We're already six weeks into the school year! That's 1/6 of the way done with senior year I cannot believe it's flying by so fast! And I have already learned so much! Not only in school, but about this town, the people in it, and myself.
Before moving here everyone told me I was "lucky to be getting a fresh start," and they "always wished they could have been new at least once." Well, let's just start by saying being new is NOTHING like the movies make it seem. You become a loner against your will and nothing you do can change that. My plan of action? Make one good friend in each class and pray I survive. So far that plan is working really well!
Sure I miss my friends back home, but I can't let that keep me from making new friends! Just like everyone back home didn't let their life stop when we moved away, I won't let my life stop just because I moved away.
I'm not going to lie and say it's been nothing but fun! Every day is a blast! No. There have been days where I just came home feeling defeated and like everything just went wrong that day. But, I learned that every day is a new day! Just because yesterday sucked doesn't mean today has to. Yes, life is rough. Yes, everyone faces challenges and frustration, but does that mean we can just give up and whine about life? Not at all.
The day after feeling defeated and alone are always the best for me. Somehow I have already been blessed with friends that are extremely nice and friendly. I haven't met anyone here that I just completely don't like! Sure, there are some that I like better than others, but there's no one that I 'hate' or purposefully avoid.
Life over here really is fun! Sure, people don't really understand what Yakima is like, but how can I expect them to when I don't even fully understand Moscow, yet.
I'm refusing to let bad days make me feel like I've had a bad life. Sure, senior year isn't as I always thought it would be, but does that mean I can say my life sucks? Not at all.
Moscow is a great new home and I wouldn't trade my senior year for anything.
3/25/12
God's Hand of Protection
Lately I've been asking God why we haven't moved yet. My dad spends half of his time in another time and comes home talking about this 'amazing new town!' that he 'can't wait to have us all living in.' Yet, no more action has been taken in selling the house and I can't help but feel ignored or forgotten by God. Like he got my dad there most of the time and that's good enough the rest of the family can just manage. I know that that is by no means true, but I can't help but feel that way.
Every time I pray about it and ask "Why God? Why?" His immediate response is always "I'm protecting you. Just wait." Ugh, patience is not my strong suit! But, trusting in God, I can do.
If he says he is protecting me from something, okay, I can handle that. He's protected me from so much!
Almost two years ago I spent a very short amount of time in the hospital. My throat swelled and I was put in the ER one night and given albuterol and a heart steroid before going home. I was using these as prescribed when the heart steroid made things way worse. I was checked back into the hospital but this time given epinephrine. I was terrified. I had to be checked in and stay overnight, not exactly my favorite time of that summer to say the least. It was an intense three days for my family. After my overnight stay they eventually let me go home provided that I also get saline and a nebulizer (shaped like a penguin!), that I used once.
During the second trip to the hospital I was given a different doctor. He noticed something on my thyroid while my throat was all swollen. I had an ultrasound done on my thyroid and was sent to Children's to figure out exactly what it was. By the time the appointment at Children's came up (about two months later), I was not afraid at all! To me God had proved his greatness by just keeping me alive after the whole throat swelling incident. I was totally at peace for this appointment.
My doctor at Children's told us that what I have on my thyroid is something fairly common, it's called a nodule and it does absolutely nothing to me. He did say I needed to come back every year to a year and half just to be absolutely certain, and we have been! Nothing's changed.
This is just one of the major times in my life where I realized how intensely God's hand of protection is over my life. I have so many others!
I will never fully understand God's goodness and the things he has protected me from, but I trust Him.
If he says he's protecting me from something in Moscow, Idaho then sobeit. He's in charge and I'm not. He wants here in Yakima still, for my protection. Okay. I'm along for the ride. And I can't wait to look back to see all the twists and turns I took to get there.
Every time I pray about it and ask "Why God? Why?" His immediate response is always "I'm protecting you. Just wait." Ugh, patience is not my strong suit! But, trusting in God, I can do.
If he says he is protecting me from something, okay, I can handle that. He's protected me from so much!
