Update- With a Promise

A lot has been going on in my life.

Here are a few things that have happened:

• I completed my final Fall semester of my undergrad.
• My grandmother passed away.
• My fiancé and I got on our own cell phone plan.
• I fell in Love with my Blackberry!!
• My grandfather came to Indiana from Colorado to spend Christmas with my family.
• I spent my last Christmas as a single lady- and as a Matthews.
• I re-established a fantastic friendship with an old highschool friend.
• I started my last semester of my undergrad.
• I learned how to Knit.
• I have been continuously planning my June wedding.

As my last semester has started, I have decided to do a few things. One of those is (actually) keep up with my blog writings.  I hope to keep everyone updated on the wedding. So, if you have any questions about plans please just ask. I will be happy to give details.

Wedding details are soon to come….

Busy.

So. Its been a while. A long while.

Let me tell you a little about what has been going on in my life.

This summer I took a total of 15 credit hours with my school. I took two classes in May, and then took a month long trip to Santiago, Chile (and took two Spanish classes while I was there). When I got home in July I went directly to a youth camp to be a group leader/councilor. After that week long adventure I worked on planning my wedding.

Since then, I have been fully immersed in classes and my internship.  I am currently taking 18 credit hours, working and singing in the church choir. But those are just the basics… I am also (still) planning a wedding and taking part in PRSSA (a student organization for PR students). So when I am done with all of that, I do homework for all my classes and try to hang out with my roommates if possible.

As you can see, I am very busy. But the funny thing (that I am just now learning) is… we are all that busy. Isnt it crazy that life seems to keep us all so occupied that we dont even have time to spend with one another?

God has really been teaching me the importance of making time for one another, and for Him. I have to be honest. I do not make the time I should. I struggle to make time to hold a full conversation with my future husband… let alone with my Maker. But that is what relationships are about, right? Keeping in touch no matter the circumstances.

I am challenged by the patient’s God has for me. He waits for me every day while I go about my business. The great thing about it is… He knows how to keep in touch. He reminds me when I am getting to busy. He places so much peace in my life that it brings me to my knees and reminds me that He is still in control.

I am making time to meet with my Peace Maker. No if’s, and’s or but’s. No excuses.

Trust

Sometimes it takes patience to trust.

I’m not going to lie. I have a hard time with this little thing called trust.

The Lord is really showing me that I need to learn to trust in Him, and with that comes patience.

He does things on His own time, not mine.

Even when I beg and plead for Him to do it when I want Him to, He does it when He wants.

I feel like this is a lesson everyone knows by heart, but to actually be experiencing it seems a little odd to me.

“So never worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

I was reading in Matthew and fell upon this scripure.  To be honset- I wanted to laugh.  I thought “Lord, I am not worried about tomorrow. I am worried about today. Right now.”

Then I remembered that I- a wee girl- need to rely on God to take care of even today.Right now.

Seems so simple, right?

———-

Last night I was dealing with some issues. After getting off the phone with a friend, I sat down to cry. When I realized the defeat I felt I grabbed my Bible. I flipped it open to none other than the book of Joushua. What story you ask? I tell you… it was the battle of Jericho.

After reading threw the story (that I have heard and read hundreds of times since I was like 3) I thought about how they must have felt.  I can only imagine what the people thought when Joshua told them they were going to walk around this wall once every day without saying a word.  Then, on the last day they were going to walk around it seven times, again without speaking, and then when they were done they would all shout… and miraculously the walls would come down……..

I can see myself walking around the walls trying not to complain about the heat and how stupid it seemed.  I can hear myself saying, “Joshua, those walls arent going to come down. This is dumb. My feet hurt, lets go home.”

Honestly, I kind of feel like I am walking around the walls right now. I am trying not to complain and tell Jesus how stupid this all seems. I feel like asking “cant the walls come down now?” (Thats probably why I should be silent, lol)

———-

I am seeing that the Lord hears my prayers. He knows that I want the walls to come down now.

He is showing me that His timing is perfect. I need to trust Him, and have patience while He works it all out.

Acquiring A Taste.

Patience.

I hate that stupid word and all it stands for.

I have always heard people say things like “Don’t pray for patience” or “God’ll give you what you ask for, and you dont want to go through what it takes to have patience”

Well. I did NOT ask for patience. I am fine the way I am. I don’t want patience.

God has a sense of humor, though and He knew I would never ask for patience. He knows me well enough to know that He has to just force feed it to me at first.

I am learning that sometimes I have to acquire a taste for the things God feeds me.

I am learning this thing called patience.

I am getting used to patience.

The funny thing about this picture is… I think we as humans are the rodent, and God is the dog patiently waiting on us. We are the ones snooping around in His stuff.

I may not always like what God gives me, but I learn to acquire my tastes to His.

Isn’t God So Cool?

This week the Lord reminded me that even in the midst of all the things going on in my life, he is still here with me.  I am important enough to Him, that even when I get to busy He will still be right next to me.

