And so it begins...

I can't believe we are coming to the end of January! My spring semester has started and I finished my first full week of classes. It felt weird, nice, exciting, uneasy, and exhausting to be back in a classroom after being in Texas for so long. I realized that I DO enjoy sitting in class and learning all new information but the part I dread is coming home to a pile of homework knowing the real work ALWAYS begins outside of the classroom.
Today I was reminded how self-absorbed I can be though...I have started to get overwhelmed with homework, and trying to find a job and as I was reading the newest caringbridge update on Jordan God humbled me and I knew right away how selfish I was being. I have always been a big complainer but I need to remember that there are SO many people with REAL struggles and the things in my life seem so small compared to them. Jordan is spending his 18th birthday in a hospital bed, and yet I sit here and complain to God that I have "too much on my plate". I guess I was just frustrated because it always feels like just when I want to do better in life, my flesh wins out!

So, for the POSITIVES! God has given me SO many blessings! Class has started, and though that comes with hours upon hours of studying and homework..God has given me the ability to get it all done and I am healthy and able to have such good education. I think I am going to like my classes this semester, I am taking Medical Terminology, Body Structure and Oral Communications. I love my medical classes and I look forward to further studying the human body. God created amazing beings and there is so much to learn from his creation.

Kevin comes home in March! :D I wish I could portray HOW happy that makes me!!!!! I can't wait to have him home and do what "normal" couples would do! Let me just smile again! :)


I have been in Wisconsin for a couple weeks and though the transition was harder than expected, I do have peace that I am where God wants me to be. I am so thankful for my time in Texas but I am excited to continue my life here.


So, I know my blogging will get less and less because my fingers will be exercised enough with all the typing I'll be doing. I am thankful that God has reminded me of the life He has given me and though most days I feel like I am failing miserably at being the person He wants, I know that His love is forever..and his grace really is sufficient.

I'm listening to Chris Tomlin...

"My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace"

Welcome 2010!

I know it's been a while since I've blogged but the month of December seemed to come and go in literally a blink of an eye. I don't even know where to begin or how to explain what a whirlwind it's been. I am now back in the frozen tundra of WI and it's been nuts being home. My experience in TX was one that I will never forget. I made new friends, and shared memories that I will cherish forever. I am completely convinced that everyone needs a time in their life where they can step out of that comfort zone and experience new things. Spending time in Texas was a time for me to be with my family and allow God to do new things in my life. That is exactly what happened. I was reminded once again how blessed I truly am and God just spilled his love and mercy on me.

My grandparents are two of the most amazing people I know and I am blessed to have two people that love me that much, they opened up their home and I will never be able to fully express in words how grateful I am to them, my Aunt and Uncle and everyone else in Texas who made me feel welcomed. The love they have for me is overwhelming.

2009 was full of excitement, heartbreak, change, memories, friends, new relationships, failures, new friendships, and lots and lots of searching for God's all surpassing peace and forgiveness.
I have come to realize that life is an everyday new challenge and we must Seek the Face of God every moment if we are to live a truly happy life. He is our all in all and even in all of my failures and screw ups, He always has me in the palm of His hands.
I look forward to this upcoming year and to watch as God works in the lives of others and myself, it is so exciting to watch as His will is revealed!
A few exciting things that will be happening in 2010!

Starting a new semester and working hard at school.
Kevin coming HOME! :)
Grant and Ericha welcoming Lilah in March!!!
Spending time with the people that are most important to me.

I pray God guides me in Wisdom as I begin to start a new year! We never know what life may bring, but we can be prepared to trust all wonderful Jesus every step of the way!

Joy

Today in Sunday school we were talking about Joy VS. Happiness. I had never really thought about this before but I realized that there are many things that can make a person happy, but very few and special things that bring you joy. Happiness can be temporary, Joy is from the Lord and is solid. I realized that if I'm having a bad day, the things that might make me happy, just won't cut it..but even on my worst day, the Joy of the Lord will always bring a smile to my face- even if it's for a moment. Joy is permanent. If we have the Joy of the Lord, we will not be moved.

