Friday, January 14, 2011

New Beginnings

So. Here is my new blog. I have been thinking about this blog and what I wanted to do with it for a little while now, and I have finally come up with a conclusion. I knew that I wanted to write about the happenings in Michael's & my life so that our family and friends would be able to know, hence the title "Hamme Sweet Hamme". Yes I know I am not a "Hamme" just yet, but close enough  :) Just today as I was driving (all of my best thinking is done when I'm driving, so watch out because I am not paying attention) so driving, and I was thinking about how the internet is impacting people all over the world in so many ways. Yes, I did just watch The Social Network last night. Good movie, or at least I think so. AND I decided that I would use this blog to not only update friends and family of the events in Mike's & my life, but to let people know what my new walk with Jesus has looked like.  I want this blog to be REAL, to be uncensored. I do not want it to be a blog where I ONLY write about all of the wonderful things that are happening in my life since I decided to follow Jesus so I could make my life seem perfect. Being a Christian does not mean that you are perfect.

As a young "Christian" woman, learning to listen and follow Jesus, I remember what I felt like the first time I went to church with Mike when I was not a believer (and the second time, and third time) It took me quite a while to be comfortable with "going to church".  I felt like everyone was judging me and knew that I was imperfect, because I was under the impression that they were perfect.  That is one false idea that was in my brain from the very start, that "Christians" were people who followed every rule, never broke any laws and didn't have ANY fun. Eventually, I learned different when I met some amazing women who were followers of Jesus. I soon saw something in them that I wanted, TRUE happiness. These women were full of joy. Every part of their heart was joyful, no matter what they were going through. They never claimed to be perfect, or that their life was perfect and they never acted like they were better than me because they were Christians. Now I am not saying that becoming a Christian will make your life one big ball of happiness and take away your problems, but I have realized I have so much to be thankful for no matter the circumstances. Thankfully, I became close with these women, and had the chance to see what following Jesus looked like. I gave my life to Christ on January 23, 2010. I know that sounded all sorts of dramatic, but what I did was decide to TRY to live my life in a way that does not put others down, but to build people up. I decided to TRY to live my life in a way that my heart would not rejoice in evil, but that my heart would rejoice in truth. I soon learned that my heart and my life would NOT change IMMEDIATELY. I thought "Okay, I asked Jesus into my heart so tomorrow I'll be Superwoman! WOO!"  A+B=C , right?  WRONGO. My heart was in the right place, because I wanted to change and treat people better, but the lesson I learned is that asking Jesus into your heart has a much deeper meaning than an equation for becoming a "good" person. This past year has been a year full of learning for me and it has been awesome. Over this past year, I have discovered so much about the forgiveness that God offers and gives to anyone who seeks Him, and let me tell you, IT IS AMAZING. I plan to write about our experiences from this past year, and all the growth that is to come, to hopefully be a light in this world to someone, somewhere who is curious or confused about what it looks like to "walk with God" and to "follow Jesus". It's not about being perfect, it is about meeting Jesus the creator of the world and watching him change you from the Inside out. 

So an update on Mike's & my life. We are planning our wedding and couldn't be more excited to be Mr. & Mrs.! The next post will have a little more about what is going on with us, but this post is already a little lengthy because I had a lot on my heart that I wanted to share.

3 comments:

  1. I like this idea:) You never talk about what you did in Jan 2010 to give your life to christ...what did you do? After going to church for MANY years with Grandma Pouthier and Aunt Grace I was told going to church does not make you a christian..believing in Jesus does. It is what is in your heart, soul and mind that counts.
    Love and miss you!

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  2. Wow! What a bright future and happy life you have to look forward to. I am proud of you to be so confident and sure of yourself with your priorities in life so crystal clear! That in itself is a great accomplishment and from this day on you will grow exponentially in that clarity. I am so happy for you and Mike. God bless you both!

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