Times Up.

Oprah Winfrey’s 2018 Golden Globe’s Speech,

“So I want all the girls watching here and now to know that a new day is on the horizon!

And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘me too’ again.”

Whenever i say the word “feminist” or “feminism” people get weird. Why? Maybe because they don’t understand it or they believe the stereotype surrounding it. Some people see feminists as people who wish to be better than men. Others see it simply as a protest in the streets but that’s not the way that I see it. To me feminism is hope. It’s a group of  woman and men working hard to make a difference and come together on an equal platform.

Here are a few things i have been told after bringing up feminism:

• You can vote, what more do you want?
• Woman get paid the same as men. (False)
• You’re to young to know what your talking about.
• Feminism is for liberals.
• You have equal rights cause you live in America. (lol)

The list could go on and on but i wont bore you with that. The point is, feminism is far beyond just America. Let me hit you with some statistics :

• In Afghanistan alone, 9 out of 10 woman are illiterate. Only 1 in 20 girls make it past the sixth grade for reasons such as being forced into marriage.
• In Pakistan a girl named Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban for pursuing an education. Little girls and woman will literally be killed before they have a chance to learn.

Quick fact about Malala Yousafzai, she survived the gun shot wound and ended up winning the Nobel Peace Prize along with 9 other awards in 2013 & 2015. GIRL POWER!

In America, sexual harassment and abuse happens everyday. In 2013, it was reported that only 9% of all rapists get prosecuted. Like this blows my mind. Remember hearing about Brock Turner who only got 6 months in jail after raping a girl? The judge didn’t want to ruin his life but there was no problem when he ruined hers. 

In Hollywood female actresses and directors are cut short every day. Yes I know what your thinking, “Oh poor famous people, they have it so rough.” Actually yeah, they do. I’m not saying they aren’t privileged but under no circumstances should sexual abuse or violence be tolerated and it should not matter how much money you make or how famous you are on Instagram. At the Golden Globes this past weekend not a single female was nominated for best director. Which is weird because one of the top grossing films of 2017 (aka. Wonder Woman) was directed by a female, Patty Jenkins. The movie Lady Bird which won best picture at the Golden Globes was directed by Greta Gerwig. Yet no nominations for them.

I personally have so many dreams and goals that i want to reach and pursue in my life. I know there are going to be challenges and it will not be easy but i will not limit myself. I will not settle for anything less than my true potential. I know my worth and the barriers I will have to fight through. Thankfully I have grown up around amazing woman who show me what a true boss is. My mom, my grandma, my friends, and one really amazing teacher!

Just know that TIME IS UP! There are famous woman and men using there platform to promote this movement and it is already making changes. There is also you and I. We don’t need a large audience to make a difference. We only need ourselves. If we believe we can then we will.

Thank you so much for reading and i hope you enjoyed it! 🙂

The links to my other posts are down below ! #TIMESUP

About me🌷< a href=”https://hannahvandezande.wordpress.com/2017/07/31/to-the-girl-in-middle-school/”>To the girl in middle school…< a href=”https://hannahvandezande.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/wonder-woman-movie-review-more/”>Wonder Woman (Movie Review & more!)< a href=”https://hannahvandezande.wordpress.com/2017/06/05/god-are-you-there/”>God Are You There?< a href=”https://hannahvandezande.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/jesus-i-come/”>Jesus I come< a href=”https://hannahvandezande.wordpress.com/2016/04/08/new-beginning/”>New beginning<

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To the girl in middle school…

 

1 Peter 3:3-4 ~ “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”

 

Middle school is weird, like very weird. I can’t even begin to list all the pressures one puts on themselves during this time. For me I was not the “popular” girl. While everyone else was wearing American Eagle clothes I was still wearing Justice clothes. Right here is the problem. I started comparing myself to literally EVERY girl. I either didn’t have the right pair of Sperry’s (those were super popular when I was in 6th grade) or my hair was too short. I had the lowest self esteem ever and it showed on the outside.

When you think badly of yourself the negative thoughts put out negative actions. Soon you realize you aren’t being yourself because you are trying so hard to please others who aren’t even looking at you. I totally know what that feels like. I use to act like everybody was staring at me. Like every move I made and I had the nagging thought in my mind that somebody was watching. When in reality no one was. I know I can’t be the only one who has felt this way. Before middle school I was very opinionated, funny, and outgoing. Then middle school came and I was none of that anymore. I changed myself because I was so worried about everyone else’s opinions.

