All about the Twenties
For those of you who don't know me, I want to be upfront that this isn't the kind of blog that I expect people to read or even follow. I can't promise consistent postings, absolutely correct, eloquent wording, or even wise words. Let's just say it's an opportunity for me to document how God has been working in my life in the midst of the ordinary and the not so ordinary. But for those of you who want to at least read the first post, you might as well get to know me a little bit.
I am a twenty-two year old, who just graduated from college this past May. I am working as a nurse in a children's hospital downtown. I won't bore you yet with all those details, but one of these days, you'll get to hear all about those kiddos. I'm currently living in an apartment with some friends. My family lives nearby as well. There are 5 siblings, 8 nieces and nephews, and plenty of noise and excitement thrown into the mix. For anyone that knows me well, some of my absolute favorite things are rice (in all types and flavors), my teddy bear, my pink fluffy robe, my car named Kenny, finding deals of any kind, relaxing whenever possible, and telling short stories that take 5 million years to finish.
For someone in her twenties, it sounds like life is going pretty alright. Well honestly, it is compared to a lot of other people. Yet somehow in the midst of the drama of life, I tend to forget that. I've always heard that the twenties is the decade of dreams, and Lord knows I am a big dreamer. I'm a dreamer, and a slightly, or not so slightly, impulsive doer. I really feel I'm at my best when my head is in the clouds, and then I feel like I'm ready to take on the world. But that's not really setting me up for success. What does life really look like? I dream, I impulsively try to do, and then I tend to take it out on God when life doesn't go quite as I wanted. Praying leads to not getting the answers that I want in the timing that I want. I get frustrated and angry, and then feel bad about harboring those feelings towards God. I guess all that to say I've learned a few things about prayer. All prayers are heard, and I'm convinced that no prayer is wasted. I've realized that the more real I am with God, the more real He is to me. And you know what? Sometimes, I think my dreams and impulsiveness even lead to God's glory.
Story time: I guess this counts, because at the time I was twenty. Fresh off the first breakup I'd ever experienced, you could say I was a hot mess. After that I felt I didn't have any dreams. Guess what? God's little nudges afterwards were as close to head-in-the-clouds, out-of-nowhere dreams than I've ever had. I joined a small group at church. Let's just say I haven't had the best experience before that, so it was basically on a whim. A few months later, I felt I was supposed to go to the Passion Conference in Atlanta with my church. Honestly, I had no idea what this conference was, what happened there, didn't even have any friends to go with, and hadn't been on a church trip in years. I committed last minute and made up excuses to my family for why I was going, because I truly didn't know why. And crazy enough, God just showed up to me there in the most real way I've ever experienced. I've been a Christian for basically my entire life, and it was there that I truly experienced first hand the power of the cross in my own life. Returning from the trip, I was on a spiritual high that I wasn't really sure how it was going to sustain itself. Not one month later, God put another idea in my head: One Thousand Gifts. My small group members had done this study on Ann Voskamp's book the prior year and tried to write out 1,000 things that they were grateful for. Most hadn't been successful, and many even groaned at the thought of trying to do them. However, me and my love for crazy, random notions was right there combined with doing. I wanted to try it and I called my friend out of the blue that night to convince her to do it with me. Funny how God works. My friend replied that she actually had started the book that summer, but hadn't finished it. She had been home at her parent's house for the prior weekend, and before she drove the hour and a half back to her college house, she grabbed the book on the "off chance" she might have time to read it. Somehow that phone call turned into a group of 7 friends having a Bible study for the next year and a half. My friend and I both made it well over 1,000 gifts. I actually have a pink journal filled with 5,000 of them.
What a start to my twenties, to the decade of dreams. So here I am, looking to document God's little nudges, and the way that small, out-of-nowhere ideas can turn into something pretty crazy. Maybe another reason for writing is something I just read out of Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place. Don't misjudge me, I have been far from an avid reader lately, but this book was something different. Perhaps another day we can get into the lessons learned from it more, but one thing in particular stood out to me. As Corrie's sister Betsie lay dying she whispered, "...must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here" (p. 227). No, I have absolutely never been anywhere like in their situation. And yes, people listen to them, because they have been there and lived through the utter horrors of World War II and the concentration camps. Yet, they lived 50 years of rather ordinary lives beforehand, being prepared for the not so ordinary part. This allowed them to be the people who have "been here" and witness to thousands. I believe they witnessed in the setting they were given just as effectively in the first 50 years as later on. So I guess I've also started this blog on a whim, because people must know. People must know what extraordinary things God has done in this ordinary life of mine. So here's to the decade of dreams turning into a lifetime and beyond of bringing God glory.
