Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Whew! I can't believe I'm already 18. 'Tis quite scary, really.

Well, the year is 2008. I turned 18. You know what that means, don't you? :-)


I VOTED!


Yes, yes, you heard that right.
I'm a big girl now! :-)


And I even got a nifty little sticker that says...





For...

On a more serious note, I'm still trying to take in the fact that I am actually another year older. Life brings with it many, many changes; and let me tell you, I've had plenty of those. Some of those changes have been good; and some have been trials so difficult that without my Savior I never would've been able to endure them. But through it all, God has remained steadfast in His love and He has never failed me.

I am determined that in this new year of my life I will strive once more to be more like Jesus. To walk in His footsteps. Sometimes it seems so impossible and, so very often, I stumble and I wander, but God is full of mercy and love and holds tightly to me, even when I can't feel Him there.

God has blessed me so much more than I could ever deserve! I thank Him for blessing me with a wonderful family, for giving me so many like-minded friends, and for saving me from my sinful self and for filling my heart with His love! He opened my blinded eyes that I might see Him and He is molding me and shaping me more each day, each year, and each moment. He is reminding me of my sinfulness, and showing me how much I need Him. What would I be without my precious Jesus, the lover of my soul? I would be nothing, and I would be living a life of emptiness and futility. Through Him, I can truly live. And that is what I will strive to do in this new year of my life...I will strive to truly live...through Jesus.

27 comments:

Jasmine Baucham said...

Congratulations, Jessica!!

I'm looking forward to voting this year, too ~I'm a 1990 baby as well. :)

Thank you for the wonderful encouragement to truly live for our Savior as well.

Have a blessed day!

~Jasmine

Jasmine Baucham said...

Ha, ha! I think I'm a bit enamored with the phrase "as well" this morning ~that's what comes of typing comments too early in the day. :)

Anonymous said...

man...we're just getting old jessica!! haha. jk. wow, i forgot you had your birthday this month...sorry..happy belated birthday!! <3<3<3

Ana Smith said...

Happy Birthday!

Ella said...

Happy birthday, Jessica! How did you get to vote early? I can't wait to cast mine on November 4th--and for the same ticket as you did!

Ella said...

Oh, yes, there was more I wanted to say--on a serious note.

I fully understand your thoughts and feelings on turing eighteen. I was the exact same way and the Lord has the same desires upon my heart!

Anna Joy said...

GOOD JOB JESSICA...See you on Saturday at Reformation Day! =)

Anna Von Holten

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday Jessica! I meant to send you an email yesterday, but I didn't end up getting on the computer at all. Hope your day was really special! <3 Darby Maeve

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Jessica!! I pray that The Lord will continue to mold and shape you. I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

God bless,
Achaia

Daniel and Christa Blanchard said...

You have got to change the colors on "I voted", It looks like "IOE!" ! :-) I had to tip my computer to get it!

Love you Sis!

Anonymous said...

Happy (belated) birthday! Congrats on your first vote! :)

Amanda Read said...

Hey Jessica!
That's awesome!
I made another blog post today about the Election.

~Amanda~

Thomas and Lindsey said...

ok one question... how did you vote for president when its not even november yet!??! mccain looks a little stern in that picture... i think i will vote for him just for that! i like stern guys in office...

thomas

The Warrior said...

Well then, happy 18th birthday. :-)

The Editrix said...

Happy Birthday!

Hmmm, it's going to feel strange when I'm old enough to vote in a couple more years. . .

Many (belated) birthday blessings :)

Jessica McDonald said...

Jasmine, I always say that 1990 was the best year to be born in. :-D Easy to remember your age too...in 2007 you're 17 in 2009 you'd be 19, etc. *grin*
hehe. That's alright! :-D

Anna, I KNOW. I feel so very old now!! *smile* ah well...

Ana, Darby, Achaia, Tara, Editrix and Dr. Paleo, thank you very much!!! :-)

Ella, Thank you!
I found out (after I didn't register to vote in in time) that there's a few days of "Grace" (Oct. 7-21) where if you did not register in time you can register and vote early and at the same time. A good friend shared that info with me so I was very pleased that I was able to vote after all! :-)

Annna, It was GREAT to see you at Reformation Day!!! I'm SO sorry that I didn't get to tell you goodbye!:( I hope y'all will be at the Messiah in Chicago. *hint hint* :-D Tiff, Melissa and I are planning on going!!!


Christa, yeah...lol...I noticed the same thing. :-D Oh well. :-D
Love you too!

Amanda, thank you for sharing! I will definitely go read it!

Thomas, HA HA HA. :-D I'm sure that'll be why you vote for him, Thomas. LOL! I can see it now...*laughing*

God bless y'all!!

In Christ Alone,

Jessica

Ashton said...

Congrats on that first vote of yours! Glad you were able to make use of the 'graceful' suggestion! :D

Ok, lame pun. O:-)

And I still think you ought to bring back that RSS feed... ;)

Anna Joy said...

Jessica: We enjoyed being there...it was fun...you all put so much work into thank you for all you did...YES YES YES we will be at Messiah we go every year THAT WILL BE AWESOME TO SEE YOU 3 THERE...looking forward to it!

Anna

Joy said...

Happy Birthday Jessica! (A little late!)
I hope that you had a wonderful day! :-)

Jeremy Degenhart said...

Jess, I'm seriously ticked off. I've been wondering why your new posts don't show up on my dashboard, and found out it's because you disabled the RSS feed?!? You are discriminating against those with Dial-up internet, and that is Unconstitutional!!

Seriously, though, Your blog takes about 10 minutes to load at my house, so please put the feed back up?

On the election, while I disagree with you, I know that you voted for McCain with a clear conscience, and because you honestly feel that it was the right thing to do, and I respect you for that. You and your family are fine, upstanding, honest Christians. I'm proud that you are my friends!

In Christ

Jessica McDonald said...

Ashton, thank you! :-) And lol, the pun took me a second...but I finally think I got it...lol!

Joy, thank you! It was marvelous!

Jeremy, Because you and Ashton seem to really want me to enable it, I'm going to go ahead and fix my RSS feed. :-)
And I seriously thank you, Jeremy. Know that it is mutual and I am proud to know your family and also be friends with y'all. Also, I hold nothing against you for voting differently (as long as you don't vote for Obama, anyway...:-))and am very glad that you don't either! God bless!

In Christ Alone,

Jessica

Jessica McDonald said...

Anna, you're so welcome!! I'm just glad that people had a good time!! :-)
Wahoo! :-D We're definitely looking forward to December!! See you there!

<3, Jess

Emil Bandy said...

YEEEEEHAWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU'RE GOING TO PUT BACK ON RSS FEED!!!!!

yippeee!!!

:D

lol

Jeremy Degenhart said...

WOOHOO!!!! Thanks Jess, I appreciate that!!

Jessica McDonald said...

HeHe. :-D Y'all are very welcome. :-D

The Kautts said...

Happy Belated 18th birthday Jessica!

I to am a 1990 "baby" and was able to vote in the primary here in Texas back in Feb/Mar. If you're 17 and 10 months then you can early vote, so I took that opportunity. :)

It's pretty exciting getting to express your values and views at the voting booth! I am voting today hopefully! :)

God bless you and I love your blog!

Abby

Jessica McDonald said...

Abby, thank you very much! And you're very right...it's extremely exciting...and a bit scary at the same time! I feel so old all of the sudden! :-)

God bless!

~Jessica