God is There... Through All of It

I was driving home from a babysitting job on Friday night and the radio was on. God really spoke to me in the song that had come on and I felt inspired to write a blog post, only to come on here and realize that it has been three months since I last wrote a blog post. The song that had come on the radio was Colton Dixon's "Through All of It." The gist of the song is the fact that through everything we go through in life, God is constant and has been our God through all of what we have gone through. There is also a line that says "life's been a journey," which spoke to me and the title of my blog.

Through my journey as a single woman, God was constant and He had a plan. I may not have felt that things were ever going to change and that I might never find someone who showed interest in me enough to start dating. There is one verse in the song that I feel speaks to where I was once at in my journey through singlehood. Here is that verse:

        You were there when it all came down on me
        And I was blinded by my fear
        And I struggled to believe
        But in those unclear moments
        You were the one keeping me strong
        This is how my story's always gone

Those unclear moments of when I felt hopeless, when I felt that I would never find a guy who was interested enough in me to pursue a relationship with me. God was the one who kept me going, kept me strong. The last part of the verse that says "this is how my story's always gone," speaks so true to me. There are so many times when I was at a point of struggling to believe things could get better, that I would fulfill my dreams and deep desires. This song was a great reminder of who God is and how, no matter what, He will always be our God... through all of it!!

I love the message that this song speaks and how it can speak on so many levels to people. This is just the way that God has spoken to me on the song. I wanted to share these thoughts with all of you because it is a message that I believe everyone needs to hear. We may not think things are going "our way" or that things will ever get better, but be encouraged to know that God is constant and will continue to be our God no matter what our circumstances are or what it is we are struggling with. You can always turn to God to be your solid rock, to be your stability. God has a plan and His plan will be fulfilled and completed. It may not be our plan, but that is okay. God's plan will always be better than any plan we could come up with. Be blessed and encouraged, friends! :)

Blank Pages...God's Word!

Blank pages can be so daunting at times. I felt the need to begin a new blog post this morning and just sitting here staring at this blank page has been a bit overwhelming. I thought something would come to me, but nothing is coming. So here I am writing about a blank page and how overwhelming a feeling it is to see a blank page. Maybe now that it is no longer a completely blank page I will think of something to write.

I started a Bible reading plan where I will read through the Bible over the course of the year. It takes me through part of the New Testament, Psalms or Proverbs, and then part of the Old Testament. It has been very good so far. I am a bit behind at the moment, but I am still keeping at it and, surprisingly, it has not bothered me so much that I am behind. I have started this type of plan a couple of times in the past, but then soon got overwhelmed by the vast amount of reading that I ended up quitting. This time feels different and I get excited every time I read. I guess we'll see when I get to Numbers and Leviticus. ;)

I always thought of Genesis as the book that contains the creation story and several other stories that I know so well that how could I possibly read through it again to learn anything new? However, God has shown me this last month as I read through it that there are many interesting things and that His Word is the Living Word that will always speak new things because God is right there when you're reading.

I always start out my time with God in prayer (honestly, sometimes I forget and pray during or after, which is not terrible), and that is a great time to ask Him to speak to me through the Scriptures and place on my heart the things that He wants me to know and learn. I do not always "gain" something from the time, at least nothing that I am aware of at the time. The act of being in Scripture and prayer, especially when you feel you are not "gaining" or "learning" anything, is much more meaningful than skipping it because you feel that you won't be paying attention or learn anything new. God desires for us to be in His Word as much as possible and reading even when it seems dry, even when we are struggling and don't have that desire. It is important to read the Bible every day, even if it is just a verse or two one day and a chapter the next. Read the Word of God all the time!

