Simplicity of Forgiveness

Amidst all the craziness at work two weeks ago, I sat at the end of the 9AM and listened to the band close out a great service. And two lines stood out so clearly to me, "You keep no records of my sin. You don't remember all my shame." I guess because my personality and brain tends to keep record of my past shame and wrongs; I never really thought about the fact that God doesn't. He knows everything about us even before it takes place. So why would He have to keep track? It was starling reality to me. It caused me to feel deeply humbled and left me thinking about the importance of seeking forgiveness and the redemption that God so freely gives. It's something that I want to be constantly reminded of since I so easily keep track of my past wrongs.

What Sucks Our Time

I was reading through my devotional the other night and these stats for that day amused AND startled me all at once. I really like the authors own thoughts on each of these in parenthesis.

• Interesting facts from USA Today: In a lifetime the average American will spend:
• Six months sitting at stoplights (It's better than running them and breaking the law)  
• Eight months opening junk mail (I stopped opening it)  
• One year looking for misplaced objects (Guilty!) 
• Two years watching television (Not in a row!)  
• Five years waiting in line (McDonald's drive-through)  
• Six years eating (After you finally get through the drive-through!)

Makes you wonder in what other areas we spend occupying our time. 

A New Year, New Goals

I found my notebook last week that had my goals from 2009. It's always so entertaining to me to make them every new year and then completely forget where I put them and somehow miraculously find them just about the time I need to make new ones.

As I looked them over, I was amazed at how much God helped me accomplish AND overcome in the last year.

I think the biggest thing was the fact that I not only had only a handful of anxiety attacks, but I also had oral surgery and got my braces on. May sound easy to you, but to me they were huge! And after much struggle I have felt completely healthy now for the last six months. God has truly stood by me through some of the worst experiences in the last year and a half.

One that stood out the most was in the midst of an anxiety attack, I found myself on my knees face on the floor trying to gain control and feeling like I was losing. And I finally just began to pray. Over and over again I prayed for strength, peace and Satan's control to back off. God's peace soon flooded over me. Ever since then I can only remember one very minimal attack.

So, now for the big highlights of 2009:

1. I got an amazing/dream job that I had been working hard at for three years. It happened two days after my 18 birthday.
2. I finished and graduated high school the end of May.
3. My summer I spent almost every weekend hanging out with great friends, often around a campfire overlooking the water. We frequented the beach quite a bit this year, which was fine with me. :) I also visited seven new places I had never been to. All only within a couple hours of me.
4. The end of August I celebrated two wonderful years with my boyfriend David. We had a great dinner and then took a day trip to Whidbey Island and visited three major parks. I'm very blessed to have such a wonderful great guy in my life.
5. And this fall I finally had the opportunity to meet David's brother, Mr. Seth Lukens. Hanging out with him and his wife Katie (whom I had meet before) we found that Seth and I are similar personalities and David and Katie are two of a kind also. We had lots of fun times and much laughter.

So what are the goals for this year? Much of the same, explore new places, frequent the beach, always have fun with my friends. Buy a car hopefully, and do at least one new thing out of my comfort zone. But my number one goal that ended up on my list on new year's eve was this:
"Ask myself daily, 'is God the number one priority in my life? And am i doing things to hear His voice and follow/grow in him?'" I want it to be the center of my life more than ever this year.

I would also like to work on deepening my relationships in my life, whether it is friends or family. I want to know them and understand them on a deeper level, care more, love them better, be there for them. Some of these come naturally, others I struggle with and they often become burdens. But I'm learning more and more that people are such an important aspect of everything we do.

I'm looking forward to what new things 2010 brings, as well as doing my best to prepare for the challenges that will also come!