History, In the Making

It's been a bad day, you've been looking back
And all you can see is everything you wish you could take back
All your mistakes, a world of regrets
All of those moments you would rather forget
I know it's hard to believe
Let me refresh your memory

Yesterday is history
And history is miles away
So leave it all behind you
Let it always remind you of the day
The day that love made history

You know you can't stay right where you fell
The hardest part is forgiving yourself
But let's take a walk into today
And don't let your past get in the way

Yesterday is history
And history is miles away
So leave it all behind you
Let it always remind you of the day
The day that love made history

Would you believe that you are history
In the making, in the making?

Every choice that you are making
Every step that you are taking
Every chain that you are breaking
History is in the making
Every word that you are saying
Every prayer that you are praying
Every chain that you are breaking
History is in the making
History is in the making
History is in the making

Yesterday is history
And history is miles away
So leave it all behind you
Let it always remind you of the day
The day that love made history

Oh, history is in the making

--Matthew West-History

I think this song is appropriate to quote on the eve of the new year. It is so hopeful and encouraging.

This year has been a good one, full of triumphs and joy. I was going to write a very detailed summary, but that's what I was going to do last year…and it didn't happen. So, I'm just going to go for some highlights.

These are some of the wonderful things I've experienced in the last year (in no particular order):
• I had a wonderful birthday party with fifty people and it was great to know that my friends traveled so far to celebrate with me.
• I started learning guitar in February and am still playing! I love it!
• My family got to go to Washington DC and spend a couple days with Sarah Greek and attend the Rebelution conference, and meet some more rebelutionaries.
• I had a great time at Teenpact and met more new friends.
• We attended a new church for a brief time. We didn't make many lasting connections there, but one friend that I kept contact for a little while was a great encouragement to me in my song writing.
• Song writing? Yes, I've been writing songs! Mostly on the piano, but some on the guitar too. As of two days ago, I have 12 songs done, including one Christmas song.
• I also have started voice lessons, which are going very well. Even after only two lessons, my friends say they see great improvement in my singing.
• I got a new iPod for Christmas (which I named Bella, after the Bella in the movie of that same title), so I've started running again with it.
• Alejandra visited me a couple times this year. The first time, I almost died. ;-)
• Tatiana and I got to visit our friends in Rhode Island and see Coburn's play! We stayed up until 2 in the morning, talking. That was one of the most encouraging talks I've had in a while.
• Soulfest was an amazing time. We stayed with our cousins and dear friend Rachel along with our Japanese exchange student. It was at Soulfest that I decided to not buy any new clothes for a year. It's been five months and…it's a little hard, but I've been able to use my money so much better! Also at Soulfest, we got to meet some new friends, hang out with old ones and get BarlowGirl's autograph in my Do Hard Things book.
• The Art Music Justice Tour that came to Gordon College was fabulous and inspiring. That's when I decided to sponsor my third child, Uwamahoro. She's from Rawanda. Radia is from Ethiopia and Jacinta is from Mozambique. I love child sponsorship programs! It's so awesome to get the letters from them! I got to meet and hear talks by Sara Groves and Brandon Heath the next day.
• My family and I got to volunteer with blood:water mission at the Love Came Down at Christmas concert and because of that, we met Jars of Clay! I also met Leeland and got them to autograph my Do Hard Things book.
• While we're on the topic of concerts, I went to the Matthew West, Jeremy Camp, Tobymac concert for my birthday and it was the best over all show that I've ever been to.
• Graduation parties this year were fun! And I'm glad I got to see my friends Esther, Evan, Hannah and Corinne over breaks! Actually, I get to see Esther and Evan more than that!
• There was an awesome Thanksgiving break bowling party!
• Dad took me and my sisters out for his and Mom's 5th anniversary. So sweet.
• Worldview Academy was an awesome, awesome time! I met so many wonderful people and went street witnessing which was the best ever!

I think those are most of the cool things that happened this year! Thank you all for being great friends!

Happy New Year!

What I'm Liking :)

This is just a list of things that made me happy during the Christmas season and I thought they were worth sharing. It's great to look at my life and see that even though a lot of things went wrong lately, that God still was watching over me and giving me joy.

• I had the privilege of playing the piano for two Christmas pageants that our homeschool group did. I also got to sing two of my songs with my sisters.
  
