Lessons of the soul and Experiences in 'sweet home Alabama'

Some of the hardest words for me to say is "I surrender. I give it up. No strings attached." Many times, God calls us to do and say the things that are the hardest for us. Why? Because then, and only then, we get to see that He, and only He, can give us strength. And when we have that strength, it will not leave us. We are stronger than we realize. He is stronger than we realize.

When I was 13, I had to say to Jesus, "I surrender my sinful self into your hands." I knew that I couldn't change the selfish and sinful person I was without surrendering it to Him. When I was 17, I had to say to Jesus, "I surrender my profession and future to your hands." I knew that I couldn't accomplish college without his guidance and without surrendering my plans to Him. When I was 19, I had to say to Jesus, "I surrender my confused and hurt heart into your hands." I knew in that moment that my heart was unable to be repaired with His love that conquers all. After that summer, He brought Justin back into my life. When I was 21, I had to say to Jesus, "I surrender the man I love into your hands." I knew that only God knew how to make our paths cross and our future plans combine. And now, at almost 23, I am again saying, "I surrender my plans, dreams into your hands." Because I know that only God knows the exact time He will reveal to me His exact place for me.

In church today, we sang a praise song called "I Surrender". It was a new song to me, but it was amazing how much it connected to my current state. It was so joyful to sing out loud the outpouring of my soul to Jesus! At some point in our busy lives, we all will come to this place at different times, where we must sing and shout to Jesus, "I surrender ALL to you, ALL to you!"
Here's a link to the praise song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KK-9LfKsoo

As our preacher said, "The love of Christ will drive you to do things you'd never do without Him."

Thank you for your prayers as we search for God's purpose for me in Texas. He is so good, and is showing Justin and me more clarity everyday.

Love, R & J

Here are some fun pictures of the past week!
Justin with his ASBC class "The Dragons!". They were doing "The X Factor" challenges.
The wives got to go watch "The X Factor" challenges from the cat walk above. It was so much fun to watch the husbands figuring out the solutions :)

Justin getting ready to score in the Icarus game! The married flight won!!!
Only in Alabama can you go golfing next to a horse farm!!
My first time driving the golf cart!! It was a fun Saturday outing!