Got alot to say i guess....

So here i am blogging. how weird is this?! I feel like i'm talking to myself. keeley stop being awkward. I dont really have much to say about anything. But i would like to mention (to whoever is reading this) that God has done so much in my life lately! I am so greatful for everything he has blessed me with. He has recently opened my eyes and ears to him, making it easier to follow his direction in my life. I've been reading that book Facing Your Giants. it is really really good. totally changed my life. i strongly encourage you (whoever you are) to read it.

I'm going to Columbia over spring break! I'm very excited to not only serve God through serving others, but also because its my first time to leave the country. Plus, i've felt called to mission work since 2004. so that means that this trip is my official start to that part of my life. I feel bad that i cant go skiing with my family over break, but im hoping they'll understand my desire and need for this trip. finally getting the opportunity to do something i've been wanting for years is like a miracle.

Doubts. At first i completely doubted god in the whole trip thing. i signed up then got insanely busy with school and work. I had no time to raise money and honestly, I was so scared to ask people to donate. yeah i know, i was a complete fool not to trust God, and a coward to be so afraid of something so simple. All i wanted at the time was to forget about the trip and just go skiing with my family instead. then one night i was reading that facing your giants book and i felt like i really needed to go to spring creek on sunday morning. i went to bed and didnt even set my alarm because i knew it was pointless. i was so sure that i had already missed the deadline for the down payment. God being...well...God, woke me up extra early that next morning. No one else in my family was going to church that day...(another good excuse. dang you satan) but i knew i would regret not going. so i went and found out the money wasnt due till the next week. the exact money needed was donated just a few days later, and that is when i started really listening to God. He obviously wants me on this trip. His promises are being fulfilled, even the ones made in 2004. I'm still raising money for the trip so if anyone would like to donate please let me know!

God gave me even more opportunities to obey him over christmas break, which now i am so greatful for. I've given my testimony a few time but it seems to go very badly everytime. not only do i get nervous infront of a group of people, but my testimony being as personal as it is, makes it even harder for me to keep my cool while sharing it. anyways, Brianna and I went to visit our friend mitch in tonkowa the last weekend of break where God completely revived me of my practically "coma state" relationship with him. He took all my doubts, all my fears, and gave me an insane amount of courage, or at least more than i've ever had. Derrick (the pastor staying with the family we were visiting) asked me alot of questions about my testimony and my faith. It made me very uncomfortable at the time till i realized that i actually liked the fact that i was being challenged by god to figure out the answers. questions like, what has everything i've been through done for my faith? and what is faith to me? and what have i done to encourage other's faith through my experiences? anyway, he asked me to give my testimony at the youth group there on sunday night. all i could hear in my head was, NO WAY! yeah i know, pretty cowardly. but i did tell you i was a coward till that night, didnt i? i told him i'd think about it, to afraid to tell him no at first ( and to tell god no). but later i was talking to mitch about it and he said something i'll never forget: what's there to be afraid of when God is right there with you and when it's in his plan? and he was so right. so i said yes. of course we got lost on the way there sunday night and i had so many chances to turn the dang car around, but i knew i'd regret it if i didnt. and i started thinking about that book, facing your giants, and how i was acting just like david, running off to the wilderness instead of facing what lies ahead. we found the place (thanks to the guy upstairs and brianna's amazing sense of direction). of course, i sat in the back. are you really surprised? but they saw me and introduced me, i walked up to the front onto the stage, and was handed the mic. I think that is the first time I have every really completely let God take control and speak through me. It went amazing, i said everything i wanted to say and more, and walked back to my seat with more courage than i've ever had. God and I have been incredibly close ever since.

James 1:2-4