This is something that I have been learning the importance of lately and it is so, so good! God is so good and awesome and every other synonym for those words that I can think of. =D I love Him so much and am so excited for this journey that He is bringing me on. I cannot wait to see what else God brings along in this journey and cannot wait for God to reveal to me what He has in store for me next. Will I know this soon? I don't know! I know that I am waiting for His perfect timing because I have learned that when I am impatient, I cannot think anything other than negative thoughts. God will reveal to you His plan one step at a time, when He knows that it is the perfect time. It may not be when you think the time is perfect, but just remember that God has everything under control and He will bring about His will for your life when the time is right. Be blessed, friends! =D

The Waiting List (Part 2)

As I thought about my blog post "The Waiting List," I got to thinking of a few more things to add to it and how I felt that it was left unfinished. God was speaking to me about a few things that I feel need to be shared.

For starters, we all need to realize that the one we marry is not going to be perfect and fit everything we desire. What I failed to mention in my post is the fact that this list is meant to be the things that you will not compromise on, things that would be a deal breaker if your significant other did not fit those things.

I mentioned that the things on my list are things that I would not make an exception to. This was telling me that these are the most important things I am looking for. With that being said, I think it is also important that you make a list of things that are attractive to you and that you would like to find, but are not necessarily deal breakers. This will help guide you in finding someone who you can get along with and enjoy spending time with. It will give you an idea of the type of person you'd like to spend the rest of your life with.

For instance, you can put things on the list such as "likes playing board games" or "plays sports." These are things that you think would be nice if he/she enjoyed, but if they did not you would not be disappointed and could look past them. I am finding that these are good things to do when in a relationship, now that I'm in a relationship myself, and it helps you think more deeply about whether the other person is someone you enjoy spending time with because of who they are, rather than the fact that it is a person who says they like you just because they want to have a girlfriend/boyfriend.

Since I think dating should be something where there is the intention to determine whether marriage is for the couple or not, it is important that the couple is pursuing each other in a way that helps them determine whether that person could fit who they are looking for in a future spouse. Is this someone you, honestly, could spend the rest of your life with? Look past the feelings and think logically about it, asking yourself if the traits this person has align with what works for you.

God has someone special in mind and we have to wait in His PERFECT timing for everything to fall into place. Feelings can be a difficult thing to control when trying to determine whether the person you are dating is "the one" or not, because they make you feel happy around the person. While that can be a great thing, it is best not to let them overtake the relationship and begin to think more deeply about the character of the other person and whether that is what you are looking for in a spouse. This is why I highly, highly, encourage each and every unmarried person to create a list of things that will not be compromised in a relationship to help guide you into the relationship that God has meant for your life.

I hope you have found this to be encouraging and that it helps to finish off the last blog post that I feel was unfinished. I pray for all of you out there who are searching for that special someone and trying to determine what God's will for your life is. Be encouraged and blessed, my dear friends! :)

Abundant Blessings from God

God is so good. I cannot say that enough. There may be times when I feel like I'm in a rut, but He always comes through. It is in those times that we learn so much and grow in our faith, if we continue to seek Him through those times. I believe that it is so very important to look at what God has blessed you with, even in those tough times.

A week and a half ago when I was sick, I didn't feel good at all, physically or otherwise. I couldn't think straight or anything. All I wanted to do was sleep and make the body aches and sore throat go away, but nothing seemed to help. After I had gotten to a point of feeling well enough to function, I told myself to think of the ways I have been blessed through the experience. It sure was hard to think of things, since all I could think of were the things I had wanted to do on my day off but couldn't because I was so weak I couldn't get myself off the couch to do anything.

It was in that moment that I realized I need to remind myself daily of the blessings God has provided me with. Here is the list of blessings I saw in that time:

• Internet was installed, allowing me to relax with Netflix on my laptop and TV rather than my phone... the morning I was sick!! :)
• Quiet time to think and process things
• I was sick on my day off, so I did not have to miss work because I was sick.
• The day after I had my fever and body aches, I was able to make it through a long day of work, even though I wanted to call in sick.

It may not be a long list, and it doesn't have to be. Just the act of counting your blessings and realizing that, even in tough times when you don't think anything is going your way, God is with you through it all and continues to bless you. A lot of times those blessings go unnoticed because we are so focused on the negatives and not on how we are blessed through those times.

