A Horizon High School Play, A Little Sister, and A Crazy Last 2 Months November 21, 2008

So I know that at this point no one will actually read this because it has been so long since I have blogged, but I figure what the hey lets give this blogging thing a try again and see if I can actually be consistent this time.

It is because of my little sister’s play that I feel the need to blog again. Elise is a senior at Horizon High School and last night and tonight (go if you don’t have any plans) they are doing the play “A Christmas Carol”. See up to this point I have sorta forgotten that the Holidays are coming soon. It is so easy to get wrapped up in life that you just let it roll on by and never really take the time to refelect on what has actually happened. Leave it to Mr. Scruge through is “bah humbugs” to show you how important it is to take a little time to look at what has happened in your life and realize that sometimes you just need to say thanks for the blessings you have… especially when Thanksgiving is less than a week away. Here are a few things I have reflected on in the past few months:

• Trip to the orphanage “Home of Refuge” in Yuma, Venezuela. What an amazing trip. These kids been through more than I could ever imagine, yet the whole time I was there I could feel God working. Joy is the best way to describe this place. A joy that can only come from the Lord. Even with the passing of their beloved caretaker Nancy this past month, Rosa (Tony her husband runs the orphanage as well as another on in Hondorous) reminded us of our Fathers great love and the way he provides what we need. It is hard not to realize how blessed you truly are after visiting a place like the Home of Refuge. A part of my heart wil always be with the kids there. Please continue to pray for them when you think of it.
• Working at Starbucks. In a wierd way I am very thankful for my time at Starbucks. I was able to develop some pretty cool relationships and got a lot of free coffee. : ) Coming back from Venezuela and returning to Starbucks was a very tough transition for me, but God used it to show me how to fully rely on him and trust in his plans instead of my own and God’s plans were so much better than mine!
• GOALS, Inc. I have started a new job working at GOALS, Inc. We work with at-risk youth in the school discrict. I am specfically working as a program lead for the after school component with the 4th and 5th graders. They are incredible kids. For the first time in my life I love to go to work everyday. I work with a great staff and we all have the same goal to just be there for these kids when so many other people haven’t been. I think that I am coming to GOALS, Inc. at a time when God is going to launch them somewhere cool and I am so excited to be apart of that!
• I met a boy and a pretty amazing boy at that. Enough said there, those of you who have met him know he is pretty cool. I am excited what will happen here too! : )

Bottom line is when I graduated in May I had this idea of what my life would look like. Boy was I wrong, but I am so glad I was. Many of us probably know Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”. and I have seen this verse play out in my life time and time again, but sometimes I forget to keep reading past verse 11 to verse 12 which I think is sometimes even more encouraging than verse 11. It says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen”. I think that is amazing! God not only has amazing plans for our lives that our so beyound our understanding, but he also says that we can call on him and he will listen. So sometimes we miss what God is doing, but he never leaves our side. Sometimes we totally get what God is doing and he still has never left our side. Anytime good or bad, we can call on our Lord and he will listen to our what we have to say. I am thankful for that! I am thankful for the way God has worked in my life! Don’t forget what God is doing in your life even if you may not fully understand it because God knows and he wants you to call on him because he is always listening!