I awake to the rain,
Your grace
Tapping on my window.

The night has passed
The morning is here,
Your time
Has come

Never was there a better time
To show the world your light
You have been washed clean.


[Just a few blurbs. That will probably end up in a song soon.]

As the rain falls, Your grace pours. [John 3:1-18]

¹ There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. ² After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

³ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴ “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.^b]"> ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. ⁷ So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

⁹ “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? ¹¹ I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. ¹² But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.^f]">[

¹⁶ “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰ All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹ But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants."

More to come.

Too many options?

I've always heard that it's common for students who just graduated high school to be stuck in this "what now...?" mentality. As if they were focused so long on high school that now they're not exactly sure where they're going in life. Well, my situation is quite the opposite.
If I had to reflect on my entire high school career, I'd say I've learned and grown in ways I never though possible. I've developed into this woman that I can honestly say I'm proud of. Yeah, I still need work, but I'm not ashamed of who I've become. I have purpose. I have ambition. I have something to live for that is greater than myself and I have the passion to pursue that. That's a lot more than most high school students can say. But where do I start? Honestly, I have so many dreams, so many possibilities. Which do I pursue first?
There are three major things that God has put on my heart recently. Music, Photography, Global Compassion (in no particular order.)

What do I dedicate my summer to?

I've seen that I could easily be running my own photography business right now. I've already put out a project for this band with album art and photography that was well beyond the expectations of a 17 year old girl. Photography is my art. It's so much of a passion of mine and I would LOVE to do that for the rest of my life.

Next is my music. Worship. That's my life. I've felt this calling towards starting a band that, rather than focusing on playing a service every week we act like a band that's separate from any specific church service and can focus on the creative side. Like writing our own music, touring, etc. That's been a dream of mine for years now and I feel I have the potential to make that happen. And I KNOW there are so many people around me that have the same vision that I do. I would love to spend this summer making that happen.

And finally, there is my vision in Peru. Doing something more for the world than just those in my direct community is something that is a very big part of my heart. When God gave me that challenge I was completely willing to walk away from everything and go. But the way that things aren't fully working out at the moment makes me question if I'm ready to take that kind of step. It was something I was so set on and I was so passionate about it as well.

Like I said, there are so many possibilities as to what I can do with this summer before school starts up again in the fall.
I have no idea where to even start.
I'm asking for guidance, for motivation, and for God to completely rock my world.
We'll see where that takes me.

If words could express...

So much has changed recently.
So much so that it would be difficult to type it all out in one sitting.

I can sum it up for you though.
The world is coming at me at full speed, and I love it.
God is my best friend, my number one, closer to my heart than ever.
I have purpose, direction, a real adventure ahead of me.
My best friend is coming home to me.

God is so good to me. (: