Joy in Christ.

It is so great to be home but there has definitely been ups and downs. 

This weekend included a quiet time at Starbucks, Younglife Access club, Medieval Times for Johns' birthday, and a GREAT church service. 

I am so happy to have time to rest and to sleep in!! I feel like I don't always have this luxury at school so it is a beautiful thing when my eyes open at ten o'clock and I feel fully rested and refreshed. 

On the flip side of that coming home can be hard too. It is hard to split the time between my parents and it is easy to get angry with my family. For some reason my family is good at making me more angry than anyone else. My dad and I have always had a hard relationship and this weekend was no exception. We definitely had our good moments but this was a really tough weekend for me. 

I have been doing this daily devotional with some friends and we just finished a study of Colossians! (shereadstruth.com or on the IPhone you can search for their plans on You Version!) 

Here is some things that I learned: 

• I have been sent on a special assignment by Christ as a part of God's master plan. 
• The importance of remembering my high calling for the kingdom. 
• The power of praying for friends. 
• The way Christ sees me: "You are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without as single fault" Colossians 1:22 (SO GREAT!!!) 
• Suffering isn't fun and I can't avoid it BUT if I am finding strength in and relying on the Lord he will make much out of my struggles. 
• In order to stand strong when a storm hits I must have deep roots in Christ. 
• It is Christ I need to be living for each day and thus I am covered by his grace. 
• The importance of making the best use of my time no matter the season or circumstance. 

It always amazes me how much Christ uses His word to teach me. The book of Isaiah has been popping up randomly in my life so I have decided to start a study on the book of Isaiah as well as the Thanksgiving study just started today by She Reads Truth. I am excited for how the Lord is going to use His word for the rest of the semester and the rest of my life! 

I just want to briefly share about church on Sunday. It was way good especially because I was coming into it bitter and angry with my family. It was awesome to worship my perfect heavenly father. He talked about how during John the Baptists' ministry he gave all he had to Jesus. It is easy for me to set expectations for how God should fill me or how God should respond but only God knows what I really need and if I seek to be obedient to God's will what what God thinks I need could be something really hard. 

This was the coolest thing ever...Jesus sought to live a life obedient to God and he God put him through some hard stuff. God sent Jesus to live a human life on this earth and in doing this Jesus suffered for the will of God. Throughout Jesus' life his best friend betrayed Him, He was beaten, He had Gods' wrath poured on Him, He carried and was nailed to a cross...and all of this happened because He was living the will of God. 

It just made me think how easy it is to let challenges ruin my spiritual journey but Jesus proves the importance of not stumbling over trials in this life. There is something better at the end of the tunnel. "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

I have a couple prayer requests! I ask that you would pray that I would learn to unconditionally love my family and that I wouldn't be so quick to anger and I ask that I would allow God to meet all of my expectations that I have for people because He so does!! 

I want to take some time to share somethings I am so thankful for! Gosh, I feel like there is way too many to list....:) 

I am so thankful for Jesus and the cross and I am learning the importance of being thankful daily for the cross even when its hard. I am thankful for my great friends! Gosh, I just don't know what I would do without my friends. There are way too many of you to list but thank you for being there for me, loving me, and having so much grace for me. 

I thank all of the families that have allowed me to enter into their lives. It is so meaningful to have beautiful people in my life that about me and love me so much. Thank you for opening up your homes to places I can go when being home myself is difficult. Of course, I am thankful for my family and for their love for me always. 

I am thankful for school and for a life that makes me so happy. I am most thankful for the joy that I have found in the Lord. I have learned that happiness and unhappiness has so little to do with circumstances but when I have Jesus everyday in my life I am just so happy. I am so grateful and proud to say that I have found freedom from depression and anxiety because of the Lord and that is certainly reason to be thankful! 

Thanks for reading friends and please send any prayer requests my way I would love to be praying for you! Thinking of all of you and I am so thankful for you!! 

:) 

Allison