Wow!! It's been a while since I've had access to my blog--some crazy password thing was not allowing me to sign in. I think the posts I would've had would've gone back and forth from discouragement to excitement--thus has been the last month or so. :) I am so thankful that my God is the same yesterday, today, and will continue to be forever.
In the last month, I completed my first year at Northland (yea!!) and came home. The coming home part was very difficult--there's something about living at college--making big and small decisions, being put in tricky financial situations--being away from home. It was so hard to say goodbye to the friends that I made in those short months. The Lord really has blessed me with some amazing friends that truly desire and are actively pursuing a more intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.
One thing that I kept (and keep!) coming back to is the whole issue of trust. Who is my God?? He has a plan for my life--difficulties don't mean He is sleeping, or ignoring me. He sees the bigger picture--He knows that difficulties now are preparing me for the future, whatever that may hold. I don't know, but He does, and that is very comforting to know. This really was the start to an amazing study I've been going through on who God is. God is my Father, Friend, Comforter, Guide, Refuge, Strength--the list goes on and on. Then I've been taking each of those things and naming what that specific title entails--Father=protector, provider and all the other things an earthly father is, except He does all those things even more perfectly than an earthly father could ever do(which is amazing to think about!)
One major thing that has been going on in the last month is the search for a job. :) I've been working a few hours at the coffee shop that I worked at before I came to school(Dew Hill's) and also have helped for a few days at my dads shop. At first I was very frustrated, because I kept being rejected by the places I went, but I was thankful that the Lord has given me a new perspective on this struggle. He has a purpose for the time that I've been looking for a job--it's been hard, because I have financial obligations, but He will provide.
When I came home from college, I prayed that the Lord would direct me to the specific ministry He wanted me to be involved in during the summer(or longer). I really thought I'd stay with teaching the 1-3 graders and had committed to that, but the Lord made it very clear that He had another plan for me. He gave me a burden to work with the ladies in the jail with the jail ministry. It has been by far the most stretching ministry I've ever been involved with. Every time I meet with the ladies, I'm able(and delighted!) to share the work of salvation that God has offered through His precious Son. Nearly every time there are new questions about salvation, and it has been so exciting.
I'll just end this post with a quote from the book Free Grace and Dying Love by Susannah Spurgeon--"No, rather, I should joyfully meet and welcome it,[hardship or difficulties], well knowing that Your love to me could only send a message of peace, however dark might be the envelope which enwrapped it."
2 comments:
Thanks for the encouraging words! I do know what you mean about having to trust God when things don't make any sence... But I'm very thankful that His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours! And I'm so glad that He is in control of every circumstance we face.
In SS I've been teaching through some of God's attributes and its been neat how each trait hits closer to home as I study it in preparation for the lesson.
Any change with you being able to come back in the fall?
Praying for you.
Nope, still looks like I won't be returning in the fall. At least that's what I'm 'planning'. You never know, though, what the Lord has in store--He may drop a few thousand dollars in my lap :) If not, I shall just work with the goal of eventually getting back to Northland.
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