Where Katy catches you all up on July

It was the day after my birthday. Jen and I along with a friend had gone out to lunch and were in walmart. You know how whenever you go into walmart you almost always see at least two people you know? Well, that day it was a Mother and daughter that are good friends of ours. So Jen and I went over to talk to them. I went to hug Kara and her Mom goes: "Oh you are hugging a 20 year old!" I pulled back and (not even kidding) thought: Kara is not 20 she is 15! Then all the sudden I realized I was the 20 year old! WOW! Talk about a shocking thought!

Yes-that is right folks. I am 20 years old. How does that happen? I am really not sure. But I am so thankful to have been given another year of life. Another chance to make a difference for the Lord. Yet another new beginning.

My birthday was absolutely amazing. I am absolutely amazed how blessed I am. The Lord has put so many amazing people in my life and it was neat to have them together at once (albeit a bit overwhelming at times lol)

So let me just show you the pictures and oh yes-there will be a lot!

Friday, July 16, 2010-

Note: The quality of some of these are not the greatest but that is ok!

 What an amazing blessing it was to hear the amazing things that God has done in her life! Afterward we all had cake and ice cream and just spent time together then had a campfire later. It was fun because two other girls have their birthdays on the same day as mine and they both happened to be there so that was super fun! :)

The only person that was not there was my sister Abby (click here to visit her blog). 
She missed my birthday for the second year in a row. She had good reason though-last year she was in Papua New Guinea on a missions trip and this year she is in Mexico. Her team has a blog that they update almost daily with their adventures. If you want to check it out click here.



Here are some of the pictures from that day. I am so excited you get to see some amazing people God has blessed me in knowing!

Ok so here I am first thing in the morning opening presents. For those of you that do not know-I collect children's books so Mom and Dad got me some of those then told me that my big gift was a shopping spree. Which was amazing! :)

So, Friday we had Bible study and my dear friend Danielle shared her testimony with "my girls" (why I call them that I am not sure). What an amazing blessing it was to hear the amazing things that God has done in her life!

Afterward we all had cake and ice cream and just spent time together then had a campfire later. It was fun because two other girls have their birthdays on the same day as mine and they both happened to be 

there so that was super fun! :)

 

 

Saturday night I had a smaller group of friends come over to hang out. My friend Dayne took a ton of pictures :) We ate food and I blew out my candles on the AMAZING birthday cake my friend Jacquie made for me. Truly I have been blessed by so many people that the Lord has seen fit to put in my life! He is so good!

 

 (Mom and Jen making burgers)

  

(Jason playing the piano)

 

(The beautiful cake my friend Jacquie made for me. It took her 20 minutes to decorate! And it tasted amazing!)

(They lit the candles and then realized that I was not there to blow them out so they had to blow them out and then go and get me. I think it bothered Danny. Lol.)

 (So they had to relight the candles)

(Then they sang happy birthday to me)

(And I blew out the candles! And got them all first time!)

And now just random pictures from the night:

My younger brother Cody. He wrote me a song for my birthday! :) Such a blessing :)

 

All in all my 20th birthday was amazing! God is so good and truly I am so in awe of what He has done this past year and I am so excited to see what He will continue to do in this upcoming year :)

Perfect Peace

Hey all you fellow bloggers out there :)

This past week has been full of the unexpected.

But in an amazing God way!

How do you put in words the amazing thing that God does

in a week? 

I am pretty sure it is next to impossible 

BUT I am going to try!

This picture sums it up.

I am at peace.

Perfect peace.

God is so good.

That is why I am at peace.

Because ever since I surrendered my fears 

to the Lord. 

He has given me a freedom that is just...hard for me to 

even put into words!
I am in awe of my Savior. 
As some of you may know I have been planning on 
starting an LPN nursing program this January.
It would take a full two years and then I would have my degree.
Well, the reason I was doing the LPN program in the first place was 
because I had applied for the nursing program
at a college near me and had been put on the waiting list.
I knew that no one ever gets in off the waiting list and I still felt
very strongly that the Lord wanted me to be in the medical
field so I applied and was accepted (which is a story in and of itself)
into the LPN program.
I was all set to go.
Starting in January.
Well,  this past Tuesday I got a phone call that very quickly turned my world upside down.
Apparently the Lord has decided that He wanted me to be an RN.
Because I was one of FIVE PEOPLE that got accepted off the wait list
into the nursing program!!!!
The awesome part about it  is that I will be an RN instead of LPN 
and that it will take the exact same amount of time which is two years.
Also, I will not have to do school three days a week next summer! 
So instead of starting in January...
I am starting in August.
Which, if you haven't looked at a calender lately,
is like a month and a half away! 
The other awesome part is that one of my amazing friends
is in the same exact nursing program so we will be able to
go through these next two years together! 
I am so thankful we can be together! :)
God is so good!
Ok, to that was my amazing news! :)
God is so good!
Truly, I have never felt more at peace in my life.
I am so content with were I am at and I am so so so excited
to see where the Lord is going to lead!
Life is most definitely an adventure with Jesus in the lead!
I am so thankful for my precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the amazing
blessings that He sees fit to pour on my life.
He is so good!
  

New beginnings.

Hey all you fellow bloggers out there!

So, today. Well lets just say I have a lot to say to prepare yourself for a rather long post! :)

Beginnings.

New beginnings.

Ever had those? 

Where you were drifting through life and then all the sudden the Lord got ahold of you and you realized that you had been really messed up in a lot of things.

