could see, is when I realized that I saw Him. I stood on the beach with the sand between my toes and the water washing over them and I felt Him. Still to this day, I will never forget how close I feel to God when I am at the ocean. All of us have a place where we feel closest to Him. When I was twenty, I left home for a period of time and moved to the North Carolina coast. Any time I needed to feel close to God, I went to the beach. I usually went late in the evenings when others had gone home. I knew I could pray wherever I was and He would hear me, but feeling Him is what gave me comfort. When I had to leave North Carolina and move back to Kentucky I took one last drive to the beach. Alone, late at night, I sat there with the water rushing around me and cried. I had never felt as close to God as I did when I was on a beach. What was I going to do now?

I moved back home and I immediately missed that closeness. I prayed and prayed. And although that can bring some comfort, for me I needed to feel as though He heard me. One fall day I went for a drive alone. The leaves had changed colors and seeing all the colorful trees on the mountainside simply amazed me. I pulled over and decided to take a walk up an old path. I was half way up the path when I felt Him. I looked down and there were leaves everywhere. The cool autumn air, the birds chirping––I knew He was telling me something.

I didn’t need the ocean to feel Him. Sometimes I don’t even need to pray to feel close to Him. I simply need to take the time to appreciate the marvelous works He created. The snow in the winter, the rain and flowers in the spring are all signs He gives us that He is alive. In some form, everyday, I look for Him. I always make it a point to appreciate the blessing He gives me of life so that I can enjoy His works.

By Sarah J. Ancheta

Loving Ladies

I became pregnant shortly after I was married, and while my husband and I made enough money to live, we didn’t make enough to support ourselves and a child. He had just joined another person as a business owner, and I became their secretary. Our lack of money and baby necessities caused us to worry throughout my entire pregnancy. To top things off, about six weeks before the baby was due, we discovered several dishonest things my husband’s partner had been doing, and we both immediately packed our things and left, which put us both out of a job.

We were about to have a baby, we did not have jobs, and we didn’t have any baby items except a few outfits, a green blanket, and some rubber duckies that had been given to us by family members. We were worried sick. And then …

The baby shower at my church had been planned for months, and it just happened to fall about two weeks after we left our business. I walked into that baby shower with practically nothing, and I was astonished at the amount of gifts that were piled on the tables, overflowing to beneath the tables, beside the tables, and in front of the tables. The room was packed with women, and every seat was taken. My mother was beside me and said something along the lines of, “Oh, wow, Davonne, I think you’re being taken care of.” That day I received a bassinet, crib, car seat, stroller, sleepers, diapers, bath stuff, changing table, dresser, and everything else I could possibly need for a newborn. Word had gotten around about our business, and instead of getting the normal cutesy outfits people tend to give as baby shower gifts, the women had gone in together to give us larger items we weren’t able to afford. I walked into that shower with nothing, and left with everything.

As with this instance, the women at my church pull together in time of need, no matter who the person is, and they give what needs to be given. But most of all, they give what we all need most––a glimpse of the love of Christ in human form. Thank you, God, for women like these, who truly make the world a better place. I wouldn’t be who I am without them.

- Davonne Parks

Kudos to the Staff

This column is for readers to write about something good someone has done for them, whether it’s God’s blessings or another person’s. I want to tell you about what the Pierce My Heart volunteer staff has done. Volunteers on staff range from fifteen to eighty years old, and include men and women (but mainly women). The women are students, wives, mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, active church members, and workers in and out of their homes. The men are husbands, fathers, preachers, and teachers who work long hours at their jobs. This volunteer staff, above everything else, loves God and has come together with one united goal––to spread the Word of God to as many people as possible, with direct efforts to reach young women across the nation, and someday, the world.

These people are not paid; they take the time out of their schedules for free to create and maintain the magazine. Nothing you see on this website is there by accident; everyone has worked so hard to get the magazine to where it is now, and people continue to work to improve the magazine. Pierce My Heart has been a labor of love from the volunteers who long to share Christ’s love with others in order to help spread the gospel to all the earth (Mark 16:15).

