This comes from an email that I sent to my dad.....

But really, it was something that was such a blessing to me, so I'll share that part of it with ya'll too!

"Here I sit in New Jersey......this is possibly one of the most hectically crazy summers I've ever had! Always on the go! Last night we went to another family gathering to allow the bride and grooms families to get to know each other a little bit. I sat at the table with the older people. It was wonderful to just sit there with a group of believers that was so much more mature than me. Most of them had been on the mission field for years, but all of them have been in ministry for a long time. They shared about failure in their lives and how God used it for His glory. They talked about the dangers of allowing your eyes to get off the Savior, even if the distraction is too much ministry. They talked about self reliance (my personal favorite...I struggle with that a lot) and the importance of placing yourself completely into the care of God! We get angry, bitter, and frustrated when we fail and things don't go our way...but if we're striving in our own power, that's exactly what is going to happen! This brings me to the quote of the day. I got it from a book that I read while I was at school. It says "To be disappointed in yourself is to have believed in yourself." -Miles Stanford I have to remember to only look to God and trust in His strength alone. Only then will I experience any victory in my spiritual walk.....because the victory is His, not mine."