"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God!"

I have wrote on this subject but wanted to touch base on it again, and more so this time, possibly more in depth that before even, and that is saying a lot. Last time for those stay updated with my blog know I wrote a long post somewhat regarding courtship, but there’s more to it than that in this post. I am going at it in trying to help others understand why I am so passionate about me, what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do in my life, and those around me.

This post is not only a shout out to all my fellow girls who might can use encouragement but also to all you guys out there, too, who can use some encouragement as well. We can all use some advice, encouragement, and inspiration from fellow believers from time to time. That is the reason I blog here.

Jeremiah 29:11 says: “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.” NIV This has been one of my strongest life verses since I graduated high school back in 2007, and it seems that everyday it gets stronger for me. God truly does know the plans he has for me. I know that for me personally, in this stage in my life, there is a lot of why, and when questions I have for the Lord. When Lord will you send my future husband to me, and reveal that to me? Why haven’t I met him yet? Questions like that come and go all the time in my mind. But, I am so often reminded by my Mom, Dad, or family members that the Lord is in control, which I fully know, and knows what He’s doing here. No matter how hard it is to admit it to other people, I know one thing is for certain in my life; God is the head of my life, will be in all my relationships in life, and will be the head of my future family after marriage someday. So girls and guys never fear because the Lord knows the plans that he has for your lives, and he will lead the right person to you in his time. When at times I feel down because I feel I am too strict in my ways, or my standards are way to high for a guy to even want to consider being in a relationship with someone like me, I am reminded of this verse and many others. God himself reminds me to wait on Him; I am totally worth it, and that he has in mind the perfect person for me to marry someday. My standards may be high, but man they wonderful in God’s eyes.

Courtship as I have said before I have read is definitely old fashioned, but it works for strong born again believers in Christ such as myself. I might not have said it in my last post about courtship but I wear a special ring to me, a courtship ring, and on the ring says: “true love waits* 1 Timothy 4:12.” 1 Timothy 4:12 says: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity.” I want to say several things about this verse. It is also one of my favorite verses now because it says so much. I want and will remain pure until my wedding day. I wear the ring to show other people on a daily basis that I am very serious about my commitment to my future husband. That commitment being that he gets all of me, no holding back anything, but all of me. My prayer for him, and for any guy who might be reading this post is that you too, may keep yourself strong and pure for your future wives. They deserve all of you, not half, or a little bit of you, but all of you! I personally love the idea of showing the world how strong my faith is in the Lord by how I act, dress, and respect guys in that regard, and not just my future husband alone. Pure, one-way I show I am pure is my strong sense of modesty. I cannot stand to see how some girls; even those who claim to be strong Christians dress these days. Yes I know that seems judgmental but God said it not me. I am just one of the lucky ones that God has impressed upon to go forth boldly in the way I carry myself daily out in the world for others to see and hear. That means for me, that I do not wear revealing shirts or pant articles that show off parts of my body that should only been seen by my husband one day, and I act like a lady should act when I wear dresses and skirts. I can’t stand short skirts, low tops, and the works. We strongly need Godly men to step up and take a stand on this topic in teaching our young girls about modesty and why it is so important today. I have even heard from some men that it turns them off, rather than on when girls dress with low tops and short skirts and dresses. Ladies, we need to respect our men and not tempt them that way ever! Men, encourage your daughters, girlfriends, or friends even to not dress with those kind of clothing of you know it’s wrong. Take a stand, and be bold today!

Another thing about being pure for me is not becoming really intimate with a guy or a guy with a girl they are in a relationship with. That is one area I have failed in before, never crossing the line at giving in to having sex or anything like that, but kissing wise. You have to be really cautious and strong in your convictions and at times it is really hard when you really like and feel like you love someone. Your emotions get clouded and your judgment is not as strong then. That is why it is so important to refrain from that and be friends first, get to know each other and see where your true passion lies. If you marry someone, it should be for life, as their best friend, help mate, and lover as well. I feel that is why so many marriages end in divorce today, is because they don’t take the time to really get to know the person they are marrying, and the passion dies after they get married and find their sex life isn’t what they thought it would be like.

Courtship meaning all that also means that I will refrain from spending a lot of time a lone with someone when in a relationship with them, even after engaged if I can hope to someday. What does that mean exactly though? Well, for me it means not spending night after night, or day after day alone all the time together in each other’s apartments, family’s homes, etc. I love the idea of spending as much time with our families as possible getting to know them, our friends, church family, etc. I am fine with have “alone” time, just not finding a habit to constantly being alone tons during the relationship before marriage. Sure that may seem really “old fashioned”, as many people might say, but it works for me. I really had planned to save my first kiss until my wedding day, but that dream didn’t pan out, so now my dream is to wait at least until I get engaged, but I am not sure if that will happen. I also have been raised and taught to live this way, and am so thankful for it. Words cannot come close to thanking my two wonderful parents for all the guidance they have given, and continue to give me.

