Birthday wishes

This past Monday some of my good friends took me out for a delicious Mexican meal.  I know it sounds strange to eat Mexican food in Austria, but it is my favorite and I had such a craving for some good fajitas!

One thing that the Lord has provided for whilst here are very close friends.  Before coming here I did not know what to expect for friends or what the people would be like.  I am constantly surprised daily by how the Lord continues to provide.  Being away from family has made me realize how important relationships are and how deep they can truly go.  I have learned so much from the people that I work with and will always cherish them.  They have become my family and I am so thankful for them.

Girls at Prom

It has become quite a tradition here to ask "birthday questions" of the birthday girl or boy.  They can be anything under the sun.  On Monday night a dear friend asked me, "If you could freeze any moment in time this past year and remember how you felt in that given moment and never forget it, what would it be?"  It did not take me too long to think of this answer.  There was a moment over Christmas break where the Lord taught me some very precious lessons about forgiveness, love and grace.  I had felt like my eyes had been opened (for lack of a better phrase) to the sin in my life and I finally understood what Christ had done for me on the cross.   I almost felt like I had become a Christian again and that my chains had fallen off.  I was able to forgive people that I had not forgiven, love deeper and have a somewhat better understanding of what grace truly means.  I do not want to waste any more emotion on bitterness, anger or "what might have been".

My goal for this next year in my life is to pursue freedom in Christ and live as such.

Isaiah 40:21-31

Do you not know?

    Have you not heard? 

Has it not been told you from the beginning? 

    Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 

 

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,

    and its people are like grasshoppers. 

He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, 

    and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 

 

He brings princes to naught

    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 

 

No sooner are they planted,

    no sooner are they sown,

    no sooner do they take root in the ground,

than he blows on them and they wither, 

    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

“To whom will you compare me? 

    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 

 

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: 

    Who created all these?

He who brings out the starry host one by one

    and calls forth each of them by name.

Because of his great power and mighty strength, 

    not one of them is missing.

Why do you complain, Jacob?

    Why do you say, Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord;

    my cause is disregarded by my God”? 

 

Do you not know?

    Have you not heard? 

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

He will not grow tired or weary, 

    and his understanding no one can fathom. 

 

He gives strength to the weary 

    and increases the power of the weak.

 

Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall; 

 

but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles; 

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.