my heart may be broken, but i will NEVER quit.

hey there,
sooo school just started for a whole wack of people. exciting stuff! i started yesterday and i know i had big plans for this year. going to camp two weeks ago helped me to see what areas in my life i needed to work on and learned a lot about what i could do to change it and to live my life glorifying God. i felt so ready to come back home and make a difference. going to school, i felt motivated and prepared. "chill yo i got this!"

mega fail.
honestly, i felt like i was hit with a bunch of rocks. i never expected how hard satan could try to hit me and i definately wasn't prepared to fight this battle on my own...how are you sopposed to live righteously, happily, and continually setting an example for people when you're surrounded by people who couldn't care less about righteousness or what it even means?! i was falling hard and it was only the first two days of school. i was dissappointed in my friends for how they were acting, dissappointed that things didn't work out the picture perfect way i imagined, and dissappointed in myself for not being the Godly person i wanted to look like.

my problem was that i shouldn't have relied on myself at all! i should have been relying on God. i know i'm not the only christian who has been through this. it happens all the time. what amazes me is how easily we can rely on ourselves instead of the strongest, most secure person in the universe. GOD! God is the one who provides us with opportunity, with the words to say, and with the courage to do the right thing...but we ain't got nothin' if we ain't got God!

if there's anything i learned from this, it's that the second i look to myself for anything is the second things start to fall apart. God needs to be first on my mind no matter what i'm doing or who i'm trying to help. we need to come into the battle prepared; but not with our own understanding and knowledge, with God's word and a little bit of faith.

it doesn't mean the battle gets easier, it just means we'll get back up when we start to fall. the past few days we a little rough, but thank God for grace and forgiveness, pick up and carry on.

"Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Ephesians 6:13-17

a toughy but a goody!
eh.

and then take a left on memory lane,

sooo on the last day of camp, i was about to leave, and i thought, "well this week just wasn't exciting enough, i think i need to dislocate my knee." so i did.
sarcasm. i had NO intention of screwing up my knee, but i did anyway, so here i am, almost a week after camp, still on crutches and still bored to tears...no joke, i actually shed tears over my boredom. and in this boredom, i decided to look through some old photo albums! maaan those bring back memories :)

oh wyatt, broken arm and STILL jumping through bushes...some people never learn.

i can never get enough of those little sunglasses! wy, you were always the stylin' one.

if you haven't done this in a while, i highly recommend you do...who knows what memories you'll dig up!

ta ta for now!

eh

life in full swing

I'M BACK :)

from new england teen camp, of course, where i had he most amazing time of my life. like it's almost dissappointing because there's probably only a limited amount of these fantastic moments and i just had a week of them...who knows how many more i'll get?!

anyway, this camp; a week of fun, of learning about God, and a week of fellowship. a week of super awesomeness! the theme was "authentic" and it challenged each of us to be just that. we learned about being open with people and how important that really is. we talked about the authentic standards we need to have, and we talked about God's authentic and indescribable love for us.

honestly, i don't even know where to begin, other than the fact that i have a lot to change in my life. it's crazy! but i guess a good place to start with that is at least to be open with people. then your feelings are out! maybe you'll realize what your issue is or maybe the person you're talking to will, lol. either way, you could learn a lot from yourself, others, and most importantly God, simply by humbling yourself and being real with people.

this year, i don't feel like i came back super excited from camp...like not that "i'm going to conquer the world!" feeling, but it was more of an anticipation to go back to reality with God as my focus. with God i can do anything. with God i can live in peace, with contentment, with unending love, with forgiveness, with security. with God i can change. i couldn't ask for anything better.

camp buddies



reunited...and it feels so good!



mad tired.

i could talk for weeks about what went down at camp, but i'll spare whoever's reading this and finish off by saying that we all need a relationship with God. humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and do great things for Him!

eh.

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

1 John 4:16

i heart summer!

this summer has been outstanding. it started out with my attitude being a bit "glass half empty" however, since then i have not only learned a lot about God - which is awesome - i've learned a lot about myself, and the things that i can change in my life to make it more about God and less about moi. i'd say in the last month and a half, there's been quite a few changes, and i see more coming soon!

it's not even over yet! the best part of my summer is yet to come...in FOUR SLEEPS! teen camp baby! OH MY DEAR i am so excited it actually physically hurts. this is going to be a fun filled week with TONS of learning, a lot of reflecting, good times with friends, and awesome food!
this song about sums up how i feel about this summer.

i think my version of summer is a little more peppy and enthusiastic, but you get the picture. summer. is. awesome.

beach, sand, perfect tans,

day walks, night talks,

sleepless nights, pillow fights,

spending every day

hoping summer will never, ever go away.

eh!

fiesta!

oh happy days.

today my lovely friends zoe and patty came to visit meeee!

we ate food and talked and patty clipped her toe nails. good one pat...we played dora candyland, which of course i POWNED at, made it to the fiesta first every time. oh my goodness, i just love my friends.

