Happy Birthday...to Me! =)

Well guess what today is? It is my birthday! That's right...I'm 1 year old today! =) On September 28, 2008 I finally got it through my thick skull that I was a sinner. I walked (well actually I think I ran) down the aisle to my pastor and right there in front of our church I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.

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Over the past year alot has changed in my life. Things that were a really big deal, don't seem as big an issue now. Some people have faded out of my life and some new ones have entered. Some people have remained right by my side and cheered me on. My views on things in this world have completely done a 180 and my eyes see things differently now.

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I listen to people talk at ballgames, the store, in line at the courthouse and I hear the pain in their voices. I see teenagers searching for unconditional love but trying to find it in all the wrong places. My job has changed over the past year as well. Although I am still working in the same place...things are different.

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I have learned over the past year to have faith and what it means to actually have faith. I have learned to laugh, cry, pray. I have learned to let go and forgive. I have learned that this world is just a learning process and that my true life only begins when I take my last breath here on earth and enter through the gates of heaven. I have learned that I will make mistakes but grace and mercy reign over me. I have learned that Jesus dying on the cross was enough and there is nothing else that needs to be added to it. I have learned to get along with my husband on days that it isn't easy to get along with him. I have learned to stop controlling my children and let them be who God intends them to be. I have learned that I can't be someone else's Christian.

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Each day I'm learning something new and I wonder if there will come a day where I've got it all figured out. I'm thinking probably not...lol On bad days, I have peace. On good days, I have peace. On days where I'm just not sure what to do, I have peace. On nights where I can't sleep, I have peace. On days when my family is sick, I have peace. On days where there are mud tracks through my almost white carpet, I have a panic attack...lol (got you....)! But...I do have peace.

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Life throws you curve balls and sometimes you swing and hit, sometimes you miss and then sometimes you get a strike. But what I've learned over this past year is that My God is the one throwing me the curve ball, He is the catcher behind me, He is the coach at first base, He is the coach at third base but more importantly He is the head coach of my life!

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"For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus." Romans 3:23-26 (NLT).