Workin' girl!

I got my first job!!! I am BEYOND ecstatic! It's a sales associate at GNC (General Nutrition Centers) and it seriously is nothing but a God thing. I wasn't looking for a job (but have wanted one forever) and it just sort of fell into my lap.

My mom and I walked in there I guess a week and a half ago to get some alfalfa tablets for my mom (awesome stuff btw). I was just messing around when the guy was telling us all the nutritional stuff about the things we asked about and I said 'I should totally work here!" And the guy was like actually, we're looking for someone and he gave me an application. I turned it in the next day with my resume (which btw, is really hard to make when you have zero job experience)...and got called in for an interview! I had a ton of personal references to make up for my lack of business experience and references, and it was between me and this other guy.

I was SO nervous and I wanted this job so badly, but I wasn't going to worry about it. Right after I got the application I just continued to pray that if this was something God has for me that it would happen, and if I wasn't supposed to do this then it just wouldn't happen. I really didn't think I would get it because the interviewer kept telling my references that she was worried about the time commitment with my sorority and how that might interfere with me being about to work. But anyways I was genuinely at peace about it (although still having the natural amount of anxiety waiting to hear!) and yesterday I got the call saying I got it!

I start training tomorrow!! This is such a God job. It came at a time when I REALLY need a victory in my life. I'll be working with other nutrition majors, and everything I learn I can use in my future job and really apply it not only to my career but to my personal life as well. Everything is just piecing together, like it's ordained from above which I know it is.

So after tomorrow I will definitely write about my first day...but I'm so excited!! God is watching out for me....and if I trust Him, good things will happen.

Thanks

Today was the first Sunday I got to go to church since surgery!!! I missed it so much, and absolutely love my church.

Brian talked about the Spirit of Thanksgiving today, and it was definitely a message I needed to hear. From the Shakespeare play, King Lear, a famous quote has risen: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." I imagine that is how God feels so much of the time with us, and especially me.

He also compared our magnitude of gratitude to basically any product on the market these days. There's always a good, better, best of the same product. The same is true for our thanksgiving.

It's good to give thanks for our past (pretty easy)
It's better to give thanks for our future challenges (still do-able)
It's best to give thanks for our present difficulties (super hard)

And that really hit me. My first reaction was, why would I ever be thankful for the hard times I'm going through right now? Why would I be thankful for this pain and hardship? But truth be told, I don't have ANY idea what God is going to do with me through this experience, and everyday that I live. I mean even with all the surgeries I have had, I recently was given the opportunity to help someone else who is having a really hard time post-op, and having to be physically limited for a while. Now, I'm not sure if anything I said helped...but just the fact that I had the perspective to offer was totally a God thing.

Now, while not every pain in my life or yours is physical...nonetheless we are told in Ephesians 5:20 to be thankful ALWAYS, in EVERY circumstance. It doesn't say to be thankful sometimes, when the conditions are favorable....or just for a few circumstances. As hard as it is, we must be thankful for absolutely everything we go through...something I will daily strive to do.

The Process.

Okay, so confession time. I have been a complete slacker when it comes to my Bible study. If you've read my blog from the beginning you know I had started a new study called Forged in the Fire, and was keeping an update of it every week. I don't remember how or why I stopped, and then my surgery happened so I just got out of the habit. But I am doing my best to get back in the habit.

I'm still learning about David and all the preparation he went through before he was raised to the throne. So far this week it's been focused on David having to run from Saul and having to find refuge in the wilderness as he literally run for his life at times. I think this is a lot of the times what no one focuses on, and some of the passages I can say I've never read before. Everyone focuses on him being a king and all the good things he did there, which is great and important, but the preparation is so crucial!

This week Principle Three was presented:

God's loving tests continue until we come to a place of utter dependence on Him. We learn to look to Him and behave in ways consistent with God's character, regardless of whatever injustice, trial, or opportunity for temporary personal gain comes our way.

I am finding this true more and more each day. The past couple days I just haven't felt very well and my entire body just hurts. And for me currently, a physical test is forcing me to be utterly dependent on Him. THis applies for any trial in life, physical or not. It's a way to bring you closer to Him.

I'm definitely in a frustrated phase right now, and tired of pain and ready for this to all be over. I know one day all this will be behind me, I do. I know that I won't be in pain forever and that this is just a process. But right now, to be honest, it's really sucking. But like David, the preparation is crucial. God has some crazy awesome plan for me, and this is the refining process I have to go through to be ready and be all that I can be for His greater glory.

You Gave Me A Promise

Fireflight is one of my new bands that I really like, and this song is absolutely the song of my heart right now. The past couple nights have been really hard for me in a pain perspective, and sometimes it's really hard to remember that this pain isn't going to last forever and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I think my dad is starting to pick up on it too, because for the past couple days he's been constantly reminding me that the pain will go away and it will get better. I like to fancy myself Wonder Woman, this picture of bravery and strength....but I'm fighting to maintain that, and frankly I'm losing. But like this song says, God has given me so many promises that this pain is not forever and He is watching out for me and taking care of me. And right now I just need to cling to that...under the lyrics there is a link so you can listen to this song if you want...definitely recommend it!

The waves are crashing down on me
But I know that this cannot be the end, be the end
Right now I feel like copping out
Will You hold me up, if I just say
That I will stay?

I will hold on to this hope that I have
You gave me a promise, You gave me a promise
I'll push through this moment, I'll never give up
You gave me a promise, You gave me a promise

I'm so tired that I can't stand
But I know that time will heal this heart, heal this heart
With every door that's slamming shut
A new one's there to lead me where You, where You are

I will hold on to this hope that I have
You gave me a promise, You gave me a promise
I'll push through this moment, I'll never give up
You gave me a promise, You gave me a promise

You call out to me
You're just out of reach
But I'm closing in
I'm still going, still believing in Your word

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfTAxizzjpc

What's missing from Obama's press conferences?

I's not a teleprompter....See the other president's pics for a clue.

George W. Bush

Bill Clinton

George H. W. Bush

Ronald Reagen

That's right....no American flags!!

He told you he would change America, didn't he?