There are many things that make me happy, and bring goodness to my life- but when I dig deep down, there are things that bring me earthly joy, the kind that only Jesus hands out. Those are the things I cherish, and count my blessings daily.


Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for JOY and I will give thanks to him in song.

The Snail will make it to the Ark!!

I haven't blogged in a while and I figured it was time. Usually I end with the update but today I will start..

Thanksgiving came and went in a flash, it just didn't seem to last long enough. My mom was able to celebrate Thanksgiving in Texas for the first time in 17 years! It was such an incredible blessing to have her here with us. I ran my first 5k with my aunt Thanksgiving morning and it was a great way to start the day! We had a great time running/walking/talking and made an amazing memory together.
I only have 21 short days left in Texas and I can't believe how fast the time has went. I knew that coming to TX would be a good idea but what I didn't know was that God had a divine plan in mind for His child. I am still fighting many battles and trying to find my purpose and place in life but I can see now, just how much God loves me. He has carried me through these last couple months and lifted me on the wings of eagles. His joy is overflowing and I have tried to maintain the peace that He has given me.

Battles, I have realized what a battle, we has humans must fight. Everyday Satan is trying to destroy us and we must put on our Armor, take heart, and fight this battle. I can see now that the trials I've faced have always been for my own good. God is molding me each and every day and even through the heartache, His glory will be revealed. This has been so hard for me because I forget so easily that my flesh might be weak, but my Spirit is willing..and if my Spirit is willing, then God will not leave me nor forsake me. He has a plan and purpose for my life and I want to choose to live a life for Him and for His kingdom. My heart wants to love, live, and learn. I want to serve God with my whole being and I am doing what I can to live a life worthy to be lived. In my Devotion this afternoon the author was talking about how even the snail made it to the Ark, not because he was fast or witty..but because he had endurance. So even if we move very, very, slowly- we can make it to the Ark if we just endure. That spoke wonders to me because so often I lose track of what's important and I begin to fall in a place of guilt, fear, and defeat. I think it's too hard so I simply, give up. How I so hope that I can continue to work through this, it's a horrible quality and I pray that whatever I have to endure- God continues to teach me to not loose hope or give up. For I need to remember that Jesus has already overcome the world, and He has taken all my pain and all my fear. All things are possible with Christ, He is my Strength, my Hope, my Friend.

My friend is still in the hospital, it has been a long, intense, and painful time for this family. My heart breaks as they fight such a terrible storm but I can see how God's glory is being revealed and even though they are hard-pressed, they are not crushed. For God loves Jordan more than any of us and He knows the plans He has set for this young boy.


We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:8-18

God has carried me through each do new and His mercies are new every morning. I must continue to put my trust in Him.

Thankfulness

Thankfulness..even through the storms of life God commands us to Praise Him and give thanks unto the Lord!

Psalm 100

Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing,
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and
not we ourselves;
We are His people and the
sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise,
Be thankful to Him, and bless
His name.
For the Lord is good
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday..I love spending time with my family and being all together. I know that we should be thankful every day of the year but I love that when Fall rolls around and everyone starts to get excited for Christmas, we can slow down from the craziness of life and just be, thankful.

Top 10 things I am Thankful for:

1. My Savior and King, and that He gave us His Word to study and learn
2. The blessings that each one of my family members has given me, even though they may not know it.
3. God's unending mercy and grace, He has truly poured it upon me.
4. All the "little" people in my life, they bring me so much joy.
5. The time in Texas God has blessed me with, allowing me to be with my family here and meet such encouraging and uplifting people at Church.
6. A boyfriend that may be far away, but is safe and healthy.
7. For each day of Sunshine
8. That even though I complain, legs and feet that allow me to walk each day.
9. For ONLINE classes. I never thought I would be thankful for those but if it wasn't for technology I would not be able to be in Texas.
10. God's all surpassing Peace and the Truth He holds in His Promises.

