New Year, New Beginning, Continued Journey ･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Hello everyone! It’s been a good minute since I last wrote on here, and I apologize for that…life has just been so busy lately!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and New Years, and now that things are beginning to settle down a bit; hopefully you are feeling less stressed and more excited for the new year ahead.

A brief little update on what has been going on in my life…not long after my last blog post in September, Jeremy and I found out we were (drum roll, please) PREGNANT!

Not to mention, I changed jobs, chopped off my long hair, and I started back in school. It has definitely been exciting all around! I am thrilled for the new year ahead, and I can’t wait to see what God has planned for 2020. I will continue to share some pictures from the last four months, as I update you all on everything.

Back in August, I discussed with you about some changes I had been making in my life, however I did not really go into depth about what changes specifically. With New Year’s resolutions being made right now, I thought it would be the perfect time to share a few of those changes with you all.

I mentioned above that I am currently back in school, and while it might seem hectic being pregnant and in school at the same time (to be clear, I had registered for school a month before I knew I was pregnant), I’ve never been more eager and ready to go after my degree! I realize the road ahead will be a challenge, but God has equipped me with the necessary tools to face it.

I was a little anxious at first, given the fact that I had left school back in 2013 and I hadn’t been back since. I honestly thought that was it for me. It is amazing how God will bring you back to something, with more courage and strength than you ever had before. That’s how powerful prayer is. I have been praying for some time now that God would give me that extra “push” to help me brush aside all of the negative thoughts Satan was tossing into my head, to throw away all of those fears of uncertainty, and to help guide me toward that mountain I had been staring at for so long.

It reminds me of when I was a little girl, when my parents would take my sisters and I to Six Flags Over Texas. I remember so many times, standing next to my parents and feeling so small, as we would wait in line for rides such as the “La Vibora”, one of which I was especially terrified of. There were so many twists and turns, I always had the fear I would get tossed out of the rollercoaster. I eventually overcame that fear once I grew older, and it became one of my favorite rides there!

That is kind of how it’s been for me the last six or so years of my life. There have been so many twists and turns. So many things crowded into that short amount of time, that I truly believe have helped to shape and mold me into the person I am today.

In the last six years, I have been married, I moved from my hometown in Texas to South Carolina, I had emergency surgery for a ruptured ovarian cyst, which resulted in a week long hospital stay (2014), got pregnant, had a son, and moved back to Texas (2015), was left to raise a seven-month old by myself, which then led to a lengthy divorce (2016-2017), then God brought another man into my life (my husband Jeremy), who would show my son and I the true meaning of love. A man who would propose to me, marry me, and stand by me (2018). After our wedding celebration, we were hit with a miscarriage and the death of my step-grandma (in January, both at the same time), another miscarriage in May, the death of my grandpa in September, and then my other grandpa in November (all in 2019).

It has been quite the rollercoaster to say the least! However, it was all necessary to get me to this point in my life. I’ve grown to enjoy the ride of life, no matter how wild or crazy it might be. The thing is, you learn so much about yourself with the more things you go through. You learn about your strengths and weaknesses, and you are able to find ways to better cope with those challenges that hit you head-on.

These are the experiences that brought about the changes I am making in my life currently. I’ve decided I no longer want to feel weak because of the mistakes and challenges of my past. I no longer want to view those experiences as negative because they aren’t! It is through those experiences that God showed his grace and mercy, he literally laid his hand on my life and told me it was going to be okay. Those experiences brought me the joy I have in my life currently. I am not saying that I don’t have moments of sadness and disappointment (I do), but the joy God has given me far outweighs those moments.

My hope is that God will provide me with opportunities to help others with similar situations. My prayer is that He will use me wherever I am in life, and whatever career path He leads me to after I’m finished with school and graduated. I want to bring God the same joy He has brought me. Whatever happens this year and in the years following after, I know I have nothing to fear; because my God is walking the road beside me.

There are some quotes I would like to share from the Facebook page of Bob Goff that I thought would be good reminders for 2020:

”Don’t let what you’re afraid of keep you from what you were made for.” -Bob Goff

“God uses uncertainty to chase us out into the open where we can find Him all over again.” -Bob Goff

“A setback isn’t your enemy; it’s your teacher.” -Bob Goff

If 2019 was a struggle for you, I pray that you will find joy in 2020. I pray that if you are contemplating some big decisions and you are feeling scared or uncertain, that you will give them over to God and allow Him to lead you in making those decisions.

Don’t bring with you the struggles and challenges of 2019, into 2020. If you absolutely have to bring those challenges with you this year, allow God to teach you something through them, allow Him to make something of them this year. Start this new year with the knowledge that God will be beside you to help guide and protect you, with the knowledge that He already has a plan. Allow God to lead you this year and in the journey ahead of you!

Copyright © 2020 Angela J. Stout.