Alive Again

This pretty much sums up the past month:

I woke up in darkness
Surrounded by silence
Oh where, where have I gone?

I woke to reality Losing its grip on me
Oh where, where have I gone?
'Cause I can see the light
Before I see the sunrise

You called and You shouted
Broke through my deafness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again

You shattered my darkness
Washed away my blindness
Now I'm breathing in and breathing out
I'm alive again

"Alive Again" Matt Maher (listen) 

When thinking of October 2011, I think of a black hole. I feel like I've emerged out of a huge black cloud that had me both physically and mentally down. It's as if suddenly I can see everything around me and rejoice in its beauty. It's as if suddenly I'm ALIVE.

"Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. 
Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
-Romans 12:2

"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. 
For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. 
But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying,
for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. 
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good
of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."
-Romans 8:26-28

"Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? 
Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity,
or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?...
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us."
-Romans 8:35, 37

It's also funny how sometimes you can give something up to God, being truly content whether or not you ever have or do that thing again, and then God just hands it right back saying, "Here, it's a gift. It's always been a gift, but now that you understand a little more of how it comes from me, you're ready to receive it again."

"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, 

the glory, the victory, and the majesty.

Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, 

O Lord, and this is your kingdom.  

We adore you as the one who is over all things.  

Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything.  

Power and might are in your hand, 

and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!  

But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you?  

Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!

-1 Chronicles 29:11-14