For the past month I have found myself in a season of praise and thanksgiving. Father has been so good to me and those that are around me… and I cannot seem to thank Him enough!
PRAISE – for the experience I had at training camp and how those 10 days have changed my life, pumping me up for the next 11 months! It amazes me how you can simply give yourself to the Lord, and what He is ready to do with all of you. Yet we struggle so much with that actual letting go. Letting go of the clothes I want to wear, letting go of the things I want to do, letting go of the people I want to be friends with, letting go of the thoughts I want to think, letting go of all the expectations society and I put on my life. Training camp was eye opening, and I feel as though I am more ready now that I ever have been to give up those expectations for the will Father has planned for me.
“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – The things God has prepared for those who love him -. 1 Corinthians 2:9
Our minds cannot even conceive what it is He has planned for us.. so why keep trying? I am nervous, yet so excited to see what this next year entails for me and my new family.
PRAISE– I recently took the NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses) to get my RN license. This was the climax of the last four years of my life, all boiled down to one computerized test (yikes!). I knew that I was well prepared with the education I received, and how I had been studying, but I was still very nervous for it! Giving it up to Father was difficult for me, because I was equating it to asking for a new tricycle. Once I started to pray for help, I realized that Father loves me and cares about all that I am going through! I was then declaring that God would be my strength, my calm, and my knowledge when I walked into that testing center, and all of my worries and stress were taken away. Again, it is amazing how giving it up to the Lord really does work!! I passed the exam in 80 questions and am now officially a Registered Nurse!
PRAISE– The day after I had taken the NCLEX, it was time for a family vacation/trip to Missouri where we were heading to go see my younger brother Luke. It was an adventurous road trip that my parents, Rhya, Natalie, Anna and I took together in the nasty Missouri humidity. We spent the first few days enjoying Branson, MO seeing different shows and going to different museums. It was the typical “American family vacation” in the 15 passenger white van, grabbing ice cream cones to beat the heat, and touring historical museums, which I enjoyed especially to see how my soon to be, younger sister, Anna was taking it all in. The trip was to be wrapped up with a church service at the church Luke attends. It was uncertain if all of us siblings were going to see Luke because it was supposed to be a parent specific visitation, but we were blessed with a short lunch and car ride with him back to his school. This is what I am most thankful for in this past month. The peace that I was able to see and feel from Luke was settling in a way I cannot articulate. He has God in his heart. That was my only prayer for him since he has been gone, and the Lord is working beautifully in him. He misses us all greatly, but he knows that he is where he needs to be, doing what he needs to be doing. PRAISE YOU JESUS! I am thankful for the change we were all able to see in his heart, I am thankful for the positive ripple it made in our immediate family, and I am thankful for a Lord that loves us beyond our comprehension.
PRAISE– I am also SO thankful for the support that Father has been providing in many different ways. I am blessed to be halfway to my final total of $14,800!! Thanks to all of my supporters making this mission’s trip possible! I am faithful in that this trip will fully be funded by supporters, and that God will provide all that I need for this endeavor!
I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has been good to me. Psalm 13:6
