Where is God in your past?

Think about where God has been in your past.  Always there.  "lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:20  He may have been a very vibrant act, a faint shadow, or the Carrier, picking you up and taking you to the next step.  Regardless, he has always been there.  He will always be there, too.  You just have to let Him.  If you don't see Him when you look back on your life, stop now and pray this prayer: "Lord Jesus,I know I am a sinner.  I know the only way to Heaven is through you.  I know I need you.  Please come into my life and be my Savior.  I know I can not work my way or pay my way into Heaven, I ask that you would forgive me for my sins and be my Redeemer.  Amen."  Simple as that.  No magic words, but it is confession from your mouth and you must believe in your heart.  And next year when you look back on your life and say, "Where was God in my year?",  you will see Him.  He will be the rock you have leaned on, the shoulder you have cried on, the Redeemer you have pled to.  There are so many times I can pin point in my life as "God was soooo there".  A few that really stick out in my mind are 1) when I was t-boned at an extremely dangerous intersection in College Station (one of the deadliest in the state of Texas at that) - the car's remnants show there was no way I should have come out of that un-harmed let alone alive, but I know God safely took the brunt of the hit for me; 2) when I went to the ATM in my car to get a stranger money because I believed his story that he had to get to his wife in Houston ... the turkey took the last $40 out of my bank account, but when I look back on it I think, "had I not gotten the idea to go around the corner to get the money, he may have tried to bust in my apartment, hurt me, and ransack everything to look for something valuable (he wouldn't have found a thing ... I was a poor college student in Bryan!); 3) when I sat CR down on the couch prepared and ready to break up with him - the Lord muted my mouth, made my stomach hurt, and then I burst into tears.  These are just a few standout examples of times I can say God was right there moving in my life so that I wouldn't take the wrong turn.  He has a purpose for each of us, and He is always there to use what we do for His good.  Are you letting Him use you for His good, or are you trying to use Him for your good?

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who have been called according to His purpose."  Romans 8:28

You may be asking, "Lauren, what is this random picture of snow doing on your page?"  Well, I was going through an old backup hard drive of CR's and came across this.  I photoshopped a little because it was hazy, but this picture is such an awesome image.  This is in my in-laws backyard.  This tree is no longer there, it was slammed down by a bad storm a year or so ago.  It is funny to think that just like when grandpa would tell stories and say, "and there was this neat old tree that we would climb ... that tree had memories and I miss that tree" that we have a "memory tree".  When did we get old enough to have a memory tree?  I know this tree has many fond memories for Ray, Kitty, Katherine, and CR.  I am anxious for our trees that we planted shortly after we moved in to branch out and produce many memories for our family.