Week 8, Day 4

Last night, I had women's group up in Chicago through a church that I have been attending for about a year now. There are about 7 of us that meet and share life together. God has truly blessed me with this amazing group of young adult women. During group last night, I shared about what I've been going through lately, and I would like to share with you readers as well. This is a weird season in my life right now: Friends are moving away, some only 10 minutes away and then some all the way to places like Hawaii and the Republic of Georgia. While I am so excited that God is leading them into different places around the world to be His hands and feet, it's still hard for me. I have been trying to figure out how to cope with the change of that happening as I find myself losing some huge supports in my life. I just feel lonely, you know? Also, long story short we have a teenage girl living with us temporarily which has been hard, yet I know that God has His hand in this. And finally, I feel like insecurities are coming out in a big way right now, and I find myself in a constant battle between truth and lies. I've been running on my own strength and not on God's which has left me tired and weary.

Now, I know that this is a little serious compared to the last several blogs that I've put up, but this background info is important for you to know so that today's post makes sense.

Last night as the women's group was praying for me, one of the girls made a connection between today being my birthday and on the same day, the start of Rosh Hashanah which is the Jewish New Year. Today I'm proclaiming my own "New Year." Today's a brand new start, and during this year I will grow closer to God and will once and for all say "good bye" to insecurities that have been there for so long. I will get my butt in our prayer chapel and start the day off on the right foot. This year will be about freedom and actually living life to the full. God will uproot and weed out anything that doesn't belong so that I can be firmly rooted on a solid foundation.

I'll end with this: The central observance of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, which is a ram's horn. The sounding of the shofar represents many things, but one was particularly interesting for me. The cry of the shofar is a call to repentance, to turn totally away from our sin and walk the opposite direction. The article I read said that there are about 100 shofar blasts over the course of the Rosh Hashanah service, which means that there are plenty of reminders to repent!

Today, my birthday, I'm making a decision to start anew and to turn away from all the junk that's keeping me away from living the life that God has intended for me to live. That doesn't mean for this whole year I'm going to live a perfect life, but it does mean that I'm going to stay connected to the source and let Him pick me back up when I stumble. No more going backwards or staying in the same place. This year is about freedom and growth! Why don't you join me?