"I am calling you to a life of thankfulness. I want all your moments to be punctuated with thanksgiving. The basis for your gratitude is My sovereignty. I am the Creator and Controller of the universe. Heaven and earth are filled with My glorious Presence. When you criticize or complain, you are acting as if you think you could run the world better than I do. From your limited human perspective, it may look as if I'm mismanaging things. But you don't know what I know or see what I see. If I pulled back the curtain to allow you to view heavenly realms, you would understand much more. However I have designed you to live by faith, not by sight. I lovingly shield you from knowing the future or seeing into the spirit world. Acknowledge My sovereignty by giving thanks in all circumstances."
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." [Isaiah 6:3]
"We live by faith, not by sight." [2 Corinthians 5:7]
"Give thanks in all circumstances; fo rthis is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." [1 Thessalonians 5:18]
Good stuff right there, huh? Hopefully you enjoyed it just as much as I did. Onto my 5 things I'm thankful for this week...
[5] Saturday at the Railroad Park.
Leah and I had been planning all week to lay out on Saturday, but plans quickly changed when we woke up and felt that it was not warm enough by any means to do so. It was still an unbelievably beautiful day in Birmingham, the wind was just a little stronger than usual. We did not want to spend the day inside so we decided on the happy medium of going to the park. Kendall decided to join us on our adventure to the new hot spot- the Railroad Park. The three of us laid our blankets down and enjoyed the sunshine and awesome conversations. The day was completely unexpected, but exactly what we all needed. I am so thankful I got to spend time with these two beautiful girls on such a pretty day.
[Leah and Kendall]
[The Railroad Park in downtown Birmingham]
[Self timer. Classic.]
[4] Morgan Elisabeth Read.
On Tuesday I was lucky enough to spend around four hours at Mug Shots with Morgan. Goodness gracious, talk a about a good day! Morgan was one of the first people I met when I came to Samford. I met her on the first day of orientation two years ago and even though she wasn't my specific orientation leader, I clung to her. I have loved getting to know Morgan's heart over the past two years. She is one of the most incredible people I have ever met in my whole entire life. My favorite thing about Morgan is that she takes the verse John 13:34 to a whole new level. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Morgan LOVES and that's how you know she is a follower of Jesus. She is abundantly obedient to the Lord's command for us. Each second I spend with Morgan I am continually encouraged by her love for Jesus and her love for others.
[above: morgan and i at semi formal. spring 2011. below: taylor, kam, me, morg, & jac at orientation 2009.]
[3] Lakeview Academy Family.
The past couple of weeks have been crazy weeks for my high school. Just so you can be prayerful of these situations, I will share them. About two weeks ago a guy that graduated from LVA in 2008, Benton Acker, got in a bad car accident in downtown Atlanta. Thankfully, he is okay, but is still recovering at Sheppard. Just a few days after that happened, a guy in my class, Jeremy Thompson, was in a freak accident and was life-flighted to Grady in Atlanta and is still there in ICU. Lastly, one of Haughton and Rand's teammates dad passed away the other day. Please please please pray for all of them and their families. With all of that being said, when all of this happened everyone from Lakeview acted fast with prayers and support. Yes, I constantly made fun of my tiny, private school when I was there, but now that I am out I could not be more appreciative. It's been really cool to see how everyone from Lakeview has been so supportive to these three families even though most of them left the Lakeview family years ago. It's kind of silly, but I love my Lakeview family.
[above: haughton and i graduating after 13 years at LVA. below: class of 09. all 33 people.]
[2] Bernie Ankney.
Is it weird that I'm blogging about one of my journalism professors? Maybe a little bit, but it's for a legitimate reason. If any of you JMC majors are reading this, you understand why. Bernie Ankney is the absolute best professor I have had in my entire life and will probably hold that title until the day I die. Truly. Bernie is honest. If you wrote a bad paper, he'll tell you. If you wrote a good paper, he'll tell you. Bernie makes class interesting and only teaches us information that is applicable to life and the real world. He doesn't even know what busy work is. So yeah, he's got all of the awesome qualities of your typical good teacher, but he doesn't stop there. Bernie CARES. He cares about your career, your grades, your health, your family, your confidence, your social life...everything. I was even more thankful for Dr. Ankney this week than normal. Why? Because he gave me a 96 on my paper. Yes. A 96. I haven't gotten one of those since middle school. To top it off, he wrote the most encouraging notes beside the grade. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but toot toot! This is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. Don't get used to it, Mom & Dad.
[above: #1 teacher. below: my paper. i wasn't lying.]
[1] Prayer.
Okay so this is letting you in on a little bit of my private life, but for some odd reason I feel like I should share it. The Lord is so sweet. Lately He has been revealing to me the importance of communication. I am a strong believer in the fact that communication is key is all friendships and especially relationships. So this week the Lord was like "Okay ML, if you are such a firm believer in communication, why don't you make it a priority in our relationship?" Good question, huh? It's so cool how the Lord continues to show me the power and importance of prayer. We have a relational God. Pump the breaks. A RELATIONAL God that created the Heavens and the earth and STILL wants to have a conversation with us. Whoa buddy! Anyways, this week I found a new spot in Mountain Brook where I go to have my prayer time every day. I can sit here and talk to Jesus. Just us. It's perfect.
Thank you, Jesus. I adore You.
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