Change Ahead

 

Jeremiah 29:11-13 have always been very dear verses to my heart and I'm so thankful that God knows what my future holds, and that He takes me by the hand and leads me.  And again, my life takes another turn that I honestly didn't think it would.

A new year can mean changes for individuals and this year, it will change for me, too. On March 8th of this year, my coaching hold ends.  This will also be the day that my coaching ends for a long time.  I am terminating my enrollment with CollegePlus.  I've been in CP since September of 2011 and it's been quite an eventful one.  But I haven't really been satisfied with the results these last couple years, and I believe that it's because this chapter in my life is closing; I'm not meant to continue this educational journey.  Especially in these last two years, I've been feeling led to get out and I believe I know why.  Since my Grandpa's death, I feel like God is telling me to lay college aside and get more involved with helping my family take care of my Grandma.  She is not 100% capable of leaving alone, so my Mom has devoted a lot of her time to taking care of her.

What will I be spending my time on now?

I will continue to work for both QualityTrack Int. and on the farm.  Because CollegePlus have raised their rates again, this also plays into my decision.  And at the moment, I need to earn money for a more reliable truck.  This past winter has proven to me that winter tires help, but a 2wd will never be as dependable as a 4wd. :P  I'm also hoping to advertise my services as a horse trainer and maybe go through some training and achieve a license to be a horse judge for shows.

I also want to spend extra time that I have preparing to take care of a house and a family of my own some day.  I haven't taken as much initiative as I should have in taking care of the house, but with Mom busy at Grandma's almost every day of the week, it gives me some time to help her with the housework and read the Christian books that I haven't indulged myself in. I'm looking forward to this! :)

But mainly, I've decided to return to my original idea of publishing books.  I've written many rough drafts of different book ideas over the years, but because college and investigative reporting seemed like that was the only way to earn a living, I laid those dreams aside.  Unfortunately, at local newspapers and even with a degree in Journalism, I would most likely end up setting type--as my Mom's friend's daughter ended up doing after four years to achieve her BA.  I started to edit a chapter last fall, but with this course through Brigham Young and the changes that accompanied Grandpa's death, I was barely able to get one chapter done.  My plan is to continue editing one book at a time, perhaps attend some writing conferences in Wisconsin, and start the publishing process by late this year or early 2015.

Being able to lay college aside has lifted a burden off my shoulders.  Though CollegePlus offers so much and I've learned a lot with CP friends, this chapter in my life is being closed.  Perhaps in the future, I will return to studying for CLEPs and earning three credits here and there; but I feel God is leading me to put my time and energy into more important things.  I believe that it was God's will for me to be a part of CP for these last few years, because I've learned some valuable lessons that I would not have learned had I not enrolled.

But we trust God and have assurance that he knows what is best for us.  We lean on His understanding and follow Him wherever He leads us.  For we will find rest only when we trust in His wisdom and not our own.

Blessings,
Anna

Take a Stand

Election day is tomorrow.  And of course, I have thoughts on it.  First of all, I'd like to state my views here so you can get a general idea on what I'm about to post on this blog.  I am a Christian conservative who is concerned with the lives of the unborn; a strong believer in "one man one woman" marriages; a person who is appalled at the national debt that our country has sunk in to; an advocate of those who support and hold the constitution close to their hearts.  I'm not going to preach at you to get out and vote, even though that is my wish if you are of age.  But that is not what I am going to do. That is between you and the Lord.  Just as my decision to vote is between Him and I.

To start off with, let's look at abortion vs pro-life. Is that an important enough issue to vote on?  Well, it is.  In fact, it's bigger than the topic of our national debt-though that is one of the sorriest things I've been hearing about lately. ;)  But what does God say about it?  Does He not state in Psalm 139:13-16 "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth (the womb). Your eyes saw my substance, being yet uniformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them."
God is saying that no matter how much we think that "blob" is worth, He created it.  Abortion activists state that the 'woman has the right to choose what she does with her body'.  But her body was meant to be the temple of Christ and she should not do anything with it that would cause harm.  That "blob" is breathing inside of her.  It can touch, though it can not see at first, it can still feel.  And pain is no exception.  Do we wish to see more harm come to the unborn? or do we yearn for the day when all those days have past?

Proverbs 22:2 "The rich and the poor have this in common, the LORD is the maker of them all."


For the next topic here, I'd like to lightly touch base on pro-marriage vs. gay lifestyles as I do have young readers and it is not my duty to inform them of such things.  But we should be asking ourselves: 'what would Jesus think?' if we sat back on election day and watched as a pro-gay president gets another four years?  What would Jesus think if we voted for him?  I would think that this question is relatively easy and can be answered by what God said in Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."  This is grounds alone to stand upon to take action against the evil lies this world tries to confuse you with regarding this topic.  God created the man and He created the woman.  He took the rib from Adam's side (not the head to lord over him and not the feet so that he may trample her), which made her equal with him.  But it is important to remember that God did just not leave man on this earth alone.  Nor did God put women on this earth alone.  He created both so that they may enjoy unity and as God commanded in Genesis 1:28 "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.."  Do not disregard Sodom and Gomorrah as a coincidence.  God can do the same with our nation as this  sin is going against one of His first commands to man (and woman).


Now, for the final topic that I'd like to discussion.  And this time, I'd like to use some simple banking methods in order to get this point across.  Say you owned a brand-new car and you took out a mortgage on it.  Over time, you got behind on your payments, maybe got behind on other financial areas and lost your job, perhaps.  The bank came along and repossessed it, along with everything else that you were in debt with.  You no longer own that car.  And you no longer own that brand new stereo system that you just installed in your garage.  You were in debt then and no you own nothing.  In another situation, your friend asked you for a five dollar bill; however, over time, he kept asking for more and more money.  Soon, he owed you over $500.  He's in debt to you, to the bank, and he has no way of paying you back what you loaned him.  He's now sitting in jail for writing worthless checks.
These are just two examples of what is happening to our country today.  We owe trillions of dollars to other countries and we think that we can get out of debt by borrowing more to pay off those current debts.  If you owned that car or your friend needed more money, what would you do?  Would you go out and borrow from other people to pay off the car and then get in debt with them? How about the friend that owes you over five hundred dollars?  Do you think that by lending him more money, that he can pay off his current debts and still have some left over to settle the debt with you?  Of course not!  And by the way, I'm not trying to point fingers. ;) I highly doubt any of you would go out and buy the brand new, spittin' clean Mustang.  I'm just trying to illustrate the importance of the relationship between this and some of our government's wasteful spending like putting monkeys on marijuana to see how they react! This is one of the many ways that our government is spending this borrowed money on.  And I'm afraid to say it, but this currency that we hold in our wallets and purses are worthless.  The gold isn't there to back it up, but our government doesn't want anyone to know.  As Vice President Joe Biden stated, the middle class "has been buried the last four years".  And it has!  Our economy is in such a bad situation right now, that it's hard to believe we haven't been taken over by China already.  This is scary, I know.  But this truth needs to get out to family and friends before they go to the voting polls tomorrow. This election is critical and it's our job to inform those around us of the impending dangers of "being buried" another four years.

I would like to add a closing thought though.  God is still in control.  No matter who wins the election, He will not lose His sovereignty.  But this does not give anyone the excuse to neglect their God-given right to vote.  God gave us the most powerful nation on earth.  And in return, our government is giving us back an active, socialistic society.  Let's not see another Rome.  Let's stand up and fight for what our founding fathers stood up for over 200 years ago: our freedoms.

In Christ,
Julianna