THEN we decided we were just too good looking so we went webcammin'! jokes we're not that good looking haha. but we did enjoy ourselves. look! we all made a patty face, then an ellie face, and then a zoe face. we even got emilie and her princess poodle in there!

ellie face...those faces are me to a t obvs

patty face!

lol zoe face...

we're cool.

as you can see, my friends and i, we're too cool for school. no joke though, they're actually awesome, and even though they're both youngsters, they are constantly setting an awesome example for me.
zoe, you inspire me to be a more compassionate and understanding person. always thinking about other people and their feelings. patty, you have honesty and integrity, and it always amazes and inspires me.
love you girls!
eh!

jammin' all day :)

down with webster. stereos. faber drive. hedley.

SUMMER RUSH.

yesterday was an awesome posssum day. why? because summer rush came to town! wooots! it was long, it was hot, it was loud, it was squishy, it was a blast.

1. i got to go with my very good friends: autumn, kristie, audrey, and meara!

2. we saw andrew thereee!

3. we got right near the front and jammin' was the way to go!

it was a super long day, and by the end of it not only could i not sit down (my legs hurt so much) but i legit thought i was going to die. probably won't be going to a concert like that again for a little while, BUT it was definately a day to remember.

 

yussss hedley!

faber drive

down with webster....make a W!

eh.

holla!

OHAAAY
so i was talking to my friend maria this morning and she showed me this video! it rocked my world. here it is!

eh.

let's get motivated!

i'm in a mood to get things done. i don't know why, because i'm usually a mega procrastinator. i think i'm good at TALKING about getting things done, lol, but never actually taking action to do it.

i'm talking about anything and everything. everyday chores, laundry, painting my nails and that kind of thing. but i'm also talking about the stuff that i'm always thinking i should do - like go through and organise my ipod songs and reorganizing my room - and things i know i need to be doing - like growing spiritually, actually building on the relationships i have, setting examples for my friends, getting deeper in my bible....those kinds of things.

these opportunities have always been open to me, but i think now i've finally realized that if i want my life, my relationships with others, and my relationship with God to change, then i need to change them myself. God has always provided for me. now i need to take action!

so this morning i woke up and thought "let's get motivated!" when i feel far from God it's because of me, not him, not even the circumstances i'm under. just me. my attitude, my motivation, and my eagerness to learn is what makes or breaks my relationship with God. he's always there for me when i'm ready to come back...that's so exciting!

anywhoooo that's what's goin' on with me. there's soooo much room for growth in my life, i just need to look at my opportunities and make something of them!

take action!

lataaah!

eh

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to sparate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord"

Romans 8:37-39

it's pourin' rainnnnn

MEGA FAIL.
i was watching barney the other day and apparently they have a new guy on there! he's dark orange and i thought it was kind of wierd that he looked like a dinosaur. i was like, "why would they put a dinosaur character on there? that makes no sense...i mean, baby bop is a..." and then i realized it. baby bop IS A DINOSAUR...and so is bj!

and then it hit me. barney is a dinosaur.
barney. is. a. dinosaur.
a purple dinosaur. oh my goodness.
can you believe that was my favourite show when i was little?! i had a barney housecoat and everything!

sad sad sad ellie. i realized just how lame that was when i told my little brother that barney was a dinosaur. and then he told me that that was common knowledge. so i told my friend and she said the same thing.

so barney is a dinosaur, and a cool one at that. personally, i think it should be a little more obvious but whatevs.

as you can see, i'm oober bored. it's pouring rain and no one wants to play with me! :( so i thought i'd blog about the one semi interesting thing that has happened to me lately.

OH and i think that the fact that i was watching barney should both explain my summer and make anyone who reads this feel pity for me and text me right away so we can hang, LOL.

new kid in town!

eh.

God. ALWAYS. provides.

i have this friend who is not like me. she's younger, i'm older. we have different families and different backgrounds. we have different likes and dislikes. she's a country girl and i'm a city girl (what she likes to call us). she's home-schooled and i'm, well, not. she's quiet and imaginative, i'm loud and logical. she has an elf dress.....yeaaaah.....haha. don't be insecure zoe, i love the elf dress. :P we have different friends, different hobbies, different tastes, different talents, and really the only thing that's the same is our eating habits!

but somehow, some way, God always brings us together. He's given us both struggles, hearts to learn, and someone to lean on. she's the person i love to talk to. she's trustworthy and fun. whether it's a worry of mine, something on my mind, something i'm excited about, a question or an answer, she's always there to hear it. needless to say, i learn a lot of listening skills from her!

i think we all need a friend like that. i also think God provides a friend like that for everyone, we just have to be open to it! it might not always hit us in the face. mine didn't. but i think that's one of the reasons i'm so greatful for this friendship. it's something we worked on together, and every time we get to spend together is a happy reminder of it.

