The Old Testament

Today I feel as if my heart will burst, believe it or not, because of the Old Testament. I'm 31 years old and have never read it. Read FROM it, yes, but never read it from cover to cover. It's a lot more than I bargained for. I was ready to throw myself into this old literature and was prepared for being bored and fighting myself over it, but studious despite that fact. To my amazing wonder, it has been captivating. Never, never, never did I think reading the Old Testament could teach me such lessons about my Savior. Never did I think that the Old Testament could increase my faith in and love for my Heavenly Father. And NEVER did I think I could ENJOY the Old Testament.

If you can imagine, I have been wrong in my life before. But this is one of those things I couldn't be more grateful that I was wrong about. I'm not even a tenth of the way done (I'm in the middle of Exodus) but I think that this may be one of the coolest things I've done. Who knew Moses was SUCH an amazing guy?! And I suppose we all know that the children of Israel were grumbly and disobedient, but WOW, they had a great leader. And the ways that he emulates Christ are astounding. I know that each prophet, in essence, is a type of Christ, if you will, but the similarities and tests that Moses went through that directly relate to Moses are mind blowing to me.

It's just cool. I can't wait to meet Moses. And Aaron. And Abraham. And a whole bunch of other people!!!

Universal Creativity

When God (and Jesus Christ) created the world the third 'day' or what I like to call 'creative period' happened. That was the separation of light and dark. I've never thought this was such a big deal . . . until yesterday. As I sat and thought about it, I realized how awfully hard it would have been to have a regular pattern of light and dark. You would have to have a functioning solar system. The entire solar system would have had to be created then. The organization of our planet alone took one entire creative period (although conditions here had to be perfect for us to be able to live and thrive, with gravity, to environmental conditions to enable plants to also live and thrive, but I digress). It's amazing. That's what I'm trying to say. It was quite the process to make this place as cool and beautiful as it is, all for us. Our loving Father did it so we could be here, living, and learning, and building ourselves towards Him.

So cool. So so amazing to think about!

Why Do I Believe?

I needed a new forum to spout how I feel. I'm a super emotionally driven person, and because of that, I need several outlets to vent my feelings on everything. I do have another blog, but it's about my family. I need one for me. And at this point, I feel like it's okay for me to have something just about me. Well, not really, because my family is my life, so this will be about them, too, but it's about how I feel about them. This is my ME ME ME time :)

So why do I believe? I guess a more appropriate question is 'What do I believe?' Well, I believe in God. I believe that He is everything. I believe that He is more HERE than I ever know and more involved than I will ever be able to recognize. I believe that He is more loving a Father than my tiny human brain can comprehend. Jealous? Yes, I think He is. And really, I think He should be. He created us, so why should we give credit to some inanimate object . . . or by stroking our own ego and believing that somehow WE did what, in reality, He did. I think His compassion exceeds any compassion we have ever felt towards another living soul. I believe in God.

I believe in Jesus Christ. Oh, I believe Jesus Christ. I believe Him. I know that He walked this earth a perfect man only to set an example for us and then die. And through death, and more importantly, His resurrection, that we have the chance to live again. But forever. WHAT A CONCEPT! I believe Him when he said in the New Testament over and over and over that He is our advocate with the Father. I believe that, if I WORK, He will make up what I am deficient (which, let's be honest, is a lot). I just have to try my best, even if it's so much less than others' best, and He will make it work. I can live with God again, I can speak with God, and I can get revelation from God for me and my family, because of Jesus Christ. I believe Him.

I believe so many things. And, if you choose to stop in and see what Natalie is believing these days, please sit and stay awhile. I hope that you believe, too. I hope that as fellow human beings on this earth, we can all agree on this one thing. That we believe. That we can join our hearts and know that someone else walking here has the same knowledge.