Have I Taken My Cross?

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.

Destitute, despised, forsaken,

Thou from hence my all shall be.

Perish every fond ambition,

All I’ve sought or hoped or known.

Yet how rich is my condition!

God and heaven are still my own.

These words just pierced my heart. Jesus says in
Luke,"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." This verse has always made and impact on my visual mind because I can see the picture of what this means...of what it means when JESUS the one who died on that cross says that I must ALSO pick up my own cross-- By creating this word picture He's asking, "Are you willing to do this for me?"

It's a constant struggle isn't it? To "Perish every fond ambition, all we've sought for hoped for and known"? I mean this IS crazy... to give up all your dreams in order to pick up that cross? no way..right? But this I am asking: What more can He do for YOU? What more can He do to show you His Love? He already sent His very OWN Son down to earth to be tried and to struggle and to be beaten...He sent His OWN righteous wrath upon Him...He was tortured---FOR YOU. He offers to be in a perfect relationship with YOU. So, what more can He do? What more can He do to prove this love of His? 

Instead of constantly asking Him to prove Himself again and again, why don't we just have faith in Him? Faith that He IS who He said He is and believe that He chose to love us SO much that he would not only redeem us...but adopt us as His very own. For like it says above, "How RICH is our condition? Christ is our VERY own!" 

January...

Wow. This January was an incredible month and, as do all months, it went by so quickly! These days I can hardly keep up with dates because they fly by so swiftly. As I was looking over my month, I realized how blessed I had been through it all...and how much I have changed even just since the beginning of 2011.

My month started with an incredible journey through the snow storm into sunny Florida (: After being up tight about exams and rushing to finish all of my Christmas things I was a bit wound tight and anxious but a visit to see my favorite family ever with my dearest friend Lydia was just the best I could have ever asked for. I got to re-evaluate where I wanted to go this year, my goals and my dreams as we set off home-made fire crackers in the the back yard to celebrate 2011.

Home-made fire cracker :)

Amazing Strawberry milkshakes... my favorite people ever.
Chase, me, Lydia, Nick

Then I started school back up...but this time with a fuel and fire that no one could dare put out... Im on a mission. I have decided what I want to do with my life! For me, it's the perfect combination of everything wonderful: people, creativity and service.  I want to help people and I always have. I want to make a change in people's lives and love on them... the perfect profession for me? Occupational Therapy. Not only does it help my fellow mankind overcome physical disabilities from past accidents but also helps them overcome that hump emotionally. I can be recruited to join different companies and live in different places every six months if I wanted! There is a great need for these kinds of therapists and there are just a hundred things that are attractive about it to me. One of which is that I could readily take this out onto the mission field, something I'm very passionate about. 6 years in college...here I come!

Another BIG thing in my life is Mock Trial. I cannot tell you how much I adore  team. We have had an interesting case this time around...but we've all found the best in it and the FUN in it. It's so cool to be surrounded by a group of fellow believers that are also my age and striving towards a goal. It has taught me so very much and I am so very proud to be apart of it. Wish us luck for our first competition (this year) this Saturday!

This month I've been at Hope Reins for 61 hours...which on top of everything else I'd say it's quite remarkable! I've conquered one of our ponies who was always so troublesome. I think my biggest problem is that he's so darn cute I could never discipline him. But now, he's a trick pony! He's so well behaved (with the help of one of my friends) he lays down and lets you sit down on him. I'm very proud of that lil' pony! I was hoping to find one of me laying on him....but it was on a different camera. So, here! You still get a little dose of his cuteness (-:

However, out of this whole month, one thing sticks out most to me...and that's change. It's amazing how much someone can change in such a short amount of time..but honestly, over the duration of this month God has changed my heart towards his in incredible ways. Some of the big things I had under my control are in his, totally and fully. It's still a constant struggle to give it to Him but the more I do the more I feel his Love. This love that sees past EVERYthing it seems. It doesn't matter what I look like that day or if I'm crying or if I'm failing at something, He's sees me no matter what. It doesn't matter if I feel lonely...because He'll remind me that He's right there.

But, right when I think He's quiet and not there, He is. When I wake up every morning, He reminds me that I am His child and that this is His day...so what more could I do than live solely for him?

This month...was just a continuation of my flesh dying and Anna becoming a bit more like Christ. I'm thankful for the pain, though, because Today I feel new. Just like the Word says, "His mercies are new for you every morning".