Count your Blessings

I have had the hymn stuck in my head all day thanks to my mother. We've hummed it, chanted it, sang it... You get the idea.
But really, this Thanksgiving, I have a lot to be thankful for.  More than the normal, cliché (but true and wonderful) "I'm thankful for my house, my family, my friends."  Though I am thankful for those things, I really started thinking about what I was MOST thankful for when Dad asked (tradition at our table is to go around and talk about what you are most thankful for).  I think that I am most thankful this semester for my community.  For the first time, I really feel like I fit in and have a safe place.  I finally have friends that really care about me and what I think.  I have learned enough about myself to love and be comfortable with who I am.  And trust me, I thought that day would never come. I am just so very thankful that I can go "home" to my house in Greenville.

Count Your Blessings this Thanksgiving... God is always at work.  And He loves us.  There is always something to thank Him for!!
Happy Thanksgiving!

I {almost} Hear Those Sleigh Bells Ringin'

I just love the holidays!  Even a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, it's like things start to change.  Call me a hopeless romantic, but I feel like the atmosphere just slowly becomes different.  As people start to put out their Christmas lights and churches decorate for the season, it makes my heart happy!!
The old ladies get out their Christmas sweaters.
My best friend and roomie gets out her Christmas earrings (I swear she has a pair for every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas).
Stores start playing Christmas tunes.
People seem to get more generous with their time and gifts.

If only the love and peace that seems to go hand in hand with the holidays lasted throughout the year.  And if only every man, woman, and child could know the LOVE and JOY that Jesus brings.  If only we could be as generous and kind year round.

For me, it's not the season.  It's the emotion and the principal behind it.  It's the romantic glow of the lights and the sound of small children singing Silent Night.  If only we could box THAT up to remind ourselves all throughout the year...

You Are More

{{You are more than the choices that you've made, 
   you are more than the sum of your past mistakes. 
   You are more than the problems you create, 
   you've been remade! 
   Cause this is not about what you've done, 
   but what's been done for you. 
   This is not about where you've been, 
   but where your brokenness brings you to. 

   This is not about what you feel, 

   but what He felt to forgive you 

   and what He felt to make you loved!}}

I know that I try really hard to "get over" what I have done in the past, but if I am honest with myself I know that is not really possible. Or necessary. I think that God uses each and every little tiny decision. Each mistake. Each thought. I think He is in everything that we do. If we think of life that way, then we really get a different picture. In a sense, it doesn't matter what's in our past. All that matters is that we are looking to him. And even when our present isn't all we thought it would be, we have to believe that we have a future that is better than we can imagine. In Ephesians it says that God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine. I was reading that earlier this week, and was like woah. He has the power. He has the plan. Why do we try so hard to make things the way we want them? If we were able to 100% surrender to His will, I think this world would be a totally different place!
Just remember... All things work together for the good of those that love God.
He loves you and wants what is best for you. And all the crap in the world can't change that. We can't see the big picture... but we have a God who can and will act on our behalf! :)

Sweetly Broken (by Jeremy Riddle)

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling
Of it's suffering I do drink
Of it's work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

Chorus:
At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified

You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

Chorus:

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness






I love, love, love this song.  (story to follow) 


:)