Oh, what a year.

Many of you know that I went home to Michigan a week ago to graduate with my Associate's Degree in Business Management. I decided to go up for a whole week so that I could have lots of fun and visit with many friends. As I started the 11 hour drive back to Chattanooga last Sunday, it hit me: a little over a year ago I was making this drive for the very first time.

I was accepted to be an intern at Precept Ministries International for the summer of 2011. After thinking through all of the logistics, my parents and I decided that the best way to get there would be to drive my car. I remember starting out the drive and being on the same road I was driving on last Sunday. I was so nervous; afraid of getting lost or my car breaking down on the way. I was so unsure of what to expect the next 11 weeks. Some adjectives to describe myself would be: nervous. excited. unsure. hesitant. clueless.

Spiritually I was not in the best place. I was really struggling with a break up I had gone through and letting go of that friendship in entirety. I wasn't walking with the Lord like I should have been. I didn't know this last year, but I had no idea who I was. Little did I know that the summer of 2011 was about to rock my world.

So many things could be said about the summer of 2011. At some point I will explain it all. However, the spiritual transformation that I experienced in my life continues to blow my mind. I remember exactly where I was when I confided to two of my closest friends that I really thought God was telling me that I couldn't go back to my beloved hometown, but instead had to move. All three of us were very confused and unsure if it was even God.

This takes us to three or four weeks later. I really felt like I needed to do my internship for the business program at school at Precept. Well, that would require moving back. But I told the Lord that if He gave me someone to talk to about it, I would talk about it and see what happens from there.

Awesome story made short, I left the internship just filled with God's peace, knowing that I would soon return to the Ministry that taught me how to study God's word for myself, and in essance totally flipping my world upside-down... In a good way of course!!

Six weeks after getting back to Michigan I was packing up my car, this time to move to Chattanooga. I had no where to live, no job, and no idea what I was doing. Now that my friends is a concoction for success. This move is what lead to the beginning of this blog and all of the struggles and triumphs I have gotten to experience.

Since moving to Chattanooga, I have made the drive back to Owosso about seven times. Driving back a week ago really hit me as I realized it had just been a little over a year since the first time I made the trip. I had no idea that my life was about to take a 180 degree turn. If you would have asked me what my life would look like in June of 2012, it would not have been even close to what it actually is.

It's been hard. hurtful. boring. fun. exciting. stressful. beautiful. So many lessons have smacked me in the face and made me get real with life. The girl who used to have a plan for everything is now the girl who takes it day by day and is usually sporadic and last minute. The girl I was used to hate the girl I am now. But I will tell you one thing: I have never felt so free!

To remind myself: take every moment for what it is. Don't get caught up in the grand picture, but enjoy the strokes that are painting the grand picture. Stay open to life opportunities that will rock your world. I don't even know who that girl is anymore because the changes in my life have been so great that I don't ever want to go back to who I used to be.

Oh, what a year it has been. 365 days have never impacted me as much.