Great Light,

i wish it was spring.
actually, i wish it was summer.
i want to go to Africa so badly, i pray that everything works out so i can go. send me to a medical clinic, send me to an orphanage, send me wherever You wish.

i despise winter here, but i know there is a season for everything. i need this time to prepare physically, spiritually, emotionally for this trip. if for some reason this summer is not when You need me to go, i pray that You'll help me not to be discouraged. i want to be your handiwork & be used appropriately whenever You need me. i don't have to go to Africa to make a difference. i could get more involved with the poor and needy here in my hometown. but i feel a calling for Africa. the medical aspect especially hits with me; 25 doctors for 1.2 million people breaks my heart. i chose nursing as a career to be able to go on trips like this. prepare me for whatever You have in store. i want to learn all that i can in school so i can be all that i can for You. all that i can about You, all that i can about us.

prepare my heart for whenever i get to go, for that's the most important part.
in the meantime i'll keep looking at this snow with a longing for warmth, but i'll be thankful knowing You're with me always.

"o knit my thankful heart to Thee and reign without a rival there: Thine wholly, Thine alone i am... be Thou alone my constant flame."

Great Teacher,

You are teaching me grace and patience with each day, with each undesirable scenario. i wish i could stay calm the minute i enter in, but i'm still a child. hopefully i will learn, and the anger & sense of brokenness will never cross my mind. i'm sorry, so sorry for choosing the wrong thing for so long. thank You for forgiving me for past mistakes and the ones i make now, and for using my shortcomings for Your good. i want nothing other than to consistently be in line with Your will; Your ways are so much higher.

take and seal my heart. Your invisible love is sweeter than anything else i've ever come across.

"since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."
- colossians three:1-2