Yes, I hear you! : )

I know! Don’t be worried! Two posts in one week!! I may have fever! Haha. Just kidding. I have so much to say, especially since the last blog! But I’ll start with this…This weekend was my god daughter’s first birthday. I can’t believe a year has passed since she was born!! She has changed so much and is growing up so fast! I am so thankful for my little Camilla-bug! I’m so glad you’re in my life Haha.

Well, like I said earlier, I have so much to talk about and hopefully I don’t ramble and it makes sense to you. God has been showing me so many things lately and I feel like it is all due to the fact that I have been purposefully spending more time with him! It’s not always easy to set time aside, but it’s so much fun when He shows you things that make you realize He is greater than I even imagined!! (Ok, I’ve already tried writing this twice because I feel like it won’t make sense. This is the faint glimmer of the overachiever side that I used to be!! Haha.) Alright, here we go….It starts with a scripture (Isaiah 43:18-19) that I wrote in my “verses to remember” notepad a few months ago. I revisited it Friday during my bible study lesson and thought it would be a good one to memorize. Sunday, during my Sunday school class, we talked about the Proverbs 31 woman, who is pretty intimidating but should remind us of what we should strive for, with God’s help, of course!! : ) Just stick with me...

So, that brings me to Monday, and the day I posted my memory scripture on facebook. A friend asked me if I followed Proverbs31 ministries (http://www.proverbs31.org/) because that was the scripture for the day in their daily devotions! How ironic, right?? After reading the message I knew a friend could use the same message so I sent it to her. Then, (yes, it keeps going!) as I started my summer bible study, it discussed the Proverbs 31 woman too! Could this all possibly be a coincidence?? Doubtful. It’s obviously God trying to tell me something or tell me something so I could tell a friend! Oh, and there is another “coincidence” that God brought to my attention for another friend last night! It’s more personal, but it definitely left me speechless!

I feel like what he is telling me is that nothing is a coincidence and that there are some areas I could work on to be more compassionate to others. (Oh, and I am so glad that I actually heard Him!!! Woo hoo! I always worry I don't listen enough!) I really like doing things for other people, it’s just that I haven’t done that much lately because I have been so “busy.” I need to focus on what’s important and remember it may not be a big deal to me, but it may be a huge deal to someone else. God is really working on me in this season in my life and I am really thankful for all He’s showing me! It feels so awesome when He feels near. Oh, and one more thing, I promise!! I saw a church sign yesterday that cracked me up… “Shine, don’t whine!” How awesome is that?!? Hope you have a great week!

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Streams in the Wasteland

Hello everyone in bloggyland! Haha. It has been awhile since I have wrote but just to update you, everything has been going fine, fine, fine! I’ve been spending a lot of time in the sun and it’s been a great summer so far! I’ve been building close relationships with new friends and of course keeping up with my old ones (don’t be offended if you’re an old friend, you should take that as a compliment!!). So yes, I am truly thankful for this new season in my life. It has been wonderful and eye-opening all at the same time!

The last two posts I’ve written have been dealing with hope. In a short summary so you don’t have to read them, I feel that I have held back from God in the area of my hopes because of fears that I have absolutely no control over! I was scared to hope because I didn’t want anyone I love to be taken away from me, because I wasn’t sure there was someone out there for me, because I didn’t want to put myself out there to be hurt again…and the list goes on, especially because I’m a worry wart!! But over the last month or so, God has brought to my attention that I need to hope and I need to trust Him with my hopes. It’s not something that came to me one day, God gave me a couple of verses about hope and then I read a few articles/blogs over the past month, that have drove the issue home for me. This is so hard to explain, and I hope I do a good job but God wants me to hope and it’s even silly for me to act like He didn’t know my hopes and dreams in the first place. And here’s where I know God is still trying to help me to understand.

For the last 3-4 weeks, I have been doing a bible study with some new friends I have met online. (Hey April & Beth!!) It is an in depth study of Ruth and so far it hasn’t disappointed. We’ve been dealing with loss, perseverance, standing strong in adversity and this week it’s been kindness. As I finished session 3, I read the introduction to session 4 and it knocked my socks off!! (Oh, BTW in case you’re wondering the bible study is Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy by Kelly Minter!) This week is titled: the Proposal and she talked about all the hard decisions that Ruth has had to make, even if they weren’t easy, which I can totally relate. But as she wraps the introduction up, she tells us about a discussion her and her friends were having about being single. She asked a friend if she thought she would ever get married and her friend replied “I don’t let myself go there”. (p.92) It was as if she had asked me. For so long, I didn’t let myself go there when I should have. Who was I kidding?? Like God didn’t have it in his hands the whole time!! He was just waiting for me to learn, grow and realize that I have to trust Him for every little thing! Why are we so hard headed, and feel we can do these things on our own?? We can’t! We just need to remember, He’s making a new way! Hope you have a great week!!

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wastelands.” Isa 43:18-19