Reminders

It's so considerate of God to remind me on an almost daily basis why it's been the right choice to believe in him. Something seems to happen everyday in my life that just makes me feel so much more loved in general than I've ever felt. For instance, yesterday when I got to church I just wasn't with it. My attitude was poor, for whatever reason, and I tried to hide it but couldn't. In past group situations, nobody would have even thought twice about it or even noticed, but yesterday I had two people approach me with a concerned look in their eyes, asking me if I was okay. I really had no explanation for it, but I knew I just needed a little God in my heart. It was incredible how I literally felt a difference in my face and body after service was over. During worship I kept my eyes closed the entire time and just let God's presence pour into my heart. By the end of service... I just can't describe it. I made sure to go up to Mike (one of the ones who approached me earlier) and showed him my difference. Eric asked me, "Coffee finally kick in?" And I said, "Nope, I just got a little God." It was great.

Today something happened to me that wasn't exactly the greatest situation, but later in the day the situation came back into my mind and God expressed to me how proud he was of my attitude in the situation. We had a blood drive at work this morning and I always kind of psych myself out a little about it. I've done it three times now and know exactly what to expect. Well, we got me all sat down, arm marked, iodine swabbed, totally ready to go. I close my eyes and feel the poke but it's a way more intense poke than I had remembered. At first I just thought I was being dramatic, but it turned out that they hadn't gotten in the vein; instead they hit a nerve! It was painful and the area bruised almost immediately. She yanked the needle out of my arm and then had the nerve to ask me, "Wanna try the other arm?" For a second, I was thinking is she CRAZY?! But after that, something told me to go for it. I was here to do a good thing, and just because it didn't go exactly right didn't mean I needed to storm out of the bus and be angry at these people. So, I scooted over to the other side and plopped my other arm down. It went fine and even though I had two colorful armbands for a while, I still felt good.

I feel that this situation happened to me today to remind me of a lesson that has plagued me for almost my whole life. Just because something is hard doesn't mean it's time to give up. I still catch myself wanting to give up when things are hard. Usually I've been lucky and had someone to hand the task over to, but today it was just me. It was all up to me to take it or leave it, and I'm so proud that I just went for it. I was wounded in battle, but went right back into the fight. I know life isn't going to be easy. It's definitely going to be challenging and test my every ounce of strength, but I won't give up. Today was big reminder of that for me, and I'm glad that God showed me this lesson today. I feel priveleged.