What is your story??

Back east. The air is thicker which is strangely weird but my brother came home the other night from college and now the Lopat 6 is now complete!! (yes cheesy name) It has been so great to be home. I really missed everyone. The first day I was home I was all alone cause everyone was working or at school and I naively told my mom later that I was bored and now I have lists of things to do :) Oh the joys of family (I do love her!)
Before I came back east I finished a Bible study I was a part of. One of my bosses at camp and his wife and I were going through Storyline by Donald Miller. If you ever get the chance I HIGHLY recommend it. One of my good friends loves Donald Miller. I must say you will not be disappointed, convicted, but not disappointed.
You start off looking back at your life and all the positive and negative life turns that have shaped you. I would give a synopsis of the study and what we did but I think you should do it yourself and learn. But I took some notes on the end I can share :)
Every life is made up of stories. Many many stories. They are meant to be lived out with passion! Ever have a project that you are working on where you are just so excited to do it and see the finished result. When you finally finish you hold it up and just are so happy that you finished. I find it so much easier to do things if I want to. Well, of course that makes sense but what if you lived life like that? Like you just loved the story you were creating. That's what Donald Miller's goal is throughout the study. He wants you to realize how to live your stories with passion and heart in order to change live. (No pressure right?!?)
All great stories must come to an end though. I find that ending things is sometimes hard. Especially when it is a great story. Miller says that although stories must end we need to celebrate those endings. Like we celebrate graduations, new years, bachelor things as an end to singleness, and many others. But do we realize we need to celebrate the hard things to?? Like the end of a relationship, or a loved one dying. We need to celebrate the time we had with them and what we learned from certain hard situations. After celebrating comes the time to grieve and say goodbye to that story. After the grieving time is moving on. Being able to let go of that story and start planning the next one.
I am in the process of letting go of a story that needs to be let go of. It is hard but in order to start my next one with full passion and heart, I need to.
Christmas eve is kinda like my new years...a bit. My siblings and I started a tradition where we sleep under the Christmas tree. Now it has been just me the past few years but I have loved just sitting down here with my Bible and journal. Just reflecting on the year and talking to God. My next story with Axis begins really soon and I am super excited for it! But going along with the theme of my life, God has just continually just been teaching me to trust Him and learn to walk on water. That includes saying goodbye to past stories.
So as you have your own traditions for Christmas with family and friends, don't forget the reason for the season. :) Corny, yes, but also true. Begin your next story with gusto! And remember God is right there with you, along for the journey.
I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas as I sit and watch the snow fall (white Christmas!!!!) and a Happy new year! (that is if I don't get another post in before that)
Goodnight!

I'll be home for Christmas

I will be home tomorrow! Eeeeeek! I am getting really excited to see my family. It's been a rough month or so and I am really exited to be home and spend time with them. I woke up to a text from my dad yesterday morning saying "two more days! two more days!" So I think they are excited to see me :)
I can't wait to see all the Christmas decorations and the lights.
One of the best traditions that my family does is one night we all pile into our car with pj's on with hot chocolate and candy canes turn on the Christmas music and drive around and look at the decorations and lights that people put up outside. We like to judge and see which ones we like the best. My dad's side of the family always has a huge get together on Christmas Eve. It is such a blast to see everyone and hang out. We have a gift exchange that is called white elephant where you find stuff around the house and wrap it up. So we have had the most random gifts. We had a loaf of bread, fish eggs and a pig cookie jar that made noises going around for a few years! We usually have the Christmas eve part at our house and my uncles LOVE to leave their white elephant gifts hidden around our house. This year my uncle is having it at his house so revenge is ours!!! haha It will be a good time.
When my best friend from home found out when I was coming home she messaged our group of friends with an itinerary of everything we could do and a calendar of when we could do them. Gotta love her. :)
But in the midst of ending my job at camp today, packing up, flying home, and getting gifts for people it's a good time to sit back and remember who to spend time with around Christmas. I miss my friends but I cannot wait to spend time with my family making cookies and watching a Charlie Brown Christmas or listening to my dad sing "There's always Tomorrow" from Rudolph in a high falsetto and counting down the days and hours until Christmas. So friends, in your travels home, be safe and have a blessed time with the people you love most :)

Who do you turn to?

There has been so much going on lately. Between work, trying to see friends, babysitting and getting ready for my new job in January I find it hard to take a chance and just relax and have a moment of peace. I have tried to take my time and do my devotions every morning and spend time in the Word every day. Something I have been learning lately is that God wants us to come to Him with everything. The hurts and the heartaches. The joys and the victories too. Everything.
In church this Sunday the topic came up again. We talked about how Christ became flesh to dwell with us. He came down as a baby. He could have been sent at age 30 to start his ministry in a bolt of lightning or some big dramatic way. But to think about that who would want to approach a Messiah like that? I would be intimidated. By coming as a baby, he was humble and vulnerable. He went through puberty. He lived with a family and dealt with temptation. He was human like us.
Our pastor wrote something down that I really liked too. He said, "God coming to His creation as a created person in undeniable proof that God will do anything to have a relationship with us." Isn't that so cool! Yes, I have friends and family who are there for me and to listen. Heartaches hurt and I have most likely talked their ears off lately but God will never ever turn from us when we are hurting. Cause He wants us to go to Him no matter what. He wants to rejoice in our victories with us. (for me that is doing a happy dance) and cry and hold us when we are broken.
So think...who is that one person who is always there for you to be vulnerable and bear your heart to? Why? What makes them approachable?
Just think, God is just like that...even more. So trust Him with your feelings because He is always there to listen.