Hello, Technicolor Life.

Life is amazing. Life is also incredibly strange, and it can change in an instant.

I'm talking about life in general, here.

Over the weekend I had the greatest encounter with the one soul I should have saved myself for before even considering getting into any serious relationship, and that is one with my Lord and Saviour, Jesus.

I went to Youth Day 2012: Rejoice! (Philipians 4:4) with a couple friends where I learned more about my God and deepened my relationship further with him. As a conference we were so blessed to have musical guest Cooper Ray from Louisiana come and grace us with his wonderful singing talents, as well as bringing his wife Laura with him and his beautiful son Eli to share with us how to make a relationship strong, and that is through Jesus. We were also blessed with Judy Macdonald from California who came to talk to us about joy and what it means in it's truest form. Joy is not happiness; for happiness sometimes is temporary, but true joy lies in God and in God alone, and with God we should be forever joyful.

2 Timothy 4:7 ~ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

From here on out, that is my new life mantra. If you can be happy only with God and God alone, then to hell with everything else.

So back to the initial topic. Life really does change in an instant, for better or worse, no one can tell.

Even if bad things do happen, they happen for a purpose.

Here is an example.

Acts 20:24 ~ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

I was talking to one of my best friends about relationships and when you should pursue one. I told her that honestly, there is always an opportunity to pursue one. You just have to decide whether or not it is the right opportunity to do so.

For me, that has always been my problem. I have a game plan set out, a timeline written out for myself so that I can accomplish what I can. In the end things end up happening and because of my own naivete I fall, faster than I ever have, and then end up screwing things up for myself.

I'm a teenage girl, it happens.

But I get it now. After making this mistake, twice, with one ending off better than another, I know now not to stick my head into the fire a third time. A third time with only make things worse and make me burn even more. I'm not fully healed yet from my last debacle, nor do I think I ever will. I see him every so often with the boys whom I used to call my friends. His parents even turned on me too.

After that relationship talk, it's all clear to me now. Make your intentions clear, and get it right.

Hence, I found this question in my inbox that I found exceptionally close to what I'm talking about..

JAAG, There is this guy who I liked forever that has finally asked me to be his girlfriend. What should I do now? - Fearing for His Love

JAAG: Honestly, I hear that a lot, and truthfully, I've been there. It's really awesome, I know: You're in love with this guy for _____ many years, wanting him to notice you. Then one day it happens: it turns out he returns the feelings that you have held deep in your heart for ______ many years. I get it: it's a magical feeling, like "yes, finally, you love me too!" sorta kinda.

What I have to pose to you is this: Is this relationship that you want to pursue really worth putting into your tangle of life? For me, it wasn't the right time at all, but I went for it anyways. You have to truly tell yourself that you really are ready for something like this. If you are going through a really hard time right now (ie divorce, passing of a family member, fight with a friend, school probs, etc), now would probably not be such a good time to put another thing into the mix. Things get out of hand and pretty soon you will be either fighting with him about sacrifice, or the fact that he won't leave you alone. Trust me, I've been there. I'm kind of regretting the fact that maybe, just maybe, if I had held a firmer ground and said, "No, now is not the right time", then maybe we'd still be able to carry a conversation as opposed to constant staring at each other, silently.

I really don't want that to happen to you. If you were in my shoes, you would understand that it is the worse feeling in the world, being consumed by the sadness of something you started, did and ended, as well as the anger against yourself for not staying true to yourself.

Please, really think it through before you jump into this relationship. It will save you a lot of trouble and time wasted when you do. Best of luck, though! :)

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Anyways, homework beckons. Thanks for listening though! I know I haven't been on for a while; I've been trying to sort out my Tumblr to make it the best it can possibly for the world wide web :) I'll be sure to tackle more questions though the next time I'm up. Also, a shout out to "Fearing for His Love" - I loved answering your question! It made really think long and hard about my life and my mistakes and helped me learn from them. Like I said above, best of luck to you!

Keep your questions coming in, I love answering them! You guys are the reason why I think and the reason why I learn so much. You all teach me so much!

STAY OUT OF TROUBLE AND DON'T FORGET TO SMILE! Remember, follow your heart, but take your brain with you :)

peace out from the bloggerverse,

rachelrae xx