Love

  Yesterday was Zechariah's birthday. He turned 4! Wow! Where does time go!? I love that boy So very much! I love all of my nieces and nephews So very much! I can't imagine the love that I will feel towards my own children because the love I have for Mikaela, Ariel, Gabriel, and Zechariah is already So great. To think that the love God has for each and every one of us is SO SO SO SO SO SO much greater than the strongest love we have towards another human being. God blows me away! His love is truly indescribable!

"For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness."

Psalm 26:3

  I keep thinking about people I love, and the people that love me. Some friends of mine decided to try and raise money so I can come home for a weekend. I am not sure if they will be able to earn the money, but the fact that they are willing to sacrifice their money for me means a LOT to me!

  I am finally at a place where I feel like I belong at DLA, where I have some new and amazing friends. I was just sitting and dwelling on the love of friends and God said, "The love that I have for you goes beyond any earthly love you have experienced. I love you more than you'll ever know!" WOW!

  My friend Brenna told me about a video she watched that was showing Jesus dying on the cross for us and it said 'If you were the ONLY person on earth, Jesus still would have gone through all of that for you.' Again, WOW!

"The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."

Psalm 145:8

  Notice how both of the verses I included have the word steadfast in them? I decided to check out the definition on www.dictionary.com. Steadfast: unwavering, firmly fixed in place or position.

The love that God has for us, for me AND for YOU will always be there. No amount of failures on our part will lead to an end to God's love. He is. His love is steadfast. His love for you is unwavering, firmly fixed in place or position. HE LOVES YOU!!! Please, embrace His love if you haven't already. If you think you have fully experienced His love already, you haven't. Keep asking Him for more of it, because He has more to give!!

  I love the way God directs our thought processes. I was just going to write a blog about my amazing nephew and instead landed on the love of God. :) I just can't get away from God...and I LOVE IT!! :)

  My good friend Mali just wrote a really good blog about God's love. That may have also influenced my thought process tonight. Read and enjoy! http://maliishappy.blogspot.com/2011/09/uncomprehendable-love.html?spref=fb

I thought I would close with a few pictures of me and Zechie! :)

1) September 28, 2007 - the day I met him. ;)

2) Visiting me in Mexico 2008

3) One day when I was babysitting in 2009

4)  My 21st Birthday I had some pretty amazing visitors. Zech was one of them!





Roller Coaster Road

  HOLA AMIGOS!!! I pray you are doing well! I can truthfully say that I am.
  The last several weeks have been so very interesting. God has been working on me. He has been breaking me. He has been opening my eyes to things I tried to hide away. He has successfully taken me out of my comfort zone. I had to rely solely on Him because He was all I had. I am already SO grateful for the opportunity to be here, in Colorado Springs.
  I have had many days when I wanted to quit and go home. Luckily I am not the quitting type of person and so as much I might have wanted to go home, it would NEVER happen. I know there will be days ahead when I feel I am at the end of myself and want to leave. That is EXACTLY when God can move the most in my life. When I have no strength left, God moves more. When I am not in the way, God moves and HE gets all of the glory! :)
  Oh I love Jesus SO very much! As hard as I think my life is, as big as my struggles appear to myself, they are nothing compared to what Jesus has endured so I could be forgiven. His love is so endless. His love is so perfect. My finite being can only grasp a tiny piece of how infinite God and His love really is.
  I titled this post Roller Coaster Road because there is this road here with that name. The road is so cool because that is truly what it feels like driving on the street, a roller coaster. Lots of ups and downs. Just like my life has felt. I was too focused on my emotions, and not on God. I am striving to stay aware of my fluttering emotions and give them all to God. Please pray that I keep my focus on God, the only steady thing in this life.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

I'm Here

   I have been in Colorado Springs for 10 days so far. I knew that moving away from my family and friends would be hard, but I don't think I realized how hard. Our first week at school was packed FULL of information. Days of going over rules. Lots of new faces. A 6:30am workout. I was stressed out by the new adjustment. The altitude is quite a bit higher here in Colorado Springs which led to several headaches on my part. I am happy to report that I am have now adjusted to the altitude. 
  On Thursday of our 1st week we all took part in what is called a low ropes course. We had to do several team building exercises together. I loved this because everything had a Biblical persepective to it. Every time that our group was getting frustrated or could not figure something out, we had to "run to the cross." There wasn't really a cross but there was a gathering of logs which was to symbolize the cross. The purpose was to remind us of where to turn to when things get tough. It was SO refreshing because our team would pray together before we left the cross. The difficult thing about it was that we were literally running to the cross, and we did it about 30 times. I got my workout that day!
  My FAVORITE exercise we did together was the simplest. My team got together in a line, everyone closed their eyes, and we had one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of us. We had a facilitator who shook a water bottle in front of the head of our line and we had to follow the sound. Everyone helped each other out by saying if there was a hole in the ground or sticks ahead to prevent each other from falling down. We walked around an uneven field and through a bit of forest before we were allowed to open our eyes. Before we were allowed to open them our facilitator read us this verse.

Isaiah 42:16

And I will lead the blind
in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
and I do not forsake them.

  This was SO powerful to me at that moment because it was so very literal. I had been walking blind through a field I did not know and had to trust someone else to guide me. How much more does God lead us throughout our life in places we do not know. God is SO awesome. Ask Him for guidance and He will be there!

  Forgive me for this is a long post and I have not added any pictures to it. Someday, when my internet source is better I will. For now, I hope you enjoyed my words. :)





Our God Reigns

  My God, our God, is SO amazing!! If we truly allow Him to have control of our lives we will not be disappointed. When God takes over, He TAKES OVER! When we are willing to walk out in faith the life God has planned for us we can truly live. No fear of walking the wrong path. God's path is the right path!
   God has shown me oodles of times how amazing He is. For me living past day 1 is an example of how amazing God is. Just last week God reminded me again, for the millioneth time, or quite possibly a higher number, of how wonderful He is. I posted a while back of how I had a goal of $8000 for my school. I couldn't earn the money on my own. There was simply no way! I told God "If you want me to go to DLA, you have to provide me with the money. I can't do it on my own."
  Well, God Came Through! :) I was short a chunk of money and last friday God sent someone to provide me with the exact amount I needed to meet my goal. Considering the large amount I needed, I know it was NO accident. The occurrence was God-ordained! Whether they believe it or not, God planned it.
  I firmly believe that God blessed me for my faith in Him throughout this journey of saving money. I didn't allow myself to fret for long over my money. I asked God for help so I knew He was going to help me. Whether or not He did it on my time schedule was a Whole different story. I have reached my goal and beyond! (I did not include quite everything I needed in my goal. Why I don't know! I suppose it was because I didn't want to get too crazy with the amount of money I needed. God saw past my foolishness and provided me with MORE than enough.) That's just the way God is. ;)
 Are you struggling with trusting God about something right now? 2 Corinthians 5:7 says "We live by faith, not by sight." Let God reign in your life! Step out in faith. Give God something you are holding on to. He will not disappoint.