What a Year, Baby!

"To God be the glory, great things he hath done! So loved he the world that he gave us his Son, who yielded his life an atonement for sin, and opened the lifegate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice! O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done!" -Fanny Crosby (Verse 1, Refrain)

It was late April last year when we received "the call." Not our calling, but "the call"--the one where the divisional commander says, "pack your bags, you're on the move!" We knew we would be moving last year, but we did not expect to move early. I can honestly say that it was only the second time in my life that I dropped to my knees sobbing in joy over a phone call. (The first was hearing of my acceptance to the college for officer training) Now today, one year to the day, we celebrate our anniversary of our first day as the corps officers in this appointment.

"O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God; the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives." -Fanny Crosby (Verse 2)

We give God the glory for the work that has been accomplished over the last year, because we fully recognize that nothing has been done in our own strength. We celebrate just a few of our successes with much thanks to those that have helped us immensely along the way:

-Establishment of a vision for the future (our current building will someday be the parking lot!!!)
-Implementation of a teaching plan to increase spiritual maturity--and seeing the fruit in our congregation!
-Equipping saints as we are soon to enroll new soldiers!
-Increased thrift store sales (double!), started large item pick-ups, and purchased a box truck for thrift store
-Current on outstanding bills and still have money in the bank
-Increased awareness of The Salvation Army's mission in our community and a stronger bridge between social services and awareness of spiritual programs
-The ability to set goals and look forward to the future of The Salvation Army's ministry here with great joy!

"Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done, and great our rejoicing thru Jesus the Son; but purer, and higher, and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see." -Fanny Crosby (Verse 3)

This year has also been a time of great healing and learning in my personal walk with Christ. I haven't admitted this openly to many, but I was pretty much broken and destroyed in previous circumstances. I didn't even want to get out of bed in the morning and would cry as I was driving to where I needed to be because I was truly useless in what I was tasked to do. I was so angry with God because I knew in my heart of hearts that this was not His plans (don't get me wrong though--there were still things accomplished for the Kingdom in that brokenness and I tried very hard to keep my feelings to myself to not spread the disease of my negativity around to others). And these are a few of the things that I have learned on this hard journey:

-It's not about me. (Ouch!)
-I am God's child, a part of His beautiful creation, even when I feel like the ugly duckling of the bunch
-We can impact other people positively even when working according to God's plan for us is hindered by others
-God heals...in His time
-God takes away the pain of our hurts, but will not allow us to forget them because of the lessons that come out of it
-There are many things worth fighting for, some aren't worth the effort, but the ones that are worth it, you need to fight with all your might
-Great deep-down, soul-filling peace and joy are found in using the gifts that God has blessed me with
-Don't allow the past and my perception of the past to dictate how I feel today. It's a new day for God to do a great work within me!

And the most important thing that I have learned...

...there's still so much more to learn!!! It's a daily, minute-by-minute effort, and there is something new around every corner

I am so thankful to be in such a beautiful place, surrounded by loving and hard-working people, and for all of the blessings in my life--but I always have to remind myself: It's not the place, people, or our station in life that determine our happiness, but rather the condition of our heart and our walk with God. May I always be reminded of that fact when I get wrapped up in the dealings of the world!