I have lived in Lafayette for a year now. Weird. Time flies by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday I was saying "Goodbye" to my old home back in Kokomo. I didn't shed any tears over the house itself, but I knew that after we pulled out of the driveway, we would most likely never pull back into it again.
I have memories of early morning walks, long afternoons of raspberry picking, and intense flashlight tag parties. I can still remember the times when I would go out into the corn field and look up into the huge sky. I would stand out there all alone and sing at the top of my lungs.
Here in the city, walks aren't quite the same with all of the houses around. There are not any raspberry bushes to pick raspberries off of. We do not hold any more flashlight tag parties because we could disturb the neighbors, and I no longer am able to sing my heart out in a huge corn field.
I never thought that I would actually leave that old brick house in the country, but I did. God had something else in mind. This past year has been a crazy ride, but I would not trade it for anything.
Moving went smoothly (nothing too exciting there). The hard part was not the move itself, but not having friends close by to hang out with. It was weird not being able to pop over to Amber's house or spend some time with Christina on a free Saturday. Durning those times, I had the chance to rely upon the Lord and turn to Him as a best friend. The lesson that the Lord did and still has to continually pound through my head is TRUST. "Trust me, Grace, I know how to write your life story better than you do." Sure enough, He took care of me.
Dad and Mom decided to have me play in the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony for the experience and also to get to know some people. That is where I met my very first friend, Anna W. I remember telling people back in Kokomo all about her because I had finally met someone my age! In December, I met Acaimie, and Sam. That was kind of like a little sign from God telling me that there really were some strong Christian kids in Lafayette.
Then came Drama. I had no idea that when I stepped inside that building for try outs, my life would be changed. God really used the Drama troupe to tell me that He cared about me and had plans for me.
In December, I was really struggling with letting God take care of my "after high school" plans. I wanted to know what God's will was for my life. Again TRUSTING God was something that He wanted to teach me. I was not trusting the Lord with all of my heart, instead, I was leaning on my own understanding. I wanted to figure it all out right then and there. Finally I was able to let go, but even then, I had no idea about what I would do until several months later.
I still am not 100% sure about my goals and aspirations for future life, but the Lord has SLOWLY started to give me a new direction. It won't be a smooth ride, but it will be an exciting one because....God's writing my story! :)
Yesterday on my walk I asked God, "If I really believe that you are the huge God of all of the universe who sees the sparrow fall, why do I worry so much?" Matthew 6:33 comes to mind. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things..."
This past year has been interesting. I could go on and on about the things I have learned in one year...but I won't keep you reading any longer.
