Day 216.

DAY TWO HUNDRED & SIXTEEN

I woke up mean

Well, some days are absolutely lovely. This, I understand, is only by the grace of God.

Today has been lovely. I woke up upset this morning, around six a.m. It was not a pleasant feeling. Last night, I fell asleep crying. So this morning, I was feeling the residue from that. Immediately, I realized that only God could comfort me the way that I needed to be comforted. So, I prayed and asked the Lord for guidance. He led me to Psalm 8.

PSALM 8
O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth,Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength,Because of Your enemies,That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the fields, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea, That pass through the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,How excellent is Your name in all the earth.

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This Psalm comforted me so much. All I could do was rejoice and remain glad because of the Lord's excellence. He really is the only One who can save me from my sinful ways. As much as I would like to believe that I could become perfect on my own, I cannot. To be honest, I would not even want to pretend that I could. So, in case anyone is wondering I AM HUMAN and I HAVE FLAWS and I AM NOT PERFECT!!! Pfft. That sure feels good to say! Happy Sigh.

Well, I fell back to sleep and woke up around 10 a.m. This is good. Melinda and I planned to meet at 12. I needed to get ready. I used the next hour to get ready for the day. Made a promise to the Lord to keep quiet. This helped the morning to go by well.

Melinda and I met at Panera Bread Company. Melinda is a very special friend of mine. I have always loved her and appreciated her friendship in my life. We have not been in touch for years and I miss her often. She just recently got engaged, so we saw it fit to "catch up". In America, "catching up" does not always mean you tell the other person everything that you have been going through since the last time you met (because most likely it has been way too long to do that if you are having to "catch up", but instead it means that you meet each other and discuss what is currently happening, which sometimes includes minor details of how you got there. At that point, you forget the fact that you haven't seen each other in longer that you both anticipated and you rejoice in the time that you do have). The time I had with Melinda was precious to me. We prayed over the food, which included a prayer that God would be glorified in our time together. I believe He was. Melinda shared her heart about a friend of hers and I really was grateful to be apart of what she was going through. God definitely has laid in on my heart to pray for her. I am grateful to have purpose in the lives of others. God is so good to share with us His heart and allow us to share in the lives of His people. Thank You Lord. I shared with Melinda a good bit. We talked a lot about Callum. She is trustworthy and so, I was able to tell her my heart concerning him and our future together. Maybe soon, I will post more about that. As soon as I understand the words to say and am able to reflect my love in the purest, most truthful way. To God be the glory. Well, after we talked about everything we could... we left one another. It was not really fun to leave her. In my heart, I wanted to follow her back to her house like old times and help her work on the table she was fixing into an ottoman. She is a friend that I always want to know and will do whatever it takes to keep her close.

As I was headed out, I noticed a message from twitter. Ben Hightower had tweeted me and said that the note I left for him at the store made his day. It made my day that it made his day and I missed him so much. So, I went to the mall to catch him for a bit... and just like my time with Melinda, we spent an hour "catching up". This time, I seemed to be the only one talking. I told him all that I could about Taiwan, school, future dreams, and Callum. It was so exciting. To be honest, it felt like we were back four years and I was pouring out my heart to my BFF&BASIC! (BFF & Brother and Sister in Christ). Him & I have always been close. It was so nice to see him for the little bit that I was able to. He invited me to spend time with their youth group on Saturdays. I was so honored to be invited and have decided to take advantage of that offer. I will, as long as I am able to.

So, this morning has been so special. Really, special. Seeing Melinda & Ben was exactly what I needed. Both of them helped me through my rebellious stage and really loved me with the love of Christ until I came out. There are not many people I call BEST FRIENDS, but these two are so close to my heart and will always be best friends of mine. Thank You Lord for Melinda & Ben.

A LOT HAS BEEN HAPPENING IN MY LIFE.

I WILL MOVE IN WITH THE SPINKS, IN THOMASVILLE, ON WEDNESDAY.

IF ONLY I HAD THE TIME TO TELL YOU ALL EVERYTHING.

WELL, IF I DID THAT YOU WOULD PROBABLY BE OVERWHELMED :)

SO, I WILL SAY THIS MUCH... OUR GOD IS AMAZING. HE IS ALWAYS POURING OUT LOVE OVER ALL OF HIS CREATION. I AM SO EXCITED TO BE APART OF HIS PLAN TO SPREAD HIS LOVE. THANK YOU LORD. THANK YOU. LIFE IS REALLY GOOD RIGHT NOW. EVEN WHEN IT IS REALLY HARD, IT IS REALLY GOOD. I AM THANKFUL FOR LIFE AND I AM SO EXCITED FOR WHAT IS TO COME.

SOON, I HOPE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE LOVE THAT I AM CONFIDENT IN. UNTIL THEN, ENJOY EVERYTHING YOU ARE GIVEN AND REJOICE IN THE TIME THAT YOU HAVE :) GOD IS GOOD. GOD IS SO GOOD. ALWAYS. AMEN.

Thankful for: life, God, coffee, Melinda and Ben.