"Don't Complain. Declare Who I AM."

So, life has been somewhat of a vacation the past 4 days. There are things that I would love to be doing:

1. Moving in to my new apartment
2. Working
3. Playing with my cat
4. Fast forward through all the seeking and just be plugged in

But... God made it abundantly clear when I was laying (not quite asleep not quite awake) three nights ago. He told me not to complain. Now, keep in mind I was not complaining at the time, so I'm pretty sure this was God being all, "I'm Omniscient" on me. He knows that I will be discouraged at some point and wallow in the negative. So, He told me instead to "Declare who [He is]."

So, instead... I have been trying to just experience Lynchburg. I been going out in the fresh air every day: hiking, smiling, meeting new people (today I met Victor and Mike!), taking LOTS of pictures, being creative with the photos later, praying, blogging, etc.

Here is what I know about God:

1. He is good.
2. He sees things in me that I cannot even begin to see.3. He knows exactly what He has for me here (even though it's hard for me to believe there is someone who knows more than me :P). This statement is so much more important than me focusing on the fact that I have no idea.
4. He is so creative. Mountains are amazing!! I love climbing to the top of one and just marveling at how many more there are and how tiny I am.

It reminds me of this:

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
¹ You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
When I look out at the billowing mountains and realize how small I am in comparison, I am so friggin humbled. Who am I in all of creation that God took the time to plan my hair color, my freckles, my laugh (that loud noise that embarrasses me sometimes- He made that!!)? I am so small and the earth is so big and so full of people and God is so much bigger than that. And He loves me and has a plan for me and in my quietest moments- He is there. He touches my trembling heart when I am scared or lonely and He puts his hand on my shoulder when I need comfort and He speaks so directly to me when I need His peace. But, who am I?
That is why I will never tired of climbing every mountain I can- so I can belt out a few lines of the "Sound of Music" Julie Andrews and marvel in God's creation.
Tomorrow? I think I'm going to climb a mountain and draw what I see.
Just to tide you over, here are a few photos from today: