thankful heart today.

Hey guys!
    
Wow, what a day today yesterday was! SO much happened.

I woke up at 6:00 am ready for Bible study with my Young Life girls. We had a blast as we do every Wednesday morning. I love talking with my girls about Jesus and what He is doing in each of our lives. We always arrive to Bible study with a smile on our faces, ready to dive into the word. Young Life camp is right around the corner, and I am so thrilled! A little over a month away, God is good!

Next, I had coffee with one of my close friends Erica. She is awesome, another one of the wonderful friendships that God has blessed me with this year. She is so encouraging in my faith. We started off this year not really knowing each other at all, and now we are the closest of friends. It's crazy to think how different things were with her at the beginning of this year. Each time we are together, we share our joys, struggles, hopes, and fears in walking with Christ. It's comforting to have another Christian to talk with about these things, because it reassures me that I am not in this alone.

 
Meanwhile, at coffee with Erica, I received an email letting me know that I HAVE BEEN OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED INTO GRADUATE SCHOOL!!!!!!!

I am SO happy.
Its official, and now I don't have to be so darn stressed out about it anymore. It wasn't a burden or anything, but it was definitely a stretching of my faith in waiting on the Lord. Through that long period of waiting for an answer about graduate school, I become so much closer to Him. I learned to lean on His peace whole heartedly and trust Him even when I so badly just wanted a yes or no answer about my future.

“Wait on the LORD. Be courageous, and he will strengthen your heart. Wait on the LORD!”
Psalm 27:14

The Lord also strengthened my heart a lot during my period of waiting on an answer from Him. There were times where I became frustrated, overwhelmed, sorrowful, and stressed. But at the end of each day I heard my father whisper into my soul: "Wait."

I am learning more and more each day that my walk with God entitles a life full of continuous blessings, but in the midst of EACH blessing, there are trials. Whether they are big trials or little trials, they are there, and the Lord has a purpose for them. What is the purpose you ask? Well, I believe that without problems, we wouldn't have any need to depend on God. God teaches us to lean on Him like a child does to their earthly father when life gets hard.

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."
Romans 8:15

It's one of my favorite characteristics of my heavenly father, and I am forever thankful. I am happy that in the midst of my crazy life, I can still look to my God and say: "I trust you. I may not always understand, but I trust you."

Have a beautiful day!

ps- I am loving getting to know the each of you better. I love your encouraging posts, they are such a blessing to my days. You guys are wonderful!

xoxo