*My Visa*

On December 6th I had my appointment with the French Consulate in Atlanta Georgia about getting my visa to live in France for 12 months. The interview went well, I was asked a few questions and told to present all the required paperwork to them. The man who interviewed me said I needed 3 more documents that I didn't have or that weren't correct. So I went home to immediately get these things and have them mailed back to the consulate. 1 of the documents needed translated into French and that ended up being somewhat complicated but God worked everything out! It all took longer than expected so my paper work was not all in one place as it should be until December 19th! So as of today Wednesday December 21st I have a plane ticket to fly with the Cole family to France one week from now on the evening of Wednesday December 28th so I am waiting for my visa to arrive before then!...... I am praying for a miracle right now! Everything but the visa is set and ready to go. My job is completed, I've moved out of my apartment, my bags are packed, my dog is with my Grandparents, I've been meeting with friends this week to say goodbye for now, etc.The financial side of things looks pretty good - God has worked through so many people to provide support for me and I'll continue trusting Him for that while I'm in France. The economy is bad and people said it couldn't be done but HIS servants still have very giving hearts, even when they don't have much to give - it's a beautiful thing! I am so thankful - to the Cole's for all their help and support, for the few Churches that have let me share my testimony, for all the individuals who have sacrificed their money, to the ones who came and helped me clean my apartment, to my parents for letting me come back home for a couple weeks and all the love and support their giving me, to my siblings for dealing with all my crazy moods and loving me anyway :)  to Jenny for taking road trips with me :)  and to my Church, Bible study group, and all my friends who are just plain amazing! I have to admit that I've been super busy and many days I'm stressed and anxious, I wish I wouldn't react that way but I'm human and I do. But no matter how things look to my crazy brain, or how exhausted I get with all the details and emotions, I KNOW the truth. I know how blessed I am. I know that God is in control and that He loves us and has plans and longs for us to follow Him - we're commanded to go out and tell the world about Him. My prayer for this new year is that I will keep Him as my top priority in my life. There will always be something crazy going on but if He's not first what meaning does any of this have? I don't want to be too busy for Him or His Word. I want to change and let these experiences grow my faith. I want to have a love for Him bigger than I can ever even imagine! I don't know what all will happen next year but I hold onto the hope of {Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus}. Someone told me the other day that when I'm busy and tired and feel like I can't be who I need to be just tell God exactly that - God I can't do it all, I need help, I need You. So that is my prayer as I wait for my visa, and for everything else unknown! The song I wrote says "So I trust You, I trust You with the lyrics of my life". He is writing this all out, from beginning to end, He's got it under control, and I want to stop trying to hold on to anything but Him!