Stuck by Jennie Allen

*sigh*

The river. It's nice to get away. I've been at the river all weekend with The Husband. Don't tell him, but I actually love going up there. It gives me a chance to get away from everything, unwind, and let all the stress I've gathered slip away.

Lately I've had a lot of stress. I have a job I don't like, and is going nowhere. I worry about our finances, and I feel just plain old stuck.

Have you ever felt stuck before? You're in a place you don't really like; you don't know what you are suppose to be doing or what you are suppose to be working towards. You feel overwhelmed and under-appreciated in so many areas of your life.

You're stuck. Your stuck in a life that seems to be going nowhere.

You cry out to God for help, for guideance, for something.. but He just sits there. He's just there waiting. "What are you waiting on, God?" you ask.

He's waiting on you... on me.... to surrender.

He's waiting on us to surrender to Him, His ways, His will.

He is waiting on us to surrender and die. Die to our wants, our desires, our dreams, our ideas of what our life should be like.

And when we do that - when we die- we are free. Free to give our entire lives to God. Free to live for Him and not for ourselves.

I was stuck, but now I am free. And I am alive! More than I have been in a while. And it's exciting. I still don't have all the answers, but I am okay with that. I know I am in God's will and I trust him.

I still have the same job, our finances are the same, but I know that's not the end of my story. God has great things in store for me.

All this I learned from the Bible study Stuck by Jennie Allen. This study helped me recognize what I was stuck in: brokenness, anger, discontentment, fear, sadness, overwhelmed. Then it helped me let go of all of this and let God have control. This study was exactly what I needed right now, and I'm sure I'll be going back to it from time to time.

The study consists of a study guide, a dvd, and conversation cards to be used in a group study. This study is an 8-week study with different activities for each day of the week. It was the perfect length. Jennie Allen gets straight to the point in this study which is what many of us needs. We need to be told "This is your problem, and this is how you can solve it." There's no dancing around the issue.

It's simple. We all get stuck from time to time, and this study helps you understand why you are stuck and how to get unstuck. I would definitely recommend this study.

I was provided a leader's study guide by Booksneeze to review this study, but the opinions are completely my own.

My Photography

My husband and I spent our new year's eve and new year's day on the Ouachita River this year. While we were there I was able to capture a few photographs I thought I would share with you.

I graduated from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. Photographing the outdoors and animals has always been a passion of mine.

While we were spending time on the river, we had the chance of seeing two bald eagles that have made their home on the Ouachita River for right now.

I like to play around in Photoshop with some of my photographs. Here I tried to create a panoramic photograph. It still needs a little bit of work....

If you would like to see more of my photography, check out my Facebook page or My Website.
I hope the rest of your day is good! Enjoy!

New Year's at the River!

Ragan and I celebrated our new year's at the river. He went hunting and I slept in late. : ) Here are a few pictures I was able to get.

This is Ragan's squirrel dog.

 This is the view from the boat house.

And here I tried to do a panoramic photo. It still needs a little work.... It rained on and off the whole time we were there.

Ragan and our friends have seen two bald eagles every once in a while when they go up there hunting, but I haven't ever seen them. But this time, they came around while I was there!

They were so far up in the sky, even with my longest telephoto lens, I couldn't zoom in very close to them.

And here is Ragan and Josh's final count for New Year's Eve day. New Year's day wasn't very successful, and I went home that night. Jan. 2 was a good day for them as well, but I wasn't there to see it. I had to come home to my own bed and a hot shower! : )