• I finally started voice lessons and being strongly pushed by a friend and I'm loving them!
• I managed to not get sick for the holiday season (at least, not yet)! Quite a change from last year when I was very sick from the 9th to the 23rd.
  
• I got to have about twenty friends come over last Saturday for an awesome Christmas party that went well into the night. We had a great time of fun, fellowship and worship. It really meant a lot to me that everyone came!
• Yesterday morning, we went to Lynch Park and my sister and I went down to the beach, while the rest of the family went sledding. I collected shells and rocks and put them in a dish and vase when I got home. My sister took some great photos too of me on the beach and in the garden! It was a wonderful new Christmasy thing that I will remember forever!

• Last night we got to actually do something important. We helped some friends of ours clean their house, since the mom has problems with a chronic illness and four young children which makes it hard for things to get done. So, we got to have a wonderful time with them while helping them and at the end we sang some carols with my guitar.
  
• Today was a wonderful day, just spending time with my family and actually...catching up on some things around the house. It was nice this year to actually clean up from the meal and do laundry and put away the gifts instead of leaving it for the day after, in an attempt to cause a post-Christmas depression. Also, this was the first year that I made sure we read the Christmas story from the Bible before we went to done to open presents and I think that really helped put the day in proper focus.
  

Merry Christmas, everyone!

A Wonderful Reminder

During a recent down time in my life, I was despairing about my future, not knowing what God wants me to do. After relaying this all to a friend, they told me that they were sure that with how much time I spend reading the Bible, that I would find God's will for my life.

This reminded me of something that is easy to forget sometimes. It reminded me that no matter how much we have read the Bible, it will still speak new to us in different trials. We may have read it five times, and get a little lethargic about looking for meaning in it, but that's a dangerous habit to fall into.

I believe that in any problem we are experiencing, the Word speaks anew to us and will lift us out of our trials. It is important to grasp as much meaning out of it as we can, every time we read it. It's like food; we never get to a point where we say, "I've eaten for the past 6,532 days and I think I've had enough nourishment, so I'm going to take some time off from eating." That would be ridiculous. Yet, Jesus said that the Bible is the bread of life. It is just as ridiculous for us to get lazy about reading the Bible as it is for us to get lazy about eating.

If you're dismayed, the Bible offers hope. If you're confused, God's Word gives direction. That's what I'm basing my life upon.

Worrying/Waiting

The other day when I was thinking of what to blog about, I scratched down worrying/waiting on my to-do list. I was planning on writing some really positive post about why we don't need to worry and if we just wait long enough, everything will be fine. But, today, I don't feel that. The idea which I was planning on expounding on is still true; ultimately things will be good for us in heaven. But on earth, today, it doesn't feel like things will be good for a while.

If you wait long enough, things get better...and if you keep waiting they sometimes get worse again. Right now my health has gone down again after I've done every possible thing I can think of to improve it. Despite my spiritual growth, I still face the exact same temptations and sinful cravings I did when I was 11. My future is not as sure as I felt it once was, and my conviction feels weak at the moment.

That said, I'm still going to write on my original idea, and perhaps my feelings of discouragement right now will make what I'm saying more real.

In the Bible we are told not to worry. Hmm... Worrying is so easy though. In fact, our whole culture is based around worrying about things and overreacting to them. That's how stores can sell so much. We buy it because we worry about not fitting in. Worry seems like a normal, even healthy response when we are faced with challenges or problems. But it isn't. It destroys peace and causes despair. But why is this important? Why did Jesus really tell us not to worry? I believe it is because that by worrying, we are trying to take matters into our own hands and not completely trusting in God to do what he says He will do. That's what sin is too. So, in effect, worry is this the prequel to sin: we see things going wrong, worry about them, try to take things into our own hands intsead of putting them in Gods' and deviate from His ways, then sinning.

How should we handle things then, when we feel like our life is out of control? We turn to God. Actually, we should have been looking at Him the whole time. If we are always in constant awareness of God's divine ways and eternal perfect plan for our lives, clearly outlined in scripture, we wouldn't have these worries. We need to trust in Him. If we wait on His plan, everything will be put to right eventually. Even if we do not experience great peace in our lives on earth, we will live forever healed and happy in Heaven. That will be amazing. We may have horrible lives on earth, or just not the best, but if we know the True God, we have no excuse for worrying. We can hope in His glorious future for us. So stop worrying.

I'll stop worrying now too.

P.S. None of my worries were tied to the election results, if you were wondering.