12 months.

12 months may not seem like a very long time, but more than any year before, I’ve realized this year just how fast time goes by. AND how much can happen in just 12 short months.

It’s crazy I tell you.

These past 12 months have been some of the best 12 months of life. These 12 months have been full of new adventures, new friendships, new growth, tears (and some heartache), and falling deeper in love with my Savior.

Today, my year-long internship at Kingsland Baptist Church comes to an end. This chapter has closed, and I’m stepping into a new one. Today is bittersweet. I am so sad to be leaving my Kingsland family, but I’m excited for what is next.

This year has been full of so many memories and new friendships. This year has given me the opportunity to go to India & Cambodia. It has given me the opportunity to work with refugees. It has given me the opportunity to work with ministries like Manna House and St. Cloud. It has given me the opportunity to serve the local community alongside our church body. It has given me opportunities that I will cherish for a lifetime. It has given me opportunities to grow in ways I never thought possible. And this year has given me new friends; friends, that I know, will last for a lifetime.

But more than any of that, this year, has given me more reason to fall deeper in love with my Savior. It has made me press into Him even more. It has made me lean and trust in His understanding and not mine. I have had to abandon my ways and trust in His ways. God continues to show His faithfulness over and over and over and over. He continues to provide! He continues to remind me, that He is in control and has me in the palm of His hands! This year, has allowed me to fall more in love with Him!

As I reflect back on these 12 months, I am overwhelmed by the love of God and the love my Kingsland family has shown me. As I reflect back on this year, I am overwhelmed with all that I have learned, but 3 things stick out to me.

#1 life goes by in a blink of an eye.

This year has reminded me just how fast life goes by. It has reminded me that I need to live each day to its fullest by glorifying God to the best of my ability. I need to wake up glorifying God, I need to glorify Him through the day, and I need to glorify Him as I go to sleep. People come in and out of our lives. We may meet people once, and never see them again, or we may know someone our entire life. So when they meet us, what do they see? Even if it’s for a short period of time, I want them to see Jesus in me and nothing else. Yes, I am human, and so are you. We are going to fall short, but we can pick right back up by God’s strength, and continue to glorify Him. We can glorify Him to our fullest.

Life will go by in a blink of an eye. We don’t know when our last day is, so let’s glorify Him every step of the way. Let people see Jesus in us, whether they see us from a distance or our entire life. Let Jesus be the One they see.

#2 the nations are here.

I have learned more than ever before that the nations are in our own backyard. A large part of this past year for me has been working with refugees. By working with them on a weekly basis, it has shown me that I don’t necessarily have to hop on a plane to work with the nations. They are here too. They are at our doorstep.

The Lord has really convicted me this past year. If you know me, you know my heart for international missions. You know that I have a heart to serve people groups overseas and to love on them. However, this year the Lord has really gotten a hold of me. He’s shown me that yes, I have a heart for overseas missions, but am I also serving the nations that are right here in my backyard? Do I love on the people around me the same way I would love on someone overseas? What am I doing with the nations right in my backyard? Not only serving the nations here, am I serving my friends and family the same way? People, whether here or overseas, need the love of Jesus.

#3 trust in God’s plan. trust in His timing.

This has been one of the hardest but most rewarding lessons to learn this past year. I think I have learned more about trust this year than any year before. And not just that, I think I’ve learned more about His timing this year. We might not always understand everything that is going on. We might not understand God’s plan. We might not understand His timing. But we have to trust it. He knows what He is doing far more than we do.

I have had to lean on Isaiah 55:8-9, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.⁹ ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”

God knows all. His timing is perfect. He is faithful. He is constant. He is loving. He is overall.

I praise God for who He is, and the opportunities He has given me this past year. I am beyond thankful for the opportunity to have worked at Kingsland Baptist Church, the people I worked with, and everyone else I came in contact with along the way. God is good. And He keeps showing me that over and over. Praise Him!