Q Crashing

If I'm honest, I've always struggled with insecurities.  I always feel this pressure to preform at a certain level because in my mind everyone is watching and waiting.  Even being her in Eugene I feel like everyone is waiting to see what takes place.  This has caused me to many times focus my life around how I can best utilize my skills, abilities, and gifts to make things happen.  Many time to "make things happen" for God's glory.  Even as I type that it feels ridiculous in light of what God has been teaching me.  In the last couple of months, God has been showing me my real part to play in all of this is simple.  It is to believe.  Not believe with some head knowledge, but to believe with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.  God is moving in this world and he is bringing glory to himself and spreading His love to His people.  We get to be a part of this when we believe him and trust him.  The Bible reiterates this throughout. ...

This is an odd Christmas.  It is the first Christmas in my life where I will not be spending Christmas Eve over at my grandparents house.  Furthermore, it is the first Christmas without my granddad who went to be with Jesus earlier this year.  I got to see some family last week which was great.  My brother and sister in law came to Eugene then we all went up to Seattle to spend some time with my dad and his wife and her daughters.  Again, it was great.  But there is something hard about it every time they come out here to Oregon or I find myself back in Alabama.  It's like you kind of forget how amazing those times with family are and then when they take place it makes it even harder to go back to the reality of them being thousands of miles away.  I loved getting to hug my dad and talking with my brother about things that didn't even matter.  I admire both of these men so much.  It's hard not to have them around.  A day doesn't see...