A World of Change

Wow, it has been over a year since I have written... Life has just been a whirlwind, a lot of things have happened. Many ups and down, but all have lead to where I am, and I am very happy with it! Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. - Psalm 25:4 God has really put great people in my life this past year. He has provided amazing roommates when I was done nannying, amazing friends, and a great place to work. It hasn't all been easy, but I am grateful for all that has happened and made me a much better person for it. I have found this amazing church and am so blessed to have such great community with my roommates, in my home group, and even at work! God never ceases to amaze me in providing. More to updates to come!!

Another Big Move!

So, I haven't written in a while. I guess that's what happens when you don't have internet where you live...

Anyway, I am hoping to write a lot more now since I have internet and I have more free time!

I have recently moved from Pennsylvania to Tennessee! I felt the Lord calling me from my old job into a new part of life and since I am 24 and single, why not travel and move to new places while I can! I went from being a Program Assistant at the Salvation Army to being a nanny to 3 amazing kids. I love my new job and am excited for all it has to bring. The kids are 9, 7, and 4. The mom is also pregnant with her forth! Even after a week of being here I know this is exactly where I am suppose to be. I am getting to help this amazing Christian family raise their kids. I get to live with the family, so I am consumed by helping with homework, making meals, sword fighting, and much more fun kid stuff, as well as teaching them about our wonderful Creator.

My main goal is to love these kids and treat them like my own and make sure I instill in them the love for Jesus and teach them about His love for them. It's great to have a family that is wanting to continue to grow. We started a scripture a week with the kids and hopefully that will help them to put God's word in their heart so when things get tough, they know who truly loves them.

My passion for kids has only grown since I have been here and am very excited for this new journey in life and can't wait to see what God has in store for me while I am here. I pray I can do the best and serve this family and show them the love of Christ.

I am also excited to meet up with old friend that have moved down here and meet new friends. I am excited to have that community of believers around me again. I felt very isolated and alone at times in PA, so I am going to make it a priority to not let that happen here.

I am very excited for all that is to come! I pray I follow God through it all and be sensitive to his leadings!

What is our purpose?

I have been thinking a lot lately about what my purpose really is while I am here. I really hope that I am fulfilling my purpose, and I guess I will never really know until I am with my maker. But, I am going to try my hardest to do what I feel I am called to do. I am also going to try my hardest to work for the creature of the universe than for just doing what I am doing to accomplish a task at work. I know that it can be easy around here to get distracted by our tasks and not focus on what we are ultimately here to do.

I pray that God will continue to guide me as to where I am suppose to be serving him, whether it be in the church, at a non-profit, or getting married an being an at-home mom. Whatever it is, I want to follow him wherever he leads me, trying to live out my purpose here on earth.

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
-Micah 6:8

I know I have used this verse before, but I truly believe that God has called us to do 3 simple things that society makes so much more complicated. I hope to follow this verse throughout my entire life and strive for eternal "acceptance" rather than earthly "acceptance." I feel like up until now I have focused on what others have thought and how many friends I have, but what is that going to look like when I get to heaven. What am I going to say to God, "well, I didn't spend as much time with you, in your word, in prayer, and serving you because I was too busy trying to be accepted by others on earth." I really hope that when I get to heaven the Lord says, "well done my good and faithful servant." I would rather have a few close christian friends and dive more into knowing and serving the Lord more than having earthly acceptance.

I know I struggle with this and hope that with discipline and help of other Christians I can continue to strive to live out God's purpose for my life.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
-Proverbs 3:5-6

I pray that I can follow these 2 key passages, both the one from Micah and Proverbs. I need a life change, a change to follow Christ with all that I have, not what is left over and live out what God's purpose is for my life...

Letting Life Pass Me By...

I was looking back at the last few months since I have been here and I have realized that I have not really been living life to the fullest. I have just been going through the motions of my day to day tasks. I do love my job and the people I work with, but since I work so much I find it hard to go out and find Christian friends that I can live life and be open with struggles that I am having.

I have also realized I am really good at putting on the facade of looking like I have it all together. But underneath I am screaming for help, I have so many questions and problems. I keep suppressing them so no one will think that I am not good enough.

