give. thanks.

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am..."

Philippians 4:1

With high school graduation right around the corner, I am both excited and sad. I guess that's why these times are called bittersweet. The Lord recently provided almost ALL of my financial needs to attend The Master's College this fall, and I could not be more in awe of Him.

A few weeks ago, my mom and I were talking about my college plans for the upcoming school year. We both knew I had wanted to go to TMC since I was very little, and while I got accepted into the school, money was a serious obstacle that made any kind of college seem completely out of reach. So I learned to accept the fact that I may just be going to a local community college for a year or two. Please do not hear me saying that community colleges are bad! It had just simply been my dream to go straight to TMC after high school.

Anyways, after my mom and I talked, a couple days later I came home and a letter from TMC was laying on my bed. I opened it, thinking it was a letter asking me if I had made a decision yet or not, and how to proceed. I was blissfully wrong (: Instead, it was a financial aid award letter, detailing my financial aid award for the 2011-2012 school year. The letter expalined that I would get a lot of my schooling paid for, but it still left me with a larger cost than I could pay. The following day, I recieved a CalGrant e-mail. Wondering if I had been a part of the large group that recieved nothing, I logged on and found out that the money I received from them would cover almost completely the rest of my first year of tuition. So now, I am so blessed to report, I will be a Mustang this fall! Suuuuuper happy and blessed about that, and looking forward to what God will do in the next season of my life!

On the other hand, I have a lot of friends going to far away places for college. Out of the neighborhood, out of the city, and out of state. The hardest part will be not seeing them before/during/after each class and hanging out meanwhile. And yet, that's a part of growing up. It includes seperating, going different ways, and becoming the adult you were made to be. While everyone else prepares to leave the nest, I'm preparing to stay "in my backyard" and go to a school once deemed impossible for me to attend.

This is where the contentment part comes in. It is so easy for me to want to go "somewhere" as well; to be adventurous (if that's what we're calling it) and go far away too. But then I reflect on my circumstances and all that the Lord has done for me - especially recently - and am ashamed at how ungrateful I can be, and how easily it is to be that way! I am going to a Christian college, with friends I already know, and paying almost nothing for it! How exciting is that?!?!

I guess if there is anything I want you to take away from this post is that no matter what is going on around you, be thankful. It's so easy to fall into the snares of discontent and ingratitude, but it's so wrong. Especially considering all He has done and continues to do for His own.

Thankful,

Em