This is a love letter to you. This is my way of saying thank you to all those that have been there for me over this past year. It has been a true test. Yet, God prevails.
I'm not ready to give the full details of my absence from the blogging world, but I will give you a synopsis by saying it's been the hardest thing I have ever gone through...
More difficult than any schooling, training or diaper changing.
More frustrating than any test - academic or fitness.
More heartbreaking than watching children starved for both food and attention.
It was brutal.
But our God is bigger than any struggle, and if I have learned anything from this past year it's that He wants every part of us.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind..." - Luke 10:27
He wants our souls.
He wants our strength.
He wants our minds.
HE WANTS EVERY PART OF US.
What was I giving Him before this epic breakdown of mine?
My mind -- I studied His word daily.
My strength -- I trained for His glory.
My body -- I traveled to a foreign country at His will.
My heart -- insert epic fail here....no, but really, like the most devastating skateboarding crash you've ever seen. Or maybe slipping on a banana peel in Mario Kart. Or pretty much anything off of America's Funniest Home Videos...
So, hopefully, you get the point.
I was holding out only what I wanted to God.
Meanwhile, my heart remained firmly in my grasp.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
This, my favorite verse, tells us first and foremost to give our hearts to God.
So, this is what I'm going to strive for this year.
To all those who read this silly little thing I call a blog, please hold me accountable to this.
Hold me to my word that I truly desire to give my whole heart to the Lord.
And may He bless the words I write -- an overflow of His love.
In Christ,
