Twenty-two.

I'm not going back; I'm moving ahead
I'm here to declare to You: my past is over
In You, old things are made new
I surrendered my life to Christ
I'm moving, moving forward

These words have begin to sink in and settle in my heart and I've decided this:

What's been done before and the things of the past, of last year, or last week, or a few minutes ago--those things that didn't work out, held me back, or didn't move me or push me towards excellence as a Christ-follower--those things don't matter now. I have new visions and dreams and new goals to set, creating new choices to make. It's a new day, and I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it and that God gave me a second chance when he sacrificed His Son 2,ooo years ago.

When I dwell in the past, I've decided to repeat the same trip I've taken before. What I found at the end of the road yesterday, I'm going to find the same today. I need to pick a new route, in order to see new results. Pastor Ben said this recently: "You can't keep doing the same old things and expect different results." That's so true.

And when he said that, I decided that I needed to grow and progress. I can't expect for new things to arise and keep doing the same old stuff over and over. I need to change in order for things to change. Mike tells me often that you can't lead people where you haven't already been. So if I want the students in Reality to grow as worshippers and to become more passionate, I have to do that. If I want them to seek God, I need to.

So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to set out on a new and improved spiritual journey to seek God in all things and to dig into His Word and listen for His guidance. God has plans for me and sometimes I think I miss them because I simply become too lazy to listen or too lazy to ask Him what to do.

This year, I plan to wake up a whoppin' 15 minutes earlier so that I can talk to God and listen to what He has in store for me. And since it is so difficult for me to wake up early, I need to work myself into going to bed earlier. Please pray that I can do these things in order to grow closer to God, who longs to build a relationship with me.

As for me--I'm moving forward!