Blessed

The other night, it hit me how incredibly blessed I am. I thought about all the opportunities and gifts I had been given, and how I had earned none of these.
I'm definitely a sinner. Every day. A bad word here, some malice there, lots of ignorance sprinkled in everywhere.
But I'm so incredibly blessed. I have a family, friends, an awesome church, and so much more.
So the next day, I set a goal not to complain. And to remind myself, I wrote on my hand, Blessed. As in, I don't know how good I have it, so I better not be complaining about annoying freshmen or watery sweet tea. That took a lot of the conversations from my day. When I remembered, that is. My hand helped.
So, while on the thread of being blessed, I thought about God's grace. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!

This means, that even though I used my moms card without asking, or prejudged someone based on looks, or made a racist joke, or any of the disgusting things I happen to find myself doing, too often, God makes me a new creation.
Me. Katherine Ann Waivers.
This blows my mind. And reaches deep into my heart. God loves me so much. But not just me. He showers His grace on everyone, all of us sinners.
This makes my heat soar.
I wrote new creation on the inside of my wrist the same day I wrote Blessed. When I saw the back of my hand and kicked myself for complaining, I would turn it over and smile. I fall, but God's grace picks me up. His love supports me.
I want to pledge to make the best of the new creation God made me. I feel like I can't do that yet, like I'm waiting for something, but really, what is it?

1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

God, let every part of that verse resonate within me. I am your chosen people, your royal priesthood, your holy nation, your special possession. I pray that I will have the willpower to go forth and declare your message of love to everyone. I'm so happy; I need to share it. Thank you for all that I am and all that I have. Amen.

Considering the Ravens

I really wanna go to MACU. Mid-Atlantic Christian University. A small school with a great foundation in God. My mom is so very not okay with that. She doesn't want to work hard every day just to pay for 'a waste of time and money'. Today I asked for a hundred dollar deposit for my enrollment and she flipped. My mom hates the idea of me going to MACU.
I'm scared as to what this means for my future. Will I get enough scholarship money? Will I be in debt from student loans for the rest of my life? Why does this have to be a big game with her?
She'll pay for ECU, UNC, NC State, but not MACU.

The Bible tells us to consider the ravens, and how they're taken care of without them worrying. How none of us can add a day to our life by worrying.

I know God is in control, but I feel like I'm being swept around by powers that are chaotic and carrying me away.
So, I guess, for the next couple months, I'll be figuring out my college plans, and spending a lot of time considering the ravens.