I know that this looks a little long, but it's a fairly quick read. I hope you'll take the time to at least scan it. These are excerpts of journal entries I made three years ago when I first moved to Tennessee, just in time to begin my junior year of high school. I hope these will be an encouragement for those of you who are going off to college or expereincing some other sort of change.

It's really neat for me to look back three years and see how much God has brought me through in that time period. (For one thing, my writing has improved... ha ha...) I hope that through reading these entries and from knowing me now, you can see how far God has brought me in my life through change, and what He can do in yours. Enjoy...

8-14-03
"...today was miserably boring. Kinda lonely too... I'll just have to give it some time. It's hard right now, because at this point I am like so ready to just high-tail it back to Texas. I called Theresa [an old friend from TX] today and it was so nice to hear her sweet voice..."

8-15-03
"...Tonight... was one of the most awesome nights of my life. You see, Mom agreed to work the [Lifeway] table for this concert and karoke deal that was happening at a church [Northside Baptist] tonight... well I came back from watching some of the karoke and Mom was saying she talked some with the lead singer of Everman, Brad, about Texas... I got to meet the guy for myself... he is serioulsy like the nicest guy in the whole universe! ...he wrote a special note inside my CD cover that says: 'Marsha & Amy, Providence #3 is for you! Romans 8:28'. Mom said that once when I wasn't there with them that he prayed for us! And his wife and daughter are back in Texas [just like my dad]! Talk about so strange! And you know what? For the first time since I've been here, I was myself. Tonight was the first time that the real Amy had emerged in Murfreesboro. And the real Amy had such a fun time joking around and hanging out..."

8-16-03
"Today was one of those days when I got up on the wrong side of the bed... I just felt really crummy most of the day. Not even listening to my very own song helped. And you know how you would figure after something awesome happened like last night that everything would suddenly seem brighter and more perfect? Well it didn't..."

8-17-03
"Well, we went to Belle Aire today and both Mom and I liked it. I met two girls who were really nice to me. Their names were Sarah and Amber... I met a few guys too, but we didn't talk much... Anyhow, I got the sweetest e-mail from Danielle [old Texan friend] today! ...she was saying how God was going to use me..."

8-18-03
"Well school was... school. Pretty boring and average. I haven't really made any new friends, but I was talking to this one guy in environmental science and after class he handed me a post-it and it had his phone number... ha ha..."

8-19-03
  "Well today was better... I can see the kids in my classes are starting to warm up, and we're starting to become more friendly towards one another. And yesterday, for no reason at all, I ended up with a schedule change that flip-flopped my last two classes. At first I thought I would hate the change, but now I'm seeing how they are for the better! (God just totally rocks!)
  "...in Spanish there's a guy from Belle Aire, and I saw another guy in a Christian t-shirt. And we had to work with partners... and mine were really nice. ...sixth period drama... we had to talk about ourselves. One girl was really brave and stated, 'Something that is interesting about me is I'm a Christian.' Wow! I couldn't help but admire her for saying that! ...that was all cool and it encouraged me...
  "Then this other guy named Zach comes up there. 'An interesting thing about me is that there is a lake named after me,' he tells us. Mr. Curry asked Zach about it and he explained there was this lake at this Funny Farm place where his mom would go to or whatever because she is a Christian comedian. ... so anyways, we talked a little at the end of class because our assigned seats are right next to each other, and he asked what church I went to... I told him that we had just moved here so we were still looking around... I really hope to become good friends with both Zach and Rebecca...
  "God, thank you for the "fluke" schedule change. I suppose maybe you were showing me that you still do care..."

8-20-03
"... we went to Belle Aire again tonight, and Sarah, Amber, and Amy were still just as sweet as ever to me... things are starting to feel more familiar. Maybe I'm starting to realize I'm not on vacation, but it's still hard and I still miss everyone..."

8-23-03
"...Right now I'm at the point where I suppose I don't really mind too much about being here, as long as my purpose of being here is reavealed soon... I know it's only been about three weeks, but feels so much longer. I'm ready to discover why I'm here..."

8-31-03
"We got our rainbow today. Every time we move, God always sends us a beautiful rainbow as a promise. Today it was big, bright, and vivid... it was God's promise for us that we so needed to be reminded of..."

9-4-03
"...So school is getting more and more comfortable... I'm feeling more comfortable with the people and such. If only we could figure out the church issue..."

9-8-03
"Well, today I realize how desperately my school needs Jesus. Seriously...  she [a girl from one of my classes] ... made a comment about how this is the Bible belt and she can't wait to move away from it because people cram stuff down your throat. I don't want to be that way. I want to shine brightly for the world, but I don't want to beat people ove the head with a Bible in order to do it. Earlier today I just sat down and prayed and asked God to reveal Himself to me... all I know to do now is pray for these people, and to keep on shining! I'm enjoying Riverdale, and I know God has a purpose for me to be here!"

9-10-03
  "Okay, tonight at church was awesome! The topic was peace, and after Chris (the youth minister), spoke, he handed it over to this college guy named Clint. So Clint gave us a testimony about having peace even when his mom died... He said a couple of things that I can see ring true in my life. One thing is that we all go through Job situations. We're either going through one, fixing to get in one, or just getting out of one... He also said that it's during those tough trials that we realize where our joy is. Is our joy... anchored in Christ? That's the only way to receive true joy and true peace...
  "And I just now realized how many people I already know! Seriously! Like all these kids in my classes, and then Swing Club kids, drama kids... Anyway... it's so neat to think about how comfortable I am in school... It's so cool just how many people I know and say hi to me and talk to me! ...And several of them aren't Christians, and maybe one day I'll get to tell them about Jesus!"

9-14-03
"Well Mom and I both know that Belle Aire is definitely the right place - no fighting it any longer..."

9-17-03
"Tonight I've just really reflected on how far I've come since we've moved here. It's pretty amazing! It's encouraging to think about, because now I can see God has a plan. And it's cool how many people I have gotten to meet and can recognize in the hallways. Today a girl from the play tryouts that I had never really talked with smiled and said hey to me. Ditto with a girl, Emily, that I met at See You at the Pole. It's just really neat and encouraging..."

And it's like "they" say... the rest is history... and how glad I am that God brought me here.