wow!...ive been really overwhelmed with the outpouring of thoughts, comments, and messages about this blog

it has literally left me speechless...which, as you my know, is quite a feat


ive been encouraged, humbled, blessed, challenged, and filled with joy from ALL of it...

thank you so much.

it has literally brought me on my face before God with nothing but awe and gratitude...

so again...friends present, friends past, friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends....thank you so so so so much.


so this post will probably not be as long for a few reasons

-im in barnes and noble and im pretty distracted
-miranda will be here in 25 mins(ish)
-for some reason, probably a very Good one (yes that g was supposed to be capitalized) my flow is a little off...ususally when this happens though God does something cool later by pulling me together in a whole different direction...which means that this may turn into a 2 or 3 post kind of day :)

i had alot of time to think yesterday on the 4.5 hour drive and had i somehow been able to type all those thoughts the product would have most certainly been a novel...God really revealed some awesome things and im no less than stoked to walk through those over the next few days with Him and then share them with you


for now though, i will share just one


i drive alot.

mostly because of the post yesterday

i have friends all over

and i constantly am going to see them....

which leads to me spending hours upon hours in the car with me, my ipod, Jesus, and time to think

alot of thoughts pass through my head in that time before i find one that actually sticks and affects me



this was no exception yesterday

maggie: this is the analogy i was going to tell you


although i really love the time i get to spend just being with God on the open road, after a few hours of nonstop driving, especially if the adderall is wearing off, i tend to get a little restless, as i figure anyone else would too.


this too was no exception yesterday


you may or may not (probably the latter) know anything about milledgeville ga but while it is certainly not flat at all...it is no upstate south carolina


as i began to drive i was really enjoying the random shuffle of songs on the ipod and looking at all the beautiful trees changing colors and having nothing but time and just being free to think


about hour 3 of that though, right about the time i hit the state line, it went almost immediately from wow, what an enjoyable adventure to...wow...why dont i just stop at the next exit i see and try to make friends there that wouldnt be as far away...


i mean i was really getting annoyed

i took my shoes off

put my shoes on (dont worry guys, they were just rainbows i wasnt tying nikes in the floorboard)

turned the music off

turned it back on

changed how i was sitting

changed again
and again
and again
and...

back to the first way


rolled the window down

back up

down

halfway

up

yes...up worked best


it was awful

and then i started getting annoyed with the hills

there were so many of them,

over and over and over and over and over


it was horrible

i was just ready to be there...gosh

it was so frustrating

i then began thinking about how much cheaper gas is in upstate sc then in ga...about 30 cents

relief for a second

then more irritation because i realized my car was using more gas trying to go up and down the hills and so the gas difference really was nonexistent


AHHHHHHHH...i was ready to scream

i did scream


it didnt help


BAM

no not a wreck...

Jesus

the thought

i was so busy thinking about how much energy my car was using on the hills, and how i was so tired of driving, and how i could totally be doing something better with my time

that i neglected to realize something else

every minute that passed was one minute nearer to what i had started out for

and the bigger and closer the hills got...the closer i was to what i was going for



got it yet?

ive been wrestling the most lately with why instead of reward for geting over trials (hills) and giving me some "flat land" for a while i just end up running into BIGGER hills that are closer together...that doesnt seem fair


but when paul says consider it joy my brothers when you endure trials of all kinds, that is exactly what he is talking about


what God is telling me is you should be joyous because of the reasoning of Me giving you BIGGER hills...it means you are getting closer and closer to Me, to Who I Am...to My Love...to My Heart...

and yea, the more hills...the more i have to get gas

the more trials...the bigger the trials...the more i have to stop and fill up on Christ

but He promises a full tank WHENEVER we need it

its exciting to go through trials when you think about what God is speaking to you by giving it to you...

but in order to dwell on and remain in that, we must first take our eyes and thoughts off of all the things that are hard about it and why something else would be easier or better....or faster



ok well on that note


miranda just drove in the parking lot


have an amazing friday