The Beginning of the End

6 days left till school!! Woohooooo!
I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am to start this new year! Friends, the schedule of everyday life, and the end in sight...THAT is something to get excited about!

So what are my goals this year? What are my hopes? What are my visions?

I'll share a couple of them with y'all so you can be praying and can keep me accountable throughout the year ;)

1.) I want the Word of God to just flow from me this year as I finish this specific chapter in my life. His Word is my constant. It is the one and only thing that will remain the same all throughout this crazy life. I am committed to memorizing scripture, writing worship songs, and reading as much as I can.

 2.) I want to charge my high school with the Gospel. I want to share the wonderful truth with kids and teachers alike, knowing that this could very well be the only time they hear the good news of Christ. This will include investing as much as I can into the younger girls, whether they be in Young Life, at Sovereign Grace, or sitting alone in the cafeteria. SO many kids are crying out to feel loved and accepted...and I know I am the  answer to someones prayer.

3.) I want to start off my nursing career in a wonderful way. This means throwing everything I have into my work, even if it means sacrificing things i want to to. I have to just trust that the Lord will reward that one

4.) I want to have fun. I know this kinda contradicts my last one, but I believe I have missed out on so much joy because I have willingly decided to not participate in things because I'm tired or have stuff to do. I honestly forget I'm only 18 and that teenagers are kinda supposed to have fun sometimes.

5.) I am going to start my garden this year :) I know visibly having that in my yard, along with little things like making keifer and grinding my own flour for bread etc. will help keep my dream alive. I want to have a farm one day. I think God has put that desire in my heart, and I believe with all my being that it's going to be a reality someday. Call me silly, but I'm soooo excited!

So there they are friends! I'm sure there will be many more to come, but that's all I got right now :)

Thank you for praying and joining with me as I start this last leg of the race. There's a glorious finish line, and at last IT IS IN SIGHT!!

Isaiah 40:28-31... Favorite scripture :)

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary

and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40: 28-31

Getting Excited About Life!!

Morning friends!
I have a little bit of free time before I go to Libby's to help her set up her kitchen, so I thought I'd take the time to update.
Someone wrote on my Facebook wall the other day. He said something like, "Hey Hannah! Haven't seen you in forever....how is the Lord working in your life?" Haha did not see that one coming! But you know somethin? I really think God was trying to speak to me!
 Like I've shared previously, life has been really hard lately. Been struggling with alot of sadness, lots of anger, and lots of just plain anxiety about the future. Been struggling with the fact that once again, I have to tell my manager that I have to quit working after just one month....because I have to stay focused on nursing. Gaaaaahh!! I swear, if I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase "to prepare for nursing", I would be a very wealthy 18 year old.
But hahaha like i said, despite these tiny frustrations, God is answering my prayers. I feel real and genuine excitement about where I'm heading for the first time in a long while. I know that all these short term sacrifices seem like enormously important to me, but the truth is, when I look at it as preparing me for helping my husband one day, and setting myself up for what God is going to use me for in the future, it puts a whole new light on things.
So what has God been doing in my life?


He's giving me more hope, more faith, and more joyful anticipation for what He is doing in my life.


I have been seeing His hand in so many areas lately. While all my problems haven't necessarily disappeared, and my heart hasn't exactly been cured of unbelief, I do see my Jesus at work. Even the crazy fact that as I've been just longing more and more for my dream of becoming a farm girl to become a reality, our dear friend, Courtney Byron shows up from Kentucky for a visit, and just inspires me beyond words. She's seriously one of the dearest people in my life, and whenever I would think that my dream couldn't come true, I look at her life.
She was in the middle of a morning biking workout one day about 10 years ago, training for the Olympics, when God spoke to her and said, "This isn't what you're supposed to be doing!" So what did that girl do? She turned that bike around and peddled back to what God had for her. Now she is happily married, lives on a farm, is all into healthy and organic living (like me!), and is the happy mommy of five beautiful country kids! I shared with her my longing to work a farm one day, grow my own food, raise livestock, and have lots of kids myself. She was so encouraging!! It just raised my faith level off the charts.
God is good friends! And THAT is something to be excited about! And I know not all of us are in the season I am with pretty much my whole life in front of me, yet I want to encourage ya'll to be excited about your life! Be excited about what God does on a day-to-day basis for you! Be excited about His loving care and faithfulness towards you that never, ever, ever wains or lessens despite all your failures!
Let your joy about what He is up to just radiate! Let it shine through to your kids, your siblings, your parents, your colleagues, your friends, and all the other shtangers you will come into contact with. You WANT them to ask the question, "Why on earth are you so happy all the time???" Glory be to God!
Well, I sincerely hope this was encouraging. I know it is for me...I have hope again. Thank you for those of you who have been praying for me. Means so much.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance!!

