Something I aspire to do everyday is to see God in something. I want to share with you where I saw God today.

I got off work at 4 this afternoon. On Mondays I try to stay and work out at the gym at work; but today I decided to go home and work out. I would much rather walk or run around my neighborhood than run on a treadmill inside. So I was waiting in the left turn lane when this guy pulled up beside me like he was going to turn right. Then he started backing up to line up our windows. Honestly, in my head I was thinking, "Why is this idiot backing up in the middle of the street?" Then he looked at me and proceeded to tell me, through our rolled up windows, that my back tire was low. I gave him a thumbs up signs so as to signal I knew what he was saying. As if it's a good thing to have a flat tire! Then in sign language I signed "thank you" but I had no idea if he knew what I was saying.

So I figured my tire must be really low for someone to stop and back up and tell me! I drove two minutes to the nearest gas station. I stopped next to the air tank and got out to look at my tire. It was extremely low; almost to the point of no air left in the tire! With this being the time of debit cards and no cash, I thought to myself, "I don't know if I even have any change to air up my tire." It costs 75 cents. I keep change in my car ash tray and guess what I had - three quarters and a bunch of pennies!! So I aired up my tire. Then I listened and looked for air coming out. I didn't hear or feel any air coming out. So the next logical thing was to call my dad. This was the first time I've had any trouble with my new car, so for that I am very thankful. With my last car I would call my dad every other month because something else was making a noise. Anyways, I asked my dad if I should drive home or take my car to Wal-mart. My dad advised me to go to Wal-mart and have them check out my tire.

On the drive to Wal-mart I was praying the air would stay in my tire. I made it to Wal-mart and drove around to the tire and lube express. When I got out of my car the tire was still full of air; so hopefully that meant the tire only needed a plug. They only charge 9.50 for a flat tire repair. And when I was looking at the prices I noticed that they only charge 6.00 to get all four tires rotated. I had recently had my oil changed at another service station and they wanted to charge me 20.00 to get my tires rotated. At the time I said I would do it next time, when I really knew I would find somewhere cheaper to do it.

So back to Wal-mart; I told the guy that if my tire only needed a repair then to have them go ahead and rotate the tires. After thirty minutes of anticipation and prayer they told me that I just needed a plug for my tire. Hallelujah!! I'm not at the place right now where buying a new tire is feasible. They fixed my tire and rotated my tires all for 15.50. Conditions could not have been any better for my flat tire.

I saw God in:
- the nice gentleman who stopped to tell me that my tire was low
(it could have went completely flat on the highway in rush hour traffic)
- the three quarters set aside for me in my car ash tray
- my dad being home and helping me in all my car troubles
- only having to get my tire plugged and NOT having to buy a new one
- getting my tires rotated for a great price

So even in the midst of having a flat tire I was able to see God at work all around me. I am so thankful that He takes care of me. I honestly don't know what I would do without Him.

Be encouraged dear friends and may you see God at work around you today!

long december

It's December - the end of the year!!

There were so many changes this year. For a while I wasn't looking at the positive side of things. I was only allowing myself to see the negative. But I know God has called me to a life of love and abundance and I choose to focus on the good He has given to me. So I was thinking about the year and I decided to write at least one thing positive that has happened each month this year.

Jan – met someone who is now one of my best friends; survived the ice storm and learned to appreciate electricity

Feb – figured out what I wanted to do with my life, career wise - children's ministry

Mar – spent the whole month in observance of lent (my own decision and my first experience) – learned some very important lessons

Apr – started my health kick, realized that I actually enjoy running

May – visited friends and DBU campus in Texas

June – celebrated a whole month of friends birthdays, i'm an honorary member of the june bday club

July – celebrated independence day with family, friends, camping, fireworks and shopping; bought a new car

Aug – started grad school, had a much needed change in my job situation

Sept – two new Bible study groups started this month

Oct – had a great weekend in KC with friends and family; turned 26, celebrated with a pasta party and games; took a road trip with family to Tennessee; traveled a lot

Nov – went to a great concert; had a wonderful thanksgiving with family; finished my first 5K

Dec – finished my first semester of grad school; Christmastime – my favorite time of the year

so I challenge you friends to look at the good that God has brought into your life this year...

back to blogging

So I’ve decided to get back into blogging. I used to do it a lot but life happened and I just sort of threw blogging on the backburner. I’ve been so busy with school lately that I haven’t been able to catch up with people. If I start writing again at least people would know what I’ve been up to lately. Writing is also a sort of release for me; I can express myself better through writing than I can through talking. Side note: someday I think it would be a learning experience to not say a single word for the whole day. Granted I wouldn’t be able to do it on a workday or otherwise my class would be utter chaos! But maybe some weekend. Some of the wisest people I know are the best listeners. But that’s a project for some day in the future.

Anyways, so this weekend has been wonderful. Relaxing is one of my favorite things to do on the weekends. I had the girls from work over Friday night for our work Christmas party. We had a good time of eating, opening gifts, and playing Catch Phrase. It was fun to get to know everyone outside of the workplace. Friday night was also the first night of many nights for dog sitting. I’m going to be dog sitting for the next 2 ½ weeks for three different friends that are going out of town. Wrigley’s my first dog and he’s been doing really well. I just hope he doesn’t get too bored at my house since he’s used to more excitement at his house.

