Facebook Notes... 2007 Recap!

Today is September 16, 2008... I've decided to shut down my facebook, but wanted to save the "notes." It's interesting to look back at this 2007 recap note. As for the last paragraph, I've decided not to get a dog after dog-sitting Piper a couple times - I don't want that responsibility just yet. And I have been cooking a little more, but still not much. I am doing great on exercising more (running with Bobbi and Angie) and eating healthier and really opening up and loving people! God is good, and He is continually working on me and healing the wounded places in my soul. I have read soooo many books this year (the entire Left Behind series, for starters!) and been so blessed by God's closeness.

Anyway, here's the recap that I wrote on January 2, 2008.

2007 has been a year of change for me... it's been difficult, but I am genuinely happy with the person I've become. It's bizarre to think that at the end of 2006, I was living with my parents in Midwest City, working in Chickasha, and praying hard for a new job! ...I moved into my apartment in Tulsa a year ago today, and began my new job a year ago tomorrow. So here's a recap of the past year:

I've gone to LifeChurch for the past four years, and was really happy to become part of the Tulsa campus. I visited a couple other Tulsa churches, but I feel like LifeChurch is where I'm supposed to be. I joined a singles LifeGroup in February, and it has been the greatest blessing and answer to prayer for me this year! I've had so much fun, and I've developed close friendships with people that I know I can trust to pray for me and keep me accountable with God. I'm so grateful for that group, and can't imagine life without them now. I also joined a women's LifeGroup this summer, which was wonderful and came at a time when I needed compassion and prayer the most. I was the youngest in the group, and that inspired me to start a Bible study at my home for women my age. We began the Daniel series a couple months ago, and it's been really exciting so far!

My new job (as a court reporter in Creek County) has been such a blessing after what I went through in Chickasha – my judge is wonderful, and we cover mainly criminal cases, which was a refreshing change. (In my previous job, it had been divorces and juvenile cases all day, which quickly became depressing.)

Living on my own has been great, and I've enjoyed it more than I ever thought I would. I bought my first home in Jenks in August! God is good; the moving process went smoothly, and I truly love it here! I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. =)

In spite of all these blessings, this has been the hardest year of my life. I had to really battle negativity and depression after being unexpectedly shunned/rejected by many of my closest friends this summer. There has been so much bitterness and hostility on both sides, and I know God is not honored by any of it. I've been tempted to doubt God's love for me and to doubt my own self-worth… I'm still praying and working through some of it, but it's getting better. Satan has thrown one thing after another at me during this short period of time when I was at my weakest, and I totally fell apart and gave up for a while. It was an attempt to destroy my hope and weaken my faith… but I'm so thankful that I'm rooted in Christ, and that God put the right people around me to pray and help build me up again!!

God has been clear with me that no one can destroy my life any more than I allow them to. My opinion of myself was strongly tied to a certain person's opinion of me, which was unhealthy, and it's good for me to be free from that. I've learned to be more independent and to be "complete" when it's just me and God, and that is empowering. I know God did not endorse their behavior or cause this to happen, but I believe He's used the events of this year to completely break me and make me more dependent on Him, and now He's beginning to rebuild me and "renew a right spirit in me." I'm becoming determined not to let this pain scar me or cause me to "wall up," and God is healing those wounds and blessing me with many wonderful new friendships!

.....So here we are on the first day of 2008, and I'm an entirely different person than I was a year ago. New friends, new house, new job, new me!  I am thankful for all I have learned, and I'm determined to follow God and to keep this inner peace that I've finally found.

Other than that, I resolve that this year: I will be open and loving, and will not miss any opportunities because I'm afraid of being hurt! I will learn to cook (thanks to Natalie, Cassie, and Bobbi) and make a habit of it! I will exercise more often, and I will develop healthier eating habits! I will be more open to trying new things! I will read at least one book a month! And I will get a dog! =) Last but not least, I will "stop waiting," as they say in P.S. I Love You, and I will embrace my life as it is now and completely let go of the past… "cheers!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! =)