I also as I have said before LOVE Joshua Harris books, especially his book “I Kissed Dating Goodbye.” That’s where a lot of my ideas come from, the Lord, and other sources help as well. Basically as firm believers in Christ, you do not want to be like the world, but apart from it. Christians believe that this is not their home, but a place for a short time before we go to our home in Heaven to live with Jesus forever. I know for a fact that he lives in my heart and I pray he does in yours. I do and say what I do because Jesus has brought me so far. Sure I have failed him many times and fallen flat on my face and felt I had totally disappointed him, but he is always there to pick me up and brush me off. Jesus constantly reminds me why I am the way I am, it’s because he is faithful to compete his good work in me. But, that is only if I allow him to, and boy am I trying hard daily to complete what he wants me to complete, and not what I want to complete.

True there is so much more that I can or could say about my strong views on courtship, me, and all that goes with it, but that could take days and a lot of posts to do. I know already that there is a world out there that totally does not agree me and what I have to say here. But…that is not to say they don’t need to hear this. Jesus wants to the world to hear these words. We need to take a stand on what we are passionate about and what HE makes us passionate about. If you have walked through this post with me, thank you! 

What Inspires Us Most

I have often though about what inspires us most. For example Jesus inspires me most. At the end of this post you will see a video that is now one of my all time favorite songs! The words are so powerful, no matter what situation you may be going through. I have had a lot of people inspire me throughout my life, and even lately I have had a lot of people come into my life who inspire me greatly. Several people have even inspired me to get back into writing on my blog here. Jesus places different people in our lives at the right time to be there for us, lift us up when we need it, and even inspire us. I went back to school last fall to get a degree in Early Childhood Education, and God truly placed me there. He also placed me in the perfect part time job during my school time. I have a instructor who like minded in faith with me, and she is such a Godsend. Never give up on God, he is the ultimate one that can give you the true inspiration that you need in your life. Today we celebrate our Mom's, Mothers Day. I am blessed to say that I have a wonderful Mom!

My Testimony

I thought I would share my personal testimony on my blog. I love sharing my testimony and now you get to hear and read it.

Well to start off, my name is Hillary Carol Haynes, and I live in Kinston, NC where I have lived all my life. I am a born a raised Eastern NC girl where I love to be. I am the daughter of Carl and Beverly Haynes, a doctor and nurse, and the sister to Will, Josh, and Tori. I am a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am a proud member of Sandy Bottom Baptist Church of Kinston, NC! You can often find me at home, hanging out friends, or at church!

I love Jesus with my whole heart, soul, and mind! I accepted Christ as my savior when I was 7 years old, in a hotel room. I have always remembered my Dad having family devotions with the family as I was growing up, and asked everyone if they wanted to pray. Well, I can still see it in my mind, him asking me if I wanted to pray, I did, and asked Jesus into my heart. The road hasn’t always been perfect, but the Lord walks with me and talks with me everyday! I can’t begin to express to you in words the thanks and comfort I find in him and his word. He has always been there to wrap his arms around me whenever I have needed him. Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I try to treat others as I would want to be treated, and have a smile on my face whenever I can because life is too short not to smile. When I smile, I always feel like it will brighten up someone else’s day too. Jesus is the real deal, and my hope for this lost world is that my life can be an example to others as Jesus would have me to be.

I have been blessed with one of the best families on this earth! They have always been there for me, and man can I tell you, I have/had some of the most amazing grandparents in the world also. My grandparents are a big part of why I am the way I am today. The blood of Jesus saved them too, and their walk and example I saw made me want to be more, and so Jesus is doing that today. I miss the ones that have already gone on to be with Jesus, but am thankful my Granny is still here. My aunts, uncles, and cousins are all amazing too. Their inspiration through my life shines through and helps me grow in my walk with the Lord. I love my family, and wouldn’t trade them for the world. My friends, wow, where to start? This point in my life I was some amazing friends! I love that I can go to church and know I am loved and have many friends there. God has blessed my life with special friends over the years, and I am thankful for that! A true friend is hard to find, but I have some true friends who stick by me no matter what, and I love that!

