Live Life!

Well, here I sit in a semi-delirious state due to my sleep-deprived yester-eve. (is that a word?..... well, it is now!) Kim Furrer hosted a New Years party at her abode in WLaf last night, which was a lot of fun. We played some balderdash, ate some amazing peanut butter fudge, and laughed hysterically at things that would usually only be worthy of a nervous chuckle. :)

I must say that I think balderdash would be much more enthralling if there was more shouting involved. I had never played before and for some reason was under the impression that you had the opportunity to yell "BALDERDASH" @ the opposing teams. Alas, our game was very quiet and quite lacking in any true zest or yelling. I will have to revert to "Sorry" where you can at least sheepishly whisper "sorry!" to your opponent as you send one of their pawns packing back to start! :)

So on another note......... it is 2009!

This past year has been awesome-- I have had some of the best, most memorable, and just altogether funnest times of my life. It has also been an extremely trying year in many ways. In the course of the past several months, God has been showing me time and time again that I am nothing in and of myself. To be honest, I am a lot less sure of who I am and where life is taking me on January 1, 2009 than I was January 1, 2008. Somehow life seemed a little more clear and easy a year ago.

Yet, the light at the end of the tunnel.......can't we all say we are so thankful that God takes us through these times of uncertainty, or these "rock-bottom" moments when we throw up our hands and say "Lord, I can't do this! I cannot glorify you on my own! I can't sincerely love others on my own! I cannot be the person you desire me to be on my own!" and simply hand it all over to him?!

My dear friend, Kaitlin, shared a verse with me that is short and sweet, but perfectly summarizes the conclusion of the whole matter and all this pointless running around I've been doing. Luke 8:48: says "And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace."

I really have no good way to conclude this post except to say that I am truly blessed and thankful for a God who refines me, even when He has to drag me along, kicking and screaming. I am thankful for each of you, my friends and family, and am excited to see where this next year will lead each of us! Above all, I want to strive to always remember that my identity, my peace, my hope, my life are found in my faith in Christ ALONE! I pray that each of us can keep Christ the center of our coming days and years-- if He is, everything else will fall into place. :) Love you all! Happy new year!