Bring It!

So, in my last blog I stated that I knew that there were a lot of surprising things on the horizon for me in 2010. January started out with a bang as I traveled to Paris with a group of great friends and honestly did not want to return. I felt like there was more to do, more to see, and more to learn while I was there. I have been entertaining the idea of perhaps one day traveling overseas to study...maybe for a summer, maybe longer. Paris loves dogs, so Daisy could certainly learn to oui oui in Paree.

February 1st held experiences that no one ever wants to have to go through. I attended the memorial service for a good friend's mother who lost a long and grueling battle against cancer, but won the ultimate war as she is certainly walking the golden streets of Heaven right this very second. While I never met this amazing and beautiful woman, I felt as if I had after listening to many people share about how she changed their lives (and countless others) for the good by loving them, sharing the love of her Father with them and always giving selflessly to those around her. Leaving that service, I was saddened that my friend and his family would no longer get to see their mom, have her around for not only the major life moments, but also the smaller, and sometimes more important, everyday stuff. But I also had an incredible feeling of hope. Hope that those lives that she touched, and continue to impact even in her death, will continue her legacy. I told my friend that his mother is certainly someone that we could all strive to live our lives like and I hope that I can try to do just that.

Monday afternoon while I was sitting around, waiting for the time to get ready to go to the church, I had an overwhelmingly powerful voice tell me that big changes were coming. Now, I have to be honest in saying that I do not have these moments. Ever. It was kinda freaky. But, I definitely acknowledged those words and tucked them into the back of my head and the center of my heart.

Wouldn't ya know that shortly after, some of those changes have started to take place? In the hours and days since the memorial service, I have had a number of very intense conversations with others who hold an important place in my life and in my heart. Some were hard to have, some incredibly uplifting, and others bringing me a peace that transcends all understanding.

I think there is a real possibility that I could have spent this week in an entirely different place, mentally and emotionally speaking, if that voice hadn't grabbed me on Monday. I could have dismissed it, ignored it, thought I was crazy from all of this snow, etc. etc. etc. But, I did hear it. I tucked that message away and even though I forgot about it for about 12 hours, it came back to me, loud and clear. And some of the people who helped me to retrieve that message are incredible women of God who encourage me, life me up, and kick me in the butt (sometimes all at the same time...now that is talent) to remember that God has an incredible plan for me. I know that. I believe it, but sometimes shadows and clouds tend to block out those rays of Truth for me.

There are a lot of things that go on and have happened in my life or to people that I care about that I just don't understand. Why do Godly people die too young? Why does my dog chew on shoes? Why are people that I went to high school with married, with kids, and some even divorced? Why do people think that mushrooms taste good? Why do small children get cancer? Why do people lie? I know that a lot of these questions may never be answered for me. What I do know that when God speaks, or maybe even answers me in a way that I might not understand at the exact moment I hear it, I want to be able to hear, receive and apply what He has said. So...he says that big changes are in coming. I say...bring it.