When I was a young child I had an ear infection in my right eardrum, resulting in a hole in the eardrum. My doctor here sent us to a doctor in Raleigh, NC. He suggested surgery to repair the eardrum, and after 3 surgeries and about 3-5 years later, the eardrum is fixed. But, my hearing never really improved in that ear. My left ear isn’t where it should be either. My Mom thought it’d be a good idea to get hearing aids, and my doctor agreed with her. Now I am the proud owner of two hearing aids that match my hair color and skin color too! See, hearing aids aren’t for old people! I love having hearing aids because it got to where if I wasn’t facing you, I often couldn’t understand what you were saying. But, even hearing aid’s aren’t perfect and I often ask people to repeat themselves, and explain the hearing aids. I also have headaches non-stop too. I got a headache about 8-10 years ago, and it never left me. So basically it depends on how it is everyday. I also get migraines about every 2 weeks-a month. But, I don’t let my head stop me from living my everyday life the way I and my God wants me to. I just push harder because I know God wants me to. The way I look at is that there are people in this world that has it worse, ways worse, than I do in life, and I’d rather wake up everyday thanking God for a new day, and go from there. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff I have always maintained that if you just go with the flow, life is so much better that way.

Last but certainly not least, my work, my love, my God given talents. I am a photographer and love what I do. I have always loved being in front of the camera, still do for that matter, and totally love being behind it even more. Capturing life through the lens is simply amazing to me. To show what God has created for us to enjoy and to have as a keepsake here on earth, awesome! I have a degree in Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology that I received from Lenoir Community College, LCC. I also love kids, and can’t wait to get married and start a family of my own someday!

Some thing’s you may like to know about me. I am: a strong dedicated Christian, I hate Halloween and what it stands for, I can’t wait to get married someday when God provides, have kids Lord willing. I love to smile, I love: photography, to hang out with friends, heights scares me but most of the time I can warm up to them ok. I am a silly, energetic, and often hyper person when around friends, I love to laugh, and have a great time, I am not like most girls I know, I am strong on being as modest as I feel the Lord wants me to be, I don’t wear make-up, I don’t look my age, and so much more!

Life is a journey

God is such a great God, that is all I can say. His nature as I saw first hand this weekend is breathtaking, especially when you are viewing all of it with someone who shares the appreciation the same as you do. God has truly blessed me over the past 2 years as I have had to climb over obstacles that He has put into my life. But, I will say that He has taught me so much through it all. I wouldn't be who I am today without him in my life. He is all powerful and all knowing. Only God himself knows when Jesus is coming back, amazing!

I love hiking, and this weekend I went hiking and shot some neat pictures at the Cliffs of the Neuse in Seven Springs, NC. It was so much fun and the company was even better. Nature amazes me, it's just so beautiful! Since I have a love for photography, and hiking, biking, etc., it's fun to do things where I can mix all the things that I love to do, especially outdoors too. I thank the Lord for who I am, and what he is doing in my life all around me. I thank him for my wonderful family, friends, and church family whom I can lean on during hard, trying, and great times as well!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope, and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Hey World

Hey, well, it's been an exciting new year for me and my family, and also one where God is going to do great things for us, through us, and to us. We found out recently that we are going on a different journey than any of us thought that we'd be on this point in our lives. But, we are going to leave it all up to God, trust hard in him, pray, and lean on his holy word to get us through it all! As for me, things are going great! I am staying strong in prayer and daily passionate reading of God's word, the Bible, and look forward to it everyday! I am in my final semester of GAIT at LCC, and am melancholy about that. I am really excited to be getting a job soon after, but at the same time am not ready to graduate.

Tori and I joined Sandy Bottom Baptist Church this past Sunday after much prayer, and guidance from God leading us from our last church, Neuse Baptist Church, there. We are very happy at SBBC and look forward to what our future holds there. Tori turned 16 this past Sunday and is very excited about that, and having her own cell phone now too! She will get her license in April and is looking forward to that.

My oldest brother and his wife are coming down the first week of March, and we are all excitingly awaiting their arrival. They are doing great in Wheaton and are very happy, and continue to work hard and take it day by day in their marriage and life!

This summer already shows big plans for me and my family. Tori is heading to Caswell with her youth group in July, I am going to NY with some friends from church in June, Will and Meghan are coming back this way this summer as they drive down this way to visit friends in Lynchburg, VA. My 22nd birthday is in August, and I hope to have a great summer seeing family and such before settling down with a job come fall.

Well, great update for you all, pictures to come soon of all adventures and new work of mine to see soon, so check back soon friends, and God bless!

Bible verse of the week!

Well, I haven't been up here in awhile, and not this year either, so Happy New Year to you all!!! I am reading this awesome book series written by author Robin Jones Gunn that my sister is letting me read. It is the Christy Miller series, the Sierra Jensen series, Christy and Todd, the college Years, and the Katie Weldon series. Awesome books for girls like me, my sister, and her closest friends in Christ. Anyways, my verse of the week comes from those books and I love it now too.