Thank you, volunteers at Pierce My Heart! The magazine wouldn’t exist at this level without each of you! Keep up the great work, continue to live faithfully, and when the end comes you will be greatly rewarded (2 Thessalonians 2:14).

- Davonne Parks

God Smile

Definition of “God Smile”:

My good friend and preacher’s wife Dana told me about what she likes to call “God smiles.” She explained that a God smile is a small blessing from God, such as the closest parking space being available when it’s raining outside, or finding an item in the first place we look. A God smile is something small God does for us, just to remind us He cares.

My Own Experience with God’s Smile:

I recently had a one-on-one meeting with a friend to try to mend our friendship, as we had both unintentionally done things which had hurt each other. The meeting went very well, but I was really tense after leaving, with the stress of the situation finally coming to the surface.

Before I go on, you must know that my family enjoys watching American Idol together, so after the season finale, my husband and I sat down together and chose our favorite American Idol Season 7 songs to download from I-Tunes, keeping in mind our daughter’s favorites as we made our selections. We then burnt 80 minutes worth of American Idol songs, in order by artist, to a CD and placed it in our jeep.

Fast forward to right after my meeting . . . I was very emotional; I felt tense, relieved, and stressed all at the same time. Our American Idol CD had been playing on shuffle in the car on the way to the meeting. On the way home, a Brooke White (my favorite contestant) song came on, and I listened to it, still tense. Then another Brooke White song came on. Then another; each Brooke White song came on, in a row, until I was calm and relaxed, mellowed by her music. After each of her songs had played, the CD randomly went to other artists, continuing the shuffle. By that time, I was relaxed enough to enjoy the other artists’ music, and to praise God for helping the meeting to go as well as I had been hoping. God knew that as I was leaving my meeting I needed Brooke White’s music to help relax me, and He delivered!

I had laughed at Dana as she told me about God smiles, and I didn’t really understand what she meant until I experienced it for myself afterwards. I now keep my heart open to God smiles every day, and I enjoy the small blessings He freely gives when I allow myself to be open to Him. Now when God smiles at me, I try to pass it on by doing something nice for someone else, just to show them God and I care.

By Davonne Parks

The Greatest Day of My Life

I’ve always remembered that day like it was yesterday. I had been contemplating all week whether or not I was going to do it, and on Friday I had finally decided. I WAS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED! It was the last day of church camp, and I just felt like it was the right time. I felt like God had surrounded me with his loving hands. My mom was at camp with me and I was nervous about telling her. I’m not sure why I was, though. I first told my best friend that I wanted to get baptized, and she helped prepare me to talk to my mom. I then had to go and talk to the Director of that week he was also the preacher at my church. He asked me who I wanted to invite—I had become close to all of the other teens that week, so I told him that’s who I wanted to invite, plus some of the staff. I wanted to get baptized at night, because I have always loved the moon and the stars; they are just so beautiful.

After the activity that night, we were going to watch a slideshow with pictures on it from the week, but they were having technical difficulties. So my preacher told me to get all my friends to the pool and to go get changed. My excitement had been building all day and the moment was finally here. I couldn’t help but smile.

After I had changed, my mom and I walked up to the pool. All of my friends were lined up by the steps, and my preacher was waiting. He led me into the pool, and he asked me “Do you believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the redemption of your sins?”

“I do,” I replied.

“I now baptize you in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” He then dunked me under the water, and when I came up, I know I had a huge smile on my face. I was so happy. When I got out of the pool, I grabbed my towel and went over and hugged all of my friends. I had tears of joy in my eyes. When I got to one guy, he put a necklace with a cross made out of nails around my neck and then hugged me. I don’t know if he knows how much that meant to me, but I’ll always remember it. This was and will always be one of the greatest days of my life.

by Lizzy Morgan