Dreaming of Heaven

Today I went to Blackacre, which is a nature reserve and historic site.  It's an absolutely gorgeous day and so I could not go the whole day without doing something outside to enjoy God's creation.  If you've never been to Blackacre, I totally recommend going because it is beautiful!  I just rediscovered it last Sunday after not having been there since I was in elementary school.  I went again today to go exploring on the nature trails a little more than I did last Sunday.  It was an excellent way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  There was a nice breeze, all the trees were so colorful and the leaves were falling, birds were chirping, it was amazing!  I just love being out in God's creation, just spending time with Him and giving Him glory for all the beautiful things he has created.  There was this beautiful pond surrounded by trees and you could see the reflection of the trees in the water.  It was such a peaceful little spot that I decided to just sit there and just enjoy God's presence and do some pondering.  And as I was pondering, and thinking about all the beauty that surrounded me, a closer look at the pond revealed that although it was still clear enough to reflect the images of trees, it was somewhat polluted.  And then that got me thinking about sin and what a mess it's made of this beautiful world that God created.  It amazes me that beautiful places like Blackacre even exist in a world where sin runs rampant.  And then I got to thinking about how much more beautiful Eden must have been: no sin, just pure, clean, glorious land and seas and the presence of the Almighty God day after day.

On my wanderings through the trails, I started to go off and kinda make my own trail.  It reminded me of when I was little and would go on "adventures" through my neighborhood and find secret shortcuts to "other lands" where I'd never been.  I felt like that little girl again and it was fun, except for getting caught on some thorns and poking myself in the face with tree branches.  So then I got to thinking about Heaven, a place of endless beauty, a kind of beauty that our eyes have never seen before, that our human eyes are not capable of seeing, but with our new eyes in our new bodies, we will see things we cannot even imagine.  And adventure!  Oh the adventure!  Discovering new lands, something new and exciting around every corner, animals that we've never seen before, and all of it ours forever as we reign with Christ and enjoy perfect communion with Him.  Makes me all tingly just thinking about getting to SEE God, HEAR God, TALK to God, WALK with God, the way it was in the beginning before sin entered the world.  Which also brings up a question to make this a little open-ended blog entry here:  Will Heaven be as Eden was?  Or will it be even better than Eden?  Maybe if you know some scripture that would back up your answer, that would be cool.  Okbye.

An Encouragement for the Day

10 Years Today!

Wooooooooooooo!  10 years!  And no it's not 10 years since my last blog entry, although it sure does seem like it, doesn't it?! :)  Today I turn 10 years old for the 2nd time in my life!  Now I know what you're thinking: "What?! Are you crazy? That's impossible!  You can only be 10 once in your life!" (For once in my life, I have someone who needs me! Someone who needs me! Oh sorry, little Stevie Wonder moment there...moving on!) Well, to you friend I say "Au contraire, mon frère (even though you are obviously not my brother) Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  Of course silly Nicodemus is confused and thinks that Jesus is talking about a physical birth, but Jesus is actually talking about a spiritual birth. 

When a person is first born, everything is new, clean, with an entire life ahead for the baby to learn and grow.  The same is true for a person's 2nd birth.  Once you put your trust in Jesus Christ, he makes everything new!  He wipes away all your sin and puts new life in your heart.  Starting at the moment you accept Him as Lord and Savior, He begins His work in you so that you can learn and grow.  And like a baby first learns very simple things and crawls and eats liquid food, a new life in Christ starts at the beginning with simple basic truths.  But eventually the new Christian starts learning more, eating solid food, walking with confidence.  The same has been true in my life.  Over the years I've learned more and more of Jesus and what it means to be a follower of Jesus and how to live my life in a way that brings Him honor and glory in everything I do.  I can look at my life the way you do someone's baby picture book and marvel at how much I've grown in 10 years.  I can see snapshots at different points in my life and I can see the progression and it's simply amazing!  For example, 10 years ago, I would not have known John 3:3.  Five years ago, I probably had heard the story, but I could not have told you the reference.  Today, I'll be honest I had to look up the exact verse, but I knew that the story was found in John 3.  That's only one particular example, but the main point I'm getting at is that I have grown in my knowledge of the Word of God and that is so exciting!  Before, I might have thought that once you read a passage in the Bible once, the second time it has nothing left to teach you.  But today I know that the Bible is living and breathing and no matter how many times I've read a certain chapter or book, it always has something new to teach me and I just stare in wonderment and think "What an awesome God I serve! He never gives up on teaching me something new!"

