Random Thought #2

We've had some crazy stuff happen this month. Here's a small list:
1. I turned 16. AAAAHHHHH!!!!!! :) Yep.
2. Got to see some old friends at this youth conference in MN. Apostolic Torch Conference at Apostolic Bible Institute. As one of the guys in my youth group would say, "It was TOO RAW!!!"
3. The day we left for Torch, it had rained super hard and we saw pictures of our church building. Umm....there was a lake around it. And that basement had been known to flood. And we had ALL OF OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL STUFF DOWN THERE!!!! And it was completely dry.
*Pauses in creating list* "Okay, guys, those of you who are crazy, do a little victory dance for me because GOD PROTECTED THAT BUILDING FROM HORRIBLE DAMAGE!!!!!
"Ahem. Moving on now." :)
4. I've begun to realize what kind of ministry God wants me to do, and where I'm gonna go for college and stuff. And when you're down and out and you feel completely alone and that God's not even there, just wait and keep holding on a little bit longer, because the darkest hour of the night is right before the dawn of a new morning. It seems so hard right now, I know, and sometimes all you can do is bury your head in the pillow and cry or just sleep, but I promise, Jesus is still there by your side, and one day you will see how because of what you went through, He has molded you into the person that He wants you to be. God's way is waaayyyy better than our way, trust me.
Saw this funny meme once, where God was showing someone where He was walking beside them. The conversation went kind of like this:
God: *Points at the footprints in the sand* "That's where I was walking beside you...." *Points again* "And that's where I dragged you....yeah, you were kicking and screaming...."
I'm gonna go Bible Quizzer on ya and pull out Psalms 37:5, which says, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass." Whatever IT is to you, He WILL bring it to pass. You just gotta trust Him, gotta commit yourself to Him, and if you're getting tired of me preaching at you, I'm sorry, but I ain't gonna stop haha!! If you're reading this, you're still interested obviously.
But seriously, God loves you. One of my guy friends said, "We are under God's protection, but He will not protect us from something He can use to perfect us." Those words are too true. So whatever storm you're going through, just keep going. Keep praying. Keep reaching. Just like the blacksmith turns up the heat in his forge to create the perfect conditions to make the metal of a weapon more pure, so God turns up the heat to test US and make US more pure.
I think my preaching streak is done for now haha.
5. God has been changing lives. It's awesome to see.
So tomorrow is Monday. Well, I mean, TODAY is Monday. God bless ya, hope you have an awesome week, and may God work through you and let you see some amazing things happen in your life. :)

Love ya!!!
--Sonya :)