Merry Christmas, and Welcome!

Hello there - welcome to my blog! My name is Victoria, Vicki for short, and this is the third installment in my series of blogging adventures. I'm so glad you've decided to stop by!  :-)

I am a college student from the Midwest. I graduated from our family's home school several years ago, and I'm earning my bachelor's degree on my way to my ultimate goal of becoming a researcher and professor - while working, playing music, making friends, and above all, learning more about the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm funny but serious, amateurishly artistic, outspoken online but shy in real life, and a passionate lover of beauty in all places that I find it - silent movies, hidden river valleys, crying Irish music, soaring sun-drenched cathedrals. We live in a beautiful world, and it inspires me to draw closer to the God Who created all of this beauty.

I am a Christian. This means a lot of things to a lot of different people - to me, it means that I was born a sinner, a rebel against God, sentenced to eternal suffering and separation from His love and fellowship; but He loved me, personally, and He paid my sentence by sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to save me. Jesus died in my place, offered His pure and sinless blood as a sacrifice to atone for my sins, and rose again on the third day to defeat death and win eternal life for me forever. He is the mighty Creator and Judge of the universe who will one day destroy all evil without mercy, and also the Good Shepherd who gently gathers me into His arms and lets me rest my weary heart in His care. I would be completely hopeless and lost without His love to cherish, guide, and protect me. He is a wonderful, wonderful God.

The title of my blog is "No More Afraid," and it comes from the words of a beautiful and somewhat rare hymn, "My Life, Dear Lord, I Give to Thee":

My life, dear Lord, I give to Thee
In humble faith and loyalty,
To be Thine own in what is planned,
And heed with joy Thy love’s command.

Show me the trails that turn and climb
Through lonely deeps to heights sublime,
Yet never lose their touch with life,
Its endless round of peace and strife.

I pray for tasks that ease the load
On other hearts along the road;
And love forgiving, patient, tried,
To quicken faith and hope beside.

Gird me with light whose rays and heat
Shall blaze a path to Thy blest seat,
That halting steps, no more afraid,
May reach the goals for which they’ve prayed.

O grant me grace to serve with Thee
In love unfailing, pure, and free;
Guide me in trails which few have trod,
Whose winding ways lead home to God.

I'm so glad you came by my blog, and I hope you'll come back and join me the adventure of faith - learning to trust my Savior more deeply, to know Him and walk with Him, and to love Him and devote my whole life to His will. Come and join me on the journey!

Love in Christ,
Vicki