shhhhhhh.

wow so i havent written for a while! Life has been intense lately, and I havent had any time to sit in front of a computer for minutes at a time. But now I do so here we go!

A lot has been happening lately. It's been hectic.

I turned 20.
(yeah, when i made this blog thing i was actually 19, but i knew i would only be 19 for a few more days, so i just saved myself a step and put "20 year old girman" instead of "19 year old." =] )
Some of my best friends from florida came up to see me. What an adventure that was. Those girls are incredible, and loving, and unavoidably HILARIOUS. I got to spend the entire past weekend with them. :) I really miss the beach, but i miss them more.
So i've had old friends come and visit me and my new friends. That was interesting. Especially when people from your past meet people from your present. It's like youre in the twighlight zone. The world in which my new friends live and the world in florida where my past is combined this weekend. It was really cool.

I've met some new people through Water's Edge, a college-aged ministry i'm involved in. Very cool people that love God. I love them all. A couple in particular.... but i won't write about that just now.

I've been reading A LOT lately.

I'm currently reading

The Shack by William P. Young
Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot
Captivating by John Staci Eldredge
Closer than your Skin by Susan D. Hill
And the Bible. (3 translations.)

All are unfinished.

I have so much STUFF going on inside my head. New information and teachings and rules and boundaries i have learned, thoughts hopes and dreams, worries and stress about school and my future and eventually marriage....

But everything is suddenly okay when i just think about God and His love.
Everything is put into perspective.
Stresses fade.
Thoughts cease.
And He fills me with a warm, calming peace.

It happened to me today in my car on my drive to school.
I was voicing to Him my worries, thoughts, wishes...and then it was as if he shhhhhed me but in the most loving way. You know how a child is right before they go to sleep? "Mommy, why is the sky blue? " "Daddy, can we go to Mcdonald's for dinner tomorrow, I want McNuggets and a toy!" " HEY GUESS WHAT!!!"
And then mommy or daddy brushes their cheek and says "shhhh. time to calm down." and takes them in their arms and stills them? Pretty soon the child is asleep, tired out by their own energy and comforted in their parents' arms.
God is so like that. In Zephaniah it says that God will quiet you with His love.
mmm. He does.
I was non stop with my words for Him this morning and i felt this overwhelming sensation of love in my chest. He loves us so much. He doesn't want us to worry or stress...he wants us to rest in His love for us and our trust in Him. It's awesome to know that He is so much bigger than our circumstances.
I had a young friend of mine call me that just moved away. She is in high school, and was describing to me the "drama" of the youth group she is now involved in. All it took was for me to simply mention God's love. She went from crying to quiet. She realized that nothing else mattered but her Father and His love for her and those around her. She thought it was me that put her in a good mood. But it wasnt. It was Him.

<3 I love how you can worry and worry all you want but in the end you know God is in control.
So why worry?
Let Him quiet you with His love. <3