I am a twenty-two year old, who just graduated from college this past May. I am working as a nurse in a children's hospital downtown. I won't bore you yet with all those details, but one of these days, you'll get to hear all about those kiddos. I'm currently living in an apartment with some friends. My family lives nearby as well. There are 5 siblings, 8 nieces and nephews, and plenty of noise and excitement thrown into the mix. For anyone that knows me well, some of my absolute favorite things are rice (in all types and flavors), my teddy bear, my pink fluffy robe, my car named Kenny, finding deals of any kind, relaxing whenever possible, and telling short stories that take 5 million years to finish.
For someone in her twenties, it sounds like life is going pretty alright. Well honestly, it is compared to a lot of other people. Yet somehow in the midst of the drama of life, I tend to forget that. I've always heard that the twenties is the decade of dreams, and Lord knows I am a big dreamer. I'm a dreamer, and a slightly, or not so slightly, impulsive doer. I really feel I'm at my best when my head is in the clouds, and then I feel like I'm ready to take on the world. But that's not really setting me up for success. What does life really look like? I dream, I impulsively try to do, and then I tend to take it out on God when life doesn't go quite as I wanted. Praying leads to not getting the answers that I want in the timing that I want. I get frustrated and angry, and then feel bad about harboring those feelings towards God. I guess all that to say I've learned a few things about prayer. All prayers are heard, and I'm convinced that no prayer is wasted. I've realized that the more real I am with God, the more real He is to me. And you know what? Sometimes, I think my dreams and impulsiveness even lead to God's glory.
Story time: I guess this counts, because at the time I was twenty. Fresh off the first breakup I'd ever experienced, you could say I was a hot mess. After that I felt I didn't have any dreams. Guess what? God's little nudges afterwards were as close to head-in-the-clouds, out-of-nowhere dreams than I've ever had. I joined a small group at church. Let's just say I haven't had the best experience before that, so it was basically on a whim. A few months later, I felt I was supposed to go to the Passion Conference in Atlanta with my church. Honestly, I had no idea what this conference was, what happened there, didn't even have any friends to go with, and hadn't been on a church trip in years. I committed last minute and made up excuses to my family for why I was going, because I truly didn't know why. And crazy enough, God just showed up to me there in the most real way I've ever experienced. I've been a Christian for basically my entire life, and it was there that I truly experienced first hand the power of the cross in my own life. Returning from the trip, I was on a spiritual high that I wasn't really sure how it was going to sustain itself. Not one month later, God put another idea in my head: One Thousand Gifts. My small group members had done this study on Ann Voskamp's book the prior year and tried to write out 1,000 things that they were grateful for. Most hadn't been successful, and many even groaned at the thought of trying to do them. However, me and my love for crazy, random notions was right there combined with doing. I wanted to try it and I called my friend out of the blue that night to convince her to do it with me. Funny how God works. My friend replied that she actually had started the book that summer, but hadn't finished it. She had been home at her parent's house for the prior weekend, and before she drove the hour and a half back to her college house, she grabbed the book on the "off chance" she might have time to read it. Somehow that phone call turned into a group of 7 friends having a Bible study for the next year and a half. My friend and I both made it well over 1,000 gifts. I actually have a pink journal filled with 5,000 of them.
What a start to my twenties, to the decade of dreams. So here I am, looking to document God's little nudges, and the way that small, out-of-nowhere ideas can turn into something pretty crazy. Maybe another reason for writing is something I just read out of Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place. Don't misjudge me, I have been far from an avid reader lately, but this book was something different. Perhaps another day we can get into the lessons learned from it more, but one thing in particular stood out to me. As Corrie's sister Betsie lay dying she whispered, "...must tell people what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He [God] is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here" (p. 227). No, I have absolutely never been anywhere like in their situation. And yes, people listen to them, because they have been there and lived through the utter horrors of World War II and the concentration camps. Yet, they lived 50 years of rather ordinary lives beforehand, being prepared for the not so ordinary part. This allowed them to be the people who have "been here" and witness to thousands. I believe they witnessed in the setting they were given just as effectively in the first 50 years as later on. So I guess I've also started this blog on a whim, because people must know. People must know what extraordinary things God has done in this ordinary life of mine. So here's to the decade of dreams turning into a lifetime and beyond of bringing God glory.
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