Thoughts for 2012

“Let our confidence be uniform. In all thy ways acknowledge Him (Proverbs 3:6). 

Take one step at a time, every step under divine warrant and direction. 

Ever plan for yourself in simple dependence on God.

It is nothing less than self-idolatry to conceive that we can 

carry on even the ordinary matters of the day without His counsel. 

He loves to be consulted. Therefore take all thy difficulties to be resolved by Him.

Be in the habit of going to Him in the first place – 

before self-will, self-pleasing, self-wisdom, human friends, convenience, expediency. 

Before any of these have been consulted go to God at once.

Consider no circumstances too clear to need His direction.  

In all thy ways, small as well as great; in all thy concerns, personal or relative, 

temporal or eternal, let Him be supreme… This is indeed to walk with God as a Father. 

This is true faith.”

–Charles Bridges, A Commentary on Proverbs (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1846/1968), 24–25.

Copied from here. 

Have a blessed start to the new year, my friends, and remember that it belongs to the Lord! 

A little catching up

Hello friends! I hope you're having a wonderful evening - one of the last days of 2011. Isn't it incredible? This last year has been so long in some ways, but it has also just flown by!

Since it's been more than six months since my old blog friends have heard from me, and since some people may never have heard of me at all - well, listen to me, pretending I have more than 1.5 readers! - I thought it might be good to talk a little about what the last year has held for me. Nothing too major, of course. I don't want to bore anybody.  :-}

**********

And those asterisks represent almost a half-hour of trying to decide how to describe my life without describing any personally identifiable details!  :-O  I think my Internet paranoia is getting worse ...

I've made it to the four-year college, and I love it! It's lived up to my expectations of being a wide-open place full of intellectual growth, leadership opportunities, demanding professors, and hard work; and it's given me a few surprises, like peaceful walks down tree-lined shortcut paths, buying hot cocoa or pastries from shivering students in the snow, lazy afternoons hanging out at the library or bookstore, and surprise run-ins with other Christians in unexpected places. I'm doing well in my classes, working several fun jobs, and meeting lots of different and interesting people. I feel very thankful and blessed to be here! I'm trying hard to be a positive influence where God has placed me.

I left my last blog, Give Me Jesus, struggling to determine a life's purpose for myself. Quite dramatically, I admit. *blush* That issue, too, has been resolved, at least for now; I've picked a major and mapped out a plan for myself in it, all the way through a Ph.D. I want to be a professor and researcher in my chosen field. I'm not going to spell it out exactly because it's pretty obscure, but it's something that I will be very good at and very content in, and in which I could really make a difference in helping other Christians. I'm committed to working hard in it and pursuing a career in that area, unless the Lord does something shocking to convince me to do otherwise. Which He has been known to do.  :-)  But the way that affects you is - no more whining and storming about finding a life's purpose. Yay!!

So basically, I am doing well. My family is doing well, too; all of my brothers and sister are in various levels of schooling and doing fabulously, getting all kinds of recognition and honors.  ;-)  We had a lovely Christmas together as a family, staying up super-late to wrap presents and popping up early again to unwrap them with the little ones. We've watched a lot of great movies for the first time, like Random Harvest (1942), Roman Holiday (1953), Tangled (2011), and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). I'm sure I'll be posting about them in the future!

Aaaaaand, it's getting pretty late, so I guess this is enough for tonight ... I'm sure I'll remember other things to tell you about later, but I just wanted to catch you up on some of the things that happened while I was gone. I've been following all of your blogs off and on, and I'm glad that y'all are doing so well. Keep the lovely posts coming!  :-)

Have a wonderful evening with your family and friends!

Love in Christ,
Vicki

Victory

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” 
John 16:33 KJV

Have courage - our Savior has already overcome this wicked world that tries so hard to overwhelm us! He defeated the power of sin and the world at Calvary, and we have victory through Him!

Love in Christ,

Vicki

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