This Valentine's Day...

I am blessed to know the love of an amazing man!

A man who loves me unconditionally. Shows me grace every step of the way. Has taught me how to love others better and even how to receive love more fully. He always takes to lead. He never speaks against me. He fills my heart with so much joy that I feel as if I might burst these days!

Our relationship has certainly been a journey and I imagine it will continue to be... but I know He isn't going to leave me and will always protect me and cherish me and love me every step of the way!

Most days I wonder how did am I so lucky to know this man? He is a dream boat for sure! And the truth is I am so BLESSED! He loved me, sought me out, and bought me at a very high price. It is more love than my heart can hold! But I will cling tightly to Him and trust that His love for me will never change.

The best part is He loves you too! And always has. Do you know the depths of the love He has? I hope that you do... it is a sweet, sweet love...

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

1 John 4:7-12

An Avid...

Christian?

I've never thought to put those two words together. I just read through an email where someone called me an avid Christian. At first I thought, I am not an avid Christian. Runners are avid but not Christians, and certainly not me. I am not an avid Christian! I am very serious about my faith and it certainly isn't just a hobby that I am crazy about...

But then I decided to look up the definition of avid and found this: Marked by keen interest and enthusiasm; characterized by enthusiasm and vigorous pursuit.

Enthusiasm and vigorous pursuit?! Well, maybe I do want to be counted as an avid Christian! And I guess if I really think about it, avid runners are probably some of the best and most devoted runners out there. They know the sport, they enjoy it, and they are probably very good at it because they work at it daily and devote their lives to being the best runner they can be. So, to be an avid Christian certainly wouldn't be a bad thing! It would actually be an amazing thing! And that might just be one of the sweetest compliments I have ever received!

New Year... Renewed!

{How is it February already?}

I'm sitting in my room and it is almost 1 AM... a new day has started and here I am to greet it. I've been having trouble going to bed early this year. And even as I sit here now typing I realize the old me has returned. The girl who stays up too late, too often. The girl who loves life and never wants to miss a thing. The girl who smiles and laughs!

She is back and I am rejoicing!!

Mission Failed... But Grace and Joy Prevail!

Well, it has been a very long time since my last posting... a very long time indeed...

I have to tell you the months of November and December were very hard months. I totally failed my thankfulness challenge and to be honest, I was pretty low and struggled to find the energy to express the little gratitude I had in my heart. I kept telling myself [and my mother kept saying to me] try to write something, it will surely help. But my strength was zapped and I just couldn't do it. It wasn't that I couldn't see all that I had to be thankful for, I just couldn't find my voice.

But thankfully the Lord knows my heart! He knew deep in my heart and my soul I was thankful. And His grace covered me and gave me the strength to make it through the last two months of 2011.

So today I would like to finish my challenge with 74 things I am thankful for:

27. A new year

28. A new Mac Book Pro

29. A new job

30. sweet girlfriends I can laugh with and share in the joy of Christ

31. adventures, big and small

32. HOPE

33. Great Expectations

34. The way God works in such mysterious ways in my life

35. My parents

36. Seeing answered prayers in my life

37. A new working schedule that allows me to have a bit of freedom

38. New black pants

39. Riding Boots

40. Getting to study Acts with one of the best Bible teachers and sweetest ladies I know

41. Knowing God is going to show up this year in BIG WAYS

42. Books

43. Getting off at 5PM again

44. Getting my Weekends back

45. Sunday lunch at my grandparents

46. A generous uncle

47. Art

48. New babies

49. Christ is strongest in our weakness

50. Inventions like Skype

51. Random fun

52. Fun memories from 2011

53. Plans to travel more this year

54. Flowers

55. Pedicures

56. New cookbooks

57. Seeing God work in lives around me

{This is hard!}

58. Glimmers of Hope

59. Hot showers

60. Warm Coffee

61. Being a part of a Godly legacy

62. Knowing people are praying for me

63. Friends who push me out of my comfort zone

64. Friends who push me toward Christ

65. Friends who love me even though they know way too much about me

66. God's unconditional love for me

67. Forgiveness

68. Grace

68. Serving a God who still speaks to His children

69. I am counted as a child of God

70. I hear the Lord's voice

71. My new Le Creuset Pan

72. Really good deals on really great things

73. That I have gotten to travel and see so much of the world already

74. I've seen the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, The Dead Sea and The Red Sea

75. A generous Mom

76. Special Breakfasts with my Dad

77. God's constant provisions in my life

78. Fun

79. Laughter

80. Krispy Kreme Donuts

81. Sunshine

82. The way a full moon lights up the earth beneath it

83. The beauty of creation

84. Old friends

85. Cold Beer

86. A passion for food

87. The unique way God knit me together

88. The way God moves me along

89. The way God is always working on my behalf

90. The days we see snow in GA

91. Time spent away

92. Joy found only in Christ

93. Sweet times with the Lord

94. Freedom

95. The wisdom that comes from Christ alone

96. The Holy Spirit

97. Pictures

98. Big beds and soft sheets

99. this challenge is over

100. My all and all Jesus.

No. 26

A Monday off...

Yesterday I had the day off! Now I groaned and complained that I had to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. It really wasn't that bad, but I managed to bemoan it all weekend long. Even working every day I still got to have breakfast with a friend, get my oil changed, go to another friend's birthday party, see my best friend from growing up and her family, sleep in and have a lazy evening at home. So for all general purposes it was a pretty nice weekend and at the end of it I didn't have to go to work the next day!

Normally, I do get up on Mondays and go to work and they are usually very stressful/full days. But this Monday was a real treat! I woke up, watched a little Regis and Kelly (haven't done that in ages), and then I started on a task I have been trying to start for months now: cleaning out my closet. Boy did it feel good to get started! Then I had a nice little break when my girlfriend and her sweet little almost four month old son came to pick me up and we went out to lunch. Now that was fun and such a blessing to see them! Then it was back to work on my room... and I actually made some really good progress! And the best part about the whole day might have been arriving at Bible Study on time and not exhausted. It was wonderful!!

So, I admit I complained way to much and honestly am so guilty of complaining way too often about stuff that really isn't a big deal. And working on Sunday was really a blessing because Lord knew I needed the extra hours! But I am very thankful for a glorious day off yesterday!

No. 25

[I'm not feeling very chatty today so you'll have to excuse the short post!]

Falling Back, aka the end of Daylight Savings

I am not much of a morning person, so trying to wake up before 8 AM in the pitch black is VERY difficult! So I can't tell you how excited I was for Daylight savings to come to an end this year... VERY excited. Now, I am like everyone else out there who hates for it to get dark so early in the evening, but I can barely keep my eyes open much pass 10:30 PM any more so really I don't think it is going to be so bad this year.

Or maybe I am just choosing to go with it this year. AND maybe I am starting to make that shift in adulthood where you would just rather go to bed early and get up earlier. I don't know yet, this is a first for me! But I do know I am SO thankful when my alarm goes off at 7:15 AM I am happy to see the sunshine!!

A run through of October

No. 20
Got to spend three days at the Cloister with my aunt and one of her best (and most fun) friends! Pure luxury!

No. 21
Followed by five days on St. Simons Island with my parents and best friends and aunt!
October is the best month ever to be down there!!!

No. 22
Standing up with one of my best friends as she married the man of her dreams!
Such an answer to years of prayers!

No. 23
Getting to go away with my mom for a weekend!
A sweet time together!

No. 24
Borrowed dogs!
They might be the best kind... only when you have to return them it is sad.