Happy New Year!!

Hi:)
I haven't been feeling too great lately, and today I've just been hanging out in my room, reading and journaling. I wanted to share what I was journaling today.

Happy New Year! 2010 was a pretty interesting year. It was full of ups and downs, surprises, both good and bad, and a lot of learning through experiences. I can't remember what I was doing on this day a year ago, but I do know that God has continued to transform me into the woman He plans for me to be. I'm so thankful for that. About two years ago, I decided that I wanted to give my whole life to Christ, not just part of it. I want to grow to be more like Christ, and I know it is a process, and He continues to show me that. As soon as I made the choice to follow Christ, He began to change my heart, and I began to see life in a different light. It wasn't just about me, and I wasn't ever going to find anything to make me fully content.

Only God can fulfill our discontentment. He gives us life, and He forgives us and cleanses us of our sins. In Him, we are new creations, for the Lord makes all things new. Before I wanted to know God, He knew everything about me, and He had a plan for my life. I was selfish and wanted to be in control of my own life, yet the Lord is the only one who can be in control-- He is sovereign. I can plan my course, but the Lord will establish my steps.

This past year, I have learned more about what it truly means to follow Christ and to genuinely love and want to live for the Lord. Sometimes I do things and later wish that someone would have stopped me in my tracks and told me that I was making a bad decision or that I was trying to justify something in my head, but that I wasn't following the Lord with my actions. Satan takes a hold of us sometimes, and no matter how hard we try to fight against it, we are prone to sin. However, God has my heart. Satan can try to mess with it, but it belongs to God, and no matter how many times or how far we stray from Him, He always wants us to come running back to Him. If you have regrets, think about what would have happened if you hadn't experienced whatever it was that you regret. When I think about that, it helps me to see how God has strengthened me, through EVERYTHING.

We turn against the Lord, but if we desire to follow His will, and if we've entrusted our heart to Him, He will work through everything. This year, God has taught me to trust Him, to depend solely on Him, to give Him everything daily, to be fearless because He holds me in His hands, to be patient and wait on His timing, to love others unconditionally like He loves us, and most importantly, that I can desire to follow all of this, but that I will always struggle, and that I can only boast in Him because we cannot earn righteousness through anything we do. We are righteous only because of Him, and we will fail, but He wants a relationship with us anyway! He knows we are imperfect, and He loves us for our imperfections. If only we could all love each other like that. One day in Heaven, it will be like that, and it will be amazing.

God has also taught me that if you have faith in Him, He will be faithful to you. In the past year, I have also been clearly shown that because God is our source of strength, when we face situations that scare us to death, like sharing your faith in front of a room full of people or fighting cancer, He supplies us with the strength we need. It might not be the most pleasant experience of your life, but He will shine in everything, and nothing is impossible with God.

I'm excited to see what God has in His plans for 2011. I'm slightly nervous, but I know I can be at peace because God already has a perfect plan! No matter how hard we try to be in control and manipulate our lives, God will show us that He is sovereign. Also, His grace covers our sins. We are saved by grace, and He has set us free. I hope that in 2011, you can all see and embrace your freedom in Christ, and allow Him to work in you and through you with that in mind.
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1