A few years ago I attended a winter retreat where we talked a lot about exploring your sins and learning to expose them, get help, and grow from that. That was such a life changing weekend for me. But as I look at my life since them I have realized that I have reverted back to hiding everything that I am struggling with to make it look like I don't have any problems.

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." - James 5:16

God is so good!

I think I have made the right decision to move to Greensburg and God is showing me in little ways. Such as: finding this great place to move into in my price range, the blessing of the family that I am renting off being so hospitable, and the amazing peace I have in this move. Everything has been a smooth transition from the move being relatively easy for having to move on my own, to getting all of my bills and other things set up after I moved.

My family has been such a blessing as well- from the time I told them I was moving they have been supportive of trying to help me find a place from just hearing about it and played a big part in my deciding on the place I did. And since I have decided my mom has been a HUGE help in getting me stuff for my place since I have never officially lived on my own and had to get my own stuff. I am so blessed to have such a great family that is supportive of whatever I choose to do.

Greensburg is a great city as well! It has so much more than where I live before and more people my age! I am excited to start making friends and get more aquatinted with this place.

Tomorrow is my first Sunday at work and I am excited to start meeting people from the church and to see what their service is like! I am also very excited to work for Lieutenants DeMichaels, they are great people and I feel I will learn A LOT from them! I will have my own office, phone line, and a lot more resources. God is so good and I am so glad he is leading me here, I know I was doubting for a bit, but thank God that He knows what's best for me!!

I need to keep going back to one of my favorite passages:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
-Proverbs 3:5-6

He truly has made my path straight and that led me here to Greensburg and I could not be happier. I pray that I can continue to follow Him and trust him with ALL of my heart!

Living Simply

So these past few weeks have been a crazy wirlwind of events. Two weekends ago I had decided to take a job in the fall with another corps in a town about 35-40 minutes from Monessen. I was really excited about what that would bring in the fall with the new officers and new corps of people. Then, the week following my acceptance of the job I foudnd out that I was gonig to start at that corps earlier than August, I would move there at the end of June! So I started preparing for that. Then, a few days after I was told I was going their at the end of June, I am told that I am going to start at Greenburg on June 13th, and that I had 2 weeks left at Monessen. It was crazy how fast things happen. I trusted God with this job and boy did he provide.

So last weekend I spend a lot of time in Gresnburg looking for an apartment and had gone to a few, but everything was just so expensive! Then on my last drive around looking for apartments I call this one number, but no one answers. I stop at the Greensburg corps to talk to my new bosses about how the search is going and I get a call from the number I had tried earlier. He tells me about the aparrtment I called about and it was way to expensive for me, but then asks if it would just be for me and told me about this efficiency apartment he had about 3 miles from the mall on a farm. I didn't really want to see it, but I figured what could it hurt to go check it out. So I leave the corps and follow my GPS to this apartment. At first when I found out where it was before seeing it I was thinking to myslef- "this could never work," but then I had to wait for the guy to get there and sat down on the swinging bench they had by a pond on the property and really it really was so peaceful and calming after a day of hectic driving and looking at apartments. When the guy showed up and showed me the apartment we went in and it was so small, but so quaint! I really felt like God was saying- I have called you to live simply! And I felt that this would be a perfect place for that.

I called him on my way back tell him I would take the place! I feel so good about this decision of moving to this apartment and think that this job is going to be really great. God is so good, with helping me get everything in order and find an apartment I need in my price range!


God is so good and faithful and it really is all in God's timing!

Trusting God

So I am sorry for those who have been checking my blog, I have totally let it slip...

Throughout the last few days I have seen that God gives us all types of emotions and that just because we are not happy or joyous it doesn't mean that we are not doing God's will. Just yesterday I was just feeling overwhelmed and frustrated and I at first I thought it might have been satan trying to distract me, but I when I look back I think that it might have started out that way, but that God used those emotions to help me get through the day and do what I needed to do.

So often I find myself taking things into my own hands when my moods get like that and that is exactly the opposite of what I need to do. I am now realizing that when I get in situations where I am not in the "right" mood that I need to stop trying to fix it myself and let God work through that emotion and maybe He gave me that emotion to get a point across.

On verse that always comes to mind is where it says that God will not give you more than you can handle and I am comforted knowing that God is faithful to his word.

"ll you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 (The Message)