I'm still here...

     It's an absolutely gorgeous day outside today.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing their praises to the creators, and the grass feels just right under my bare toes as I drag the watering hose around our spacious backyard to water all the flowers.  There is a peace that surrounds me, even while the neighbors dog barks indefinitely.  

     All the worrying we do in our lives, really doesn't do anything.  I know that all my worrying just makes me more uncertain and produces a cloud that masks the Lords reassurance.  This peace, from my Lord, makes me lighthearted, and whispers softly "everything will be fine and go ust according to plan."  It makes me smile.  I silently thank Jesus that he has everything under control.  

     I'll be leaving for South Africa in twelve days...it came up even faster than I thought it would.  I remember saying that "I would love to go" and now it will finally happen.  It's exciting to think about it and I can't wait (as you could probably tell that isn't what's troubling me).  There will be people to meet and love and tell about me precious Lord.  We (the group) will see things we've never seen before and experience new things and make "forever memories." 

     The experience that I'm worrried about is the last semester of my senior year in Nursing School. I will be preceptoring with a nurse, during a regular twelve hour shift and at a hospital I may be unfamiliar with.  I know I will get through it and God will be a friend and guide, but there is still a part of me that worries...a purely human emotion.

     I will just keep praying for this peace and joy...and I'd love it if you would to, because everyone could use a bit of peace in their busy lives.

Mercy..compassion for all..

     It's been a while since I have posted something, and I missed writing posts. It's been a busy last month, since I've started my second semester of my sophomore year of college. For our break, me and my sister spent a lot of time together..it was a great three weeks (those are stories for another day). 

     I was thinking about what I should post and then my aunt gave me an idea. Well, she doesn't actually know that she gave me the idea. She went into the hospital yesterday morning in labor and around 13 hours later gave birth to a baby girl. She wants the baby to have the name: Mercy. So..I decided to write about what Mercy is...

The dictionary states:

1. Compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
2. An event to be grateful for, esp. because its occurrence prevents something unpleasant or provides relief from suffering.

and those are pretty good definitions. 

     One word comes to mind when I think of mercy, and that word is Jesus. He died for all our sins on the cross, even though we should be punished for what we do wrong. Jesus has power to punish us and sometimes he does. But, we can always cry out to him for his mercy and he will freely give it to us. Mercy isn't the only thing that he freely gives to us at all times. Along with it there is peace, compassion, grace, forgiveness, hope, and love. 

     I hope that you have a wonderful year (yeah, never wished you that, my bad)! 

God is with you ALWAYS.

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy with college classes. I just finished the first tests in almost all of my classes. Since its the first semester of my second year I started hospital clinicals. The first two classes we had a partner with us while we took care of our patient. This coming Wednesday we take care of our patient all by ourselves, which will make me a little nervous. 
Pray for me in this coming week and during the rest of the semester!
A new thing that I've started this year is that I put a bible verse on every notebook/binder for my classes. If i get nervous or intimidated with the amount of work (believe me its a a lot), I can always refer to those verses and then I never have to be afraid. 
In the bible God wrote "Do not fear.." 365  times, once for every day. I find that very encouraging and comforting. I'm so thankful that God is with us all the time and is mindful enough to tell us not to fear anything. God Bless all of you.

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (Isaiah 41:13)

A Sophomore..once again.

This is the second time in my life that I'm a sophomore. I'm excited to learn new things as I jump into nursing head on. I start this year of college with three hard classes - Patho, Pharm, and the first off-campus clinical. I have lots of studying and memorizing to do, but with God's help I'll get through it. On all of my notebooks I've pasted a verse to remind me of God's constant presence during troubled times. I would appreciate if you would pray for me during this semester. Thank you!

Thank you, Lord

    School has finally finished and I have successfully completed my first year if college. The Lord has certainly helped me and kept me throughout the hard times. I want to thank all of those who were praying for me: THANK YOU! 
    You would think that I would have lots of time to write new posts, but that is not the case yet. Me and my twin sister are going to France next Wednesday, the 23rd of May. We are so excited to be going. The Honors program at our college offers this trip to all of the honors students, and me and my sister chose to go. A lot of our new friends are also going so it will be fun. Although we have made many new friends, most aren't Christians. I would be grateful if you would pray for all of them. 
   Me and my twin sister joined the christian group at our college and became friends with everyone there, but only two from that group of about twenty will be going with us to France (most are not freshman, so they went last year on the trip to France if they are in the Honors Program). 
    Again, thank you for your constant prayers. I will be praying for all of those who view this blog. 
    May God Bless You and Keep You, Julie Waldvogel 

Prayer ~ In troubled times.

This week I officially finished my second semester of college.

Next week I have finals in 4 of my 6 classes, I would be grateful if you would pray for me.

Thank you all for your constant prayers...

Two verses come to my mind, as I looked to the Lord for help: 

Psalm 46:1 = "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble"

Ephesians 6:10 = "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power"

If you have any verses or words of encouragement for me, you may leave me a comment below!

Another day with God beside me...

This is a photo of the main building (Kellenburg) of Molloy College (the college I attend)!

I'm sitting in the newest building waiting for my next class to start and I'm reading all the wonderful blogs that I follow. All of them are such a blessing! Keep on writing...

A quote that blessed me today was said by C.S.Lewis: 

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade the presence of God. 

The world is crowded with him. He walks everywhere incognito."

Whats your thought on this quote? Leave a comment below....