my Savior knows me better than anyone. He knew that i would fall in love with SC, even though i had no earthy idea why He chose anderson as my destination. He took me out of my fast paced, excessive lifestyle and stuck me right smack in the middle of a country road. i didn't realize that all my so called comforts were weights holding me back from the most incredible relationship i had ever experienced.

after moving up here in february, i met newspring church. i met the most incredible and gifted group of people on the face of the planet and for the first time in my christian life, i saw who Jesus was through truth and community. with arms wide open, embracing this new atmosphere, i cast aside those weights, became vulnerable, and fell in love with Jesus through a series of painful and uncomfortable stepping-stones, pressing forward into maturity. if there is one thing that i will take with me from this year, it is that in order to identify with Jesus, i must be willing to be crushed, restored and made whole again, and the only way to do that is to cling to His truth and to trust in His promises.

so, as i celebrate a year of unfailing love, grace, joy, perspective, testing and refining, i am grateful for every moment. i praise His name for it all. And, i look forward with joyful anticipation, laughing without fear of the future. bring it.