"'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the
 Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you;
plans to give you a hope and a future! '"

My Help Comes From the Lord! :)

So first off, let me just start by saying that the song you are currently listening to has been playing over and over and over again ever since I finally discovered the name of it. I heard it for the first time a few weeks ago on 101.3 while cleaning the floor at work, and I kid you not, I was dancing with that mop! It just...i dunno...makes me so happy for some reason! Haha now I know that it has nothing to do with anything "Godly" but what the heck, I am literally laughing right now as I write this i am so happy. God! You are so good to give me songs that make me just want to dance! I like to imagine that Jesus is singing this song to me! Crazy how even these lyrics can apply to me.... I'm still dealing with  deep, deep hurt and heartache....yet I can roll to my Jesus! Puts a different spin on things, huh? :D


Okay, so thats not really what I was planning on writing this post about, but now that I think about it, it actually ties into what I was planning to share! I have seriously been thinking and praying about what to write, and feel that God has been putting one thing on display for me.

For lack of a better word, I have been feeling just...sad lately. Sad about Libby. Sad about being "stuck" in Chesapeake. Sad about how I seem to always be failing. Sad about not having somebody to love. All these things have just slowely crept in and taken hold of my joy. Why? Why is it SO hard to just chill sometimes? This sadness is so real and so deep, it permenates into everything......

BUT

"...I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God!!"

What things in your life are robbing you of your joy, friends? What tactics is that monster, the devil, using to harrass you? My mom always reminds me that the devil can't take your salvation, but boy, doesn't he just love to make you feel miserable about yourself and your failures, just so he can take away your joy and make you ineffective in sharing the Kingdom of God with others!

You have the power to overcome this enemy. You already have the the victory ...and it is all found in your Jesus.

I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—

he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you—the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121: 1-8

The past couple days, I haven't wanted to read my Bible. I haven't wanted to listen to Christian music on the way to and from work. And I most definitely haven't wanted to go out of my way to love or serve others. This is the fruit of me holding onto everything I want, insted of what my Loving Father wants for me.

Let me encourage you dear friends to just let go. Let go of your daily doubt, your constant stress, your anxious thoughts. Those are nothing but tools in the enemy's hands to tear you down.

You have a Helper! You are NOT alone! No matter what you are facing this day, this hour, this very minute....your help is in the Lord! Rest in this truth! Lift Your Eyes to Him! He alone will sustain you and see you through!





And now i go back to dancing to my song :D

Look around your world Pretty Baby

Is it everything you hoped it'd be

The wrong guy

The wrong situation

The right time to roll to Me

Roll to Me

And look into your heart Pretty Baby

Is it aching with some aimless need

Is there something wrong and you can't put your finger on it

Right then

Roll to Me

And I don't think I have ever seen a soul so in despair

So if you want to talk the night through

Guess who will be there

So don't try to deny Pretty Baby

You've been down so long

You can hardly see

When the engines stall and it won't stop raining

It's the right time to

Roll to Me

Roll to Me

Roll to Me

How much longer, Jesus?

Strong Faith in Our Faithful God...

"I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performs all things for me."

