Blessed. I Am Blessed.

I am blessed and life has never been more wonderful. I turned 32 just a few days ago and I cannot be more thankful for this period of my life. I know that there are people who are looking behind wishing they were children again. Even though I had a happy childhood, I still believe that life is getting better and better and I would not exchange the life that I am living right now for any other period of my life. So, since I just had my birthday, I thought that I would like to write a little about God's blessings in my life.

The last year has been an amazing journey. Actually I think that the word "amazing" does not do it justice. I think that I can officially declare it the best year of my life and here is why...

I thank God for restoring my father's health. It is amazing to see that, even though last year the doctor said that he might need a heart transplant, this year his heart is functioning normally. It has been really good to have mom and dad around for the past three months and live in the same place. I know that I will miss them as our ways are parting again.

I am thankful for a nice and nephew that are full of life and that bring so much more color and sweetness to life.

I am also thankful for having my little sister around. Now, that she will be off to Norway for a year, I know that I will miss her. But, even though I know that life will be different without her around, I am thankful that she can get more training for God's cause.

One other thing that I am very thankful for is the prayer ministry that turned my life around and made life so much more sweeter. I have done a lot of traveling in the past year (twice to the States, three times to Germany, Austria, Sweden, Portugal, Italy), a lot of speaking and leading prayer. I have seen many lives changed. I have made many wonderful friends and met many precious people that have been such a blessing to me. I simply cannot see my life without the prayer ministry. It brought so much more meaning to life.

And than, there is this blessing:

He came in my life when I least expected it, when I was content with my singleness. He heard about me from a mutual friend who told him that my prayer ministry changed her life and that I will be attending the same event he was going to. He came to the prayer meetings almost every morning. Than he saw that I am going to present a workshop. He came to my workshop, but I do not remember to have seen him there. The workshop was a blessing for him. Since he is a thinker, he wanted to share with me some thoughts on prayer. I was really impressed (he says that I did not seem impressed at all). I am used to people coming to me for counseling and advice. But here was a guy who just wanted to share some deeper truths about prayer. And he has not stopped to share his thoughts with me ever since. 

The past three months have been full of happiness and smiles. We have been learning and growing a lot together. All I can say it is that he was worth waiting for. If I were to live my life again, I would not have it any other way. It is simply amazing to see how everything fits in and how wonderful it can be when God writes your love story. For me it was amazing to discover that God still has young men out there who put God first, who try to honor God through everything they say and do. I am so happy to court such a godly young man who is helping me so much to keep my eyes on Jesus.

One year ago I prayed a prayer: "Lord, give me Germany or I die." Who would have ever thought that God will choose to answer this prayer by giving my a German boyfriend? Believe me, having a German boyfriend was not part of my deal with God. This is not what I prayed for. Actually, just a few months before I went to Youth in Mission, I told one of my best friends that I could court a Portuguese, but never a German. Never say never, because sometimes God chooses to answer prayers in ways that never crossed your mind. My friendship with Roman is a proof of that.

I hope to be able to write down our amazing courtship story some day, but until then, I just wanted to let you know that God is amazing and He works in amazing ways. He exceeds our expectations and does exceedingly abundantly above all that we think or ask when we choose to put Him first.