I know there are girls right now who have these same pressures. The pressure to be pretty, the pressure to be “thin”, the pressure to be liked and accepted. I went through the same thing. I use to think I was ugly and fat. I was 120 pounds and I thought I was fat. I was comparing myself to not only girls my age but girls who were fully grown! Like of course I wasn’t gonna look like Selena Gomez at age 12! That shows just how young the insecurities can start. It Is funny now for me to look back on these moments. I can remember my mom telling me that I am perfect in Gods eyes and HIS opinion is the only one that matters. But I was a 12 year old girl so it didn’t make me feel much better.

Being pretty or beautiful is not something you achieve or even become. I believe everybody is already beautiful In there own way but God believes and knows that YOU are perfect. He doesn’t say, “Oh yeah you are pretty.” He says you are PERFECT. I don’t know about you but what God says about me means more then what some boy  has to say about me. I know If i was hearing this when I was in middle school I would definitely role my eyes and that’s okay.

Sometimes you have to just go through things. Middle school is stage that whether you are homeschooled or in public school, you still go through it. It’s that hormonal pre-teen weirdness stage and I know at the time everything sucks. I’m not going to down play it at all because I went through it and I know how it is.

I am a senior this year and I struggle with my self esteem all the time. Everybody will always struggle with self esteem. It just happens. I definitely am not the insecure little girl in middle school anymore. Now I am a stronger and confident. I’m still growing and yeah I have bad days. It is very hard to be positive all the time but just make sure you don’t let the negative day turn into days.

When you look in the mirror say to yourself, “I am beautiful and I am worthy.”  you can also say, “Today is going to be a good day.” If you start your day off with some positive energy then it is bound to spread throughout your whole day. Remember that God is always there for you so start off the day with some prayer. You can say, “God, I pray for strength today. Lord please help me defeat these negative thoughts.” There is nothing better then starting your day off with prayer. God see’s you. He hears you. He is helping you even if you cannot see it. You are worthy in his eyes and nothing you do will ever ruin that. Stay strong and always lean on God.

Ps. Even the Queen has bad days!

Check out my other blogs down below! xo

Wonder Woman (Movie Review & more!)

God Are You There?

Jesus I come

New beginning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder Woman (Movie Review & more!)

“I used to want to save the world. To end war and bring peace to mankind. But then, I glimpsed the darkness that lives within their light. And I learned that inside every one of them, there will always be both. A choice each must make for themselves. Something no hero will ever defeat. And now I know, that only love can truly save the world. So I stay, I fight and I give, for the world I know can be.” – Diana, Wonder Woman.

My expectations were very high while going into the theater to see this movie. Let me just say that every single expectation and hope I had for this movie was met. Lets start with some basics. Wonder Woman’s story has never been told on the big screen until now. Crazy, right? This headstrong, fearless character who is full of love, hope and integrity has never had her story completely told.

Firstly, Gal Gadot who plays Wonder Woman was absolutely brilliant. She truly embodies what this character is all about. Also the director of this outstanding film is Patty Jenkins who happens to be a WOMAN! The way she brought wonder woman’s backstory to life was so great. Literally 20 minutes into the movie I was already in awe of this character. Another amazing light in this film was Steve Trevor played by Chris Pine. It was so refreshing to see the roles being switched for a change. I felt that Chris brought great humor and made this character as real as possible. He was funny at times but also serious and strong when needed. These two actors had amazing chemistry on screen and it just felt right.

The movie takes place in 1917 during WW1. If you think back to those times there are many points to be made. In America alone, woman cold not vote until 1920. Even though a large portion of this film takes place in London, the idea that men are superior was still there. Woman were expected to be a certain way and do certain things but that does not mean they did them. Diana grew up on an island with only woman. Woman who were strong, fearless and fought hard. That is exactly how she grew up to be. When she reaches a place where it is not normal for Woman to fight and be strong she decides to be even stronger.

I will go ahead and confess that I totally teared up (okay some tears fell) at a very pivotal scene in the movie. Diana and Steve are literally walking through the sidelines of the war and she wants to help the people who are starving. Steve Trevor says, “This is not what we came here to do.” and Diana responds saying, “No, but it’s what I’m going to do.” She takes off her long cloak and reveals herself as the wonder woman she is. You see this movie is much more than what meets the eye. After watching the movie I felt it connected to the real world. This is more than a popcorn movie. It is not about being a super hero but being human.

By the end of the movie you don’t see her win because she is a super hero but you see her win because she is human. She is vulnerable, just like you. She loves, just like you. She gets angry just like you. Love is the greatest power of all. It beats all evil. It will always win. Right now in our world there is so much hate. Attacks are happening all over, claiming innocent lives. I know it sometimes feel like we can’t do anything. But we can. We can love more. We can help more. We can share more. We tend to put super hero’s on a pedestal but even Wonder Woman herself felt hopeless at one time. Do not be defeated by the wrong doings of others but be encouraged to do right and be a light. There is a Wonder Woman in all of us.