Psalm 57:2

"Up to this moment you have been rightly led: you have the same guide. To this hour, he who sent the cloudy pillar has led you rightly through the devious track-ways of the wilderness; follow still, with a sure confidence that all is well. If ye keep close to him, he performeth all things for you. Take your guidance from his Word, and, waiting upon him in prayer, you need not fear.
Just now, maybe, in addition to some exciting dilemma, you are surrounded with real trouble and distress. Will it not be well to cry unto God most high, who now, in the time of your strait and difficulty, will show himself again to you a God all-sufficient to his people in their times of need. He is always near. I do not know that he has said, "When thou walkest through the green pastures, I will be with thee, and when thy way lies hard by the river of the water of life, where lilies bloom, I will strengthen thee." I believe he will do so, but I do not remember such a promise; but "When thou goest through the rivers, I will be with thee," is a well-known word of his. If ever he is present, it shall be in trial: if he can be absent, it will certainly not be when his servants most want his aid. Rest ye in him then.

But you say, "I can do so little in this time of difficulty." Do what thou canst, but leave the rest to him. If thou seest no way of escape, doth it follow that there is none? If thou seest no help, is it, therefore, to be inferred that help cannot come? Thy Lord and Saviour found no friend among the whole family of man, "Yet," said he, "could I not presently pray to my Father, and he would send me twelve legions of angels?" Were it needful for thy help, the squadrons of heaven would leave the glory-land to come to thy rescue—the least and poorest of the children of God as thou mayest be. He will perform for thee: be thou obedient, trustful, patient. 'Tis thine to obey, 'tis his to command, 'tis thine to perceive, 'tis his to perform. He will perform all things for you.
He rules and he overrules: he will make all things work together for good; he will surely bring you through. Goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. He it is who will perform all things for you.
Oh! strange infatuation! You see your weakness, you see the temptations that will assail you, and the troubles that threaten you, and you are afraid. Look away from them all. This is no business of yours. Leave it in his hands, who will manage well, who will be sure to do the kindest and the best thing for you; be of good confidence and rest in peace. So shall it be even at life's close. He performeth all things for me. I have the boundary of life in the perspective, the almost certainty that I must die. Unless the Lord comes before my term expires, I must close these eyes, gather up these feet in the bed, breathe a last gasp, and yield my soul to him who gave it. Well, fear not; he helped me to live: he will help me to die. He has made me perform up to this moment my allotted task; yea, he has performed it for me, giving me his grace and working his providence with me. Shall I fear that he will desert me at the last?

He performeth not some things, but all things...."

Excerpt from "Strong Faith in a Faithful God" by Spurgeon

18 years in her rearview...

Here are my senior pictures! Haha I have been waiting to post these for years. Now that I'm finally here, all I can say is wow...

It's been a beautiful, crazy 18 years.

What faithful God.


Here are the lyrics to my "life's song". It's my testimony, and says just what I feel about this wonderful Jesus I serve... thought it would be a good time to share them with you all.
Enjoy!

If I had the chance

To go back again

Take a different road, bear a lighter load

Tell an easy story

I would walk away

With my yesterdays

And I would not trade what is broken for beauty only

Every valley

Every bitter chill

Made me ready to climb back up the hill

And find that . . .

You are sunrise

You are blue skies

How would I know the morning

If I knew not midnight?

You're my horizon

You're the light of a new dawn

So thank You, thank You

That after the long night, You are sunrise

There's a moment when

Faith caves in

There's a time when every soul is certain God is gone

But every shadow is evidence of sun

Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com

And every tomorrow holds out hope for us

For every one of us

You are sunrise

You are blue skies

How would I know the morning

If I knew not midnight?

You're my horizon

You're the light of a new dawn

So thank You, thank You

That after the long night, You are sunrise

You alone will shine

You alone can resurrect this heart of mine

You are sunrise

You are blue skies

How would I know the morning

If I knew not midnight?

You're my horizon

You're the light of a new dawn

So thank You, thank You

That after the long night, You are sunrise

You are sunrise

http://melaniewasko.zenfolio.com/f268589168

 The password is "joyful" :)