Love God. Love People.

"From glory to glory, my God You are holy, let all of the voices proclaim. I'm wretched and broken, my God You have spoken, I'm clean by the blood of the Lamb..." -David's Plea

The blessings the Lord has poured over my life this past year are immeasurably more than I ever could have imagined. The joy, love, growth and understanding He has willingly drenched me with have ignited a passion I never knew was buried in the depths within me. A passion for Him and a passion for His people. And a passion to make His name great among all His people. To join in the voices and proclaim His glory.

Although, my passion is too often attacked by my very own flesh. I cannot escape the sin that is guaranteed by humanity. Yet He has spoken: I am clean by the blood of the Lamb.

I recognize, accept, and surrender my sins to the only One great enough to take them from me. By dwelling in my past (and present) sinful nature and numerous sins, I am not accepting what Jesus did when He was crucified and raised from the dead. And to think that I have the audacity to tell Him what He did wasn't good enough, powerful enough to free me from all of my mess-ups?

FALSE.

He is more than enough, great enough, and I can assure you He is more than powerful enough to cleanse me of my sins.

Well, now getting back to the rich blessings of this past year...

There are far too many to cover, but one in particular has been overwhelmingly evident in my life recently, and that is my church home here in Lubbock. Overflow Church.

Wow. The body of believers at Overflow has taught me, loved me, encouraged me, and has definitely helped grow me.

Through Overflow, I have gained the most wonderful friends family ever.

These friendships began a little over a year ago. They have seen good and bad times, joys, frustrations, laughter, tears, but through it all, they have truly made me a better person. I have grown immensely. I have been through so many different seasons with these people, yet we all seem to recognize that we are all a vital part of each others' lives and each others' walks with Christ. No matter where life takes us, we always remember, and have many times fallen back on each other when there seems to be no other place to fall back, because through it all, we have one thing in common: the pure love of Christ.

That's the only way I can put into words what drives these friendships: the pure love of Christ. That's what it all is. And to each one of my brothers and sisters, you know the role God has used you to play in my life, and thank you for loving me unconditionally with Christ's love. It's what has brought me to where I am today.

Love God. Love people. He'll take care of the rest.