I could make a list of 100 things but those are just a few that I have been thankful for these last couple of months.
I only have 35 short days left in Texas and I can't believe how fast the time has just flown by. In two weeks I will be finished with my third semester in college, I'll be headed back home, and then we will enter in to 2010. It never amazes me how fast life can change, even though I say it a hundred times it just never seems to make it any more believable when suddenly you wonder where the time has gone.

I have had many blessings in 2009 and though it wasn't always the most pleasant of changes, God has brought beautiful things from them.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.
I am truly Thankful for you.....

Hug someone you love today!

Three weeks ago two 17 year old boys got in a serious car accident. The driver failed to stop at a stop sign causing them to hit a 46 year old man in a truck. The driver died instantly, leaving a family short one member and a high school missing their friend. My good friend Jordan was flown to the hospital with critical injuries. This terrible accident has been a testimony to me to how quickly life can change. Through these last 3 weeks I have watched as God has worked in the lives of everyone around and in this horrible situation, He has been our light. Jordan has laid in the hospital bed fighting for his life while a family of believers have come together to support the Lysaghts. What a family we have in Christ! God has used this time to remind me that all we have is Him, our Lord and Savior. What a blessing to have our brothers and sisters in Christ lifting us in prayer. My heart is breaking as this family walks through such a dark storm but how encouraged I've been to watch how special our "family" is. It has been such a blessing to see how amazing it will be to spend an eternity with my "family" in Christ.
Jordan has touched many lives and he will be amazed with all the support he's been getting.
If God chooses to take him home, he will be greatly missed. But, we have great hope and comfort in the fact that we will see him again. He will stand before God and hear, "Welcome home good and faithful servant"!! I love you Jordan Marshal Lysaght! And either here on earth or in Heaven, we will see each other again!

Life can change in an instant and it's sad that it takes losing a friend and a bad accident for us to look at life differently. To all my "family": I love you! And I look forward to the day when we can spend an Eternity With Jesus Together!

For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Romans 15:4 and 5

The Everlasting God

Isaiah 40: 28-31
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary. And his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

As I sit here pondering life, my mind is a million places. I’ve been repeating this verse over in my head for many hours praying to my Father in Heaven. We went to the hospital yesterday and my friend who was in the serious car accident is in critical condition. His injuries are severe and the doctors aren’t expecting him to make it. At this point it would take a miracle to have my friend up and healthy again. My faith in God knows that He can produce such a miracle, I have no doubt that all things are in the hand of God and He takes care of His children. Though this calms my spirit, it sadly doesn’t stop my flesh from hurting. The Lysaghts are dear friends and have had a big part in helping me become the woman I am today. My heart breaks for them, and it is times like these where life doesn’t make sense and all we can do is trust and have faith. This is so much easier said than done.
It’s hard not to ask why? Of course we know the answer is sometimes simple, we live in a sinful world and we will always face adversities. As I watch my friends go through such a difficult time in their life I can only count down the days till we can all be in Heaven some day. No more tears, no more car accidents, no more pain. At this time in my life, this day seems not only beautiful, but it gives me hope. We will always face pain and heartache on this earth, because we are not yet with our Father but one day, we will kneel at the feet of Jesus and feel full and complete joy. All I can do now is to keep praying, to remember that MY GOD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of earth and if I put my hope in Him I will be able to make it through one more day. Jordan is lying in a hospital bed right now and his family is facing some of the deepest pain they may ever feel but I can still rejoice knowing that MY GOD will comfort them and carry them through this time. God will renew their strength and even through this painful time they will soar on wings like eagles.

“We should not only understand the importance of our waiting on God but also realize something even more wonderful- The Lord waits on us. And the very thought of His waiting on us will give us a renewed motivation and inspiration to "wait for Him". It also should provide inexpressible confidence that our waiting will NEVER be in VAIN! “

-I wrote that many months ago and found in it in my journal. Though the waiting can be painful,
I am full of hope knowing that our waiting is never in vain and that our Lord is waiting to take care of us.

Thank you Lord for such promises, your love endures forever.