Counting a few Blessings.....

"They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness." Psalm 145:7 (NIV)

Today I wanted to take a few minutes to do just what Psalms 145 says, celebrate your abundant goodness.

Over this past year, I have been so ridiculously blessed.

It all started with the opportunity to go to New Zealand.  Strategically, God used the people around me to help me get there.  He sent me the Frasiers to help me fall in love with the beauty of the country to get me to even consider studying abroad. He sent me Shelby, one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for, as a travel companion and new bosom friend.

Even the act of taking me away from Fort Collins was a blessing.  It gave me an easy way out of an unhealthy relationship and a horrible living environment in which I wouldn't have had the courage to leave on my own.  God is so faithful and knows what he's doing even when I don't.

And when the time came, He safely carried us around to the other side of the world where God took me out of my element and really helped me discover who I was meant to be.

While in New Zealand, He shock the ground beneath me, literally.  Although it was on my bucketlist to experience natural disasters, I was not prepared for this foundation that I considered to be stable, to shift and move beneath my feet, topple buildings, bring down walls and end the lives of almost two hundred people.  Looking back now though, it was a step along my journey.

What I am most thankful for however, is how God worked on my heart.  Being so far away from home, I couldn't turn to a lot of my normal crutches when I was hurting so I ended up working through a lot of really tough stuff that I had been covering up with friends, food and fake happiness.  Throughout this journey, I learned the most important thing, GOD LOVES ME!  All my life I believed that God loved everyone (Hitler, Murderers, people who hurt me, etc.), but I never truly believed that I was Worthy of His love.  In fact, I know I still don't deserve His love, BUT He pours it over me, drowning my doubts because I am His child.  He created me, adopted me and washed away every sin that separated us with the blood of His innocent son because He loved/loves/will love me forever.  Even when I ran from Him feverishly, threw my hurt and hatred in His face and tried to pretend like He didn't exist, He was loving me more than I can ever imagine. 

I also learned how to value my family.  For years I had been dishonoring my parents, judging my sisters, and taking them all for granted.  Talking to Drew Butcher and his family helped me realize how hurtful this was.  When you judge, you can't love. When you push people away, they can't get close.  I learned about my families love languages and how they had loved me without me even knowing it because their love languages were different than mine.  I am so thankful that I've begun to realize the value of my family before it's too late.  I love them dearly.

Upon returning home, I have continued to see God's hand of blessing work in my life.  I got to spend almost all summer at home with my parents, mending brokenness and creating relationships that I wouldn't trade for all the world's riches now.  I was also blessed to be able to take the summer off from working and spend time with my little sister and Daddy God.  This time was so great and really helped renew my spirit and prepare me for going back to school.  AND MY LITTLE SISTER GAVE HER LIFE TO CHRIST!!!!!!! Yeah, God is Good, all the time!

When it came time to go back to school, my parents were able to bring me up to Ft. Collins where they helped me move in to a new apartment with two amazing roommates.  Living in this cozy little home, has been yet another blessing in my life.  My roommates are amazing.

The first day I moved in, one of my roommate's dad passed away, beating cancer by starving it of earthly life.  As hard as it was on her, I know that is was a blessing that he was able to stop suffering and go be with God.  This was also an opportunity for me to use my life's experiences.  Having dealt with the loss of loved ones, I really felt like God was using me and showing me how he had prepared me for his tasks.  When she needed to talk, He gave me the patients to listen with a closed mouth.  When she needed to be angry, He gave me calmness and understanding to allow her to blow up without feeling hurt.  When she needed to have time to herself, He gave me comfort knowing that she would be okay. 

My other roommate, has also been a huge blessing. Our late night talks have given me a glimpse into her beautiful heart that yearns to heal others with her career.  Although her quest to be a foreign doctor is not the same as mine, it's been amazing to learn how she thinks and how much her faith has played a part in her life.  I have also loved being able to watch her and her boyfriend as they model a Christian relationship.  It has been so encouraging to see how putting Christ in the center has helped their relationship flourish. 

Although it has been hard to be around couples during this season of singleness, learning how to be content with being myself without someone else, it has been good for me. And I know someday, God will bless me with the relationship He has given me the yearning for, in His own, perfect, timing.

Time and time again this year, God has shown me how waiting on Him and His plans works out a thousand times better than trying to do things on my own. So until next time, I will be waiting on Him <3

In Christ’s Love,

Liza –a daughter of the King <3

Chisel Me....

There are few videos that have influenced me as much as this one.  At least once every couple weeks, I watch this video.  It is full of so much goodness, so much God-ness.

I am not junk.  God made me a masterpiece. Eph. 4:10
I have baggage that God can take away, but I have to LET GO of the controls.
There's no better time to change than right now.....in this moment, in this situation.
I want people to see God and His glory when they look at how He uses my life.
No pain I can go through would ever compare to the pain that God has experienced.
My thoughts are not God's thoughts.
God has made me good.
No matter what, God does understand.
I can't let down God because I never carried Him.  He carries me.
God is a name above all names.


GOD LOVES ME TOO MUCH TO LEAVE ME WHERE I'M AT <3