Proverbs 31:25 ~ “She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.”

Below are the links to my previous blogs ! Check them out ❤

God Are You There?

Jesus I come

New beginning

 

 

 

God Are You There?

Matthew 8:7 ~ Jesus said, “I will come and heal them.”

Through my journey with Christ I have had amazing moments and hard moments. I remember freshman year and dealing with online bullying. At the time I didn’t understand why any of that was happening to me. Little did I know God was shaping me to be the person I am today. God does everything in love. He does everything for a reason even when we don’t understand it.

One thing I have learned in my relationship with Christ is that it is not always perfect. Just like any relationship there are hard times. Last year I grew so deep in my faith. I made sure to have quiet time with Jesus every day and write in my prayer journal. I felt God beside me everyday. Everything was steady and amazing and then all of a sudden it wasn’t.

By the end of 2016, I found my self struggling so hard to be perfect and social media was a big factor in that. I focused so much on how many likes I got on Instagram. I compared myself to every other girl on my feed — and I hated that. I decided to delete the app off my phone because it was the first thing I checked in the morning and the last thing I checked at night. Still, I didn’t feel much better. I tried writing in my journal and talk to God but my mind felt blank. I felt so disconnected and I didn’t understand why. All of a sudden I just felt like God was in hiding. I knew I could talk to him but for some reason I felt like I couldn’t. I kept telling myself that I’m only 16, I’m not suppose to be perfect. I was using that as an excuse for not digging into God’s word. One second my mind was telling me to be perfect and the next it was telling me its okay not to be perfect. Confusing right?

Anyways, a couple of months passed and I stayed in that same mindset. I started going to Paulding Virtual Academy second semester. Basically I go to school and sit in a classroom except all my work is online and the teacher is just there for questions. My anxiety was crazy and I barely got sleep some nights because of how stressed I was about passing a math test. During these times is when I knew I needed to turn to God. I knew I needed to pray and pray, but I still felt so disconnected that I didn’t. It was like a war in my brain. Then not only myself but my whole family was tested. My uncle killed himself back in February and I needed God more than ever. Now I was trying to balance school, the death of my uncle and my grandmas heartache without God. Why did I feel so lost? Why did all this have to happen right when I was feeling disconnected from God? All these questions kept running through my mind. I was definitely dealing with depression and still trying to seem okay to my friends.

God was with me everyday and then it felt like he wasn’t. He was silent. I didn’t feel a push in any direction and then my uncle dies and I start at a different school and still, silence. One day I was just staring at a blank page in my journal. I felt like I had so much to write but my hand would not move. I decided to look back in my journal at the prayers I had written to God and the bible verses I had written down. Then I felt the spark that had burned out those couple of months ago. God does everything for a reason and was setting me up for these hard months to come. I have always written down the dates of each prayer in my journal. On May 22, 2016 I wrote a whole page about trials and suffering. (See down below)

At the time of which I wrote that, I was not personally suffering or dealing with a tragedy. God was setting me up over a year ago for the tragedy I would face this year. I wrote, “God never leaves us in the dark. He is always there though he may be quiet. He is there.”

When I felt lost, God was still there. Even when I thought I was going no where he was behind me, pushing me. When I stepped back from praying daily, things got harder. Satan tries to wheedle his way into all of our lives when we are vulnerable and makes us feel confused and re think things but God is still with us. With God  on our side Satan will NEVER win. When we feel the most hopeless and alone is when we are growing the most. It is hard to see the rainbow at the end of the storm but that rainbow will always be there. I like to think that rainbows are a representation of Jesus. Sometimes after a big storm we don’t see the rainbow and other times we do. Just like when Jesus is silent. He steps back and lets us grow. He guides us when we need it and holds us in spirit.

If you are feeling alone, depressed, confused, angry etc.. you will get through it. If we didn’t feel those things then would we even be human? God is sometimes silent but trust me he has not forgotten you. He is planning everything out just for you. Remember you are not alone. You got this!

Love, Hannah ❤

 

 

Jesus I come

Romans 8:31 ~ “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

First of all I want to say thank you to everybody who read and responded to my testimony! It really does mean so much to me and i am so thankful, God is good.

The other day when I woke up i was not planning to share my testimony by starting a blog. In fact i was sick and watching the price is right so i was pretty content with doing that all day. That is one thing i love so dearly about God; you think this is how your day is gonna go but then God swoops in and is like nope we’re gonna do this instead. I knew ever since December when i shared my testimony with my small group that i would one day want to share it with every one else. I didn’t know when i wanted to though or if i would ever have the courage too. But when God puts it on my heart to do something i do it, and sharing my testimony has been nothing but a blessing.

