The Day God Spoke to Me

This morning my sweet friend Katie and I went to hike to the top of Kennesaw Mountain. It took next to forever to get the top due to our slow pace and frequent stops. We were almost to the top when we decided to sit. We sat admiring and commenting on how amazing and beautiful God's creation is, talking about how thankful we are to know Him. Katie talked about how, as women, we struggle with the way the Lord created us, but that we are a part of his beautiful creation. God made us exactly how he meant. There was no mistake.

After a couple minutes of sitting in silence, a man passed very quickly and not far behind was a woman moving significantly slower. Her name is Leslie. She passed, but almost immediately turned around, saying, "ok, Lord, I will obey". She walked up to us and said, "I was feeling kind of like a slug and that man was a bunny, moving so quickly. He's not taking the time to enjoy the world like you girls are.God told me to tell you this. The Lord is pleased with you." The Lord is pleased with you. Wow. So often I feel like I'm failing. That God is not pleased with me because of my attitude about who knows what or my struggle with depression and anxiety. "The Lord is pleased with you. He told me to tell you that". Such encouragement for my heart.

After we had regained our composer and finished walking up, Leslie approached us again, giggling. She went on to say that God told her she needed to talk to us more, but she didn't think she would see us again. She looked at me and said "It is very important that you know that this is coming from God and not from me. You are beautiful. I don't think you believe that, but you are, and the Lord thinks you are. You will believe that one day." I was surprised. She said that she felt like I had endured lot in the past several years, but that I am doing a good job. Leslie told me that she God told her that my desire at this time is to grow closer with Him. She told us both that we are wise well beyond our years, that God is using us and He will bless us. She said a few more things that, for the privacy of myself and my family, I am not going to share here. Almost everything she said was exactly what I have been thinking and feeling and desperately needed to hear.

Today, The Lord spoke to me more directly than I have ever experienced. What began as a hike with a friend turned into a beautiful encounter with God.

I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me

Psalm 13:6

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We Meet Again

My goal for this summer is to start blogging. I've come to the realization that I just can't journal in an actual, paper journal. So, hopefully this blog will serve as my electronic journal. Hopefully along the way the Lord will use me to encourage to a person or two. Another reason I'm writing here is that so many people ask me how I'm doing, but unless I'm very close to you I have an extremely difficult time with words. They just don't come easily to me.

The Lord has been working in my life. It has been painful. It has been difficult. I have made friends and lost friends. I have felt alone while surrounded by people. But through it all I have felt God pull me closer to Himself. God has brought me to a point where I desperately want to be close to Him. I want Him to be my best friend. I want to run to Him when I have troubles before I run to my earthly friends. I am not there yet. The most important thing for me to remember is that this is a lifelong journey. I will never get to where I want to be. As a perfectionist, that is hard! So that is where I am spiritually.

As of May 2nd, I finished my junior year of college! What a year. This year was the most challenging yet, academically speaking. I have taken between 18-21 credits every semester and this year was 20, but man, it seemed like WAY more than that. By the grace of God, though, I finished with mostly good grades (I'm still trying to be ok with that B!). I am so blessed to have made a few very sweet friends this year, and it has been amazing. Good friends make all the difference in the world.

That is where I will stop for now. I hope to write more than once every two years!

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

    they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

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