Affirming

It struck me as so weird to be going home for a "visit". To be packing with the knowledge that home wouldn't have everything that I needed if I forgot some things.

To knock on my door and get bowled over by family, to feel safe, and yet foreign all at the same time.

To balance homework with meeting with friends and getting back into the routine of  home.

But one of the biggest things that hit me about being home was the differences that I've made in my life and that really hit me when I read Philippians 2:12-13 for devos one day.

Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. (Philippians 2:12-13, NLT)

The biggest difference was in regard to the maturing that I have done and the differing mindset with which I face problems or situations. He has truly been fostering in me, these past few months, a growing craving to understand what life lived with Him at the center looks like. Learning how to long and desire to be in His presence and through this process He truly has been giving me the desire and power to do what pleases Him.

Not that I have it down by any stretch of the imagination, but coming home and wrestling with the temptations that I have here, the ruts that I used to fall into, and falling into some of them once more and learning how to apply what I've been learning in class to my every day life has been a really good experience.

Although I do apply it while I'm at Millar, even being at home is more "out in the world" and so seems like another step in growing.

Another thing that really hit me this week was the blessing that I realize Millar has been as I talk to people and have that oft-asked question put to me: "So, how's school going?" And as I answer with short expressions of awesomeness, or expand depending on the amount of care they actually give towards my life, about the amazing blessing these past few months have been. The community, the opportunities, the musical atmosphere, and the way that God's been moving in my life.

It's only as I'm away from that amazing place that I realize how He's been working in my life and it blows my mind. Who knows where else I could have ended up?

But because of who He is. Not because of what I've done. Because of what He's done, not because of who I am, He's placed me at Millar. And I'm so excited to see what He's got in store for me.