some photos from lately
I've been learning a lot of things lately. I've been learning better how to consider others above myself. I've been learning patience--something I've always struggled with. I've learned to more and more appreciate the support and love of family and friends. I've been learning all the more that God's timing is perfect. I've grown more in my understanding of God's adoption of me as His daughter, and of His everlasting love for me.
"...From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I."-Psalm 61:2
My heart becomes overwhelmed often--I become consumed with the worries and cares of this world. Yet, constantly I am reminded of God's faithfulness, His provision, His love. I'm so thankful for what the Lord has been doing in my heart this past year. He has truly used trials for good, as I've seen myself learn so much about Him. I'm excited about the woman I am becoming in Him. Yet, I know I still have so far to go. I have so, so much to learn about Jesus, about the church, about being salt and light, about loving Him more fully. I still have so many things to work on, so many precious lessons to be learned.
"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." -Philippians 1:6
These are some things that have been on my heart lately that I am praying for and working on:
i. growth in grace. i'm praying God will be growing me more and more in Him this year. That He will me drawing me all the more closer to Him, and that i would become more like Him.
ii. digging deep into God's word. Honestly, this is not something I have always been consistent with--daily spending quality time in God's word. i have been becoming increasingly convicted of my absolute need to be in His word more often and consistently. my prayer is that God would be using the time i spend in his word for good in my life, that i would continue to be convicted of this, and that he would be helping me to thirst more and more for His words.
iii. being sincere and caring. i'm not always good at being sincere when i talk to people. i find myself gravitating often to conversations that consist of "how are you? how was your week?" they reply "i'm good and i had a good, but busy week." and then, when asked the same questions in return, i spend minutes upon minutes describing how i'm doing or how my week was. i want to work on being sincere with people and really caring more about them and their lives. i want to be asking people how i can be praying for them. i want to encourage.
iv. being bold. i have so much trouble being outgoing when i am in new situations or with people i have just met. even with people i've known for long amounts of time, i struggle to know what to say, and i become self conscious about the things that i do say. i'm praying that God will be working in my heart to not be nervous around people, but to just be friendly. i'm praying God will help me to be a witness to people who do not know Him, that I won't be afraid to share the gospel--that I would be overflowing with my love for Him and that I would tell people about it!
v. being gracious, forgiving, and compassionate. these are all things i struggle with. i struggle to forgive as He forgave me, i often struggle to be gracious and hospitable, and having compassion is something i need to work on as well. i'm praying God will place me in situations where i learn these things better.
My life is full of blessings, and I want to continually be thankful for those blessings, for God's love, for my family, for my church, my friends, my life. My cup truly overflows. This year, I want to live my days to the fullest--I want to use my time wisely, invest my time in things that are truly important, and to live for the glory of God. I want to be filled with God's love, overflowing with thanksgiving, full of rejoicing and gladness.
My heart becomes overwhelmed often--I become consumed with the worries and cares of this world. Yet, constantly I am reminded of God's faithfulness, His provision, His love. I'm so thankful for what the Lord has been doing in my heart this past year. He has truly used trials for good, as I've seen myself learn so much about Him. I'm excited about the woman I am becoming in Him. Yet, I know I still have so far to go. I have so, so much to learn about Jesus, about the church, about being salt and light, about loving Him more fully. I still have so many things to work on, so many precious lessons to be learned.
"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." -Philippians 1:6
These are some things that have been on my heart lately that I am praying for and working on:
i. growth in grace. i'm praying God will be growing me more and more in Him this year. That He will me drawing me all the more closer to Him, and that i would become more like Him.
ii. digging deep into God's word. Honestly, this is not something I have always been consistent with--daily spending quality time in God's word. i have been becoming increasingly convicted of my absolute need to be in His word more often and consistently. my prayer is that God would be using the time i spend in his word for good in my life, that i would continue to be convicted of this, and that he would be helping me to thirst more and more for His words.
iii. being sincere and caring. i'm not always good at being sincere when i talk to people. i find myself gravitating often to conversations that consist of "how are you? how was your week?" they reply "i'm good and i had a good, but busy week." and then, when asked the same questions in return, i spend minutes upon minutes describing how i'm doing or how my week was. i want to work on being sincere with people and really caring more about them and their lives. i want to be asking people how i can be praying for them. i want to encourage.
iv. being bold. i have so much trouble being outgoing when i am in new situations or with people i have just met. even with people i've known for long amounts of time, i struggle to know what to say, and i become self conscious about the things that i do say. i'm praying that God will be working in my heart to not be nervous around people, but to just be friendly. i'm praying God will help me to be a witness to people who do not know Him, that I won't be afraid to share the gospel--that I would be overflowing with my love for Him and that I would tell people about it!
v. being gracious, forgiving, and compassionate. these are all things i struggle with. i struggle to forgive as He forgave me, i often struggle to be gracious and hospitable, and having compassion is something i need to work on as well. i'm praying God will place me in situations where i learn these things better.
My life is full of blessings, and I want to continually be thankful for those blessings, for God's love, for my family, for my church, my friends, my life. My cup truly overflows. This year, I want to live my days to the fullest--I want to use my time wisely, invest my time in things that are truly important, and to live for the glory of God. I want to be filled with God's love, overflowing with thanksgiving, full of rejoicing and gladness.
