This year.....

Hello y'all!

Snow, SNOW, Snow!!!! At last, a decent amount of snow! (And a fairly decent amount of ice to boot.) Soaked gloves, snowy boots, rosy cheeks, hot chocolate….

The snow was also very useful because I couldn't go anywhere, so I worked on this post. ☺ Rather overdue, I know, but I usually blog when I get up early, and.....I haven't been do so during the past week *sorry!*

So anyway, I promised to tell you more about the year's goal. Well, actually, I have three:

1. Do Hard Things.
2. Get my act together.
3. Use the situations around me to prepare myself for life.
   

That does sound a little non-specific, doesn’t it? They’re actually more like guidelines than specific goals. I

1. Do Hard Things. I am in college (doing CollegePlus!), and between school, church, and family it seemed I had no time for anything else But God showed me I was really just lazy, not wanting put the effort into making things happen. So now I have to roll up my sleeves and make my schedule accomodate those hard things H wants me to do (you'll hear about them as they come!).
   
2. Get my act together. Really, it means to go through my life like a person combing hair for lice, looking for those things that are hindrances/stumbling blocks (Heb. 12:1, Eph. 4:22) and replacing them with something better. I can't really do this very well by myself since I tend to think I'm a pretty good person ;) So this one kinda depends on the next:
3. Use the situations around me to prepare myself for life. I know God has plans for me (Jer. 29:11) -ones I'm very excited about!- from the desires and gifts He has given me. And I have tried to go ahead and get started on them, but each time He has closed the door firmly but lovingly, and made it quite clear that I am not ready. It took me while to accept that fact. But He has made me content with where I am (Psalm 37:3), and in the many situations I face, I see His hand of preparation (having a large family: flexibility and leadership. Having students: patience and responsibility. Honoring parents when I think differently: obedience, humility, and appealing respectfully) Plus, He reveals to me what I need to change/learn by the way I react to various circumstances. It's not very pretty sometimes....but I'm thankful for Him caring enough about me to do so (Psalm 119:75, Heb. 12:10).
   

So. What are some things God has given you? Maybe it’s an attitude: you don’t know what He has planned for you. Maybe it’s something big. Or small. Maybe it looks scary. Maybe you aren’t sure what on earth He was thinking. Whatever it is, remember; He gave it to you because He loves you and it’s His perfect will for you! He will not leave you to face it alone.

Blessings,

Ericka

First post of 2009!!

Hello y'all!!

It's the new year! In fact, it's way past New Year's Day (in case you hadn't noticed).

I'll be honest, for the past month, I have been struggling with several issues and not dealing with them well at all. Ergo, I did not want to say "Here's how God is helping me Do Hard Things" when really, I wasn't allowing myself to use His strength.

But by God's grace, He has allowed me to come out on top of my feelings and all that.

He has broken and humbled me as He showed me the many things that needed to change, big time, in my life.

He has given me a new longing to spend time with Him and to memorize Scripture; He has answered my prayers by giving me an intense longing to "know Him [meaning Christ] and the power of His resurrection" and that I "may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but of that which is through faith in Christ..."(Philippians 3, verses 10 and 9 respectively)

He has given me several verses from Psalm 37: (3-5) Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord trust also in Him and He will do it....(7) "Rest 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."

God has been so good to me even though I often turned away from Him, and I praise Him for His mercy and lovingkindness!! I am excited about the vision He has given me for this year, and I look forward to sharing about it in the next couple posts!

Blessings,

Ericka

Hehe, I forgot to changed the post date...it is now officially posted in January.