Rewind

That previous post I made was the first one I've made on this blog in over a year. So much has changed as I read over my old postings and such, it's kind of funny. Yet I see God's never-changing constancy in all of my posts. He is just that amazing.

This particular post caught my eye. I actually never published it, never even finished it. It's labeled as "draft".

[June 1, 2008] "Wow. What a interesting few weeks since I last posted. God has been AWESOME to me. Well, He always is.

Right now i am seriously praying and thinking about going to Bible college. Not this year, but next. Its a little too late to sign up now. So, I will work full time( I'm working part time right now) until next summer to save up. I'm looking at Multnomah.
What happened to starting your business? You may ask. Well, I had been feeling a little depressed and discouraged lately about the whole business situation. Not only did I run into some kinks in starting it, but I feel like I shouldn't be doing it. I don't think...."

I don't even recall writing this. Last summer and the year following was such an interesting time in my life. It was an emotional roller coaster of a year. I went from depressed to VERY happy to emotionally hurt to confused to sad, to happy again. I guess everyone goes through life like this. Life would be pretty mundane without the annoying, yet poignant emotional mountain ranges we all have to climb. That post just makes me think, though. And I've been thinking about this lately, too, how the Lord can change a person's heart about something. For, before that post, college wasn't even part of the picture. I was strong and stubbornly firm on NOT attending a university, or even a community college. I feel as if the world has seered into our brains the view that you can only make something of yourself or go anywhere by GOING TO COLLEGE. Though I definently see great blessing in going to college, I don't necassarily think that's entirely true. Why? Well, as a believer in a mighty, powerful, and HUGE God, I believe God can work in a person's life however He chooses. It doesn't have to be college. God is much more original than that. Look at the men of God in the Bible. God used all of them in different ways. Some were prophets. Some were warriors. Some were kings. Some were leaders. Some were apostles. That's just the awesomeness of God. He can form His clay however He chooses.
All that said, that was my reason for not going. So, I continued to work at my retail job and was attempting to start my own business creating slideshows for weddings, birthdays, and such. It was something I loved doing and felt God has gifted me in that area. However, as I tried to start up my business, I ran into some technical issues with music licensing and stuff like that, and I just felt myself getting discouraged. I really wanted to do it. It seemed perfect for me. I would be doing something I loved, I would be able work at home, and not work with people per say( as in "retail" working with people). So, as I went to a Sunday night worship service that summer, I was pretty down. I had no desire to attend college, wasn't really excited anymore about the business, and didn't want to spend the rest of my life working at a 9-5 job. I was confused. Questioning God. Wondering why? Then, an angel appeared.....
No, not really. But, a dear, dear friend who had been kind of a mentor for me at that time, came to me right at the moment and started chatting with me. I eventually started telling her my frustrations and uncertainty of my future. To make a long story short, she really encouraged me and told me she had felt that way before. She had decided to attend a Bible college and see where God would lead her with that. And, as of now, she is a missionary in Peru and just got married! And the amazing thing is, that day she talked to me, she was supposed to be in Peru, but had to stay in the US for a while longer because of health issues. Wow. God is awesome.
I don't even remember if it was Multnomah she said she attended. But that night, God started softening my heart towards the whole college idea. He showed me that my motives for starting my own business were partly so I could work alone. Avoid people. But He wanted instead to grow me so I was stretched and was able to reach out and be surrounded with amazing people of the Lord. He even wanted me to go so far as to not only attend college, but to live in the dorms- something I said I would NEVER do. Never say never, when you have God as your guide. The funny thing is, the thought of attending college and living in dorms, was a challenge, yes. But it doesn't scare me. I don't lay awake at night wondering how everything will work out, and bite my nails over who will like me, or what the classes will be like, or if I'll get lost. It used to scare me. Now it excites me. Encourages me. It makes me look forward to seeing what God will do.
And I realize now, the whole business thing, was all about ME, and what I was comfortable doing, and what would work best for ME. The Lord had blessed me with the talent, but I was using the talent to take charge of my future, instead of letting God use my talents to shape my future. It needs to be all about GOD. As I started thinking and praying about what in the world I would even major in at college, I asked myself "what has God used in me the most to bless people with?". And I immediately thought of all the birthday cards I give my mom. I love her so much, and of course I tell her that, but some things can be better expressed with the written word. I tell her the depths of how much she means to me in my cards to her, and how God has used her to bless me. Through that card, my mom is blessed. It's not really anything I say, at all. When I truly feel strongly about someone , or something, God molds my words. He even shows me things AS I write that I never even knew before. The same is true when I write songs, or poetry. Nothing is better than writing your frustrations into a song and then writing about JESUS, the answer to all the problems, as the chorus. Writing is something I have loved doing since I was 9 or 10 years old, and I have seen God as I write things.

I guess all this rambling is a round-about way of saying HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD. He has changed my heart in more ways than one. He is truly the finisher and perfecter of our faith. He is everything we really need.

He is mine.