Surrendering to Joy

      Hey all - I apologize for the delay in posting; so many factors are behind it that I won't even mention most of them. However, my biggest block seemed to be coming up with something to write about. Then, completely out of the blue, I got hit with a metaphor that is unbelievably perfect! It goes along so well with everything God's been showing me recently, as well as with my last post. May it never be said that the Lord doesn't provide for us!      So, last Spring, as the school year was winding down, I was put in charge of a new project we had in our class. We received a small gardening kit, with three different types of seeds, as well as three different colors of "NASA space gel" to use instead of dirt. (This actually ended up being my project specifically, as preschoolers aren't exactly old enough for a project like this one. It was quite interesting just trying to keep them from shaking the poor things!) About a week or so after planting these see

     Evening everyone -      I heard an unbelievably beautiful song on the radio yesterday. It is called "Forgiven" by Crowder*, and several lines really stuck out to me. My favorite line from this song? "I could've been six feet under; I could've been lost forever"      It struck me that I could use that line as a starting point for a new blog post; it relates SO well to my life. There have been plenty of times the past couple of months where I have cried out in pure thankfulness to God for saving me from myself. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone is lead astray at some point in their lives. I am hoping that this particular post will be at least a slight source of encouragement to anyone that currently feels as though they are lost or alone in darkness. I cannot emphasize this enough: you. Are. Never. Alone. EVER.      I've walked through a lot of darkness the past few years. Praise be to God, I only walked about one foot or so into sai