Lately...(a snapshot of my life over the past 4 months)

Wow...I haven't posted on here in a LONG time! sorry to all of my readers, if there are any! :) There is so much to say that I feel as though I could write a small book (perhaps, not so small). This summer was fantastic, although I spent the majority of it away from home. My family and I spent three weeks in northern Africa and then were able to tour Europe afterwards. It was an experience that I will never forget. We were gone a total of 5 weeks and by the time we got back home...I think we were all overjoyed that we didn't have to live out of a suitcase anymore. It was weird coming back because since we had been moving around so much during the summer, it felt abnormal to just stay put and NOT be getting on the next train, taxi, or some form of transportation to arrive at our next destination.

God taught me many, many things over the summer...some easier to explain than others. The main thing that I think I learned was that I need to rely totally, utterly, and completely on God. Spending 5 weeks away from home was not easy, on the contrary, it was VERY difficult, but I learned that God IS everything that I need...and that's it! He is my all...that was eye-opening.

I also learned how lightly I can take my own faith sometimes. I got a chance to see, throughout my vacation unstoppable faith and trust in Christ, lived out. I think we so often take for granted the blessings that we constantly have around us, and I was able to tangibly see what it would be like to live without them. I had to question my own faith and ask myself, "Back home in my everyday life, do I live like the verse "to live is Christ and to die is gain"? " My outlook and view of God was stretched considerably as I saw just HOW MUCH He is truly capable of doing. Wow...I don't think I will ever doubt His power again!

The third thing I learned is very close to my heart and very applicable to the stage of life that I'm in right now. God showed me that He, and He alone, must be #1. That sounds so basic, but I, many times, in my stupidity, forget to apply that to all aspects of my life! My passion is missions and sharing the gospel, but I really had to stop and ask myself, "Am I really willing to give up whatever it takes for God's glory? Or is it only under certain circumstances that I will sacrifice for the sake of the call?" Overall, there is so much to say about the summer that I could go on forever, but those are just a few things that God opened my eyes to while I was away.

Now, I am in school, and busy as ever, finishing up my senior year in college! yikes! I am worried about grades, essays, midterms, finals, homework, and much much more! But, I trust Christ to get me through it...He has never let me down...and so...I press on.