Reflection Of 2023- What Have I learned This Past Year?

 Good morning everyone!

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      I hope you are all doing well. I woke up this morning pondering over this year. It is hard to believe that this year is almost over. It has flown by quickly. I wanted to hop on here and talk about the things that I have learned this past year. 2023 has been a year of change and opportunity. I was talking with a friend and we were saying that the past 3 years have changed a lot. This year the Lord has allowed me to go back to school and earn my teaching degree, I have done some traveling, and I have taught the little ones in my church which I enjoy so much. I have had a lot of laughs this year and new beginnings. I have also been able to connect with some amazing people this year! This past year has been a year of growing and continuing to trust the Lord even when I could not see all the pieces of the puzzle. 

    The Lord works in mysterious ways and sometimes it can be a little scary because we do not understand His ways, but we still have to trust Him. The Lord has allowed me the pleasure of working with a new teacher and I enjoy working with her. I know for me if it is a rough day and the children seem like they are bouncing off the walls, we can look at each other and start laughing. My little ones this year have taught me patience and to extend grace. I think about grace all the time and how we so desperately need it. We do not deserve it by any means, but we do need grace. Grace is that patient, unconditional love from the Lord that we need when we mess up in life. Working with children, you can learn so many valuable lessons. I am with them most of the day and for most of the time. We laugh together, play together, and then there are moments when we have to correct our behavior. 

     This is exactly how God is with us, there are moments when we will laugh and play together, but there are times when there is correction, but He mercifully extends His wonderful grace. Yesterday, someone reached out to me and asked me about my faith. I began telling them about what the Lord had done for me and basically telling them about how God has been so good to me. We began talking about the Bible and what the Lord says in His word. Now this person had a few differences in their beliefs than I did, but if I had been hateful or snobby, and dismissed them completely, I would not have been able to give my testimony and begin witnessing to them about what the Lord has done for me. After the conversation ended and we parted ways, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, "My grace makes all the difference." 

      In conclusion, what have I learned this past year, I have learned to extend grace to others. Sometimes we look at grace as being weak, but it's actually strength from the Lord to help us overcome those barriers of beliefs that we have. Grace is God's favor to those who are undeserving which means we all fall into this category. We are all undeserving of His grace, but He loves us so much that He gives it freely. Now do we take advantage of His grace and sin just to sin? Absolutely not, we are to never take advantage of the Lord, we are to love and respect Him. He is a giver, but He also has the power to take away if need be. So, with that being said, I pray that this blog post blesses you and encourages you. May the Lord bless you and keep you. Until next time, Shalom!