January/February Update

[*I'm going to apologize in advance for the weird spacing; I don't know what I did wrong]

JANUARY:

Well...I know this is a little bit late but I have been pretty busy with school lately. This semester is definitely more jam-packed than any of my previous ones! I am actually the last one to bed quite often (which was never the case before; in fact my roommates would make fun of me for going to bed at midnight). Now I'm usually in bed by 1 on a good night. Okay enough about my sleeping habits.


So, as I'm sure most of you have already heard, my brother has thrown in the towel and got himself engaged. His fiancee is a Champaignite so I actually know her pretty well which is awesome. I'm super excited for them and I think she'll be an asset to the Koch household. So far she's doing an admirable job putting up with our dry, and sarcastic humor...(poor Jenny)...

Here's a picture of the girls who went to visit Bob when he was in NC. (me, Sarah, *Jenny*, Amber, and Kaleigh)

And here's a picture of Bob assisting Jenny in the backhoe.
FEBRUARY:

I've been going over to Roger and Jill's house about once a week। We do thing's like go out to eat at Dos Reales (the best Mexican restaurant in Champaign), watch TV shows that talk about really strange things that happen in the world (like women going full term without knowing they were pregnant--the oddest thing was they actually lost weight instead of gaining it), watch the All-Star NBA game (Roger is a huge basketball fan), or just sit and talk.

I also started repenting and gave my life to Christ on February 18th after class. It's been pretty awesome so far but not without some struggles. Probably the hardest thing to do is give up self and remember that this really happened because sometimes it almost feels unreal. But when that happens I just think about all the emotions that went through me that day and all my doubts flee. I won't go into all the details but I've been seriously considering this decision for about a year. Throughout that time, God's been slowly breaking me down and humbling me because I'm a pretty stubborn person. Shocking, I know... Anyway, I received a sign from God to read Revelation 20. From verse 11 to the end of the chapter it reads,

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face

the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened;

and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Needless to say, these five verses really got my attention and I physically felt the weight of my sin. I knew that if I would've died right then, I would not have gone to Heaven. So I decided it was time to get my name written in the right book and live my life for Christ. So that's my big news I guess.

You should all check out Sharon's blog to see Grace walk!! It's pretty funny but then I'm biased!

SuDodge

*lyrics from Avalon's song, "Slowly" (this is the first verse and chorus)

Maybe it's been too long for me

Maybe I'm too far gone

I'm not looking for sympathy

But I know something's gotta be wrong

Remind me now what it means to kneel

Get me out of the way

I'm learning still that your love is real

You've proven it's not a charade

I don't know how much I can take

Mighty fences are slipping away

You slowly break me down

You slowly turn me around

I'm learning how to live

I'm learning how to love

Now that You're here slowly showing me how...