Saturday, January 19, 2013

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

 Don't get me wrong. 2012 was not a bad year. It wasn't spectacular by any means, but I am still very grateful for the year I had. 2012 taught me a lot. With 2012, I saw semesters 2, 3, and 4 of slp grad school go by {praise the Lord}. my 23rd bday. wonderful trip to visit my friends in EA. meeting Karen Kingsbury. working at Caledonia Elementary. falling in love with all my CES kiddos. etc. So many good memories. But there were also some sad times. the loss of my uncle. getting braces for a second time {bleh}. grad school classes. realization of how much money I owe in student loans.
http://www.artisticodyssey.com/2012/12/hello-2013.html
Okay, so ultimately, 2012 was really good to me. But I am so super excited about this new year ahead. Why am I so excited about 2013 you may ask? Well, here's why. In 49 short days, I will be on a plane with my entire family headed to the most magical place on earth. yep, harry potter world. oh and disney world. In just 112 days, I will be graduating with a master's degree in speech language pathology {whoa buddy. someone pick me up off the ground}. I will be getting a job which pays me money. I will be camp missionary at Garaywa this summer {lifelong dream being fulfilled here}. I will get to finally be an SLP and make an impact on people's lives like I have wanted ever since God placed this passion in my heart all those years ago. {Hooray} This year has so many exciting things happening. But at the same time ... graduating and leaving the comfort zone of school {which I have been doing for the past 19 years of my life} is frightening. Whew. This year is gonna take some major praying time spent on my knees. Never mind. Let's focus on the positive. 
http://superelectrique.blogspot.com/search?q=2013
So. I've set some goals for this year. Some pretty big ones at that. 
Despite what the picture above implies, my goals will be no where near as lofty as becoming an avid skier or something {that would be a complete joke}.

My goals in order of importance: 
#1 has been a long time coming and the goal that takes priority in 2013. to develop and increase my passion for the Word of God. It has become such a routine for me to check {reading my Bible} off my to-do list. I was going through the motions. I may have been consistent, but I wasn't reading it to get anything out of it. Shame on me. Just think how much I have missed out on. In order to hold myself accountable for this goal, I started a Scripture Journal. {not a surprise considering how much I love writing and journaling} Every day I am committing to reading at least 1-2 chapters and truly seeking God as to what He wants me to learn from that section of His Word. I am so excited to see what God is going to teach me this year. 

#2 is a goal which has been ongoing my whole life, but this is the year that I will reach it {no doubt about it}. to finally reach my healthy weight and maintain the healthy lifestyle that God challenged me to begin in 2012. A side goal to this is for me to stop using the scale as my measurement but instead how God measures my success. I am only halfway to my {desired} weight goal, so I want God to transform my mind to see myself as He sees me. This is not going to be easy, but last I checked, nothing that is worth it is ever easy. God will receive the glory every step of the way. 

#3 covers a more general part of my life. I want to stress less. trust more. I want to embrace life just the way it is and find contentment in where God has me. I am beginning to see things in a whole new light, and it is so encouraging to see how God is already changing my heart. More than anything, I want my life to 100% glorify God. Everything I do is for Him. This year will consist of many changes which will push me way out of my comfort zone and into new places to be the light of Christ. So ...

Bring it on, 2013. Let's do this.

Learning to be the Light,
Jenna


Friday, January 18, 2013

Modern Day Burning Bush

Here I go with songs again. I don't know what it is about songs that God chooses to speak to me. I think that my heart just opens wide the flood gates immediately upon hearing music. Well, for the past like two weeks, the following song kept playing every day as I was working out. I hear it on the radio almost every day and even multiple times a day on occasion. And later in the day, what seemed to keep sticking in my thoughts was this line: I am not skilled to understand what God has willed what God has planned.

My Savior, My God by Aaron Shust
I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed what God Has planned
I only know at his right hand
Stands one who is my Savior

My Savior loves
My Savior lives
My Savior's always there for me
My God he was
My God he is
My God he's always gonna be
http://pinterest.com/pin/159455643028254622/
 You can check out the full song here. Totally worth your time whether you've never heard it before or you've heard it a million times before. I am not one for coincidences. I fully believe that God is in the details. the little things. A running joke I have with God is that I always pray for a burning bush. I am not really one for subtlety, but unfortunately, God doesn't always choose to give me the flashing neon sign that I prefer. Here we are just 18 days into 2013, and I have some BIG decisions to make this year. BIG and absolutely frightening. I might be am one of those people who stresses unnecessarily over everything {which I'm working on}. 

I know you're probably wishing right now that I would just get to the point, huh? I'm getting there. God doesn't change. He doesn't leave me. He doesn't stop loving me. How thankful I am for that. No matter what I say or do ... It doesn't change the character of God. I am human, and no matter how hard I try to understand God's plans, it's not gonna happen. My brain is not equipped to handle all the glorious and wonderful plans He has for my life. 

Short and sweet but packed with huge meaning for me and my life. Praise God for my burning bush of a repeated song. 

I am  not skilled to understand what God has willed what God has planned. 

Learning to be the Light,
Jenna