5 Things I'm Thankful For!

Dear Friends, 

Happy Day After Thanksgiving! Or, as many of you might say, Happy Day-to-find-cheap-Christmas-Presents Day! However, since I neither have a car nor any money, I am still on the Thanksgiving side of things. And since I have yet to do this, I would like to share five things I am thankful for.

1.)   I am thankful for the God I serve: This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. I am so blessed to serve a God who is good. I am so thankful that God is all-powerful, all-knowledgeable, all-capable, and yet cares deeply for me as a person. I love that I don’t have to be afraid of my God. I can trust him and know that he is good.

2.)  I’m thankful for my Family.

a.    My parents each love God, love each other, and each of their eleven kids. My parent’s raised me well; I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. I never had to worry if they were going to stay together or not, which is a blessing I don’t even fully understand.

My wonderful blessing of a family!

b.    I’m thankful for each and every one of my ten siblings. Each of my siblings is truly a blessing. I would go into how each one has impacted my life, but that would take next to forever. But know that I thank God each day for my siblings and I would never ever trade them for anything. 

c.     I am thankful for the Extended Family that I have. I have Grandparents who love God, Aunts and Uncles who love God, and cousins who love God. I also have aunts, uncles, and cousins who have yet to believe. My extended family, although crazy at times, is a blessing.

3.)   I’m thankful for the ability to study the Bible

a.     I wrote a paper last year about how much I took my Bible for granted, and yet, I still do that very thing quite often. I forget that many people do not have a Bible in their mother tongue. I am so blessed to have the Word of God in my first language; both Old and New Testaments; in multiple versions; with multiple additional resources; and all on the internet which means I can get any of this in 2 minutes. It’s SUCH a blessing

b.    My time at Moody in Spokane, although it’s not even been a full semester yet, I have learned so much about God and his word. I have hit a spiritual growth spurt, and it’s one of the most wonderful things in the world. The professors are wise and compassionate; I am so glad I came out her

Most of my Housemates.

4.)  I’m thankful for the relationships I have.

a.    I’m thankful for my housemates. Each of them has taught me something this semester. It has been great to be surrounded with godly young women who are growing right along side of me.

b.    My relationships back home, especially with friends from Grace church have been such a blessing this year. It’s so good to know people are genuinely concerned for my well being.

c.     Jordan and I have recently started a mentorship relationship with the Associate Dean of Residence Life and Spiritual Formation here at MBI and his wife. This relationship has already proved to be incredibly beneficial. Brian and Amie are full of knowledge and experience and have already taught Jordan and I much. I am so excited to see how God works through this relationship

Me and My Man.

d.    Which brings me to my relationship with Jordan Scott Fischer. I could go on for days about how much of a blessing Jordan is, but for your sake, I’ll try to sum it up in a couple sentences. Jordan has encouraged and motivated me to grow deeper in my relationship with Christ. Jordan has honestly, as cliché-ish as it sounds, has helped me grow into a better person. God has given me a man that I love to serve and respect; I couldn’t ask for a man better than Jordan. 

5.)   Finally, I’m thankful for my possessions. That may surprise you, but I am realizing more and more how I need to be thankful for the things I have. For example, I am incredibly thankful for my computer; it allows me to achieve things quicker and easier. I’m thankful for my bed, my wardrobe, my shower, my phone, my house, my glasses, my journal. There are several items that I own, that many people do not. Instead of pretending that the average person owns a laptop, I am going to praise God for the things he’s given me and do my best to use them to serve him and others.

Now, there are countless other things I’m thankful for, but these five are the ones I’ve been thinking about the most this past week. I pray you all have spent sometime thanking God for all that you are blessed with. And I hope you don’t get to warped up in Christmas shopping that you forget to be thankful, like I quite often do.

In Christ,

Hannah

Missions Conference

Dear Friends,

As some of you may know this past Monday and Tuesday (the 14th and 15th) I attended Moody Bible Institute- Spokane's Missions' conference.
I have never actually been to a mission's conference before and, as you may be able to imagine, I was quite excited.
I wish I could tell you everything that happened, everything I learned, everything I experienced; however, I neither the time nor the words. But I can tell you the Lord moved. He taught me many things. And stirred up my heart. I have begun praying for missions like I haven't before. I even changed my major from Youth Ministry to Intercultural Missions with a Youth Interdisciplinary. I ask that you would join me in praying for the nations as well as wisdom in direction and passion for wherever God may use me.

In Christ,
Hannah

Change

This past week I've realized how much people change

Family Picture in Dec 2007

I'm reminded of this often when I talk to my little brothers at home. Almost every time my mom sends me a picture I am astonished at how much they grow. And when I was showing  one of my housemates old pictures of my family. If you look at the pictures, my family has changed immensely over four years.

Family Picture without Caleb or I, Oct 2011

Then, I was skyping yesterday with a friend from home yesterday. She and I hadn't talked in a while and therefore we spent a lot of time catching up. And as we do almost every time we talked, we discussed how much we have changed in the many years we've known each other. We joked about how we thought we were so old when we were 16. We were almost upper classmen in highschool; we could drive; we were practically adults! But since then we have changed so much.

And then in my devotions today I was reminded of the unchanging character of God. In a world that is constantly changing, it's so assuring to know that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Some of you already know this. But how often do you dwell on the fact that God never changes! He is secure and reliable. Never will he change. I don't know about you, but for me, this is something that I want to dwell on more often. It is so comforting to have a God that I can rely on. :~)


In Christ,
Hannah