The Beginning

As I write this, I'm sitting out on my balcony taking in this beautiful, 61 degree, starry night. The smell of fall is in the air, and it makes me excited for the upcoming months. OU football season is the best time of the year!
I had the idea to start this blog tonight, and I decided to go for it since writing is a huge part of my major. I only seem to enjoy it though when I get to write about things that are of my choosing. To understand the point of this blog though, I must first explain how I got to where I am now.
I grew up in a Christian home with two of the best parents. My dad is the leader of our family and one of the funniest people I know. No one seems to make me laugh and forget about my troubles quite like he does. I want to marry a man just like my dad. Someone who makes me laugh, loves me for who I am, and encourages me in everything I do.
Then there's my mom. Over the years, my mom has become my best friend. She's seen me through everything. She has laughed when I laughed, cried when I cried, and celebrated with me through every time in my life. She understands me better than anyone that I know, and she helps me face things when I don't want to face them. I thank God for both of my parents everyday because they have helped me become the person that I am today.
I also have an older brother. There is seven years difference between us, so needless to say we haven't always been close. I mean, what high schooler wants to hang out with their little sister who is in elementary school? As we've both gotten older, I've seen our relationship change, and I respect and love him more now than I ever have.
My brother married a beautiful woman that changed him into the man that he is today. She's very sweet and I'm glad that God placed her into my brother and my family's lives. I have the cutest nephew in the whole world (everyone says that don't they?) and he makes me smile everytime I see his cute little face. I can't wait to watch him grow up and hopefully become a great man of Christ. In about 8 months, I'll have another little niece or nephew (I'm praying for a niece) and I can't wait for another little Garrett to enter this world.
I have great friends that make me laugh and have helped me through some really hard times. Every person that God has placed in my life has taught me new things and helped me grow.
Having said all this, there's one thing in my life that is due for some change: My relationship with my heavenly father. I've always believed in Him, ever since I accepted Him into my life back in elementary school. I never really gave Him my all though. I attended church and went to camps, coming back and being on a "spiritual high," ready to change my life and really live for Him. I was involved in my Youth group in High school and attended church every Sunday morning and met with my small group, but I never spent quality time invested in His word or building my relationhip. I came to college with my "relationship" with Him as a I'll call on you when I really need you, but I can handle the rest on my own. This soon turned into "this is the time of life where I'm supposed to have fun, and I can pick back things up with you when I'm done living the life I know I shouldn't be." Needless to say, that didn't make me happy for very long. I tried several times to convince myself that I was finally ready to give Him my all and really live everyday for Him, but somehow I ended up falling right back into my old habits.
Recently, God has really begun to open my eyes to the life I've been missing out on. I've tried replacing Him in my life with boys, friends, material things, and none of them have fulfilled me like I know He can. I truly am ready to make the lifelong changes to live for Him and give Him everything I have. So here's the point to this blog: it's not about me...it's about Him. Noone may ever read any of what I write, but what if they do? What if people could begin to see God's love and his majesty and grace through my story? I'll share it to the world if one person could come to know the love I'm just beginning to understand.
So this is the beginning. The beginning of the life I've been missing out on. The beginning of the many blessings I know are in store for me. The beginning of true happiness. The beginning of falling madly, deeply, and truly in love with My Savior.


"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so netiher can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." -John 15:4-5 (NASB)