Reflect, Renew, Rejoice

   As I tuck 2012 into my memory and prepare for 2013, I can't help but be grateful for all of the beautiful (and sometimes difficult) ways God has stretched and grown me this past year. Some of the lessons I've learned have been sweet and some have been heart-breaking, but as I reflect on them all, I can see His love reaching out to the depths of my soul...and I rejoice...for He is making all things new. 

    Here are just a few of the things He has laid on my heart this past year. 

    I have learned...

    Some of God's sweetest "love notes" are not in the big things, but in the details He clearly orchastrates. 

   God's timing and provision are fully trustworthy and perfect, even if it was not what we had planned. 

    I need to be intentional in praying through decisions, because only God knows the future.

   When I overcommit, overbook, or overdo it only makes me less connected to Him and less loving to others. 

   A heart of legallism can be disguised and repackaged, but it will still eventually permeate and destroy the very thing or people it is trying to control. Only a heart of love brings life. 

   When I draw my fulfillment from my relationship with Christ and my complete dependance on the Holy Spirit's leading, I am free to simply love others-not worry about having them meet my expectations or whether I meet theirs. 

    It is not important to define myself by a job, title, or church affiliation, but only by how I follow Jesus and love others.

  Thank you for letting me share these with you! My prayer is that you may glean from them and perhaps share some of the things God has revealed to you this year. May our hearts be always open and rejoicing in His amazing wisdom, goodness, and most of all, love. 

                                             Happy New Year!