She would ask for time, and she'd ask for time, and she'd beg for time

Now begins the three weeks of John. The disciple John. We are studying his gospel this week. Next week we will be studying 1,2, and 3 John, then finally, Revelations on the week after that. Then, we are done with the New Testament! I am sad to see it go, but excited for what the OT has to offer. I know it will make the New Testament make more sense, and also, I am so excited for all the ridiculous stories that are dispersed throughout the Old Testament.

I am also looking forward to Revelations. This book is quite a doozy. I am very interested in all it has to say, and it has always been a favorite of mine. It is chock full of figures of speech and craziness. I am excited for what the end of times will actually look like, and I know there will be moments where I think, "oh, that's what John meant." or "I see how that looks like that crazy thing John described." You get the idea.

I am feeling different this quarter. First quarter was new, exciting, and hard. This quarter is familiar, and yet different. The place is familiar. The students are familiar. The method is familiar. I'm sure as soon as we get to the Old Testament it will become new and exciting again. I want to be excited for God's word! I want him to speak to me in new ways and open my eyes to new things I have never seen or experienced before. I feel like I have been asking for those things not just for the past 3 months, but for the past few years of my life, and I am sure he has shown me new things, I know he has, but it is hard to see things now. It's all in hindsight you realize you have changed or learned anything. I wish I could have foresight of the things I'm going to see and experience! Ha.

I have decided to title this year of my life. I know it has just begun, but I feel it is going to be a year of hope. I want to really hope for a lot this year and give people hope, or have the Lord give them hope through me somehow. I want to hear of people's hopes for me, and I want to have hopes for the people in my life right now. I was recently asked by a close friend of mine what my top three hopes are this year, and here's what I told them:
1. I hope to know Jesus better than I have ever known before.
2. I hope to know the truth and lead others toward it.
3. I hope to see people the way Christ sees them. Through the Father's eyes.

I hope those hopes happen, and I hope this year brings many new, wonderful things into my life and also my friends' and family's lives.

I also challenge all of you to share with one person your current struggles and hopes and ask them to pray for you, only if you do the same for them of course. God will begin to answer those prayers this very day! Yesterday we did that during intercession and it was amazing to see him provide opportunities to change and show me that I am loved, all because I shared it with someone. That is how God created us I think. I know actually. He created us to be relational and open and raw with other people so that his power is shown in our weak, humble confessions to others.