So what's in store for my life for the next 10 years?  I'm not exactly sure, but I know it's going to be an amazing journey!  In fact, God's been stirring in my heart and I get the feeling that a big change in my life is coming soon.  Lately I've been feeling like I've been stagnant in my growth in Christ and that perhaps He is telling me that my time in Louisville is coming to a close.  I've become too comfortable with the comfortable...and I'm not comfortable with that.  I'm ready to leave the comfortable, "go outside the camp" as we've been saying in my Sunday School class.  I know that doesn't always have to mean completely picking up and moving somewhere else, but for me I think it does.  Several options have been presented to me that I haven't quite got a chance to look into further, but they intrigue me greatly and definitely deserve some serious researching and praying.  Nothing's finalized, so don't start missing me yet! :) Even if I do leave, it will most likely be at least a year from now.  I would like to ask for your prayers as I begin this research process.

So, in closing....wow, 10 years!  I can hardly believe it!  It's been an awesome journey so far.  I can't wait to see how the Lord's gonna use me in the next 10 years!  All glory and honor and praise are Yours forever, Jesus!

Wandering

The long awaited update of my blog is here!!  Oh man, it's just not good times when I haven't updated my blog in a while.  I meant to do it several thousand times, but kept putting it off.  But then my very very good bestest friend in the whole world, Tyra, wrote a comment for me to write a new entry and so here it is!  Thank you Tyra!  I love youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

So, the thing that I've noticed about this blog of mine is that when my relationship with the Lord is super and prayers are being answered and "all is well," that's when I tend to update my blog.  When I've come out of the valleys, when things seem to be clear and I hear the Lord speaking to me in amazing ways is when I get the urge to sit down at the computer and write about what the Lord is teaching me and giving him all the praises for it.  And when things aren't going so well, when I'm not consistent in my quiet times, when I don't hear God's voice, when everything is completely confusing and disappointing and even sometimes hopeless, honestly, I don't feel like updating my blog then because I feel like I have nothing uplifting and inspirational to say.  But I forget that this blog can not only be my way to encourage others, but it can be a way that others can encourage me.  And also later on, I can look back on this entry and see where I came from to where God will be bringing me at that point in time.

So, as you may have guessed, things haven't been too well for me lately, including now.  At the end of August I moved back in with my mom due to lack of finances, which was really not what I wanted to do at all.  I love my mom and all, she's great.  The problem is that she lives with her boyfriend who can, at times be verbally abusive, smokes, drinks, and if he has a bad day at work, he takes it out (verbally, not physically, thankfully) on my mom and that's just not cool at all.  It just makes me really not want to be there a whole lot, but most of the time I'm stuck there 'cause there's nowhere else to go.  I'm still working at CVS and I'm really getting sick of it.  I like the people I work with, I don't mind the job so much, but the pay is crappy and I know I could do so much better.  My feeble attempts at finding a new job just aren't working and I keep on making these deadlines in my head on when I'll have a new job, a full-time job, and then the deadline passes and I feel hopeless.  And the reason I feel hopeless is because I've been wandering away from God.  Sure, I go to church on Sunday morning, and it's great, and I'm singing my praises to God and listening intently to the sermon, but then I get home and the rest of the week I act like my life hasn't been changed.  I don't get into my Bible enough, I don't pray or journal.  The thought will come into my head to spend some quality time with God, but then before I know it, the day is over and I think, "Oh well, I'll do it tomorrow."  And then tomorrow comes and goes and it's the same thing everyday.  I don't know what is wrong with me.  For some reason the motivation is not there, the discipline is not there, and I just feel like a useless blob and sometimes ask myself the question, "What's the point?"  I just feel so stuck.  And I am so aware of my singleness right now and I hate it.  But then deep inside I know that I'm not ready to be in a relationship.  I'm a mess.

So, that's where I am.  That's the reality of my life right now.  Is it the way I want it to be?  No.  The bottom line is that I'm not putting my full trust in God and that's why I'm feeling so confused and hopeless.  So to anyone reading this, I need your prayers.  I need a renewed passion for the Lord.  I need the motivation and the discipline to read my Bible and meditate on the Word everyday.  If I seek His Kingdom first, the rest will be added to me.  A little paraphrase of a verse which I can't remember the reference.  Within time, I'll be updating this thing again and those prayers will be answered!  Love you all!

I'm 8 Years Old!!