I have never liked the color purple much. For some reason today it looks pretty!

Here's what I'm learning and what I'm thankful for right now:

-God is so gracious and merciful...why don't I see that enough? His grace is the only thing that can make me clean! Ms. Pearl shared her testimony last night at Focus and really opened my eyes to the power of grace.

-Girl time--what an incredible blessing! It's awesome to see how friendships begin with finding something in common with someone...from that bond a friendship grows and ministry takes place. It happens with my friends--new and old, it's beginning to happen w/ my SFG, it happened this week in my house church, and I love to see the way girls can minister to each other. There's something truly valuable there that just isn't the same with guys.

-The truth really does set you free! Be free!

(note: the following things i've learned are much more shallow than the above)

-Don't ever try to take a cake out of a bundt pan before it's completely cooled or only half of it will come out.

-I'm thankful for my winter coat that I really love...and that I only bought it for a couple dollars at a garage sale last summer!

-I'm also thankful still for Bethany Dillon's songwriting and talent. Saw her saturday night and told her how much I appreciate her. There's something about her that is so impressive.

-I'm thankful that the election is over for the following reasons:
1. I don't have to see all the crap on TV anymore.
2. I don't have to worry about what to do when I vote...(i was a first-time voter this election...wasn't registered yet 4 years ago, so I was a little unsure of what to do...not a big deal)
3. I don't have to listen to the way conservative Christians ignore everything else just because George W. is a Christian.
4. I also don't have to listen to the Christians who try so hard to be culturally relevant that they try to rebel and say they're going to vote for Kerry. (i don't know if this really happened but some people acted like it.)
5. I'm sick of hearing people who don't like Bush say that he isn't a good leader because he may not be as smart. Well, you know what? I'm sure he was quite distracted trying to run a country and still campaign on top of that! Give him some credit people! He's exhausted! If he wants to have long pauses in between words or sentences, who cares!
6. Bush may not be the best president in the world, but there is no one who will be perfect. No one will ever please 100% of Americans, unfortunately, but I do believe Bush will do a heck of a lot better job running this country than Kerry!

That's my 2 cents.