New Years.

Happy New Year! New years eve seems like such a silly holiday to celebrate. For me, it kinda stresses me out to know that a WHOLE YEAR just went by....how did that happen? I thought the same thing this year as I counted down till the ball dropped. I think if I could define this year in one word it would be CHANGE (Completely unrelated to Obama). I hate change...I know you can't stop it but no matter how much change I've had in my life over the years, I still hate it the same. This year was defined by many life changing events. May brought graduation. In one weekend my life with the four girls I've lived with and loved dearly changed drastically as we all moved out of our house, The Dollhouse. In June I signed on with Africa Inland Mission to join their media team for an entire year. Change was also seen as the end of the summer came to a close...normally my summer ends drastically when school starts up in the fall, but this summer I stayed home and lived with my parents so the summer more so faded as the cold weather moved in. In November a close friend moved away to Mississippi for flight school to begin his next stage of life leaving the rest of us behind. And now, the biggest change so far in my life is about to happen....AFRICA! I am so excited about seeing what the Lord has in store for me in Africa and all the adventures I will be apart of!

I guess there is a good side to the story as well. The New Year brings new beginnings and clean slates. A good friend and I discussed our New Years resolutions over coffee the other day. I hadn't thought much about this next year other than knowing that I would be in Africa. It was good for me to really ponder what I want this next year to look like. I'm glad for a clean slate so that I can really work on areas in my life I know the Lord wants to work and mold me. I want this next year to be defined with what I do with all this change. I want this year to be defined by 4 new words....boldness,peacefulness,surrender, and strength. I want to grown in boldness in the Lord, boldness to stand up for injustices, boldness in sharing my faith, and boldness to go to Africa and to not just survive this next year but to thrive through strength and courage. I want to grown in the way I carry myself with having peace. You know those people in your life that have peace and no matter what life throws at them, they have peace that it is all in the Lord's control. That's what I want my life to be defined by. A friend and I were talking the other day about what it takes to be at peace with different areas of our lives. Our conclusion being, surrender. Many areas of my life I like to have some control over rather then let go and allow the Lord to work, whether it be my future, a relationship, a job, a broken camera...you name it, I need to surrender it to our Lord. He is the ultimate creator and has each detail of our lives worked out...I need to learn to surrender them all to the Lord so that I can find peace rather then feel a loss of control. And finally, strength. I think its easy to look at this next year and see it as this HUGE year with many "mountains" for me to climb. I loose sight of Who has brought me this far and Who will continue to lead me. I want to have strength in the highs and lows of this next adventure to keep sight of our King and to keep the main thing the main thing.

Boldness:
"Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold." 2 Corinthians 3:12

Peace:
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Surrender:
"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 hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Strength:
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9