Yesterday I cleaned in Nixa and then drove back in the snow. It was really pretty watching the snow fall. This is my kind of snow, light and pretty and most of it melted by the next day. I do like to play in it but I hate to drive in it.

So yesterday Wrigley and I just hung out at the house all day. We had a long night. It took me forever to get to sleep and then when I was finally tired my shoulder blade was in so much pain that I had to get up and take some ibuprofen to get the pain to stop. And my roomie was up too because she wasn’t feeling well. Then Wrigely wanted out of his cage because he heard us talking. So I let him out for a little bit and I think I finally fell asleep at 3am.

Today at church it was my turn to speak. We’re doing a series for Christmas called the Jesse Tree. Each week six people get up and speak about a specific person they were assigned to read about that week. We had to tell a little bit about the story and then tell how the story relates to us or to how God wants a relationship with us. I spoke on Nehemiah. God is still teaching me through that story. I’ll share more about it later.

After church I took a friend to lunch for her birthday and then I did a little Christmas shopping. I’m almost done with my shopping. I’ll finish the rest of this week after work. I’m going to make candy today. I’m doing a candy exchange at work and I have to make 12 packages of 6 pieces of candy. I’ll be busy with that this afternoon. I’ve got a Christmas party this week and things to get done at work. It should be a busy week but at least I don’t have to worry about any homework!!!

He is moving

Wow is all that I can say right now.

God is moving in my life and in the lives of those around me.

How amazing and humbling it is to know and trust that God is moving in my life!

I had been at a place in my life where I was angry and I had a horrible thought life. I had just let every little thing get to me and I hated the person I was becoming. I am not an angry person and that is not the kind of life that God has for me. He promises in John to give me a full and abundant life. I was not living the full and abundant life. I knew that I needed a change from within. A change that only God could create.

I had to re-examine my whole life - my thoughts. my relationship with God, my relationships with others. my outlook on life, my vision, my view of the future - EVERYTHING! Thank God that He never left me. I knew that I had to make some intentional changes - the music I was listening to was making me angry (and I never had a problem with that before), the things I did with friends, the words I spoke were not life-giving. Satan is good at what he does - he was definitley getting into my mind and feeding me all these lies. Even though I knew they weren't true I let them control my attitude. Praise God that I was able to see those as lies. I am beginning to see things differently and I can already see the changes God is doing in my life - in less than a week of this life change that I asked for. I've had some of the sweetest times with the Lord this past week.

How sweet to see God's hand leading me through. How sweet to see His faithfulness. How sweet to see His unconditional love flooding over my life. He's getting ready to do some amazing things and I pray that I am intentionally available for whatever He calls me to do.

Friends. please keep me in your prayers and let me know if there is anything I can do for you. I want to always be available.

stress

stress :(

i dislike stress

i feel it pressing in on me from all directions

from all areas of my life

when will it ever end?

or will it?

wait for it...

so God is teaching me to wait on Him....

Psalm 37
1Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2For they will wither quickly like the grass
And fade like the green herb.
3Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4Delight yourself in the LORD;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
5Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.
7Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8Cease from anger and forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9For evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.

reread verse 7 noting this part - WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM.

This is what God has been teaching me lately - in ALL areas of my life

for those of you who don't know i am going to start my masters - but God has told me to wait until fall to start, i am so stoked!! i am going to get a masters of christian education, with an emphasis in childhood ministry. it feels so amazing to finally know what i'm going to do with my life. children's ministry - that is where my heart is. i've always wanted to work with children but never knew in what capacity, with my faith being who i am and what i try to live daily, it's so amazing to me to be able to integrate two of my passions!

God is also teaching me to wait in my current job situation, i am planning on staying where i am and waiting for a new position to open up in the fall, unless He drops something else in my lap. i am trusting Him. i'm not going to go looking for another job.

another area where God is teaching me patience is in my relationships with others. there has been so much change lately in my life that i became overwhelmed with it. but i know now that i am to wait patiently for Him to reveal my role in my current and new relationships. as He says in james 5 - be patient, stand firm, don't grumble, and don't swear, we must persevere. even though i may not know what is going on, i know and trust that God is in control. i just have to remember that everyone is insecure, and that people act in a way that makes sense to them (it doesn't have to always make sense to me, but i need to have a love and compassion for the person in the way that God does). i also have to believe and live out that authenticity builds relational intimacy and that hypocrisy destroys it.

a line from one of my fav songs by chris tomlin - strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord (is. 40:31)

God has been teaching me so much lately and i absolutely love it!!

thoughts

some thoughts i've ran across that i'm still processing....

everyone is desperately insecure

aunthenticity builds genuine relational intimacy and hypocrisy destroys it

catch yourself and own it when you start to pose

when we're defensive we're usually hiding or running

i'll write more later on it.....have a Spirit-filled day