Think about the toughest time in your life. Just think about it for a minute. You made it, you survived. What are the ways that God has blessed you through that time? It can be hard to think of good things in tough times, because the negative always seems to overrule the positive.

All of this talk about thinking of the good things and blessings reminds me of the old Disney movie "Pollyanna" where Pollyanna talks about the "Glad Game." I found a clip of it on YouTube to share. It is a great reminder to always think of the positive things, even though it can seem tough. It really helps to put things into perspective and help turn your mood around. Be blessed, dear friends!

The Waiting List

When I was younger I wrote up a list of the qualities I was looking for in a future husband. This has been on my mind lately and I feel it's time to write about it and make myself an updated list. I lost the old one but I still remember some of the main items.

Here is my new list:

●We must be good friends
●Loves children
●Strong relationship with God
●Close family relationships.. values family
●Shares the same values
●Fits right in with my family

Each of these things are equally important and my future husband must fit every single one of these things. No exceptions. I feel this way because if I were to make an exception I would be settling for less than God's best. 

**NOTE: the above paragraphs I wrote a couple of months ago, and now I am finally getting around to finishing this post. :) The following paragraphs will have been written now.

I want to encourage all of the single women, and single men, to create a list of qualities that you desire your future spouse to have. This helps keep your focus on the right things. Having them written down makes them a physical document that will become something you come across often. This is way to make sure the person you start dating is someone who will fit those things, and is something that you will be looking for as you get to know that special someone even more. Before making your list, be sure to pray and ask God to speak to you about what qualities are important to you in your search for a spouse. 

When you have a list of qualities you are looking for it is important to take some time to set aside your feelings you may currently have for someone (like, for instance, if you are already in a relationship) and really begin to determine what qualities are important for you to find in a husband. I believe that dating should not be about just having fun, dating should be a time where two people pursue a relationship with the potential of marriage being on their minds. This is why I believe that dating in high school is not necessarily the best decision, because is marriage really on the mind of teenagers? Sometimes, yes, but that is not always the case. 

Before I continue on this topic much longer, I will stop. I am going to write an entire blog post on the topic of dating with the intention of marriage, rather than posting it in here with the waiting list. :) Be blessed, dear friends! :)

Now Available: the World Wide Web =D

I wanted to write a post now that I have internet in my apartment. It is nice to have this luxury again, especially since it makes blogging so much easier. :) I am excited for what this is to bring.

So I sit here typing this blog while I am sick... yes, that's right. I don't know what I have, but it is some virus that is preventing my body from doing much of anything. About half way through work yesterday I came down with a sore throat that I thought was simply from not drinking enough water, so I drank more water. It continued throughout the night. I must have had a fever because I had chills and could not seem to get myself to warm up, even though I was under a really warm blanket in sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

My night was a bit rough. When I was able to fall asleep, I slept for a few hours and then was up every couple hours fighting with a dull headache. I'm feeling a bit dizzy and everything is just a bit cloudy, it is not real fun. I am just hoping I'll be able to make it to work tomorrow. I praise God that this happened on my day off, but at the same time I am upset because I had many plans for how I was going to spend this day. I was excited to go out shopping and take a trip to the library, but now I'm sitting on the couch hoping and praying that my sore throat goes away so I can easily swallow some water.

I have been learning a lot about patience and wisdom in the past few weeks. I feel that God is always teaching me more about patience, but more so since I've started a relationship. There are so many exciting things that happen when you enter into a relationship with someone that it is hard to hold back all of the emotions and excitement. What God has been teaching me is to hold tight and let His timing play out in my relationship. It is hard to keep myself from daydreaming about what the future might hold, and it is dangerous to do so. I need to keep my mind in the here and now and let God plan out the future. I know that God will tell me when the time is right to continue to go deeper in my relationship. It is all a fun adventure to be on, and patience is something that is definitely needed.

So this is a quick and simple update on what is going on. I am excited to write more blog posts in the upcoming days and see where God continues to lead me on this journey. :) Be blessed, friends!