50 First Dates

I had a date this morning. In fact, I've had a date every morning for the last 50. And I have to say... I am falling madly in love. Now, ya'll need to understand something. I am NOT a morning person. I don't do mornings. Ask my brother -- I punched him for waking me up once. I know what you're thinking. It's ok, go ahead and pity my date. He knew exactly what he was getting into though. He knows what I look like in the mornings before my shower. He knows I'm a grouch. And he even knows I punched my brother.

In January, I made a decision to spend time with God every day. I've said it before, I know, but it's never stuck. I would always wake up when I felt like finally getting up and I would say, "I'll do it later." Oh right, like you've never had a case of the doitlaters. You know what I learned? When you have doitlateritis NOTHING ever gets done! I knew that if I really wanted to make God a priority and if I really wanted to spend time with God then it would require a huge change in my life. I would have to get up earlier in the mornings and that change, my friends, requires going to bed earlier. That's another thing ya'll need to understand. I love staying up late.

Satan has fought me on this one and he's fought hard! The first night, I could NOT fall asleep. I tossed and turned all night long, but that's ok, because God won that battle. At 5 AM, I gave up and got up! One night I set my alarm and didn't turn it on. Three minutes before it was supposed to go off, I woke up and felt impressed to roll over and look at the clock rather than roll over and go to sleep.

50 dates with Jesus. 50 life-changing mornings. I titled this post "50 First Dates" after the movie. In the movie, this girl, Lucy, had a car accident and has short-term memory loss. She relives the same day every single day. Henry meets Lucy and thinks she's amazing. The next day, she forgets him and he has to make her fall in love with him again. Fast-forward to the end and you'll see Lucy waking up in a strange bed, with a video on the table that she's supposed to watch. She watches the details of the accident and what's happened in her life since then and she's caught up on where she is in life. She walks out on the deck of the boat and finds her husband, her daughter, and her father.

I have had 50 first dates with God. Every day God makes me fall in love with Him all over again. When I forget how far my life has come, God reminds me of everything He's done in my life.

It wasn't easy for Lucy to deal with learning about the accident for the first time everyday. It wasn't easy to wake up every morning in a strange bed with strangers who know you and love you, but you don't know at all. She could have walked away and gone back to her old life, but every morning when she was reminded of Henry's love for her, she chose to stay. She WANTED to stay.

I want to stay. I choose God. For the past 50 days and for the next 50 years and more, I choose God. I choose to fight out the tough times and let God fight Satan for me. I choose to get out of bed every morning, not because it's easy or because I've become a morning person, but because I am in love with God and He tries everyday to win my heart and make me fall in love with Him again.

50 days have changed my life. I can't begin to tell you the peace that I feel because I KNOW that God is going to take care of me. There are no words that can express to you how my faith has grown. School should be stressing me out, but it's not. God's gonna take care of me. I have a deep contentment and inner peace, that truly surpasses all understanding. I can tell you right now, the peace I feel is NOT of myself. It is not medication-induced. It is not from friends or counseling or the support of family. God makes all the difference in my life.

I want to challenge you to have 50 First Dates with Jesus and let Him change your life.