Psalm 118

To Do:

• Make Jesus my new BFF
• Purge my room (and my heart) of junk
• Prepare for my new adventures (i.e. college, ATL, etc.)
• Relax enough to actually enjoy this holiday with my family and my Savior

Progress Thus Far:

• In progress
• Complete
• Partially Complete
• In progress

I started my afternoon by journaling and reading. And God and I had a pretty good conversation. He promised me that a storm is coming....and I said bring it on. I feel like I'm hiking and I'm coming up to this giant mountain face, it starts out pretty rough but manageable and then I look up and see one rope and few foot-holds. I know that once I start climbing the people on that started the hike with me are gonna get scared and climb back down or stand at the bottom wishing they had the courage to climb. I'm not afraid of falling cause I know I'll land on an eagle anyway.

I went through my room and got rid of lots and lots of papers. This is good. I got rid of lots and lots of memories within those papers. And I needed that. It's time to live in the present, not the past. To live with Jesus, not people. I'm ready for change. I love change.

After I received this vision, I wrote my support letter for Atlanta and I got super excited. This trip is going to be a completely new experience for me. I get to lead and serve and get pushed out of my comfort zone. And while it's kinda scary, it's also oh so thrilling.

What's scarier is that I just made the final decision of where I'm going to college. It's daunting and I'm still unsure about it. This is the next four years of my life. But I'm trusting. I'm gonna mail off my decision next week....Maryville College....here I come (sooner or later).

And now, it's the day before Christmas Eve, everyone is almost off work. And I am so excited. Although this year will probably be a little tense in some places, I'm promising to myself that I won't let it get in the way of the holiday. This is Christmas, yeah it's nice to have family around this time of year but that's not the point. Christmas...the birth of God. That's clearly insane. And I'm only now starting to sort of kind of not really grasp the magnitude of that idea.

I cannot stop thanking Jesus for the countless blessings this year. I cannot stop praising Him just because. I mean, there are honestly NO words for it. Just think about who He is for a minute and you'll probably go crazy, haha. I love Him. And I'm beginning to fall in love with the Old Testament. It's such a pure depiction of the gospel. In fact, it's my opinion that the Old Testament is more relevant to lives today than the New Testament is. Ah, just thinking about all of this wonderful truth makes my heart sing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Blessings to all and a Christ-filled New Year. :)