Ahhh!

Have you ever had an Ahhh! moment? I seemed to have a lot of those this summer. Sometimes my Ahhh! moments were like a light bulb going off in my head and sometimes they were like Ahhh! I can't believe that I just did that. Well, unfortunately life is a learning experience and not all "life lessons" turn out the way that me or you expect. I have recently had one of those moments. The Ahhh! moment wasn't like the light bulb Ahhh! or the can't believe I did that Ahhh! It was like Ahhh! God why can't this just work out the way I wanted it to.Well, the funny thing about praying for something and taking your hands off the situation is that God becomes the controller and not you. Even though your not seemingly "in control" me/you still expect the same outcome that you were hoping for. Sometimes they way that I think it should all work out is the way that God sees fit honestly, this rarely happens. Something, that I learned at camp last week is that when I pray for God to handle the situation and then I don't let Him have total control it never turns out right. I have yet to perfect this haha! Before I left for camp I asked one of my dearest friends to pray with me about getting the money for school this semester and of course she said she would pray with me about it. While I was at camp we tool some time together to pray about it and ask the Lord to work the way He saw fit. After we prayed together I decided that there was no way that I could make this happen so I took my hands off and let the Lord work. Now, this is where my Ahhh! moment kicks in not the good Ahhh! moment either it's the Ahhh! this is not how I wanted this to work out moment. I came home from camp and was informed of how my school was going to be payed for. Lets just say I wasn't a happy camper. First thing I did wasn't pray about it. I called my friend Joellen and she quickly put me back in my place and told me that this is what I prayed for and I need to let God lead. So, since that time I have come to grips with the fact and yes I'm kinda being a baby about it. Oh well I'm human right? God's still working on me and someday when I'm in Heaven I'll be perfect :) Just remember that when you pray for God's leading and guidance remember that the outcome isn't always the way dreamed and hoped for and pictured in your mind. It is however the way that God sees fit and it's perfect in His eyes even if we don't think so.
Love,
Hillary

And We're Back!

Well, camp has come and gone and we had a great time! Of course the food was good, the preaching was amazing, and it was extremely hot! Despite the heat we had a great time! The preaching was right on this year! Bro. Webster had some great sermons! He preached on having five smooth stones and how salvation was awesome and all that but the relationship with God is vital.Without our relationship with God honestly, we have nothing. This couldn't be more true.The youth group was very responsive to these messages and one of our kids got saved! We had a great group at camp this year. They had great attitudes and were very tender to God's leading. What more could you ask for? Along with having great attitudes during the messages, they had great attitudes on the ball field as well. We won first place in every sport except water basketball and water volleyball! I'm so proud of them!! What amazes me more than the fact that we won sports and stuff is that we all had a great time even though it was incredibly hot outside all the time. It didn't matter how good you looked when you left your room because by the time you got down the hill you were all nasty and sweaty again. No matter how uncomfortable camp can be the Lord always moves and always changes lives! Thank God for another year at Sagmount!!

My Salvation Story

Well, its about that time again. That's right camp time! To some camp may mean meeting up with old fiends, seeing which church brings the most campers, seeing which church brings the cutest campers or just hanging out and playing games. Now, to be completely honest, I have been guilty of all of this! Camp Sagmount has a very special place in my heart. Not just because that's where my dad and my brother went to camp but because it means something so so much more. I got saved at that camp almost 3 years ago (July 17, 2008). That Tuesday morning the Lord really spoke to me about my salvation. Salvation wasn't really something that I ever struggled with until that day morning. I just brushed off the feelings of guilt and worry and went on with the daily activities. The night service rolled around and before I even stepped foot in the Tabernacle the conviction and all those feelings came flooding in! I couldn't wait for that service to be over. The invitation couldn't come soon enough. At the first sign of invitation I went to Mrs.Eidson and it seemed like we talked for hours! In reality it was probably like 20 min. After we prayed together Mrs. Eidson made a card on me and she handed it to me and she said that she wanted me to give it to my pastor. Even after I prayed for the Lord to come into my heart and forgive me from my sins the devil instantly started fighting. It was no more than 10 minutes after the service that I was struggling with my salvation. I was holding on the my card for the rest of the evening. Already the devil was trying to fight my salvation! It was very difficult for me to go to my pastor and give him my salvation card. Why was it so hard? Why couldn't I just give him the card? The devil wanted nothing more than to see me doubt God right after I gave Him my heart. Well, as the night went on I swallowed the fears and gave it to my pastor. At that moment it seemed as though the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. It was an amazing feeling! I was so happy! Guess what!?! The story doesn't stop here! The same night one of my bestest friends got saved! Amanda O'Dell got saved. She said that she was just waiting for someone else to get saved that she thought was saved and then she would go forward and get saved too! Praise the Lord! No matter what your facing stop. Thank God for your salvation. It's the most precious gift you can receive. If you haven't made this decision find someone who can help you better understand salvation so you too can feel free from your sin and have a story that you just can't keep to yourself!

Woo Hoo! I'm home for the summer! It's been great so far! You never appreciate the small things your parents do for you until they aren't there to do it for ya lol. Well, I completed my first year of school. It was so awesome. I grew in the Lord so much. I learned more than what was taught in the classroom. I learned how to make new friends (I've been in the same place for the 16 years and have had the same friends that long too, it's a big deal ok!), how to make my own money and budget it, pay my school bill, and most importantly. . .trust God with not just the big things but the little things. It's so easy to have something tramatic happen and run to God. What I find difficult is turning to God for the little things. Besides learning new things. I've seen and experienced many, many things! Things I've seen: Giant soda bottle at Pop's, a new chapel built, needs met, hearts broken, hearts mended, friends reunite, friends stop talking, tears of joy, utter devistation, a sister mourn over the death of her brother, many, many, many enagaments, and the hand of God change many lives! I could go on forever talking about what I've seen and experienced but I don't think you want to read all of that! To sum it all up. . . God is good and He always will be!

College

Well, I've been to college and I've finished my first semester. It has been so much fun! I have had such a great time getting to know new people and learning many new things! The Lord has blessed me so much since I've been there. He gave me a really good job, great friends, and many other things. I know that without God I wouldn't be able to do any of this!

My Grandpa

One year from yesterday (May 12) my Grandpa Foster passed away. It was on that day I realized how good of friends I really have. Cece came over in the morning to just be with me. My other friends Josh, Caleb, Amanda, and Matt they took me to Sonic and they just let me talk and cry and they just listened and were there for me. The day brought back many memories. Mostly good and some sad. I thought about how grandpa and I spent much time together in his garage whether we were just talking, roasting hot dogs, or working on a regionals project. My grandpa was loved by many. He has affected many lives and he is missed by many! We love you Grandpa Foster!

Ahhhh! Graduation has come and gone sad to say. It was a day filled with laughter and tears (most of the tears were my mom's :)). I so enjoyed my graduation party. My parents did a fantastic job of putting on the party for me! They also bought me a new car! Well, new to me lol. They bought me a Ford Mustang! It's a car that I have wanted for a very long time! I just couldn't believe it when I pulled the keys out of the coffee mug. At first I thought that they were just messing with me because the keys look just like my moms keys. When my dad told me to go outside I was just so shocked! At first all i saw was RED! Then, I got closer and saw that it was a Mustang. Well, I started crying. I had no idea that my parents ought me a car. I just knew that they would never buy me a car I mean my dad told me everyday that he wouldn't buy me a car. I guess all the constant asking finally got to him (hehe)! I am so thankful to have wonderful parents like my dad ans mom! They mean everything to me and I just want to make them proud!