Good News

I'm finally home. Finally here to completely relax and breathe. 

I can cook, shower without wearing shoes, sit with my sweet Charlie dog, drive my car, and sleep in my own giant, unlofted bed. Not to mention all the things I'm ecstatic to do this weekend, but I cannot wait to see my sweet friend Emily and my sister Sarah. I have missed both of these girls so incredibly much over the past two months, and time to relax with them will be absolutely wonderful. 

To add to the happiness to be home, I have been welcomed with some WONDERFUL news! My daddy, who underwent intense radiation and chemotherapy this past summer for tonsil cancer, got his first test results back today since ending treatment. ...and they're clear! No more cancer! God is so so so SO GOOD! 

He'll have another scan in another six months, s0 we'll continue praying for physical and spiritual healing throughout this process. Until then, I'll be praising Jesus for the growth and restoration that's already been so evident in Dad's life since the start of all this just five months ago.

Have Faith

Ever get that feeling that you've created your own enemy? 

I certainly did. 

Pursuit of God's presence is what I live for. I thrive to feel close to Him, to feel His love, and to feel his Holy Spirit. But what happens when you don't feel anything?

Discouraging doesn't even begin to describe how absolutely defeated and alone I feel. I'd sit down to read my Bible or pray and get nothing. Nothing. It seemed useless. And here, in the time when I felt like I needed God most in the spiritual battle raging through philosophy class, I was left to fend for myself.

Left alone?

Never.

By God's grace, He gave me the good friends and leaders around me to encourage and point me towards the truth: He's here.

True, I may not feel anything, but Pastor JD Greear helped me to remember where my feelings actually fit in with my relationship with God this past weekend at Summit Church. To put it simply, feeling should be the last thing to ever fuel my relationship in Christ. Faith follows fact, and feeling follows faith. My feelings grow out of my faith, but can be so easily swayed by outside influences, both good and bad. JD went on to say, "the feeling that you are saved and close to God is the fruit of the gospel, but they are not the basis of your assurance. The finished work of Christ is the basis of your assurance of salvation and God's presence."

Silly feelings. I know in my head what I believe, but so often I let my emotions get the best of me, plaguing me with doubt and discouragement. Lucky for us, God doesn't judge us by our feelings and emotions, nor does He act based upon how we feel. He is forever unchanging, always with us.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, 

the conviction of things not seen."

Hebrews 11:1