we both realized that to make it in this battle we needed every Godly relationship we could get, and God couldn't have provided this one at a better time. so thanks to zoe for always being there when i need her, and thanks to God for providing for me even when i didn't think i needed him.

it's funny, because when you take the time to get to know someone, you may just find you have a best friend!

love you zoe!
eh.

us being us!



lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

this day could not have been better. like i have honestly not had this good a time in years...we went to african lion safari! IT WAS SO AWESOME.

so for starters we drove through the safari part and looked at all the animals. they tell you not to roll down your windows or get out of the car and i was like "ummm OBVIOUSLY!" however i soon discovered it was so hard not to! when the ostrich came up to my window it was all i could do not to reach out and pat it. anyway we saw sooo many animals...lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

...except i didn't see any bears. i don't think they have those in africa. BUT i saw a rhinooo! TOO AWESOME. and giraffes, baboons, zebras, and cheetahs! i had said something about the zebra's butt and my family decided to take pictures of all the animals' butts. good one family. i'll have to put a few up to give an idea. i got a good one of the rhino's behind!

my family thoroughly enjoyed it. and this is the best part, the part i will remember for the rest of my days....drumroll!.....I RODE ON AN ELEPHANT! it made my life. so so so so SO fun.

so that was my experience at african lion safari. truly something i will never forget. THEN i got to hang out with blair! we chatted and talked and chatted some more. i can't wait for her to move near me. ohhhh dear. i'm done vacation in a couple days and i'm excited/sad. excited to finally sleep in my own bed. and to go to the beach! but i can't believe these last three weeks have gone by so fast! i'm going to miss people! but i suppose camp is in a couple weeks anyway.

all my thoughts for today. i'm wiped and sunburned. pictures to come :)
eh

projectile no more!

today. was. awesome.

simply because i'm not vomiting anymore :) heeheehee! so excited.

i'm on my vacation and spent the whole week at my grandmother's house with all my cousins who i haven't seen in forever, and there was only one thing wrong. i was a puker. but the very day we leave is the day i start to feel better.

ALSO today my very good friend maria came to visit me :) she's my east coast buddy! and i haven't seen her in a few weeks so i was quite excited! thanks mia!

we lounged in the sun all day and talked and what not. twas so fun, and i didn't have much time to contemplate things that i usually think about when i have a lot of time on my hands.

it's late, i'm nice and clean, ready for bed, no hurling, and good loving thoughts are in my brain. i couldn't ask for anything better :)

fun times with ahhhmazing cousins

"The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

ttfn!

eh

ahhh, decisions

OKAY so i've been thinking about this a lot these past couple of days and here's my thought...well i guess it's more of a question: why is everyone so keen on focusing on the future?! it seems now more than ever people are thinking about it and asking about it. maybe it's because i'm finally growing up and paying attention to it more, or perhaps it's just as i see it. future future future.

like maybe it's the future of the world (dun dun DUNNN), or the future for your family, OR the future like what you're going to be when you grow up. ESPECIALLY when you're in high school. i mean really, i think i've been asked that question at least forty times in the past week. crazy? i think so.

"what is your plan after high school?" is absolutely not a bad question...in fact i'd say it's a downright good one! my issue is that it makes me feel like you NEED a plan after high school...yeaaah, i don't have one..

but i know i'm not the only one who doesn't! there's so much to choose from! ...most of them i don't have the coordination skills for but still! i got nooo money, and there are so many, TOO many decisions to make. school, home, family, money....a lot!

i used to get really scared because i thought not knowing this stuff was a bad thing...if you don't know what you want to do for the rest of your life then how do you begin anything at all? scary thoughts...however i have come to the realization that starting from scratch isn't such a bad thing. it's actually exciting!

it's not that i have nowhere to go and nothing to do, but anywhere, everywhere, anything and everything! see? exciting! people say that life is full of possibilities and i suppose mine fits into that too.

that's kind of cool! the future is wideee open. anything could happen...it'll be scary, but why not embrace it? God's going to make it happen anyway, whether you plan for it or not. life is full of wonderful surprises and we get to be a part of it! :D

so let's all have hope. there's so much in store for our future....my thoughts for today!

eh.


" '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 a hope and a FUTURE.' "

Jeremiah 29:11

let's start this off, shall we?

HEY so this blog thing is not easy to get into.
i have tried every single combination of my name and words that rhyme with my name, but everything is taken! how many ellie hammonds are out there anyway?!
as you probably know already, my name is ellie, and you can imagine how many words rhyme with that....belly, smelly, jelly...you get the picture.
anywhooo, just so you know, i'm a seventeen year old east coast gal! i'm a christian, my favourite colour is purple...and grilled cheese sandwiches are my fave.
right this second i am visiting a few long lost friends from my hometown of torontooo! and i'm super excited about it! obviously it has been a productive time, i mean, i even started a blog! so fun!
OH something interesting about me: i'm so canadian! my initials are eh!
ta ta for now!
eh