New "Season"...

I'm usually not the type of person that describes different stages of life as "seasons"...it's just not the way I word things (although I have friends that I love dearly who use this term in every other sentence and it just works for them, so no judgement if you say it a lot!)...but as I was journaling today, I realized how this literal change of season (from summer to fall) seems so different than when spring was turning into summer, for my life personally.

I'm constantly amazed at how fast the time is flying by. Working with the youth group really speeds up time in that regard- it seems like they were JUST getting out of school and we were so pumped for summer and now they have been back in school for a MONTH. Yikes!

This summer was definitely a summer of growth for me. In some ways it was really hard in the mere fact that I kept seeing myself, again and again, for who I really am- a SINNER who is constantly in battle against my flesh, my desires, my circumstances, my nature. And in some ways it was really sweet because I am LOVED by the greatest lover of all, Jesus Christ.

So, bidding the summer a fond ado (it truly was great in many regards)...and welcoming the fall...here are a few of my hopes for the rest of 2010:

1) To desire and seek God more. To learn more about who He is and to truly know the love He has for me. To stop making my life so busy and loud that His majesty is drowned in my head and heart.

"How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure....that He would give His only son, to make a wretch His treasure."

2) To pray, openly and honestly, without ceasing, for whatever is on my heart, because being in consistent communication with my Savior is imperative to our healthy relationship.

We are reading A Praying Life in our Life Together Groups this semester and I'm loving it so far. It is so practical and real and honest, while outlining how important it is to PRAY. So as this new season begins, I deeply desire to be a more consistent and intentional prayer- to be a woman who honestly trusts and relies on prayers. I love love love hearing one of the youth girls pray when we are in our small groups, and so I can only imagine the delight of the Father when we, His beloved sons and daughters, converse with Him.

3) To cast away idols that distract and deter me from living fully for the Lord. Such an easy thought to have...such an endless road to be on.

"Lord I want to yearn for you, I want to burn with passion over You and only You"- Yearn, by Shane and Shane

So here's to a new season...literally and figuratively!

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.-Psalm 51:10