POST #500!!!

On Monday, October 2, 2006, I began this blog. Today, December 26, 2012 I will post my 500th post. A little over 6 years to get to 500.  Guess that shows how infrequently I post. :-) 

I look at the stats and see how I've arrived at 500 posts:
2006: 29 posts
2007: 137 posts
2008: 71 posts
2009: 69 posts
2010: 79 posts
2011: 47 posts (my quietest year!)
2012: 67 posts

But what those numbers don't show is what happened those years. Here's just a few highlights:
2006: began a blog, living in Wheaton, IL & Glendale Heights, IL; developed a volunteer program for a missions agency

2007: moved to Greencastle, PA then to Ardmore, AL, then to Hackensack, MN; changed jobs 3 times, spent a few crazy weeks working at Target, lived with my grandma whom I dearly love!!!

2008: moved to Lacon, IL, support raising - what a journey!, joined an amazing church called Riverside Community Church, got baptized on Oct 5, 2008!!

2009: moved to Peoria Heights, IL, then Washington, IL; tried to be a preschool teacher, spent 2 months unemployed, took a job in the corporate world which turned my world upside down; started a Thursday night Bible study in my home

2010: spent an entire year in the same apartment!!! That's a major accomplishment for me. :-)

2011: moved to Pekin, IL, then Peoria, IL - I was "homeless" with all my stuff in storage and I bounced between 5-6 different places before settling in with my current roommate

2012: moved to Peoria Heights, IL then to Morton, IL; finally began to release some of the anxiety surrounding my career and just surrender to God as his willing servant in this journey He's called me to. Began to do some traveling & public speaking with my job - found that I LOVE it. Took on the children's ministry at my church and have been profoundly blessed by the kids and the volunteers.

So it's been a journey over the past 6 years. If you had asked me six years ago where I would be at the end of 2012, I would not have mentioned anything that I'm currently doing.  I never anticipated working in the corporate world. I never dreamed that I could enjoy speaking in front of 350 people. I never imagined that I would get to travel the world with my job. It would not have crossed my mind to be a children's ministry director. And yet, I can't help but think, I just might be exactly where God wants me. He has put me in a place that I never could have arrived at without Him. And so I have to give Him the glory and the praise.

In the midst of this journey called life, I discovered that I love to write. I thought this blog would be a place to put some of my writings along with random thoughts, humor posts and even some pictures. Most of the time, I think my mom is the only person who reads my blog and usually that's only after I bug her numerous times. But that's okay. I've found that writing is a great outlet for processing emotions, thoughts and even the chaos of life.

Happy 500th blog post! Here's to many more to come. :-)