Thoughts

Wow...I haven't even checked my blog in FOREVER! Sorry to any body who left hanging. College has proved enough of a challenge to keep me busy, though I have decided to take three more credits than my first semester load come this January. And yes...I have finished that first semester now with good grades! This semester, I will be taking classes in my major and minor, which will give me an idea if my plan is really where God wants me or not. Either way, I am excited!

God has been good to me this past semester. It has been a time of growth as I have been exposed to worldviews and lifestyles that I had very minimal contact with when in highschool. I am still living at home and am constantly grateful for the guidance of my parents. It has been a time of mental challenges and spiritual ones as I have more and more opportunities to talk about my lifestyle, my choices, and most important of all...my faith!

And now it is only four days till Christmas! I can't believe it! As most of my followers know, last Christmas was probably the worst one ever with my dad serving our country in Iraq! This year, we are all so, SO grateful to have him here with us! What lessons I have learned since October of 2008 when my father told us he was going to serve in Iraq! It was hard...very possibly the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but I am so glad that God gave that challenge to me. It taught me things about myself that I hadn't known. My appreciation of my father increasing one hundred fold and my love for God was so strengthened.

Over and over again in these past two years, God has showed me more of Himself. How marvelous is the God we serve! Why I am still so often afraid or angry or uncaring? I am loved by the God of the universe! I have been adopted by the King of Kings! Every day of the rest of eternity, I will be walking hand in hand with the One who created everything around me. How can I even explain the joy that brings to my heart? How can I weep long enough for how often I ignore that truth?

God's blessings to you all this Christmas season and I pray that above all else, you are deeply reminded of Who lay in that manger. He wasn't just a good teacher or a moral preacher; He was God and He loved us, as He still loves us today!