Another cup of cocoa, please!

I have figured out why the end of the semester tests are known as "finals." It's because we students can hardly wait until they are FINALLY over!!

As of this morning I finished out my second semester of nursing school and 7th semester of college classes (including the two summers I spent taking classes). Just 3 more semesters and I will have my BSN/RN (Bachelors of Science in Nursing/Registered Nurse) degree and license.

I am so thankful to be on Christmas break now. Because nursing school started in May of this year, I have not had more than two weeks off of school since summer 2007. I know that doesn't seem like that big of a deal to those who are working, but when you're in school all day long and then have to come home and study until bedtime, it can be very tiresome!

For the next several weeks while I'm out of school I guess I'll be working on wedding plans, but hopefully that will be more fun than school. June is just around the corner!

Thank You, Lord, for getting me through another semester of school. Thank You for not only giving me a full scholarship, but allowing me to keep it thus far. Thank You for the opportunity to learn and be educated in a field that I am interested in, and help me to always use the mind that you've given me to serve and glorify You. Whenever I am tempted to take the credit for my talents and abilities for myself, remind me of the One who not only gives me academic gifts, but holds my very existence in the palm of His hands. In Jesus name, Amen.

Defining Moments

Tonight I was talking to a dear friend about the exciting development of maturity in our spiritual lives. I was just telling this friend how excited I am to have seen a spiritual growth in them over the past couple of years. Three years ago when I started asking them how I could pray for them, prayer requests were consistently very surface level and were things like school, ill relatives, and other important, but impersonal requests. Over the years, I have seen spiritual growth in many areas, but one area that has definitely stuck out is that this friend now gives me more personal, deep requests such as pride, self-control, patience, etc. Now, I'm not saying that impersonal prayer requests are any less important, but I think that there is definitely a time in the life of a believer when the Lord starts to show them the depravity of their sin & the intricate details of their depravation, allowing them to see the "respectable sins" (as Jerry Bridges calls them) that are clouding their spiritual glasses.
I've also considered that another factor into going from surface level to deep spiritual content could be the intimacy of the relationship and the length of time the relationship has had to develop (I'm learning that most people don't spill their guts upon the first introduction as I tend to do), but in the case of this relationship and looking back, I didn't see much spiritual growth at the time the friendship began, whereas over the past few years I have seen significant growth.

These defining moments in our spiritual lives are so exciting to me! I love to see the development of personal relationships with God, and to learn from those who are more wise, and also from "baby believers." I have recently found that the passion that young believers have and the burning desire they have to preach the gospel has been kindled with time & I long to become more sensitized towards the urgency of proclaiming the Good News and remembering that any moment could be our last.

Oh, how I love to fellowship with believers! It's such a sweet time and I look forward to being extremely active during my Christmas break. It will be so nice not to have to stay home to study for tests and write papers and to be able to go out and enjoy the company of fellow Christians!

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17, ESV).

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7, ESV).

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, ESV).

My Heart Is Filled With Thankfulness

Last night I was reading Psalm 118 during my quiet time and thinking just how fitting that Psalm is for Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for this year! Not that I don't always have much to be thankful for, but this year is extra special to me.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We slept in, woke up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (a family tradition) while the delicious smell of sweet potato casserole, turkey, and dressing floated through the house. My grandmother came down, bringing four yummy pies, and then the our friends, the Kamphausen's, joined us for our Thanksgiving meal. We spent the afternoon talking and laughing, and overall it was a day to remember! The memories of this Thanksgiving will be dear to me because it is my last as a single person. For anyone who doesn't know, Paul ask me to marry him last month. We're getting married in June, so next year the holidays will be divided up between our families.

God has been so gracious to me and my family and I am so thankful to him for so many undeserved blessings. As a reminder to myself, I'm going to list just a few of the many ways that the Lord has blessed my life:

1. Sending His Son
2. Opening my eyes to see, my ears to listen, and my heart to understand
3. Forgiving my sinful heart
4. Redeeming me with His blood
5. Giving me the capacity to praise Him
6. My parents
7. My brothers and sisters
8. My extended family
9. Paul
10. Paul's family
11. My best friend, Anna
12. My church family
13. My friends
14. Freedom to serve Him
15. America
16. His Word (the Bible)
17. A voice with which to praise Him
18. Health
19. A healthy mind capable of learning
20. Protection from physical harm
21. My family loves the Lord
22. Bringing us to BCLR
23. Pastor Tim & his family
24. Sound, Biblical teaching
25. Missions
26. "My kids" in Ukraine
27. "My kids" in South Africa
28. My engagement to Paul
29. Good food
30. Laughter
31. Joy
32. Sorrow - and how we learn and grow from it
33. Color
34. Imagination
35. Sound
36. Smell
37. Touch
38. HUGS!
39. Smiles
40. Eyes
41. Music
42. My dogs, Mysti & Chip
43. Technology (cell phones, Internet, blogs, etc.)
44. Warm, fuzzy blankets
45. Discipline
46. Homemade butterscotch pie... YUM!!!!
47. Twinklie lights
48. Dedicated teachers of the Word
49. Homeschool moms
50. Scholarships

...I should stop now, but there is soooooooo much more to be thankful for!

"You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;you are my God; I will extol you.Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;for his steadfast love endures forever!" (Psalm 118:28,29, ESV).

AAAAAAAAH!

Life got busy. Very busy. I need to update!

Oh, to be a doorkeeper for Him!

"How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!
Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob!
Selah
Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!"
Psalm 84, ESV


Father God, my soul is longing to dwell in Your courts! Thank You for the opportunities You have given me to serve You here on earth. I pray that You will continue to bless me with ways to glorify You and that You will use me as an instrument for your glory to impact believers and unbelievers alike. Thank You for Your grace on undeserving wretches like myself. A glimpse of Your glory is much more than I deserve, but You go way beyond that, giving me an eternal inheritance with You! God, You are so loving and merciful. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! I pray that You will use me accordng to Your will and conform my will to Yours.
In Christ's holy name, Amen.

One of those days

Well, I was originally posting to complain about feeling sad and lonely here at school. However, as soon as I started typing, 2 people walked by and said "hi." I guess I can't complain now.

I'm so glad Dr. M preached on humility yesterday! My heart is being wicked again.

"The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?"
Jeremiah 17:9

You can't serve two masters.

I read this in my quiet time tonight:

"If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" (I John 1:6).

This is harsh truth. If we are not giving up the world and running after God, we do not have an intimate relationship with God.