Ever since I shared my testimony i have been thinking about my relationship with God. I’ve been going over in my head everything that has happened to me in the past year and of course the big “WHAT IF” pops up. I thought back to my first year at RUSH. I was going into 9th grade and it was a big step for me to take. I say it was a big step because before that I couldn’t even spend the night at a friend’s house because i missed my mom, (or I just really loved my bed). Either way going to RUSH was a big deal, it was before the bullying and before my faith was tested. I would say my faith before everything happened was simple. I believed in God and went to church and that was fine for me at that time. I remember the last night at RUSH breaking down. It was my first time really truly seeing my mistakes and how having a simple faith isn’t enough. I remember singing the song “Jesus I come” and with tears down my face i felt ashamed for not thinking about Him more, my exact thought was, “Jesus died on the cross for me… and this is how i am treating him.” But of course after i came back from RUSH and i started my first year of high school i strayed away from God. I put God in the back of mind, i always knew He was there but i never payed him much attention.

Now I think,  “What if i had never gone to RUSH that year? What if i didn’t let go of my fear of being away from home? What if i had let that group of friends turn me away from God?” All these what if questions pop up and i find myself overwhelmed by Gods grace. I feel like i know the answer as to why i did go to RUSH my first year. I always said I wanted to get over my fear of being away from home so RUSH would be a great opportunity for me, but now i realize It was the holy spirit telling me to go to RUSH. I just wasn’t listening to God instead i was consumed with my own thoughts and interests. Looking back i am almost in tears because i know who i was back then; i know that if i hadn’t listened to God even though i didn’t even know it was God speaking to me that the group of friends i had would have done more damage than they actually did. I probably would have gone along with them and what they were saying. That’s because i had zero confidence in myself and i didn’t know what i was worth. Now sometimes i joke that i have too much confidence but i know that it comes from God.

I love looking at everything in my life because I see over and over again how and where God has worked. God was working on me when i first went to RUSH because He knew the hard challenges and tests i would go through the following year. God knew my mess would become my message and my test would become my testimony.

Psalm 139:1-4 ~ “O Lord , you have searched me and known me! You know when i sit down and when i rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.”

Now every time I hear the song “Jesus I come” and every time we sing it in worship at least always a few tears escape and trust me these are happy and joyful tears. It makes me think how close to God i thought i was back then but actually how far from God i was. It makes me look at myself now and to see how for i have come. I have a relationship with God and i couldn’t be happier; i am so excited for RUSH this year because it is my first year having a full relationship with Christ and no bad friends to bring me down. I really believe 2016 is my year to succeed. I don’t know exactly what i am meant to succeed in, maybe it is doing this blog? All i know right now is i have an amazing group of friends and small group leader whom i love and i have God, personally i think that is a really great start!

Thank you guys again! & thank you Jesus!

New beginning

 Romans 3:4 ~ “Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true.”

So for my first post i think it is necessary for me to start with the basics. Hi my name is Hannah Vande Zande pronounced Vand-y Zand-y. Here is my testimony and how i found my relationship with God.

This past year has been life changing for me. I started out this time last year with a group of friends who needless to say were not good people to be around. Of course at the time i didn’t know that and i stayed friends with these people longer than i should have. My friends at the time were not Christians and i was, that turned out to be a problem to them. At lunch we all sat together and they would pick on me and call me a Jesus freak.At the time i was not in a close relationship with God; but i always believed. So when they would call me a Jesus freak and say i am a prude i would try and prove them wrong. I would tell them that i am not a Jesus freak and that was true at the time. I didn’t even know how to pray and i had stopped going to church. But i had never once said i didn’t believe, but that was what they wanted, for me to give in. After a few months of them making fun of me about my religion i invited two of them to come to church with me. They said yes surprisingly and we went one week in April of 2015. After they went to church with me i thought maybe they would stop bullying me about the whole thing; oh was i wrong.

After i took them to church with me that one night everything took a turn for the worst. They began to make fun of me and talk me inappropriately. They would tell me God is not real because if he was then why are there so many people dying in the world. Now imagine me this time last year with no real relationship with God i could have easily gone along with everything they were doing and saying. I could have stopped believing but i didn’t. I was set to go to RUSH camp in Daytona, Florida with West Ridge church. It was my second year going and i was really looking forward to it. I knew i needed God back into my life. I was going my best friend at the time who was a Christian but also highly influenced by our group of friends. Right before we left for RUSH, the two friends i had taken to church with me that one night told me they were gay. I was completely supportive and i stood by them. Except they didn’t stand by me instead they turned against me. At the time i didn’t know what was going on.