Almost two years ago I spent a very short amount of time in the hospital. My throat swelled and I was put in the ER one night and given albuterol and a heart steroid before going home. I was using these as prescribed when the heart steroid made things way worse. I was checked back into the hospital but this time given epinephrine. I was terrified. I had to be checked in and stay overnight, not exactly my favorite time of that summer to say the least. It was an intense three days for my family. After my overnight stay they eventually let me go home provided that I also get saline and a nebulizer (shaped like a penguin!), that I used once.
During the second trip to the hospital I was given a different doctor. He noticed something on my thyroid while my throat was all swollen. I had an ultrasound done on my thyroid and was sent to Children's to figure out exactly what it was. By the time the appointment at Children's came up (about two months later), I was not afraid at all! To me God had proved his greatness by just keeping me alive after the whole throat swelling incident. I was totally at peace for this appointment.
My doctor at Children's told us that what I have on my thyroid is something fairly common, it's called a nodule and it does absolutely nothing to me. He did say I needed to come back every year to a year and half just to be absolutely certain, and we have been! Nothing's changed.
This is just one of the major times in my life where I realized how intensely God's hand of protection is over my life. I have so many others!
I will never fully understand God's goodness and the things he has protected me from, but I trust Him.
If he says he's protecting me from something in Moscow, Idaho then sobeit. He's in charge and I'm not. He wants here in Yakima still, for my protection. Okay. I'm along for the ride. And I can't wait to look back to see all the twists and turns I took to get there.
1/31/12
In Complete Awe
So much has happened in the last few days! I am totally and completely amazed by God in a way I have never been before. My love and awe has increased by a factor of about a million bajillion!
To start with, yes, I am disappointed our house sale fell through. Yet, if it had gone through I would have missed out on so much!
GU (Generation Unleashed) is a conference our church attends. As always I was impressed by the church itself but also (much more importantly) by what God did in student's lives.
For me, GU was a reminder of God's love for me. That was the most important part for me. Of course we had loads and loads of fun and ended up exhausted.
The best part though? The van ride home! Oh my word!! Can someone say 'Our God is amazing!" Please? We had gone around in the van and everyone shared their favorite part, least favorite part and how they were changed. Then we prayed and some people led out. It was cool, but the best part was still to come.
For some reason Jason brought up the Holy Spirit. Then Sydney asked who hadn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Then we moved seats around so girls could pray for/over girls and guys with guys. I explained our beliefs about speaking in tongues and we began.
It was so unexplainable powerful. Something about people uniting together in the name of Jesus is so intensely moving. I was praying over Trisha and she was just sobbing in God's presence. Then a little while later I leaned in to hear her speaking in tongues! I nearly screamed out of excitement and joy! Then I couldn't help but laugh! The Holy Spirit was working and moving in that van on the way home from conference. God doesn't care where you are. If you press into Him he will not let you down.
So all of this was amazing and really pushed us over the edge. Usually, at least for me, the car ride home from camp is when the 'spiritual high' already begins to wear off. But we broke that this time. And I will never be the same because of it.
This Sunday night was our worship night at Stone. Now, I've always loved worship, I may not be a great singer but worship is still so awesome to me. Anyways, the lady leading the night said something along the lines of God's love for you isn't going to grow based on you and your works. Wow. My whole life I've been taught it's not the works you do that save you (Romans 1), but that it's loving and accepting Christ as your savior. Yes, I know that. But to realize I don't have to work to please God or to make him love me any more totally removed a huge burden off of me. As a PK I always know there is more I could be doing for our church and that I therefore should be doing. Now I realize though that it isn't about pleasing God, it's about worshiping Him. I've known this in my head forever but this was the first time I felt it, and I knew it for myself.
I have such an unexplainable all powerful joy. I'm never going to be who I once was.
To start with, yes, I am disappointed our house sale fell through. Yet, if it had gone through I would have missed out on so much!
GU (Generation Unleashed) is a conference our church attends. As always I was impressed by the church itself but also (much more importantly) by what God did in student's lives.
