The Future

Something that's really been on my mind a lot lately is my future. At one time or another, we all think about our futures; what we're going to be when we grow up, who our best friends will be in 10 years, who we'll marry, etc. Well for me, what's really been on my mind is what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life after high school. I'm already halfway done with high school, and it totally freaks me out! I remember when I was younger I would think to myself "Oh, I have a long time to think about what I want to do with my life." but now, that's not exactly the case. A lot of people have been asking me what I want to do with the rest of my life, where I want to go to college, what I want to major in, or all of the above. I'm going to be completely honest with you, I have absolutely no idea what I want to do. I mean, yes I have some ideas in my head of what I MIGHT want to do, but I really don't have a clue, and that really freaks me out because a lot of my friends have been looking at colleges, and even going on college tours, and I've done no preparation at all. I know that sounds super bad since I'm getting older and all, but I've really just been trying to focus on doing well in high school so that I can get into a good college. Even though I'm cyberschooled, it. is. tough. But I think that having good grades and learning and doing my best is important right? :)

I'm getting side-tracked. Sorry :P As I was saying, thinking about my future has been totally scaring the living daylights out of me. (Don't make fun of my old fashioned phrases. Please and thank you.) I feel like time has been flying by and I can't believe how fast I'm growing up. This week I got my driver's license (WOOT WOOT! :D), and I remember when I was little I always dreamed of being able to drive, and now I am finally able to do that. That's so crazy. And my 17th birthday is tomorrow! Man, I feel really really old. :P Even though time seems to be flying by me and I'm getting older, I need to remember that God has everything in His hands. He knows exactly what I'm going to be doing after high school and for the rest of my life. He has it all under control! Instead of getting myself all stressed out and worried about what I'm going to be doing with my life in a year and a half, I need to trust God and in what He wants me to do. When I feel apprehensive about the future, God is there to calm my fears and give me the peace and the strength that I need to keep on going and not give up.

I know that this is all scattered and all over the place, but I just want to encourage you guys that if you don't know exactly what you're doing with the rest of your life, that's okay! It's not the end of the world. Just ask God to guide you and to show you the amazing plan that He has for your life. :)

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and to not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." ~Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message)

I know that these are the same verse in different translations, but I love Jeremiah 29:11, and it's so encouraging to me. I also like how The Message version puts it. God is going to take care of us. He's not going to abandon us, He's going to be right there with us every step of this journey that we call life. If you feel stressed about the future or what's going to happen next in your life, read Jeremiah 29:11 and remember that God has it all in His hands. :)

Let's give blogging a try!

Hey guys! So, lately I've noticed that a lot of my friends have started writing blogs or they've had blogs, and I would think to myself, "hey! that looks like fun! maybe I should try it!" or "I really like reading their blogs, I wish I could do that." but I always thought that I never would have anything good to say or that no one would care about what I had to say. Well, I've decided that maybe I should give this whole blogging thing a try! 

How did this idea strike my interest? Well I'll explain. (:

For the past week or so, I've felt a huge tug on my heart (one of those tugs that you know is God telling you to do something, but you aren't sure it's really Him). I feel like God is telling me that I need to get out of my comfort zone and do something for Him. Yes, I've been out of my comfort zone going on a missions trip, but the type of comfort zone I'm talking about is a little different. The comfort zone I'm talking about is expressing my feelings and giving my own personal insight or advice to people. You may read this and think "WHAT is this girl talking about? How is that getting out of your comfort zone?" Well you see, I have a hard time expressing my feelings and talking to people. For those of you who know me, you would disagree because I don't act that way at all. I'm a very friendly, loud, and sometimes obnoxious person and I say what I think all the time, but when it comes to expressing my true feelings deep inside of me, I'm a completely different person. A lot of people don't know this about me, but I have a very difficult time expressing my true feelings and talking about my struggles, problems, etc. with other people. I always hide away my feelings and push them aside because I don't want to talk about them because either I feel like they're stupid and unimportant, or I feel like no one is really willing to listen or care. I've really been feeling God tell me that I need to get out of this box that I've kept myself in, and that I need to listen to Him. Instead of always holding in my emotions and feelings and thoughts, He wants me to share them with others. Even though I am terrified of this idea, I want to follow God with all my heart, which means listening to what He's calling me to do, no matter how difficult or scary it might be.

God has also been giving me this passion  to reach out to other people who are hurting. I want to be a light to those people and show them the love of God and how there is hope in Him. And I also know for my sake, that I need to let out my feelings so I don't explode, so why not do this through a blog for others to read! Maybe there are other people out there who feel the same way as I do and maybe I could somehow help them. :)

Basically to sum this all up, I want to be a light for God, and I feel like He is calling me to do so through this blog. I don't exactly know what I'm going to write about for each post, I'm just going to write whatever God places on my heart and what I feel He wants me to write.

I hope you guys enjoyed my first post and I didn't waste your time! Be on the lookout for more. :)