Amazing how He works.

I have been struggling with the move to ATL and finding a new church. I thought I had found one in North Point Community Church (NP), but I attended Buckhead Church last weekend and was absolutely overwhelmed with the number of people. The boy was there with me, which helped a lot. Although I say I like change (and I do) it's just hard for me to accept it sometimes.

I started my journey towards God at Purdue Christian Campus House (PCCH or CH), a small intimate church on Purdue's campus. I was baptized there, and I consider it my "home church" still. I promised myself this week that I would attend NP. I know that I need to surround myself with people, especially since I feel like an outcast at work (more on that later). I also know that church is a fantastic place to find new friends, after all, before CH I had very few girlfriends. Now I have a couple that I cannot imagine my life without.

So, because it's hard for me to accept change, I typically will wimp out of a scary situation. In this case, it was attending a new church by myself for the first time. I bargained with myself and said, "Well, I still want to go to church, but I a) don't want to use up the gas it would take to drive the 30 minutes there and b) don't know anyone there so I will be all alone." Instead, I attended in my pjs and watched the sermon online. (They live stream the 11AM service and replay it at 6PM. So, if you're interested in watching today's message, you can at 6! http://northpointonline.tv/)

Today was the conclusion of their series "Amazing Stories". Today they visited the story of Naaman, the commander of the Aram army. For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, here's a brief description: Naaman has leprosy. He is told by one of his servants that there is a prophet in Israel who can cure him. He goes to the king and asks to go, the king agrees and sends a letter with him.

The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." -2 Kings 5:6

The king of Israel sends him to Elisha, the prophet his servant spoke of. Naaman expects Elisha to wave his hand over him and be cured, but instead he sends a servant to greet Naaman and his group. The servant tells him to go and bathe in the Jordan seven times and he will be cured. Naaman is angry with Elisha and refuses. 

Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" -2 Kings 5:13

Naaman goes and bathes in the Jordan. He is cured and returns to Elisha, grateful for what he has done. One of the things Andy Stanley ended with was saying that if God is putting something on your heart that you know you need to do, even if you have convinced everyone else around you, and you are still not convinced, do it. God doesn't owe us an explanation. There are times in everyone's life when He is pushing something into our hearts that we may not understand. It is during those times we need to follow Him. Even though it may seem like such a simple thing, in my case, actually going to NP, He has something much bigger in store for us. If you don't follow, you will regret it, no matter how small a thing it is. And so, I am making the commitment today to attend NP next Sunday. I know there aren't that many of you who are readers, but I need to be held accountable. I do regret not going today, but today's message has made me realize that I need to go. Even if I am uncomfortable, I have to go. I can attend the "next" session after the service and hopefully meet some other new to town people.

Until next time readers. Thank you for being here for me, even though you are few.

hooray!

first, i apologize for my spelling and grammatical errors, because i am posting from my phone due to the lack of interwebz. i also apologize for not capitalizing anything, since apparently i cannot. nor can i use any punctuation besides , or .

anyway. i officially completed my first week of work, exclamation point. it was stressful, the boy can attest to that... i do not really enjoy being the new kid, especially when i cant sit with my own department, due to a lack of space. it is indeed a good problem to have, but it doesnt change the fact that i am not sitting with my department. oh well. I will soon be sitting with them.

Oh man... I just figured out if I "edit HTML" instead of "Compose", my phone capitalizes&spell checks like normal. Well, I guess from here to the end of this post I have no excuse. So I am post from my phone due to a lack of interwebz in my apt, but I am also laying by the pool. :-D whee! So far I am enjoying being in Hotlanta, we will see when winter rolls around and I don't get snow...

This weekend will be full of relaxing and unpacking. I am probably going to go to Home Depot to buy some shelves so I can actually put the stuff haha/organize it, haha. I have also started to read "Jesus Freaks", a book the boy recommended. So far I truly enjoy it, and I will probably share a story or two from it as I continue to read. I will give a brief review if you are interested, but not today. My thumbs hurt from all of this typing! Besides, my stomach is starting to tell me that it is dinner time. Omnomnom.

Until next time readers.

Pray for those you know who are suffering, and pray for those who live in countries where they are persecuted for loving christ.

Nationwide is on my side.

Work starts on Monday, but I had to call in to a meeting this morning about retirement plans (401k and what-not). It's weird that I am already thinking about this kind of thing. This is going to be a short entry, simply because I need to finish packing today. This is my new apartment!! I will be getting the key this afternoon, because I didn't want to make the 18 hr round trip drive just to pick up a key. I am really really excited about moving into my new place, but I am not excited about starting work.

Anyway. I really should get to packing, since I just spent the last hour listening to Hollis discuss my retirement nonsense. Although I know it's not really nonsense, it's just odd because I'm only 23 and already thinking about retirement plans. I know I need to though. I guess it was really weird when they were talking about how I need to have a will. Eep!

Until next time readers... (and next time I will have pictures of my new place!!)

I can't believe it.

It's been 5 months today. I am amazed, to be honest. It has been an absolutely fantastic 5 months. He is currently in Joplin, MO helping clean up damage from the tornado. I am so proud of him. (Sorry if this embarrasses you, boyfriend, but you truly are wonderful.) I really wanted to go with him to help, but I have to pack up my apartment this week so I can get ready for the move to Atlanta in the next two weeks. I sent Aslan with him (Aslan is my travel lion, lol. He's a Webkinz.) for the car ride. I know that God is using him to do amazing things in the world and will continue to do so. The boy has such strong faith and I am so lucky to have him in my life. I am so grateful he is a stronger person than I am and is helping lead me towards Him.

I have been struggling recently with the fact that it seems like all of my friends are engaged or married at this point, but I guess summer seems to be the time of all that. Which is rough on me, since my clock is telling me I should be getting married too. But I know that in time it will happen, and if God wants the boy and I to be together, it will be amazing and perfect. And until then, I can only know that I love my boyfriend and take it one day at a time.

I have exciting news, but I can't tell you because my friend hasn't even announced yet. So, until then I will have to stay hush-hush about it. But I am excited!!! :D I have already started to design a sewing project for my friend, but I'm not gonna post pictures on here until it's all done and sent away because I don't want to ruin the surprise. :)

I should probably get working hardcore on my packing... I admit that I haven't done much today. I have, however, picked out my TV stand. EXPEDIT TV storage unit from IKEA! In black, I think. I can only hope that it fits!! There's an IKEA in ATL, so I will be able to order it from there and get it delivered to my new apt. I would like to pick out a couch from IKEA as well, but I don't know yet. Hopefully the boy will be willing to help me pick out a couch that he can be comfortable on when he visits... since he's so tall, haha.

Until next time, readers.