Venting and Ranting.

2011 Was a hard year, a year for growing, and in the end, very rewarding. God has his mysterious ways of bending and twisting people from ordinary people to great men and women who will become amazing tools in his hands to bring to pass his works. Things happen, both good and bad, that change people and families, and teach us lessons. We have to learn to laugh together, as well as cry together and bear one another's burdens. We have friends who pick us up and carry us along in ways unimaginable. The Lord has put people in my own path who have helped me to grow in his ways even more so than I already have. He is certainly watching out for me, and for that, I am thankful. And while I witnessed many heartaches this year, I stuck with the Lord. I never lost faith that he knows exactly what he was doing, and that with him, nothing is impossible. If God told me to do something unimaginable, such as moving a mountain or draining the ocean, I know that I would be able to do it, because he would be right there to give me the power to do so. These last few years, I have felt like my body is failing me, falling apart like it should in my fifties, and I'm only sixteen! Bad knees, hips, back, neck, weak ankles, and who knows what the heck else. I am reminded of in the scriptures where it is talking about the word of wisdom, and the Lord says if we will abide by it, then "ye shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint." And maybe there is more to it than eating healthy for me, but I have been given a blessing that later in my life, I will not be affected by the condition of my knees now. I know that if I do my part and follow the Lord's counsel and the spirit for me personally, this won't give me problems later in life, and that is an extremely comforting feeling.
I feel like I have personally grown in many ways, but I have a long way to go before I am anything like Christ is. "There is still alot of work to do, but with the Lord, how can I fail?"