Unfailing Love.

Do you ever look back in life and realize things worked out, even though at the time you swore they wouldn't? Lately I have been tremendously overwhelmed by the beauty that my life is.

Last Sunday I heard a direct word from God, and He was telling me I needed to share my testimony with the youth group. I've been working with the youth since January, so not terribly long, but long enough to know faces and a few stories/personalities. Sharing my testimony is a big deal. There's a lot of hurt in my story, as I'm sure there is in yours. 

I'm not a closed off person by any means. I can sit and talk about my life and tell someone every detail, but usually I've hung out with them enough to share the parts of me that are a little deeper than others. To just flat out share my story with young kids going through so many of the similar struggles as I did is exciting, but terrifying at the same time.

When I heard from God I basically asked back, "Are you sure I'm ready for that?" God came back with a pretty big yes and I realized, I'm not one to question in the first place. 

When I got home, I told Walker what I heard and started crying. All the fear of being raw and open with people who didn't even know my name hit me. What would the leaders think of me? The kids? How would this change my presence at church?

And then I stopped worrying because I realized how ridiculous that is. A testimony is supposed to be honest, true, and open. God's grace refreshed me with the truth that HE made all things work together in the best timing. 

What followed was a beautiful awareness to the life I'm living. If you had told me in my past that I'd be where I am, even as soon as just a year ago, I really don't know if I would have believed you. But it's once I started believing that God was able to do the things I thought I only dreamed of that those things happened.

So in this same conversation with Walker my tears stemmed from fear turned to tears of joy because God is just so good.

Then today I listened to The Breaker's Commission by For Today. I listened to this song at 18 and cried because I wanted so badly to know, REALLY know the power of God and the confidence in the words. This morning at work I was brought to tears (I'm sure that looked super awesome to the night stockers haha!) as I listened for the first time in years knowing His peace, His presence, and the freedom that comes along with having a relationship with Jesus.

So please, pray for me and the time I will be sharing my testimony with the youth. Pray over mine and Walker's future as we grow in the Lord and with each other. 

And please let me know if I can pray for you.

Book Review: Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

For a 190 page book this dang thing definitely took me what felt like forever to finish, let me tell you why.

I. Could. Not. Get. Into. It.

That is, for the first 12 or so chapters. I put this book down and thought, "Well, good job Savannah, you held to your goal of a book every month for two whole months!" I seriously thought this book was going to be the one that ruined my reading streak.

Eventually, I made myself pick it back up and I am so glad that I did.

When I shared on instagram (follow me at savannahhemnes) that I was reading this I was surprised by how many people praised it. At the time I posted I was maybe 5 chapters in and way thrown off by the dialect of the book. 

This book is very southern, and touches VERY heavily on the topic of race. If I'm being honest I usually stay away from books like this, not because I don't enjoy them, but I also don't like a lot of opinions thrown in my face. This book did a beautiful job of not doing that while still hitting it right on the mark with racial issues. 

I think another reason I had a hard time getting into it is because I felt so bad for the main character, Janie, and it took so long for her to find something that she deserved. Probably about chapter 14 and on I got really into the story and felt really happy with the direction it was going. 

The ending bummed me the heck out, but it was beautiful. The story shows a woman who has been through life experiences that hinder her thought of love, until a younger man comes and shows her what it really means. I loved reading it and seeing redemption in her heart.

I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on goodreads. I just couldn't get into over half of the first half, but man I got into the last quarter. I'd definitely recommend this to others, but also forewarn them of the dialect and the fact it isn't a page turner really until your over halfway in (in my opinion of course), but those last chapters are worth the entire book. To be fair, you do need those first few chapters, they're just really frustrating because I found myself wanting Janie to have the good life she deserved.

The life Janie got was even more than she dreamed, and to me that shows God's goodness in the book.