Does anyone else write a blog and then later decide that they don’t want to put it up after all?
Well, if no one else does, I feel dumb because I do that all the time! HA =)
I wrote a blog during dinner time while eating my PB&J, iced chai, and banana. It was tasty, but I ended up not liking the post I wrote. So here I am writing another……

Today and this weekend consisted of some pretty great things. Here is a rather long explanation of my weekend:

Friday night, I got to see “The King’s Speech” with my friend Sarah Trout (Ex-RA, Friend, UP Women Staffer, [brown pants] Sunday Duty Partner, and so much more) and get chipotle! After that, we went to #2 Donuts and enjoyed some tasty treats! It was lovely and just what I needed after such a longggggg week. The Lord knows just what you need and always has it for you at just the right time!

Saturday, I woke up early (at least for a Saturday 😉 ) and went to Sam’s Club with my mom to shop for the youth event that night and to get some groceries for my apartment. I love her so much! That time is so precious to me! Then, I went from there to Church for the rest of the day! I had a Kitchen Crew meeting and we had lunch and discussed how to run the kitchen efficiently and apron making, to name a few things. For the rest of the day I got to hang out with the other youth leaders and with, a great add on, Andrea! =) It was such a great day! We cooked spaghetti, meatballs, salad, and french bread. It was so tasty and the youth ladies looked so beautiful in their dresses (and the two guys looked handsome in their suits and ties)! I was so blessed to spend yesterday with so many people I love at a place that is so close and dear to my heart, FBCN.

Sunday. One of my favorite days of the week. It is such an uplifting, encouraging, God-glorifying day! Sundays are just great! Today, I got up at 7AM and made it to church by 7:38AM to help cook the hot breakfast for Norco Cafe’. It was so great to once again get to cook and enjoy company with the people I love. I, for some reason, was very emotional today and so that was an interesting addition to the day. The message was about Prayer in the Psalms. It focused on a prayer of lament: Psalm 102. This was such a good message for me to hear (the Lord knows…always!!!)! There were a couple points that I loved and gleaned from the sermon today. 1) How we react and pray in a painful and hard situation shows others what we believe about God. 2) It also shows what we believe about mankind and ourselves and our relation to God. 3) This is one of the application questions he asked, “Do I celebrate the goodness and wisdom of God even in tears?”

These were all such great questions and points. Pastor Jeff had me thinking for a couple hours after. I was still very emotional. The Lord is working in my heart and restoring and redeeming some areas of my life, and with those things, hardship and pain and brokenness occur. The question, “Do I celebrate the goodness and wisdom of God even in tears?,” was a hard question to ask and answer. There are times in my life when, no, I do not celebrate the goodness and wisdom of God. So often, I doubt his goodness and wisdom. Then other times I am praising him for his faithfulness and his amazing grace in my life. This past week has been kind of like that: an emotional roller-coaster. One second, I am fine. The next, I am in tears. But through it all, I know that looking past the times of doubt and fear, I have trusted and I have been humbled and the Lord has given me so much JOY AND SATISFACTION!

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My goal for the week:
1) To make my prayers echo my belief and faith in Christ.
2) To make my hardship become an opportunity to glorify the Lord.
3) To make my conversations with people be an encouragement of the Lords constant faithfulness in my life, constant joy in my life, and constant satisfaction in my life.
4)To view myself as I need to be viewed, as a sinful wretch in extreme need for a savior; to view God as he should be viewed, as creator of the universe, omnipotent God, all-knowing father, and loving and gracious savior.

My prayer is that of Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” I want the Lord to be glorified through this difficult time. I want the people around me to see that the Lord is glorified in my actions, thoughts, tears, joy, pain, exhaustion, excitements, prayers, time in the word, time with others, etc. I don’t want them to see those things for my own gain, but so that through my life, the Lord’s name may be known and that he may be glorified.

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Anyways, that was church and that is a lot of what I am learning and what the Lord is teaching me today. After church, I was going to go to the beach or to a park or something to just relax and spend some time alone, but after being so emotional I decided to spend some time with my lovely brother and sister to get my spirits up again. I went to lunch at the Caf, then went to hang out in my brothers apartment. It was a great time and I love those two. I love being so close on campus and being able to spend time with them. Times like those are sweet because I know that my time with them is fleeting and sooner or later we will all (Hopefully) be married with kids living in different countries. So, God is good!!!

To end my night, I am sitting in the box alone (because Sarah is having her surgery tomorrow…be praying!!). Though I miss Sarah, I am glad to have this time alone for reflection and self-examination. The Lord is teaching me so much and I am so grateful to be able to be in a time of waiting on the Lord and trusting in him. It is hard, but it is SO good and the Lord is SO good!

P.S. Here is a link to a blog I follow. This blog was written for women who are married, but I think these points of advice can be super helpful to anyone in any relationship: friendship, dating relationship, engagement, marriage, etc. Enjoy!!!

To Be Continued… =)