Week 15: "I love the Fall" Week

Hello! Hope you all survived the crazy Chicago storms (if you live in Chicago)! Last week was wonderful. I did rest...maybe too much. I was able to just relax, spend time with friends, read, pray, and just be still for the week. In the chaos of life, it's good and actually essential that we stop to do that otherwise life will just run us over, right?

Last week ended with one of my favorite things: a hayride and bonfire with friends and family. I love the Fall! A lot. I'm not quite sure why I love it so much. Maybe because my birthday is in September which leads up to the Fall, maybe the changing colors, maybe the crisp and cool air...I could continue on and on. This weekend, I was thinking about the summer and how I let that season pretty much pass me by. I didn't go to the beach, I only went to the drive-in once (if you know me, you know that's unusual), I didn't go to any movies in the park. Basically, I didn't do the things that I love to do in the summer. That season came and went and I was too busy to stop and enjoy it. That's not happening this Fall. This week, I plan on doing the things that I love about Fall. I am going to force some friends to carve pumpkins with me : ) , I am going to spend time outside, I'm going to put my new photography skills to use and take pictures of the displays of Fall around me, I'm going to enjoy this season.

This doesn't really have much of anything to do with "I love the Fall" Week, but since this whole Seize the Week blog is about growth, taking hold of every moment, and letting God transform and change me, I feel like I should fill you in on my life a little bit. Through various words from other people and through prayer, God has made it clear that I am supposed to be going into training to become a pastor in The Salvation Army in 2012. This will come as a shock to probably 90% of you, which is totally understandable. I myself have just started to come out of that shock. This basically means that in 2012, I will go into something like seminary for two years and then will be sent somewhere to serve God and His people. If I were to rewind back to the beginning of Seize the Week, which was 15 weeks ago, I probably would have been scared and would have figured out a way to push that thought to the side. Now, I accept what God has for me and I'm moving forward, trusting that God will close doors if in fact I heard Him wrong.

I have almost completed my paper application to go into training, and yesterday I completed a "Healthy Living Plan," which has come into effect starting today. This plan includes living healthy emotional, physically, spiritually, and socially. I guess I say all of this to show you how awesome God is. Do you realize that I have so far had a week during "Seize the Week" that stretched me in all of these areas? God has been preparing me and stretching me so that on Tuesday, October 26, 2010, I could start meeting these daily goals that I have set for myself. I'm not sure where all of you are at with God, but let me tell you that if you seek after God, you will find Him. It's a promise, not from me, but from the Bible. Jeremiah 29:13 says "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." When you let God in, He starts to change you in ways unimaginable. Just think about that, ok? ok.