Trust and thankfulness will get you safely through this day. Trust protects you from worrying and obsessing. Thankfulness keeps you from criticizing and complaining: those "sister sins" that so easily entangle you. Keeping your eyes on Me is the same thing as trusting Me. It is a free choice that you must make thousands of times daily. The more you choose to trust Me, the easier it becomes. Thought patterns of trust become etched into your brain. Relegate troubles to the periphery of your mind, so that I can be central in your thoughts. Thus you focus on Me, entrusting your concerns into My care.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7
But my eyes are fixed on You, O Sovereign Lord; in You I take refuge - do not give me over to death. Psalm 141:8
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
This is from the devotional book I've been going through, called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. It pretty much summarizes what God has been teaching me this past month and what I've been attempting to focus on. Trust and thankfulness. It started out in chapel the first week in the spring semester. I don't remember who it was, but he was talking about being grateful for being here because there are tons of people around the world who are so thirsty for God's Word and I'm being fed it almost constantly here. I've been realizing how incredibly blessed I am, and I don't want to complain about the little things anymore. I'm going to trust God with my problems and thank Him for all that He's given me.
This first month of the semester has been incredibly busy. I went from having a lot of free time over interterm to hardly having any and I know it's only going to get busier. But, at the same time, I have really loved this semester so far. I've stayed ahead in my reading for Torrey, so it hasn't been stressful reading and I've been able to enjoy the books for the most part, which has been nice. I have session three days a week now, which makes it a lot busier, but it's still good. :) I also am taking a Music Appreciation class for my music minor (which, btw, I was able to get into the program at the end of last semester :) ) and an American Lit class. I really like my music app professor and the class is interesting, but he has a habit of turning most of the lights off so we can see the power points and, I'm not gonna lie, it makes me really sleepy. I have my first exam on Wednesday in there; hopefully it'll go well. My lit class is interesting - I enjoy the readings but I still haven't decided if I like the actual class. We shall see.
Another exciting thing about this semester is that I'm about 99% sure that I've found a church! It's a bit on the large side, but I've been able to get involved in the college group with my roommate and another friend and we really enjoy that. I like the worship and the preaching (even though right now they don't have a pastor, but they're looking) and we go to the smaller sanctuary so it doesn't feel quite so big; it's just hard to get to know people. We're hoping to get involved in the children's ministry - they had some openings that we're interested in - and if we can, then we're going to stick with this church. :)
So I haven't just been busy with homework and such; I've been able to have my fun too. :) I've been to the beach twice (though both times, we did reading while there), and last Saturday I went to the Getty Museum and it was amazing! If you don't know what it is, it's an art museum but it also has gardens - they were gorgeous. I have pictures of the day on Facebook. I went and saw the play Into the Woods here at Biola and was super impressed by it. There are some really talented people here. I also saw the movie The Incredibles on the lawn here and got free cotton candy, popcorn, and hot chocolate. It was very cold but fun! Last Friday I watched Lion King 1 1/2 and yesterday I watched Monsters, Inc. and Andy Griffith. It's been some fun Fridays. :)
I can't believe February is almost over. But it is, and then I just have three more months of my freshmen year. Yikes! But, as Marcus Aurelius says, life is brief, so be good while you can. Or, as I'm going to do, trust and thank God in and for everything.
"This is the stuff that drives me crazy. This is the stuff that's getting to me lately. In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I'm blessed. This is the stuff that gets under my skin, but I've gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing. It might not be what I would choose, but this is the stuff You use."
- This Is the Stuff, Francesca Battistelli
