God's go-to person.

“Lord, help us to understand the depth of Your ever sovereign sacrifice in Jesus. That what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh…” (Rom 8:3)

I have just been having one of those encounters with God lately, where I just feel him. I crave to just sit in silence with anticipation that He would speak to me. Me?! The creator of the universe speaks to me?! The very thought is so hard to comprehend. I go through these phases where I feel it is so hard to press into God and I'm so impatient with waiting for him to do something, anything, in my life and the whole time I don't even realize that it's becuase I am so focused on wanting God to do something for me instead of just wanting God. I don't even take the time to see that I'm giving no effort into my relationship with him.

Then, there are other times, where you spontaneously open your bible (to be honest, sometimes just out of boredom) and God just meets you there. He shows up and the words on the pages cut to my heart and make my circumstances endurable (is that even a word? It works in my head...).

Someone recently asked me what my biggest fear was and other than the typical girl answers, as well as, some dishonest boys, I couldnt place my finger on the heart of the matter. A few days have passed since that question and it dawned on me that my biggest fear, in the depths of my heart, is that God would pass me by. Not because of the forgiveness that I sometimes find hard to accept or the grace that I find so hard to recieve, but because of missed opportunities or failures to launch. A professor in college once told me that if you earnestly ask God to give you an opportunity each day to do something for his kingdom, that he would. Maybe He would give you a conversation with someone who was hurting, looking for hope or maybe it would be eyes to see past what everybody else sees and into the heart of someone searching for answers. The opportunities are endless and, at the same time, are in desperate need of someone to be willing to take.

I want to always be willing. I want to always have my hand held high before God even asks the question, "Who will go?" I want to walk without fear, pray without ceasing, love without limits, give without hesitation. I want to be God's go-to person.

This blog writing has been so interesting for me to have started becuase I have been able to see the process God is taking me through. I tend to go through valleys with God, sometimes your up and sometimes your down, but I'm still going through. The greatest thing about the valley is that when you are at top you can see for miles and each hill you climb is worth it because of what you see when you reach the top!

mmmhmmm..... God is good!

God's grace is amazing...how lucky are we!

Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be-
you get a fresh start,
your slate's wiped clean.

Count yourself lucky-
God holds nothing against you
and you're holding nothing back from him.

When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.

The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.

Then I let it all out;
I said, "I'll make a clean breast of my failures to God."

Suddenly the pressure was gone-
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared.

(Psalm 32:1-20ish the message version)

Don't ever let Satan take away what Christ did on the cross for you. Don't ever let him steal your joy, your purpose and your forgiveness. When you make the choice to lay your guilt, fear, sin, shame, etc. at the foot of the cross, don't let satan steal that moment from you. Instead, go to the cross with confidence. Let the tears of Jesus mix with yours as you humbly kneel at his feet. There is no greater feeling than the release of sin into the arms of the one whom died to take it for you. God's grace is amazing and everyday I am reminded how i dont deserve it but that its freely given.

Sorry Erin! Its been over a month since my last post, needless to say my life has been hectic, interesting and ever changing! Along with the busyness of my jobs, I am now fighting a sickness in my body, so if anyone out there is praying for me, please keep me in your prayers! This time of the year is the busiest for me, so being sick is not a good thing!

To give a quick update on my life over the past month, the LHS football team did better than expected and are advancing to the quater finals this saturday, which means I get to coach both the basketball squad and the football squad at the same time. This past saturday, my girls attended CheerFest and I was so proud of them!

They did so good and i am so glad that I coach at Lynden ;).

Lets see....what else is new....Our church had a very successful Trunk or Treat Event with over 1500 Trunk of Treaters and we gave away over 3300 pounds of candy! It was soooo much fun!

I was cupid...The kids had a costume drawing contest where they got to compete to create my costume...hints the cupid....believe me...it could have been worse!

Lastly, the newest thing to be added to my life, is that I am temporarly teaching Pre-school with my mom. It's about a 4 month job, takes lots of energy and PATIENCE, but the kids are too much fun! The job has defiently confirmed to me that I can not sing, perform multi-task reading (such as using a flannel graph while trying to remember the story) and that I enjoy hanging out with kids more than I thought!

I think that's it for now...