New Beginnings.

Yesterday was my birthday. Today I am 21. I don't feel any different, but I look at this as marking a new season in my life. With the beginning of a new year in my life also comes the beginning of new relationships, a new love life with God, a new path to follow, new dreams to discover, new stamps in my passport... He makes all things new, and I believe that is His promise to me in this new year of life. I don't know where it will take me, but I do know that He will be alongside me every step of the way, and that is all that matters.

Since I left to come here and do this DTS, I have looked at it as an adventure that I'm taking with Jesus... an adventure with an unknown ending. Yesterday while I was spending time with Jesus, He told me that He also looks at it as an adventure with me, and that He is even more thrilled and excited to have this time with me than I am! That was a bit mind-blowing to me... another step along the journey Jesus is taking me on to understand His heart and His longing for a personal relationship with me, just me and Him.

I feel like its given me some new insight into my life, as well. Jesus never wants me--or any of His people--to get hurt. But we live in a fallen world. And when we do get hurt, He is there to pick up the pieces and craft them into something new and beautiful. There is such incredible depth to the loving, Father heart of God; it goes beyond our comprehension. I feel like I am standing at the edge of a bottomless well that I long to dive into, to drown in.

I have been on a journey of gaining new understanding of the nature of God and His desire to have a relationship with me, but this was a sort of breakthrough for me. Jesus is never the causer of pain, but He is always there with His arms open wide, hoping the pain will cause me to run to Him and allow Him to heal, comfort, and restore as only He can. He desires only good things for His children, but He works through times of brokenness and pain to restore the heart to His original plan for it, intimately connected to His. 

I never imagined that I would spend my twenty-first birthday in Hawaii, photographing sea turtles on the beach. It was like a birthday present from God. At the end of the day, my friends took me out to Bubba Gump's for ice cream. Afterwards as I was flying along the coast on the back of a moped, listening to the waves crash against the rocks, I experienced an example of what my--and any--adventure with God should look like. He wants me to fly with Him, to close my eyes and cling to Him, letting Him lead and trusting Him implicitly. He wants me to soar, on His strength.