A Living Sacrifice

Hi guys! Sorry for the delay in posts. I've been a little busy over Christmas Break. I hope you all had a wonderful time relaxing and spending time with family. Over the break, I got the privilege of going on a retreat with my youth group to a place in Central Oregon called Wildhorse Canyon. There we had workshops and main sessions and time to do different activities. I learned so much and was really challenged in my faith. One main thing our speaker talked about was being a living sacrifice and being willing to give up anything to follow God's will for our lives. I found out that I had been very selfish and I don't really know if I would be willing to give up all the things I have and want in order to serve God. But I also learned that I need to trust God with my life and commit my ways to Him. It's really hard to be willing to give up everything to follow God but I completely trust him with my life and would have it no other way than have the Lord directing me. God has blessed me so much this past year. Sure, I've had many hard times and I would say it has been the hardest year of my life, but I wouldn't have it any other way because the lessons I've learned are life-changing. I thank God all the time for an amazing family, awesome friends and the best church and youth group ever! I pray all of you will stay close to God this coming year and please pray for me as well as I try to keep my commitments. At the end of this post are my commitments and I would greatly appreciate it if you could hold me accountable to these. It truly is the main desire of my heart to glorify God in all I do and I hope you all too can see how much God loves you and honor Him with your life. Thank you all for your friendship and love. I love you all and hope you have an amazing year of 2008!
My Commitment for 2008:
Stay in the word and spend meaningful time with the Lord daily. Surrender to the Lord every day and die to myself and my selfish desires. Be a holy and pleasing living sacrifice to God!
~Hannah