Sunday, December 09, 2007

The story of my life the past few months

Over the past few months God's providence has been so evident in the life of my family.

Back over the summer my parents found a house in West Virginia, it was nice, great location and an amazing low price. They decided against looking any more into it though because they didn't think it was time.

Towards the end of the summer, they suddenly decided to pull all of my siblings out of the church's school and homeschool them.

Then, at the end of the summer, they ran across this house once again. It was still on the market, which was amazing due to how cheap it was. My dad decided to put an offer on it just to see what would happen. He offered them about $80,000 less than they were asking. Soon enough, we found out that they had accepted!

Approximately in that same week, also around the first week of school, Josh and I both unexpectedly got full scholarships for the year.

Then soon enough it was final! They settled on the house, and we were making plans to move. Josh and I stayed here while everyone else moved to West Virginia.

My family moved the week before Thanksgiving. Josh and I are staying here with our grandparents, still settling into the quiet life at home.

Looking back, I find it amazing how everything fit in perfectly. My parents pulled the kids out of school right before they found the house again. If the kids had stayed in the school, they wouldn't have been able to make the decision to move so easily. It also provided extra money they weren't paying in tuition. The scholarships Josh and I got came right in time for us to switch to paying bills.

Now they are gone, finally owning a house again. God works in a mysterious way, and in the end, he does work for the good! I'm excited to see what is to come.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Ephesians 1:7-23

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, the hope to which he has called you, what are having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might seated him at his right handthat he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

verses and thoughts

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you." ~Isaiah 54:10

"'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord." ~Jeremiah 29:11-14

"When I said, 'My foot is slipping,'
your love, O LORD, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul." ~Psalm 94:18-19

"Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to do on the heights." - Habakkuk 3:17-19


I have so much faith for my future. Why? Because I know that God is in supreme control over it. Even when the fig tree is not budding and there aren't any grapes on the vine, and it may be easy to think that God isn't providing, he is. That was all in his plan as well, and he wants it to be used to learn from and trust in Him.

God is unchangeable. That never ceases to amaze me. No matter what happens, he continues to love me, and even adore me. I really can't understand why, because I am such a sinful person, but that only makes God so much bigger to me! It only makes me want to know him and try to understand him more! It makes me can't wait to meet him someday. I am up and down and dependent on my feelings, but God isn't. God is love. He loves me and he hates sin. I only wish I wasn't so lazy, arrogant and selfish by trying to take away God's glory and give it to myself. Or by not having my quiet times. Why wouldn't I want to spend as much time as possible with the King of the universe who is also my loving Father? I am endlessly stupid. (surprise surprise?)

Spurgeon says, "If you sow in hope, you will reap in joy. Therefore, 'be strong and very courageous'."

May I be sowing in hope, recognizing that God is in control of everything, whether that be work, school, relationships, finances, family stuff, or anything under the sun. He is there, he knew about it long before it was to occur and had a plan laid out for how it would happen. Not trusting in him that his plan is right is just the arrogance of us stupid humans. May I sow in hope, so that I can reap joy in my Savior.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." - Psalm 37:4-5

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

life as i know it

so what i should be doing right now is either sleeping or writing a paper. however, because i am wide awake, yet too distracted to write anything logical or coherent on the harlem renaissance, i decided to look up this old blog and see if it still existed. it did in fact, i just had to find the password.

school is almost over for this year. i have two exams and two papers left. i think that adds up to five somehow.

tomorrow my caregroup is going to a baseball game, but i don't think i'll go. dont particularly want to, and dont have time at all.

after school ends, i dont know what my life will look like. i will most likely dive head first into work and try to keep myself occupied with that. altho that place is getting more and more boring as the season ends and i am running out of things to do, however some stuff we have been saving for when i get out of school so i'll have more to do soon, hopefully.

my parents have also been encouraging me to find more places to serve in the church, so i've been giving that some thought as to where i would like to serve. i've considered going back to imag, as that was fun and i enjoyed that a lot, or possibly back to childrens ministry or being a champion, not sure about getting up that early every sunday tho :-P i'm not sure what else there is altho i'm sure there are lots of ways i could serve i just havent looked into it yet. they also have brought up me going to mexico (like this june) haha... i don't think that will really work...

ok, well i need to be heading to bed. i have to work at some point tomorrow, and as i said, lots of papers and tests to study for and write. maybe its time for a trip to panera or something to work. hopefully less distraction