What Matters Most in Life

I have been pondering what to share from the past couple days. It was full of so many amazing things, I'm not so sure that I should put it all in one post, but we'll see where it goes. I typically just start writing and see how it goes. *grin*

After doing shuttles on Sunday, I headed South to Joplin. I will be honest and state I had been REALLY looking forward to Sunday Night because I was going to spend the evening with Karen. Karen remains one of my absolute favorite people in my little world. We enjoyed Olive Garden and getting caught up with each other. I love swapping stories with Karen about what God's doing in our lives. It's priceless to me.

I got up yesterday (Monday) and went and spoke to a college class at MSSU. I do this once per semester, and am constantly blessed to keep being invited back. I was a little surprised where God took my speech yesterday. It had a twist to it that I had never had before, and toward the end He guided me to poll the students what they were going to teach. He highlighted one of the gals to me in that moment, and had me go up to her afterward and encourage her. I LOVE THAT!!! THAT'S WHAT I'M CREATED TO DO, ENCOURAGE OTHERS! I loved it!

After the presentation, I went to lunch with the two professors of the class. We sat and pondered the world of education, which is always time well spent for me because it's cool to see it through the eyes of educators who have been in the field for longer than me. The phrase we said several times was, "These are interesting times we're living in." That is SO true.

After that I asked God what He wanted me to do the rest of the day. That's the joy of Spring Break, I could do whatever I wanted. *grin* He told me to wait for Karen. So, I did. *grin*

What followed was several hours of amazing laughter, prayer, tears, and conversation that made the entire trip for me. In those hours, God taught me SO much about life and what truly matters this side of Heaven. As we sat at McDonald's (My pick, I was craving fries!) we talked about living life by the Spirit. I was enormously blessed to know I'm not the only person who lives life by the Spirit. That doesn't mean I'm living via Karen, it means God reminded me that I'm not alone in this journey this side of Heaven. That made the trip for me. *grin*

I also LOVE that we would stop and pray whenever we wanted. That's what I dream about, having friends who will just stop and pray with me whenever. That's truly a blessing from the Lord.

While we were out and about, Karen drove me through area affected by the tornado. It was amazing to see it now, as I haven't been through most of it since last Summer. It was encouraging to see the progress that's been made, and that made my heart happy. There were still portions of the town that still saddened me a little, but re-building takes time. I was glad to see it again.

Through the whole trip, the tornado area, talking to the college students, and hanging out with Karen, God reminded me what matters most in life: PEOPLE. It wasn't that I had forgotten, but it was a small nudge for me. Karen and I spent HOURS talking. Just talking, and in that I had the BEST time.

Karen's leaving in a couple months, and I'm SO EXCITED for her. It's not going to matter where she is, because God's going to be guiding us both on our own journeys and when we get together to catch up from time to time, I can't wait to hear the God stories we're gonna swap. *grin*

LIFE.
IS.
AMAZING!!!