Isaiah 43

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you
I have called you by name, you are mine
When you pass through the waters
I will be with you
And the waves shall not over come you
When you will through the fired
you will not be burned
And the flames shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God
The Holy One of Israel
Your Savior.
Isaiah 43:1-3

Temporary Downtowner

So, this week I'm a temporary downtowner! My friend Nellie is in England for 10 days and I'm staying at her place downtown for the next week! I'm hanging out with her dog Finn who's cute and sweet! I'm already enjoying being close to downtown and being able to hang out without driving 4o minutes! :D It was a great 8 minute drive to church this morning!

This is Finn

Thoughts on Staying Positive

So, as most of you know I'm not exactly a real positive thinker. And I've realized this more and more as my situation has been no-so-much-changing over the past several months. And, so, on that note, recently a friend of mine told me that I should be more positive and assertive in my language. Not only would this help me feel more positive and optimistic, it would really help my mindset.
For example, I tend to say things like "I probably should do....."; or "I probably won't...."; or "it might not work out but...." For me, these phrases are a healthy dose of reality. But, reality can be a little overrated (Thanks Nellie!). Although, I think it's good not to be the eternal optimist. Only because you're going to be disappointed at some point - but then if you're eternally optimistic - can you be disappointed? Hmm....Any-who, these old thoughts tend to make me a more negative thinker. My friend told me to turn those phrases into things like "I am going to..."; and "I will..."; and "It's going to work out..."
So, not that it's going to be every day all day thing for me, but I AM working on it but I'm going to need your help! And we can all use a little less negativity in our lives!

Amazing Grace

Many times in the past week I have been reminded of God's Grace. I have heard some reference to John Newton at least 4 times (in two different books and by a few friends) in the past week. I don't think that I had ever heard his story until this past Sunday. John Newton wrote several famous hymns, but the hymn that he wrote that everyone knows is Amazing Grace. Newton was involved in the slave trader before, and for a little while after he became a Christian. He has a great testimony about God's grace in his life. Sometimes the more familiar the words are, the easier it is to just sing them and not think about the meaning. More to come on grace, but for now...

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

May

Wow! So, it's May. Does that seem kind of crazy to anyone else? When did this happen? It seems that life and time go so much more quickly now that I'm a real adult (although that's up for debate since I dont have a job and live with my parents!) I've now been unemployed for 7, yes 7, months....

I've been pretty frustrated with God lately over this whole situation because I felt like I was doing the right thing moving here to Greenville and taking this job, which I no longer have. And then not being able to find something new for so long. I've had more than one person tell me that there is some purpose in this, and maybe I'll never know what it is. This morning I was reminded what a mighty and awesome God I serve, we as Christians serve. I was reading Stuff Christians Like and the post today is about fame. No accounting career is going to make me famous (unless I cheat a lot of people out of millions of dollars and go to jail), but it doesn't matter because the Creater of the Universe knows my name! He is the Creater, Maker, Redeemer, God...He knows what He's doing.