Happy Birthday, Grant!

Happy fourteenth birthday to my oldest younger brother, Grant! 

Here are a couple old photos of him and I. :)

Then:

Now:

I love you, Grant, and I hope you have a wonderful fourteenth year! 

      

Still, My Soul, Be Still

   

     So, for those of you that don't know, this year I decided to take on the challenge of completing two years of high school in one year, so that I could graduate a year early! Though this is super exciting, it also gives me less time to look for colleges and pray about what to do with this next step of my life.

     Lately we've been really busy and I haven't been spending much time researching different college options. I started getting really stressed and felt like my mental 'to-do' list wasn't getting done everyday. On top of that, I was still having symptoms that the Candida Diet was supposed to cure and we were having issues getting ahold of my doctors. Now I felt sick emotionally AND physically.

     This morning before getting out of bed I stopped to pray. I prayed that God would give me a sense of direction about where to go to college. "Anything at all." I whispered.

     Peace. For some odd reason, that word popped in to my head. I thought maybe God was trying to tell me something. I sighed, then finished praying. "Yes... I need peace."

     After praying, I pushed my emotions aside and put my IPod on shuffle while getting ready for my day. The first song that started playing was Still, My Soul, Be Still by Keith and Kristyn Getty. Here's how the chorus goes. 

God, You are my God

And I will trust in You and not be shaken

Lord of peace, renew

A steadfast spirit within me

To rest in You alone

     

    When the chorus started playing, I paused what I was doing and just listened. I felt like those words were meant for me. Lord of peace renew... I will trust in you and not be shaken... a steadfast spirit within me, to rest in You alone. I thanked God as the song ended, but then continued my day and completely forgot about it.

     After finishing my schoolwork, I decided to do my daily bible reading. Some days I feel the Lord really speaking to me during these times, other days I feel like it's more mechanical. Today I guess I was expecting it to be more mechanical or something, because I know that I wasn't expecting to feel God's presence the way that I did.

     I opened my bible to the passage I was supposed to read that day and one of the first verses included the phrase, "Be still and know that I am God." I stopped and just shut my eyes. The Lord was giving me this moment to just be still. I felt this warmth spread through my body and just felt like the Lord was telling me to trust him. To be still and rest in him. Suddenly I didn't feel worried about this whole college transition. I didn't feel worried or scared about what to do. And most importantly, I finally felt like God was giving me a clear sense of direction. He was telling me to just trust him. 

     I felt so lighthearted as the day went on. Now, as I'm writing this, I still don't know what college I'll be going to. I don't know what this next year is going to hold for me, but I do feel God's peace as I continue trusting in him! Just think, by this time next year, I'll be halfway done with my freshman year in college!

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UPDATE

   
     Alright, well, I wrote this post last night but decided not to post it since I finished writing it really late and wanted to read over it once more in the morning. This morning my devotions were awesome! They were all about trusting God and about how he has bigger plans for us than we could ever imagine. But the best part of the devotional was definitely the scripture! Here are the verses that were assigned to me this morning.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

     Well, needless to say, reading that scripture this morning was a total God thing for me! I felt like it was just another way in which God was telling me to trust him. I was so worried about not feeling a clear sense of direction, but the last couple days I've really been feeling God's peace within me. I am so excited about this next step of my life and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me!

     God Bless,

     ~Hannah

First Post

     Well, this is my first post! I love writing but rarely finish my journals, so I figured this would be a good compromise. I've started two blogs in the past, but just ended up deleting them after forgetting to update after months at a time. My intent for starting this blog was more so I could just journal about the changes happening right now in my life, but with more accountability since everyone else can see this. I'll be writing updates about my health, my transition into college, my spiritual journey as I continue to seek God's will for my life and various other things as well! I can't wait to look back on this post a couple years from now and have fun reminiscing. :)

Thank you for reading and God bless,