lessons of the summer (part 1)

i've come a little past the middle of the summer.


and i thought i would be a lot stronger than i was when the summer started.


but in actuality, it's as if this point in summer is just as hard, if not harder, than the beginning of the summer was.


the waiting has been long. it feels like even though 6 weeks have passed (and there are only 3 weeks until the moment i'm counting down to and 5 weeks until the other moment), that the waiting is just as hard and seems just as long. it's hard to look back and see the victories and lessons God has taught me so far. it's hard to keep moving forward with an eager heart to learn more lessons from God. i think i've been stuck in a bit of a stagnant pool. (that's one of the grossest mental images i can think of).


but it's time to move forward! what lessons has God taught me this summer? in each of these areas, i can still continue to grow, and I want to still grow.

• Priorities. Am I putting the good in place of the best? Is Jesus my #1 priority in life? How am I exhibiting that in the way I live? Am I showing that I treasure Him above all else?
• One day I read Psalm 27, and verse 4 stood out so clearly.  The Lord is all that matters.  Even if I had nothing else in life but the Lord, I would be satisfied, fulfilled, whole.  How i want to long for the Lord above all else!  If I chose a life verse, it would be this verse:

          One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.

• Isaiah 46:9-10 holds many reasons why I want to know the Lord. There is no one who is His equal. He knows all that will happen and has happened. His purpose will prevail. How I want my heart to be in tune with His!

       "...For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.'" Isaiah 46:9-10

• Loving others. God has put it on my heart so much that I need to love people the way that He loves them.  There needs to be genuine, Christ-like love exhibited in my actions.  I've realized that the way I want to love people is not necessarily the way that makes them feel loved and is essentially not loving them.  As various opportunities have come up for me to love people, God has graciously put it on my heart so that I consciously think, 'This is an opportunity to love,' and hopefully, by God's grace, I act on that!

• Trusting God.  God is sovereign and He is good.  That is the comforting answer to the bewilderment of life and the situations I don't understand. It should be easier for my heart to accept that foundational truth.  I've seen sad and tough patient situations that are hard to surrender to God's perfect will, but I must do that.  There are some things I'm not going to understand this side of heaven, but I can pray.  And I can love those families like crazy during the 12 hour period I have with them.

There are many more lessons, but maybe I'll do this in chunks.

Okay, that was chunk #1. :)

Please keep teaching me more, Jesus!  I want to learn from You!