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. Exodus 19:5. KJV.

God bless you all!!!

Courtship

Courtship
'what it means to me and why I feel it is important!'

In the last few weeks I have been really into watching my new favorite TV show called 18 Kids and Counting. It is a show about a Christian family who have 18 kids, and the mom is pregnant with their 19th child. Their oldest Josh got married last year to the love of his life, Anna, and they recently had their first child. These are a few main thoughts I have about courtship, and there are much more, maybe I will write another post about more thoughts from different sources. Check out Joshua Harris' book's, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," and "Boy Meets Girl," too.

I have watched the episodes around the time when Josh proposes to Anna, and seeing how their courtship went, and thought wow, that's exactly how I want mine to be when I meet my future husband someday. I have also been watching their wedding episode often, that one is special to me also. I have a special journal that singer and songwriter Rebeca St. James put out, and I absolutely love it! It helps me to prepare thoughts of purity for my husband and for him to one day see what I went through in this time of my life while waiting for him.

Seeing the kind of courtship that Josh and Anna Duggar had is awesome for me to see in today's society because so many people look at that as being to vain. All they did was hug when he proposed, very appropriate, then they held hands while they were engaged and courting, that's it, awesome again. When you limit it to just holding hands in the courtship, then there is less of a chance you will keep yourself, your whole self pure before the wedding night. So in seeing them and viewing the way they went through courtship, I really want to hold true to those same principles when I meet my future husband. Also hold them when we become friends, get engaged and court, then get married. I want us to stay pure to each other, for each other, and God, until our wedding night.

Since I am in the stage of my life where I am looking at guys and wondering when I may meet my future spouse, I can't help but to wonder where and when that might be. I constantly pray for him daily, and ask God to guide him in every decision that he makes, and that he may be praying for his future bride as well. I love him already, not because of "who" he is, but "who's" he is. He is a child and follower of Jesus Christ, like myself, and that's why I am going to love him so much when I meet and marry him someday.

Courtship to me is something that I feel God created to keep purity in a relationship between a man and a women as they enter into a important stage of life. The world sees it as "dating," then "engagement", courting is the same thing, just purer, that leads to marriage. For Christians, courtship is a way of keeping themselves pure before each other and God before they get to their wedding night. I think that having a good courtship shows that the couple will have a strong and lasting marriage in the Lord's care and guidance.

Thanks for reading about my views and thoughts on courtship. I thank God after already having "dated" myself in life, that he has brought me to a place of total surrender and am looking forward to my courtship with my future husband someday!

"You see, what happend was...."

Lol, I LOVE hearing Orlando from our church say that line, and so I said it too this past Friday night as we were coming back from Judgement House in Goldsboro, NC. Btw, if anyone in this area wants to go, GO! It is SO awesome and I highly encourage you to go. It was so good this year as per usual in my personal opinion. Well friends, so sorry I haven't kept you up to date on here, but if you wanna see whats happening with me these days, the best way to see is check out my photography website/blog. www.hhphotography21.wordpress.com, or catch me on FB. Other things to say, Christmas is coming and I can't wait, the semester will be over with, and I will finally get to see, WILL AND MEGHAN!!!! I haven't seen them in a year, and it is going to be great. Things are going well otherwise, check back soon, I shall post more soon!

Great things are happening.

A lot has been happening in the last few months. I haven't been on this blog as much since I have been getting my photography site up and running. By the way, if you are a friend of mine, please let your friends know that I am looking for jobs, so if they want pictures done at a cheap price, to please give me a call, or shoot me an e-mail. Info to come at end of this post. Things are going good though, reading my Bible a lot and getting closer to God these days. Things are going good with my family, dad is still busy with work and the Gideon's. Mom and Tori and still homeschooling and keeping busy. I currently am finishing my GAIT degree at LCC and loving the photography classes I am doing. Josh is still working and keeping busy. Will and Meghan are doing well, and I can't wait to see them at Christmas. Anyways, that's all for now folks, hope you all are doing well.

Hillary
252-286-8554
photographer2012@suddenlink.net

Hello World!

Hey to all,
hope everyone is doing well. I am sorry that I haven't been around in a while, been busy, busy, busy with school, and other stuff. I now have my photography website up, so go take a look and leave me comments on there too please! www.hhphotography21.wordpress.com!!! It's been a really busy month but all is well, have finally gotten my external hardrive, and I also just got a ipod touch too! It will be here within another week or so, and I am really excited about that! Well, things are going well with me and mine, things are going on that need prayer about, more to come in the upcoming months in that goes through! Thanks, and love you all, God Bless!