2013: The most favorite year of my life {so far!}
I guess if I had to start this post with something, the
greatest word {or maybe I should say NAME} I could begin it with would be
Jesus. He has truly inspired me this entire year and there have been people
(many people) along the way showing me more about Jesus than I ever knew. I’m
not going to sit here and tell you I have it all figured out because I most
definitely don’t! But I think I am well on my way of finding my truest self in
the Lord All Mighty. So thank you Jesus for being there for me this whole
year and teaching me more about myself and what I am in You.
The greatest gift:
As I mentioned up there ^ … : ) Jesus has shown me what life
is supposed to be about. Why we should live every day to glorify Him and to
live our best walking in the Spirit. It
is a daily, no; second by second challenge to walk in the Spirit. As it reads in Galatians 5 “But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control” but as you read those things aren’t they pretty AWESOME but so hard to practice sometimes? For me the
answer is a definite yes! But I’ve been inspired by the Holy Spirit, my fiancé,
family, friends and church body to be striving for this daily. It’s been
and is one of the hardest but best challenges of my life; and I can attest to
say it is truly changing me into a Godlier woman and drawing me closer to
Jesus.
A true love:
As I embark on this next journey of my life with my
wonderful partner in crime and soon to be husband, I am learning that love is
not peaches and cream {all the time}. It’s wonderful when you find your soul
mate and yes I used that word. I believe in that word just like I believe that
Jesus my Lord and Savior. I do believe that God has made someone perfect for
me. But part of that perfectness He has created is {here we go a little quote
from one of my favorite movies “Up”} “We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by
learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.” Come on ya’ll! That’s exactly
how God loves us because of his precious son Jesus Christ! True love,
therefore, has its up’s and down’s but it doesn’t fail and it’s one of the most
beautiful, most amazing things I have
ever experienced!
Why church is important!
I hate not being able to go to church more than once a week {on
Sundays} right now. But it wasn’t always that way for me. I use to be an occasional
church goer – which works for some people, just not for me. I found out this year,
after attending church every single Sunday, that I grew tremendously in my relationship
with God. Honestly now, I feel like going to church is just part of who I am.
It doesn’t feel like a place I should
go on Sunday mornings, it feels like a place I’m honored to be in. The
community of believers is a beautiful, if not THE most beautiful, place I have
ever experienced in my life. One the most lovely, breathtaking thing that I occasionally
get to experience during worship is this. The band stops playing its
instruments for a couple seconds and the congregation continues to sing. It’s
in those moments I can feel the heart of the church, it’s like I can feel it
beating through the vibrations of people’s voices. It’s those moments, when all
of life’s distractions melt away, and I feel like the church community is
singing to God in praises of pure joy. It’s honestly a bit hard to describe, I
hope you got the idea! A church can be anywhere though, as it says in Matthew
18:20 “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” I am so
lucky to have found such a wonderful church community to be a part of. I truly
hope and pray for all of you out there to find a church home or even just a
small group to where you can grow in your relationship with Christ.
Merci beaucoup!
Thank you to all of the wonderful encouragers in my life, some
of you might not even know that you encourage me! One of you, I won’t name specifically,
said in a post this year “I try to wake each morning & say "Good Morning
LORD! I choose JOY today!" I love you!” Man, did this encourage me! How simple and
true it is that if we choose God – EVERY.SINGLE. MORNING – He won’t fail us! So,
thanks to this person, God knows who you are! I will continue to pray for you and all of my
encouragers, friends, family and the world!
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each
other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful
and effective.” James 5:16
{{That’s one of my fiancés favorites ^^ : ) }}
I could write a novel
on everything I learned in 2013 but I will save that for the history books {I’ve
always wanted to write one!} I think we can all learn from each other’s
experiences and spur each other on! To my fellow bloggers out there, keep it
up! It’s fun to read and share with others who love words and have the
God given talent to write! Don’t let your gifts go to waste; you never know who
is reading and who could be one step closer to opening the door to Jesus!
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears
my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they
with me.” Revelation 3:20
That’s all for now, may God have ALL the glory for my post and may God use it to encourage you to draw closer to Him! Xo*
Laura 