Things I've Learned this Year

My friend wrote on his birthday a couple weeks ago about 23 things he's learned in his last 23 years, so I'm kinda stealing his idea cuz I liked it :) Only I've learned so much this year alone, that I think I can get to 23 and far past it just with lessons from the last 12 months! So here's a stab at it...

1. God is God...And I am not.

2. God's plans and purposes sometimes (most of the time) aren't ours, and they can throw us off if we are not expecting it (think Subway...)

3. God's timing is NOT mine, but it's perfect.

4. Waiting is soooo hard but soooo valuable.

5. Obeying in the waiting, worshipping in the waiting is not only a must but it is so worth it and comes with so many blessings!

6. My friends are INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!

7. Patience is a weakness of mine

8. Joy is not something I must choose; it is something that overflows out of the amazing, intimate relationship I am privileged to share with the Father.

9. Jesus not only took away all my sins, He took away my guilt. He has forgotten my past and has made me a new creation.

10. Jesus has set me free!!!!

11. God's grace is enough.

12. As followers of Christ, we have no option but to go and make disciples of all nations, no option but to feed the hungry, no option but to set the oppressed free, no option but to bring justice to the broken.

13. There are still so many who have never heard the name of Jesus.

14. God is working powerfully and amazingly around the world to find the lost!!

15. Leadership starts with humility.

16. God has a way of making crazy connections among His people to accomplish His purposes!

17. He answers prayer in incredible ways beyond what I could've ever thought possible.

18. Avoiding conflict is not always the best option (nor the one of least resistance).

19. When you delight in the Lord, He truly does give you the desires of your heart because He has put those desires there to be used by Him for His glory.

20. Blogging is a GREAT processing tool for me.

21. Half marathons are much better than full ones.

22. The church is full of a bunch of broken, imperfect people, but if we're all striving toward Christ and His kingdom, it's a beautiful thing.

23. It is such a huge privilege to be in an intimate relationship with the God of the universe and to get to serve Him in Riverside and on the other side of the world!!! I can't wait to see what He does this next year!!

God, thank you for a really hard but good year. It was tough, but you grew me a lot through it. I'm excited to continue struggling, continue being challenged, continue learning how to worship you, continue to be stretched and changed and used by you. I love you!

Here are some verses that encapsulate what God has taught me this year:

Isaiah 54:4-5
"Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. FOr your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts; and your Redeemer is teh Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth."

Isaiah 55:8-9
"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.'"

Psalm 37:3-7a
"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him..."