Is 2015 going to be YOUR year?

     Years past, I would sometimes feel cheated by the time the new year would roll around.  Disgruntled and disatisfied I would flip off the old year and excitedly welcome the new one with fresh and high hopes that this new year would be MY year and good things would finally happen to me.
    
      The bad news is I guess it's time to admit now, that I pretty much hate who I used to be before I knew my Lord and Savior (seriously He really does SAVE).  I was very egocentric and if things didn't go my way, well, they sucked.  I could careless if other people were happy, if I wasn't, it didn't matter.  I can't even stand my previous self now writing about me.  EW! ( <--- hope you said that in your best Jimmy Fallon voice)

     Okay, that's the bad news.  The good news is.  I love me now.  And I can say that without thinking I'm being selfish or egocentric because God wants us to love ourselves.  But more than love ourselves, He wants us to love others.  That's not always easy to do when people can be jerks (like the old me was).  What's crazy amazing is that even though I was a freaking jerk, God still loved me.  He loved me enough to call me to His attention.  I 100% believe that I was called to Him through my struggle to concieve.  I'm so grateful that He did that.  Yes, I know it's so weird that I'm actually thankful for the experience of having extreme difficulty conceiving a child, but if that didn't happen, I'd still be the self-absorbed, narrow-minded little b-word that I once was.

    The things, people, and blessings the Lord's love has brought into my life is immeasurable.  In fact, it was this way my entire life, but it was only until recently that the blindfold had been taken off.  I believe that Helen Keller said it perfectly when she said, "Character can not be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."  That's what makes the journey of life so beautiful and people's story of success, so moving and inspirational. 

     I've been given very sweet compliments for sharing my journey with you all.  However, I can't accept them with out giving praise to Jesus.  You see, in the gospel, Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way let your light shine in front of people. Then they will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven."  If it wasn't for God, this journey of life wouldn't be mine to share.  I'm connecting with you all because He loved me so much to bring me through this. 

     So there is even better news I get to share with you.  HE LOVES YOU TOO!  And this could be YOUR year that you see that.  Especially speaking to the women reading this blog who have suffered infertility for years, who have had a miscarriage or the loss of a child.  God doesn't make bad things happen to you, He's not punishing you with these circumstances.  That's life.  But what He does do is work it out for the best possible outcome.  His plan is better than your best dream of what your life could look like.  The hard part is trusting Him.  It's hard enough trusting things and people we can see with our own eyes, let alone a God that we physically can't see.  I can tell you from my own experience, placing your trust in Him is the best thing you can do for yourself.  There is nothing sweeter than being in the presence of God.  There is nothing more peaceful than placing all your worries, concerns, anxieties, and fears with Him.  He is bigger than any problem you are facing.  If you can trust in that, you can do anything with God on your side.

     Please let 2015 be YOUR year.  Please choose to accept His love into your life.  It won't matter what happens in your 2015 if you choose to spend it with God.