For me, GU was a reminder of God's love for me. That was the most important part for me. Of course we had loads and loads of fun and ended up exhausted.
The best part though? The van ride home! Oh my word!! Can someone say 'Our God is amazing!" Please? We had gone around in the van and everyone shared their favorite part, least favorite part and how they were changed. Then we prayed and some people led out. It was cool, but the best part was still to come.
For some reason Jason brought up the Holy Spirit. Then Sydney asked who hadn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Then we moved seats around so girls could pray for/over girls and guys with guys. I explained our beliefs about speaking in tongues and we began.
It was so unexplainable powerful. Something about people uniting together in the name of Jesus is so intensely moving. I was praying over Trisha and she was just sobbing in God's presence. Then a little while later I leaned in to hear her speaking in tongues! I nearly screamed out of excitement and joy! Then I couldn't help but laugh! The Holy Spirit was working and moving in that van on the way home from conference. God doesn't care where you are. If you press into Him he will not let you down.
So all of this was amazing and really pushed us over the edge. Usually, at least for me, the car ride home from camp is when the 'spiritual high' already begins to wear off. But we broke that this time. And I will never be the same because of it.
This Sunday night was our worship night at Stone. Now, I've always loved worship, I may not be a great singer but worship is still so awesome to me. Anyways, the lady leading the night said something along the lines of God's love for you isn't going to grow based on you and your works. Wow. My whole life I've been taught it's not the works you do that save you (Romans 1), but that it's loving and accepting Christ as your savior. Yes, I know that. But to realize I don't have to work to please God or to make him love me any more totally removed a huge burden off of me. As a PK I always know there is more I could be doing for our church and that I therefore should be doing. Now I realize though that it isn't about pleasing God, it's about worshiping Him. I've known this in my head forever but this was the first time I felt it, and I knew it for myself.
I have such an unexplainable all powerful joy. I'm never going to be who I once was.
1/6/12
If God Is For Us, Then Who Could Ever Stop Us?
FINALLY!! Our house is coming off the market! We have 13 days (January 19th) to pack up and move out! It's such a huge an amazing blessing!
People keep asking if I'm excited. My answer? I don't really know. It's so overwhelming, and there's so much going on. I feel kind of lost in all the confusion of packing, hanging out with friends for the last time, and trying to get school stuff ready to transfer.
But, God has given me the best friends in the world! I can't imagine what I'd do without them! Whenever I just need someone to encourage me or to tell me it'll be alright I know they'll be there. I love them so much! And I'm going to miss them even more...
I am amazed by God and his love for us as his creation. I've always 'known' this but the older I've become and the more I've learned the more amazing this seems. "Nothing you could ever say or do will ever change God's love for you." This phrase has been ingrained into my mind for as long as I can remember. But I will NEVER take that for granted.
God has given me all I have and I am so thankful!
I've had some moments where I was scared for my life, yet God's hand of protection was over me. Because of God's protection I'm still alive and well. This is proof to me that with moving to Moscow my God will protect me. He loves and cares for me. Nothing can stop that.
I will not forget that.
People keep asking if I'm excited. My answer? I don't really know. It's so overwhelming, and there's so much going on. I feel kind of lost in all the confusion of packing, hanging out with friends for the last time, and trying to get school stuff ready to transfer.
But, God has given me the best friends in the world! I can't imagine what I'd do without them! Whenever I just need someone to encourage me or to tell me it'll be alright I know they'll be there. I love them so much! And I'm going to miss them even more...
I am amazed by God and his love for us as his creation. I've always 'known' this but the older I've become and the more I've learned the more amazing this seems. "Nothing you could ever say or do will ever change God's love for you." This phrase has been ingrained into my mind for as long as I can remember. But I will NEVER take that for granted.
God has given me all I have and I am so thankful!
I've had some moments where I was scared for my life, yet God's hand of protection was over me. Because of God's protection I'm still alive and well. This is proof to me that with moving to Moscow my God will protect me. He loves and cares for me. Nothing can stop that.
I will not forget that.
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