Wrap it up.

Well, it ended.

California in all its Murrieta glory was over in an instant; February through April came and went. By the time May rolled around, I was ready to get home. I was missing that gulf coast part of me, and I never thought I would. The choice to go to CCBC wasn't made because I was yearning for the Lord or even because I thought it would be fun. I decided to go because I thought it would make my parents happy. The thing is, I never thought it would change my life in all the ways it did. Looking back to that cold January day when I first set foot on that campus, I had no idea what God had in store for me. Over the next 3 months i would come to realize so much about who I was as a person and who God was as my savior.

Through brokenness and heartache, I learned that it's not about what I was doing with my life or what profession I would choose, it was about one thing and one thing only. All that the Lord cared about was my heart. In classes I finally acquired that "revelation knowledge" that allowed me to see all the Lord had done for me and how much He really loves me. Things that I had "known" all my life suddenly clicked. It's like I was waking up for the first time and I couldn't get enough of life. I know now that the things that I have done don't define me and that I am not my past. I know that I am made so perfect in the sight of the Lord and that He sees me as such because He has washed me of everything I have ever done. I understand now that condemnation is not a trait of God and that He has already buried my crimes. I can rest assuredly in the truth that my salvation is secure and my name is written in His book. I can now rely on the undeniable fact that I am covered by grace because of His sacrifice.

I've made so many bad choices in my past; knowingly turning from good and choosing to do wrong. I won't get into it, but the list goes on and on. But putting all that aside, if I have made one good choice, it was going to California that day in January. I didn't go for the right reason, but once I got there, the Lord took hold of my life. He opened my eyes to all I was doing and truly broke me in every area of my life. I learned what it meant to surrender and wait on Him, and what a hard lesson it was. You see, the Lord isn't finished with me yet. He has so much planned on this journey ahead. I am still learning what a blessing it is to be able to walk with the Lord, and I can't wait to see what else He has in store for my life.

As this chapter of my life ends, a new one begins. A new season of learning and growing and falling more in love with my creator. It's one more season I get to worship and glorify the name of my God. A time that I can take what I have learned and apply it and pour out onto this gulf coast town I call home. See, God is just getting started with me. Just wait and see:)

2Cor. 12:9

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.