So all the sudden there was an end.

An end to old feelings.

An end to old fears.

An end to trying to handle things on your own.

An end to not trusting your Savior.

And end to the way you had been mistakenly making God out to be in your mind.

An end.

Because as we all know-before something begins most the time some things end.

Last night was an end.

Today is a beginning.

For those of you that may not know me very well-I love to journal.

There is nothing more exciting to me then ending a journal.

Each and every one that I have ever completed holds a story.

My story.

The one that the Lord has written for me.

It is so neat to be able to look back and see all that the Lord has done over the years!

I used to try to journal but would normally give up because it just seemed really 

self-centered and all about me.

Well, about six years I was inspired by a dear lady named Karen Miller

to start journaling my prayers to the Lord.

See, Mrs. Miller had lung cancer and one day the Lord decided to heal her

by taking her up to heaven to be with Him.

One Sunday her husband brought in some of her old prayer journals.

I was so young but I remember being really impressed by how she wrote

letters to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

That day she inspired me.

I haven't stopped since then.

It has been six years since I started writing letters to my Lord.

Yesterday I just completed my fifteenth journal in six years.

 It was an ending.

But not just to a journal.

To a period of my life that has stretched over the past six months.

 Here is a glimpse of what was on my heart last night:

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Dear Heavenly Father,

Well, this is my last journal entry in this journal that I started six months ago. 

I am just- in AWE of what has happened in the pages of this journal. The joy and the tears, falling more in love with You, realizing for the first time in my life that Jesus You do completely and totally satisfy and when my world is ripped apart You are there to pull me back together, meeting so many new friends, surrendering my future to You over and over and over again, the death of Mr. Clark, me passing my TEAS test and actually getting into the LPN program starting in January, work. Lord, the list could go on and on and on. You have done so much in my life in the last six months! One of the biggest things that happened in my life was I was blind (literally) but now I can see because of the Lasik eye surgery that I got January 19th. My life has truly changed forever. It was an absolute miracle that You provided for it. Thank you Jesus!

So tonight-I fell apart. I think that exhaustion makes everything worse. Little things but they have just been building and fears about...I don't know-getting hurt again and then I see SO many shortcomings in myself and I just hate it! It is like I try and try and try but I just can't change! And I have started looking to God in fear in a way just waiting for something bad to happen. I had a long talk with Dad and I know that is wrong! I just I am just...I have this mindset that nothing good should or could happen to me and last because I am completely undeserving which I am undeserving, but I know God isn't like that. These past two years have been so hard and sometimes I just get this mindset that things won't get better because I am not good enough or doing enough or serving God enough. Which is stupid. But that is why I fell apart.

Oh Lord, I was an absolute and total mess! But a friend just pointed me back to You. To Your greatness and to the fact that everything all goes back to YOU. 

You are great Lord! You are the greatest!

Forgive me for...thinking of You as anything but a loving Heavenly Father. Forgive me for being fearful of You but not at all in the right way.

Lord, I allowed fears to completely overcome me. I allowed doubts and insecurities to take ahold and in the end-my eyes were so focused on me that I was barely even looking at You. Forgive me Lord. Thank you for not only being the God of second chances but being the God of one zillion chances. You are so good Lord!

This is the end of this journal but also of this chapter in my life.

Honestly, I am sort of scared as I look ahead. Please replace that fear with joyful, trusting anticipation in what You are going to do next. Help me to trust in the fact that You are GOOD.

Lord, I just surrender future to You. I surrender my fears. 

Lord, I truly want to bring You honor and glory in everything that I do and say and think.

You are worthy!

I love you so much Lord! Thank You for loving me in spire of me.

In Jesus Precious name I pray and surrender myself to You Lord,

Amen

As soon as I had finished writing that journal entry I opened my Daily Light devotional that is just selections from scripture split up into morning and evening selections.

You know those times when the Lord uses His Word to speak to you in such a direct and clear way? This is what I read:

Daily Light-June 30, 2010

Morning Selection

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.”

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”—As a father the son in whom he delights.—He wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal.—Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.—“I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.”

He does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.—He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Rev. 3:19; Heb. 12:5, 6; Prov. 3:12; Job 5:18; 1 Pet. 5:6; Isa. 48:10; Lam. 3:33; Ps. 103:10-14
(Source) 

Wow, Wow, WOW! Talk about absolute PERFECT TIMING! I was talking to Dad about how I just seemed to be waiting for God to send something bad in my life because I wasn't as close to Him as I should be and Dad was saying the exact same thing these verses are saying. How God is a loving Heavenly Father Who is looking out for our good and yes, He does need to discipline us at times, but it is never out of spite or because we aren't "performing" like we think we should.

To have Dad talk to me about it is one thing but to be reminded and told again by my Heavenly Father through His word. Wow! I do not need to fear anymore! 

I need to just trust in my God. That He does all things for m good and not just to make me miserable or spite me.

Thank You Lord for this precious reminder and second chance! 

 Last night was an end.

Because of last night today to me marks 

a new beginning.

One in which I am not ruled by fear but instead just look to my Savior in absolute trust and utter dependance KNOWING that no matter what may come my way

He is in control.

What freedom I have found in getting my eyes off of myself and instead

focused back on my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ were they need to be.

Have I mentioned lately that we serve and AWESOME God?

To Him alone be all the honor and glory and praise.

I am so thankful for new beginnings.

I am so thankful for my Savior.

Blessings to you all :)