I love the beginning of a new year. I love the fresh start. It's like a clean slate with everything. In my world, everything means my classroom, my physical health, my emotional health, and even my spiritual life. As I continue to grow in my walk with the Lord, I am slowly discovering that I can't succeed in any area of my life to my own heart's content unless Christ is at the center. 
More often than not, I put Jesus in this tiny box. I create a world where God can't do everything and that it is up to me to take control. This is so wrong and so irritating when I realize that I do this.
So here I am. It is January 2nd and after a long talk with the Lord, I have come up with a long list of "resolutions." They are not all "I give up this or that" but more like me trying to become a more positive person. Me making efforts to be selfless and grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord. Me learning what it means to not put God in a little box. Me learning to love my 25 children with the love Christ so graciously pours on me. Me learning to love myself in a way that I improve my lifestyle and get healthy. Me learning to forgive and allow Jesus to completely heal wounds in my heart.
The year 2006 was a big year for me. As I look upon it and reflect, I realize how hard of a year it was. And I realize how much I grew through it. Here is a list of circumstances and events that I learned huge life lessons from:
More often than not, I put Jesus in this tiny box. I create a world where God can't do everything and that it is up to me to take control. This is so wrong and so irritating when I realize that I do this.So here I am. It is January 2nd and after a long talk with the Lord, I have come up with a long list of "resolutions." They are not all "I give up this or that" but more like me trying to become a more positive person. Me making efforts to be selfless and grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord. Me learning what it means to not put God in a little box. Me learning to love my 25 children with the love Christ so graciously pours on me. Me learning to love myself in a way that I improve my lifestyle and get healthy. Me learning to forgive and allow Jesus to completely heal wounds in my heart.
The year 2006 was a big year for me. As I look upon it and reflect, I realize how hard of a year it was. And I realize how much I grew through it. Here is a list of circumstances and events that I learned huge life lessons from:
- Student teaching taught me that I didn't really learn much about teaching in college. I learned that it is a completely different world when there are actual children involved.
My broken friendship with who I considered one of my closest friends showed me what true brokenness looks like. I faced issues about myself that I had no idea existed. I learned to face many fears dealing with rejection, boundaries, and issues with my family. - Through this brokenness, I was led into one of the hardest summers I have ever had. I spent the whole summer at Discipleship Focus in Branson and truly learned t
he depths of my brokenness and I came to know Grace and how Christ uses our brokenness to create a beautiful new creation. I am overwhelmed by how much God showed me and loved on me in the summer. He healed me of so many issues I struggled with in relationships and never let me go. He picked up the broken pieces of my heart and made a beautiful mosaic. - Teaching has been the most humbling experience of my life. Just when I felt like my life was being put together and that maybe I didn't need God as much, He created an environment where I would crumble without Him as the center. Granted, this took a while to figure out. Through teaching, I have seen the nastiness of myself and am currently learning how to love people who are basically considered by the rest of the world as unloveable. It has been a very hard lesson and one that will hopefully continue the rest of my life.
- God has shown me huge amounts of Faithfulness this last year through the promise of new friendships and the continued growth of old. When I graduated college in May, I thought that was the end of friendmaking and spiritual growth. I figured all the friends I'd ever need would be from CofO and that I'd only grow as far as I got in college. He has shown me that there is so much more! I have been blessed richly by an amazing church Body at Harvest and by my small group Eikon. He is has even blessed me with an amazing support system of Believers at the school I teach at. I treasure my friendships with those at school who continue to pray for me.
Well, that pretty much wraps it up for the year 2006. Of course I left a lot out but these circumstances and events show me the growth I have experienced the richness of the Lord's faithfulness. I look forward to this new year in my life. I don't know what the Lord has planned for me in the year 2007 but I'm ready to jump in and get started!
