The best is yet to come is a phrase that commonly swirls around in my head as I face an exciting and unpredictible future. In a way, I love not knowing what’s going to happen, just believing God is going to take care of the details. He always does, and He is so much better at it than I am. Right now Clay and I are both in a similar situation. I have 4 weeks of classes left before I and D-O-N-E with college classes. Yay! We’ll both be out of school for the first time since we were five year olds! Then I get to quit my job to student teach in a Kindergarten class right up the road from our home. (It’s so close that I’m thinking about buying a bike to ride instead of driving. Until, of course, it reaches 120 degrees outside again. Then I will happily drive.)

I just can’t wait for that time! I get so excited about so many aspects of my future that I can hardly even focus. Excitement is good, but this is a problem. Not only do my papers not write themselves, but I start to lose sight of today. I’ll explain what I mean. I am a girl that sets a goal, works her tail off to reach it, gets there, and then says “Okay! what’s next?” Now there’s nothing wrong with working hard to acheive goals to accomplish some things in life. That’s not what I’m saying here. The problem lies in the fact that after I’ve run my crazy little i’m-an-overburdened-student marathon, I’m immediately in a hurry to rush off and do the next thing. Somewhere along the way it occurs to me, “Hey. What happened to last year anyway? Was I even there?” Wow. Why am I in such a hurry to blast through life? I really haven’t figured this out yet. BUT I do know one thing. I know what God says about running around like a crazy person in the name of planning out your life. In Matthew 6, he talks about how people worry about what clothes they’re going to wear, and what meals they’re going to eat the next day, week, year. They’re fussing and planning and going crazy trying to look out for themselves and accomplish some goals to take care of those needs. And what God says is simple:

“…your heavenly Father knows that you need them [talking about clothes, food and necessities on earth]. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

A lot of my “worry” about tomorrow is not worry at all, but excitement for dreams fulfilled and investments (of school) paying off. But I believe the same principle exists for me. I shouldn’t get lost in the thought and plans regarding my future to the extent that I lose sight of today. I love what Krystle wrote in her myspace blog about just being still…and knowing the He is God. Sitting and basking in His presence and goodness. I’m no good at that lately. That’s why I’m so glad that God uses people like my friend Krystle to remind me to chill out and JUST BE with God. I’m often so tired from writing papers and reading text books that the last thing I want to do is study the Bible. I’ve rushed through that too. The funny thing is, God’s often not as hard on me as I am on myself. He is overjoyed for me to even just sit and be quiet with Him. That’s what I did today after I got home from work. I just sat with God and then I sang to Him. Quietly. By myself. And I didn’t think about my schoolwork. And I didn’t think about tomorrow. I simply spent my right now with my Jesus. And it was amazing to just BE…with Him.

So November hasn’t been the greatest month. But I am so thankful that God has been there for me in more ways than one.  To start off, I became the only girl out of all my friends who doesn’t have a boyfriend. To clarify, I’m not listing this as a complaint, but to tell those who are reading that sometimes it is ok to not have what everyone else has.  Being single is not a curse, and it doesn’t mean that all my opportunities to find that special someone is lost.  What being the single girl in my group of friends has taught me is to rely and trust God even more.  I can’t tell you what a joy it is to know that at this point in my life, i can devote my attention to God, and what He has for me.  He can be the only one who satisfies me.  My hopes, my dreams, and my desires can rest in Him. How comforting that is to me.  I see being one of the few singles left as HUGE blessing; I know my time will come, I just need to be patient, and let God do His thing. 

Speaking of patience, I have definitely gained some more of that! Some stuff has happened at my work, which at first, really shook me.  Not only was my co-worker and friend attacked, but spiritually so was I.  I am pretty grounded in my faith, but the enemy kept trying to tear me down.  But i am a fighter; there is no way in heck that the enemy is going to make me lose my hope and faith in Christ.  For those of you reading this, if you are going through a hard time, don’t give up.  It is those times alone that we learn how to survive.  God never leaves, He doesn’t turn His back, we just need to get over ourselves sometimes, stop, and listen to what He is trying to tell us.  When we do that, God can give us strategies on how to fight, and get past what we are trying to overcome.  God is so good to us, and even though at times we may feel we are backed up against a wall by our problems, God always gives us a way out.  I have been reading Psalms 27 over and over again, and what really hits me are the first two lines David writes:  

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
       whom shall I fear? 
      

 The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
       of whom shall I be afraid?

  ² When evil men advance against me
       to devour my flesh

when my enemies and my foes attack me,
       they will stumble and fall.

So while November hasn’t been the best month for me, God has something bigger and better for me because I am a surviver. : )