Day 85

Yes, yes, I know. I didn't post during Spring Break. No excuses! I did read my Bible and am up to date, but I really just needed a total break. Of course, I still had a ton of homework (which I didn't quite finish), but I had a really great time just being around friends and family (and Bella of course) relaxing. Bella and I made it back last night, got unpacked and settled, and now we are back into the normal routine of school.

You know, living so far away from my house really makes me appreciate it more whenever I actually get to be there. There is just something about being in my bed, laying on the couch, sitting by the pool, drinking coffee on the porch with my mom that is very comforting and safe. But I have really made myself a life here. I have a routine, I have my own home, I have friends here, I have obligations, and all of them I'm really grateful for.

I truly thank the Lord for all of this. I thank him for the calm in the mornings before school. I thank him for the dishwasher humming late at night from the day, I thank him for my coffee, I thank him for my sweet, sweet Bella. I thank him for the relationships I have with my family and my friends back home that only grow stronger and sweeter with time. I thank him for my apartment, I thank him for... everything that I have and everything that I am.

The passage in Deuteronomy this morning really reminded me of HOW much I have and exactly how far I have come to have it.

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¹¹ “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. ¹² For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, ¹³ and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! ¹⁴ Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. ¹⁵ Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! ¹⁶ He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. ¹⁷ He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ ¹⁸ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath."
Deuteronomy 8:1-18

I did not overcome what I did, get out of the wilderness I was in, throw off the chains of slavery that were bound to my ankles all on my own accord. I became who I am today because of Jesus Christ, because of the God who loves me unconditionally. I have been given blessings that I didn't realize were blessings at the time so that the Lord could remind me who exactly reigns over my life and who gives and takes away. He gave me trials to test me. (It ain't a TESTimony without a test!) 


It's really easy to pray to God and plead for his help in the difficult times, but in times of joy, we become proud and boastful of all that we have. It's about giving God thanks in ALL circumstances, good or bad, but really appreciating favorable ones. I know that I have a really, really busy next few weeks with papers to write, books to read, and work to do, but I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunities to actually be at college to have work, to live on my own to do my housework, to have responsibilities that I must do--instead of being somewhere where I have nothing. 


"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

God bless,
Lauren