Erica's Place

Still upward be thine onward course, For this I pray today; Still upward as the years go by, And seasons pass away Still upward in this coming year, Thy path is all untried; Still upward may'st thou journey on, Close by thy Savior's side. Still upward e'en though sorrow come, And trials crush thine heart; Still upward may they draw thy soul. With Christ to walk apart. Still upward till the day shall break, And shadows all have flown; Still upward til in Heaven you wake, And stand before the throne. I stole... excuse me borrowed... a great devotional book from my house before I left. I saw this poem in it and following the poem, there was a statement. The author said "We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains." That phrase really stood out to me. It is true. A lot of times we are so willing just to stay where we are in our life and our walk with God, that we forget He created us to impact our world. There will be times that we are ready...

My all time favorite quotes have been from Anne of Green Gables. And anyone that knows me knows how much I absolutely ADORE Anne Shirley and the genius who decided to bring her into existence. One quote that I tend to re-quote a lot is "God's in His heaven and all's right with the world." However, I never fully understood that phrase until this last year. As I said in my last post, 2010 was a rough year. Both of my parents were sick, my best friend's daddy died, and two of my close friends died. Those are just the most tragic moments of 2010 for me, there were quite a few others, but those were some of the hardest things for me to deal with. When I received the call in October and then in November of the car accidents that took the lives of these people who played such fundamental roles in my life (one of whom played a part in the birth of and raising of my non-biological twin, and the other two who became family to me while I lived in Pennsylvania over the summer...

Here we are another year has gone by, and a new year has come in. And I am actually posting! Will wonders ever cease? I have been told that it is time to start my blog back up again, and I figured, what better time to start than the first day of the new year? It has been about 6 months since I last posted. And a lot has happened. 2010 was a long, hard year for most. And I am exceedingly happy to see the calendar flip to January of 2011. I already feel that this new year will be amazing. I have such high hopes for it. A new year is normally a time for some new resolutions. My resolution is quite simple. To make 2011 the best year ever. "Another fresh new year is here Another year to live To banish worry, doubt and fear To love and laugh and give! This bright new year is given me To live each day with zest . . . To daily grow and try to be My highest and my best! I have the opportunity Once more to right some wrongs, To pray for peace, to plant a tree, And sing more joyful songs...