the tests of time.

I haven't forgotten about this blog, life has just been such a whirlwind lately. I haven't been able to catch my breath and slow down enough to truly think, analyze, process, and make enough sense of my thoughts to put it into words so publicly.

This semester has been challenging in so many new ways, but I'm learning so many awesome lessons through it all. Because I know you're so intrigued, let me share them with you.

1. Challenges in life may seem big, but God is so much bigger.
2. The battle of being vulnerable versus guarding your heart is so, so hard to fight, especially when you try to figure it out all on your own.
3. The body of Christ is incredible. The body of Christ on this campus is SO incredible; I've finally found a community of the most supportive and passionate fellow believers and it's a feeling I can't explain. I'm home.
4. JMU really is where I'm supposed to be, even if doubts and insecurities build up in my own head trying to convince me otherwise.

"And in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

-Romans 8:28

5. I went through all of the pain and heartbreak that I went through in past relationships not just to make me a "better" or "stronger" person, but to give me a heart for sex trafficking and human trafficking in the world today. Never have I felt so passionately about an issue. Never have I had my heart ache for injustice in the world so deeply. Never have I so badly wanted to just SERVE and be used by God.

"In faithfulness, he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth."
-Isaiah 42:3-4

6. Good things come when you least expect them. God works in such mysterious ways.
7. Home really just is where the heart is. And it's okay that mine finds homes in Arizona, in Richmond with my parents and brother, around Harrisonburg on this gorgeous campus, and around the world with my dreams for the future.
8. Being with someone that cares about me so much, challenges me to grow and be better and face my doubts, and supports me through anything and everything is showing me more and more how much God loves me so perfectly, unconditionally, and endlessly.

"In this you will greatly rejoice, though for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perished even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."
-1 Peter 1:6-7