Ooh Chloe

I had an odd thought this morning. I wish I hadn’t “prayed about it.” At first I was shocked at my thought. Why would I think that? Why would I wish I hadn’t “prayed about it?” What harm came from praying? Why did I view it as a mistake? I felt like a bad Christian. But I realized I didn’t wish that I hadn’t prayed altogether, I only wished I had prayed differently. At the beginning of this year I was faced with a decision. I knew what the Bible said, and I knew God had a perfect design and plan. However, I felt that following this plan would potentially give people the wrong idea of God. You know, I thought I knew better than God. I wrestled with this decision. Even though I knew God’s guidelines were clear on this particular issue, I told those closest to me that I would do the right thing, and “pray about it,” and I did. My prayers were rather one-sided, though. They usually came out like this (all in one breath): “God-help-me-to-do-what-you-would-do-and-help-me-to-see-Your-wil

Oh, friends. I am struggling to confine the swirling thoughts in my head to one readable, concise post. (An issue that has been plaguing me all year.) One thing I can say clearly is that my heart is full. In fact, it’s running over. My first post this year was a rather solemn one. The pain and loss I experienced shed light on many issues in my life and heart. At the time, I couldn’t see that, but now I do. Because of that, I would take it all again in a heartbeat. Of course, I miss my grandma and think about her every day, and of course I still wonder why it’s so hard for people to be kind, respectful, and honestly just decent human beings; however, I can stand here with confidence and tell you that my relationship with God is stronger than it has ever been. It took the loneliest day of my life for me to begin the process of drawing closer to God – or to allow Him to pull me closer. That might be more accurate. It was during this time that I took a step back from blogging. I wante

Today is a special day for me. Today, I celebrate my third birthday. Now, you’re probably confused. It’s not Leap Year, and if it was, I would actually be twelve years old – and I’m clearly not. You see, it’s not my physical birthday. It’s my spiritual birthday. Three years ago, today, I was, as Jesus said, born again. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” – John 3:3, 6 I would like to take a moment to reminisce on my “birthday.” I grew up in church. Many of my earliest memories take place in my grandma’s church – singing hymns, getting piggy back rides from the youth, shyly smiling at my grandma’s friends as we ate at many pot luck dinners, and making tons of crafts during Vacation Bible School. As I grew, I became more knowledgeable on religious matters. I knew all the “important” stories. I generally knew the right things to say

Last weekend I went on a camping/hiking trip. I had such a great time, but even more importantly, my eyes were opened to a lot of truths in my life. Or maybe just life in general. I went with a group of people from a church group I am in. Friday night, we built a fire, roasted hot dogs and s'mores, played cards, talked for hours, and then slept in tents in the rain! Saturday morning we woke up, had breakfast, and embarked on our eight mile journey. The beginning of the hike was nice, level ground, only slightly damp from the rain. I was beyond excited, and ready for a nice, relaxing walks in the trees. Not too far into it, the trail became much less level, the ground was slick with mud, and it seemed we were always going either up or downhill. It wasn't too hot, but the rain did cause some humidity. I was okay with it at first, but after a while I was done. The only problem was I couldn't back out. I had to move forward. I didn't have a choice other than to put one fo