God is SO good!!! You
would not believe how many blessings and answered prayers that the Lord has
been gracious to give! The past month
has been filled with uncertainty, weakness (both physical and mental),
struggles, unexpected circumstances, many hugs and prayers from friends, time
management choices, and many unexpected times of encouragement.
The main blessings and answered prayers surround one of the
hardest things I have accomplished in my life – EMT National Licensing
Certification. September 11th
was when I took the exam, and by God’s provision and strength, I passed! I am now a licensed EMT! Since this has been something I have wanted
for awhile, and also have worked so hard to get to this point, I am very
thankful to have passed the exam the first time! I am also overwhelmed at the number of
friends and family that were praying for me, sending me notes to encourage me,
or even studying late at night with me. I know that I could not have done this
without you all!
Many times throughout the last couple weeks there were some
unexpected surprises that I did not want to deal with as I had so much going on
already. For a few days, I was uncertain that I would still be at Moody in the
spring because my records were showing otherwise. Unfortunately this was right
before my EMT exam, and I was already reaching what I thought was my limit of
handling life. Thankfully, God brought along 3 friends who were so loving and
dear to me who prayed with me and helped me remember that God already had it
all under control. Long story short, I will still be graduating in May 2013.
Some other things that have happened this month include
wedding activities. A fun trip to Wisconsin for a dress fitting for a wedding
in which I am a bridesmaid (the wedding is this upcoming weekend!) was a good
time to get to know the other bridesmaids, and also spend some more time with
my friend, Tasha, the bride! It was also great
to stop by my friend Peace’s house for dinner and to see her family too before
we both headed back to Moody. Another
friend, Emily, and I played for a different wedding a couple weeks ago. That
was an interesting experience as I did not have a keyboard until a couple days
before the wedding. I was not sure I would be playing, but they found a
keyboard and Emily and I had a great time playing together for friends whom we
have known since freshman year.
Currently the Lord
has placed a lot of people on my heart and mind, and also many people who I
cannot do anything to help them out with what they are going through. These
include family and friends, but also homeless on the streets of Chicago, the
kids who I hang out with at AWANA, and church family. There is no way that I
can help all of them, or even if I did I would never be able to help each of
them to the extent needed. Prayer once again has been a lifeline and always
will be. I am thankful for the little opportunities that I have been able to
put a smile on someone’s face, or pray for them in their own struggles. I am
reminded of the many times that the disciples thought nothing could be done to
help the people, but then Jesus shows up and cares for them all, whether it be
providing healing or food or new life in Him. Yet, how does Jesus show up in my
own life and in these people’s lives whom I am praying for? Food for thought.
And now for thoughts of sleep…before another day filled with
prayer (and classes!).
Praising the Lord for His blessings on your life. While you certainly cannot meet all the needs you mentioned, I'd encourage you to keep pressing on in meeting the ones you can meet (which I'm sure you are already doing). The reality is that God doesn't need any one of us to accomplish His work. It is an honor that He chooses to use any of us. May He help us be faithful in the little things.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing... it was an encouragement to me.