the purpose of trials

Like many of you, I set some "realistic" goals for 2009. So far, I am on the right track on some of them, but of course I still need to work on some others. I expect 2009 is going to be a great year for our family. Now for a small little brag session..... Our sweet big boy is growing up and playing basketball now. He had is first game this past Saturday, and it was a hoot! Maddie is getting so big! She is such a sweet,precious girl. She is becoming a really good little reader. Brittany is the best teenager a mom could ever ask for. She does what she needs to do to get straight A's without me even telling her. She has such great goals and ambitions for herself. She is driving once again too. I am just so proud of the beautiful girl she is both inside and out. Jeff and I are striving to work together as a team with our new schedules now that I am working. This has been a struggle, but I know we will get it! My hope is that we will strive to continue to grow in the Lord by seeking the changes needed to develop the character traits He desires for us!

For me, 2009 started off with BIG changes. I switched all of my classes to online this semester. They were pretty easy classes, so hopefully this won't be a change I regret. One of the biggest changes was starting a new job. I have really struggled with this. The job is quite easy, but those lurking feelings of inadequacy and not fitting in with other personality types has been quite stressful. I think this is probably common for most when starting new jobs or maybe I am just a "social dork". Something that has been really helping me during this transition period is a book I have been reading called Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen. My dad is a fan of Joel, so I thought I would see what he really likes about him. I have found that I really like what he stands for. He is a great Godly man with such great biblical advice. His book has been such a blessing! It has completely changed my thinking on many different issues. I wanted to share this paragraph from his book that truly transformed my thinking. I guess this is something I have always known, but for some reason this time it spoke volumes to me.
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God often allows you, too, to go through situations to draw out those impurities in your character. You can rebuke until your "rebuker" wears out. You can pray, you can resist, you can bind, you can loose, you can sing and shout, you can do it all, but it's not going to do any good! God is more interested in changing you that He is in changing your circumstances. And the sooner you learn to cooperate with God, the sooner you'll get out of that mess. The quicker you learn your lesson and deal with those bad attitudes and start ruling over your emotions, the quicker you'll go to the next level in your spiritual journey. We must recognize the refining purpose of trials. We can't run from everything that's hard in our lives.

I love that God knows me and loves me so much to allow me to go through hard situations to mold and refine me. Of course we have to be willing to open our hearts and eyes to see what He is trying to teach us. What is God using to teach you right now?