At our school we have a week dedicated to the Lord, every night there is a convocation service.  I didnt have to go to the first or third night, for seperate reasons.  The second night, however; was AMAZING. To be honest I went into the service thinking “I am so tired of Church. Where are you God?” That night God answer that question.

The speaker had somewhat of an alter call… not for salvation neccesarily, more for people who heard from the Lord.  When I went down there the Lord did so much in my heart. I forgave someone, I cut ties with someone (an ex) but the next part is the coolest. Let me explain first…

About a year ago the Lord gave me a vision, one for my future.  I had told no one about this vision when I got a prophecy totally confirming the vision.

A lot has happened between now and then, and I somewhat felt like maybe it was false.  So that night of convocation I prayed asking the Lord if it was still true. He said I needed to remember “whatever your future may hold, you will trust me.”  So my prayer since last Tuesday night has been “Lord, whatever my future may hold, I will trust you.”

Last night God rocked my socks.  Not only did he confirm the vision I had a year ago, he expanded it.

God is so amazing. I told Him on Tuesday that no matter what I would trust Him. Becuase I was obedient He reaveled more to me. I really believe that because I gave Him my trust, he allowed me know more.

Isn’t God so cool?

Now we just have to see what else the Lord is going to do.

Identity.

Proverbs 22:1 says “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.”

God has been trying to tell me something. He is teaching me my real identity. I thought I had this down pat, but he reminds me there is room to grow.

We can claim many things as ours, but how many of them are actually worth anything?

Identity. Who am I?

The one thing that is supposed to identify us is our names.  In Bible times your name told someone everything about your character. I don’t think things are all that different now. My name may not tell you anything about me, but it certainly told me a lot about myself. The meaning of my name is exactly who I am.

My name is Andi, short for Andrea. Andrea is the feminine version of Andrew. Andrew means manly or virile. But directly translated from the Greek it means much more.  It can actually mean “warrior, strong or courageous.” I would like to think I am a pretty courageous person. I don’t think our names are a mistake. I think it is something God has given us, to identify ourselves with.

My name is worth something. They dont talk about identity theft for nothing. Someone may want your name.

Reputation is so big in our world today. Why is that? Because, a good name is worth more than gold.

I want my name to mean something and to hold worth. When people hear about Andi, I want them to think good thoughts. I want people to name their kids after me because my name means something to them.  I may not own many things that are worth a lot, but I do have my name and that is greater than any riches you could give me.

Still Dealing.

Death.

Something Im not sure I understand. It hurts everyone it touches. The hurt can last a lifetime.

I just dont understand.

Tim and Cory.

I guess I am still learning to deal with the loss. It didnt even effect me as much as it did others.

People like his Mom and Dad.

It breaks my heart.

Truly Blessed

When I get tired of being at school and working really hard, God always has a way of reminding me how bless I really am to be here.

My schedule this semester is so jam packed, I barely have time to talk with my fiance. I am already complaining about wanting to be done. Today I was complaining to God, and he reminded me of how blessed I truly am.

There are people in Africa who are fighting to stay alive. They dont even have the opportunity to be taught to read. I have the opportunity to graduate from college.

How fortunate are we, and sometimes we dont even appreciate it.

I hear so many different arguments about who should have gotten into office. My point. It doesnt matter any more. President Obama is our president now. Nothing can change that.

Besides the fact that we cant do anything about it, why arent we looking at what we can do. We still live in a home with a roof over our heads. Why arent we fighting for the people who cant even claim their own freedom? The children who are being forced into slavery? Why arent we trying to save them?

We have so much to be thankful for. And yet, we still complain about our coffee not being made just right. Or we complain about out bottled water not tasting just right.

First Post.

I dont want this to be all about me. I want this blog to be an opportunity for the Lord to speak through me and to use me.  Also I want this blog to help me grow in more than one area.  I have been reading other peoples blogs for a long time and I have learned so much from those people.  I hope that this can be something of that nature for those who read.  I hope that most of my blogs wont be as borning as this one.  I just want people to know that my heart is in it here.  I dont want to be just another blog about someones problems.

I do lead a crazy life, however; and I want to share it with you.  I am involved in many things, so many I am not sure I actually have time for this thing.  So, just to introduce you to my crazy life I will tell you a little about what has been happening to me the past few weeks.

-Coming back to school a week early was interesting, I had to embarrass myself have the time of my life introducing myself to new and old RA’s. (An RA is a Resident Assistant. I live in the dorm with the “residents” and do administrative things, like room check and assist the Resident Director) SO my first week as an RA has been interesting, with the girls who had no hot water… and the girls who broke a glass vase in their room…. but with that said it really has been a God given thing.

-On top of being an RA, I am a full time student at a University in TN. I am a Public Relations major, and I am taking three writing classes!! One of which is for the school news paper… that is going to be interesting.  IF I get anything published in it, I may attach it on here… we will see though.

Anyways, WELCOME to my crazy life…

Its All Part Of The Journey.