I went into my England meeting today confident that I'd come out with an answer in the form of a plan. But of course, God doesn't work my way. I left my meeting not only without a plan, but with more questions. Funny how God does that. I'm learning to rely on Him with the thing that's hardest for me to let go of: my planning. I'm an OCD planner by nature, so this definitely isn't easy. The more He teaches me this though, the more I see that His plan truly is the best in His timing and His way. 

I have a love/hate relationship with the United States Postal Service.

Yesterday, I came home to find that they had returned the Valentine's Day card I mailed out. Uhhh, Post Office, it should be in England by now. Valentine's Day is tomorrow. It was returned to me because it required extra postage. Why, might you ask? Well, it had a lollipop in it.

"A letter will be charged nonmachinable surcharge if...it is lumpy." Straight from usps.gov. Lumpy. Such a strange word to use on a government website.

So there you have it folks. Don't ever try to send a lumpy lollipop inside a regular letter. A lumpy lollipop is actually a parcel.

I've always loved old hymns. Something about them is just so powerful. I think it comes from the fact that the words just flowed out. People weren't trying to write songs. These hymns were just natural expressions of the faith of these old saints.

This past week, the David Crowder Band released their final album. I couldn't have been any happier to discover that one of my all-time favorite hymns was on there.

When I was about sixteen years old, I gave God my personal timeline. I had my future completely planned out. I knew what was going to happen and when. My six year plan was infallible. Or so I thought.

I turned eighteen and noticed my prior plans weren't happening. God, where are you? Are you trying to teach me a lesson in patience? Twenty comes around. Another proposed milestone. Nothing. God, why are you silent? At this point, I was beginning to panic. I didn't understand what God was doing. My plan included Him so why wasn't He going along with it?

Looking back, I can see how much I've grown those seven years of my life. God was indeed teaching me a lesson in patience, but more importantly, He was teaching me a lesson in trust. Trusting that His ways are higher than my ways. Trusting that He would guide me as long as I remain on the right path. Trusting that His timing is MUCH better than my timing.

My six year plan has nearly been accomplished in one short month. I'm excited watching what God is doing in my life and hopeful for what He will continue to do. I am blessed beyond words.

It's my first blog of the new year, and I decided to begin with a bit of honesty.

I struggle with the idea of reading books I don't agree with.

Last year, I started reading two books simultaneously that I don't agree with. I didn't finish either of them. I want to finish them this year. They are popular books written by a popular author. But it's just so hard for me. I picked one back up today, read about ten pages, and then felt like I was wasting my time.

What do you think? Do you think I'm wasting my time? Or do you think it'll only make me stronger?

I have compiled a book list of all the books I have read this year—but not just any book list, an interactive one! Click each title, and you will be taken to a page where you can purchase the book for your very own. Yeah, I know you're jumping up and down right now from the excitement. You're welcome. Oh, and the ones I hiiiiighly recommend have asterisks by them.

1. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt* - completed January 4
2. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan - completed January 22
3-4. The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure* and "Buttercup's Baby" by William Goldman - completed January 22
5. The Knowledge of The Holy by A. W. Tozer - completed February 5
6. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert - completed February 8
7. The Importance Of Being Earnest* by Oscar Wilde - completed February 9
8. Sunrise (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 1)* by Karen Kingsbury - completed February 14
9. Summer (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 2)* by Karen Kingsbury - completed February 19
10. Someday (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 3)* by Karen Kingsbury - completed March 7
11. Sunset (Sunrise Series-Baxter 3, Book 4)* by Karen Kingsbury - completed April 16
12. The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life by Louie Giglio - completed April 22
13. A Year of Blind Dates: A Single Girl's Search for "The One"* by Megan Carson - completed May 21
14. Orthodoxy (Moody Classics) by G. K. Chesterton - completed June 12
15. Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions (Relit Theology) by Mark Driscoll - completed July 8
16. Puritan Prayers* - completed July 15
17. Peculiar Treasures (The Katie Weldon Series #1)* by Robin Jones Gunn - completed August 1
18. On a Whim (The Katie Weldon Series #2)* by Robin Jones Gunn - completed September 6
19. Coming Attractions (Katie Weldon Series)* by Robin Jones Gunn - completed September 25
20. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - completed October 16
21. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - completed October 22
22. So Long, Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend to Us by Beth Moore - completed November 1
23. Daily Strength for Daily Needs* by Mary Wilder Tileston - completed December 31

Today is the last day of November Blog Fest. I'm sure all you devoted readers will miss me. But don't you worry...I wont be gone for long!

On this last day, I'm feeling the need to just sit back and soak up the fact that God is always faithful. I've seen it so many times in my life but even more so these past few weeks.

I was reading in 2 Kings and came across this passage: "This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that He has promised" (vs. 9). There's such a comfort in knowing that God will hold to His word and that He will fulfill all He has promised. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it (Philippians 1:6). Don't you forget it.

Clearly, I am learning a lesson of trust—trusting that God's ways are higher than my ways, and that His timing is more perfect than my time. God is Love and Love never fails. His promises are forever and His word is steadfast.

Just let that simmer. :)

Sometimes, all it takes is remembering—remembering what the Lord has done for us in spite of ourselves.

I can't get over how blessed I am. I am such a failure at life, but God doesn't cease showering me with His blessings. Whenever you find yourself in a complaining or mopey mood, just sit back and remember and recognize that He remembered you first.

"The LORD has remembered us; He will bless us." Psalm 115:12

I'm a nerd. I can't help it.

I spent half my free time today trying to figure out how to send (and receive) picture messages on my new factory unlocked iphone 4s with t-mobile. I'm pretty much writing this blog so that it shows up on search engines and someone can help me. I DON'T want to jailbreak my phone. I got the settings down to send pictures messages but I still can't receive them. I get this error message every time someone sends me a picture: "The media content was not included due to a picture resolution or message size restriction."

These are the settings I have so far! Someone, anyone, please help! I need a genius!

Cellular Data:
APN: wap.voicestream.com

MMS:
APN: wap.voicestream.com
MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/wapenc
MMS Proxy: 216.155.165.50.8080
MMS Max Message Size: 1048576
MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf