Hello Readers!
It sure has been a while since I've been in the blogging world! That, my friends, is the joy of the end of the semester and the negative aspect of actually getting ahead on homework!
I can't decide on a common theme for tonight's post, so it is going to be tidbits of my life to catch you up on all the amazing things Jesus is doing in my life!
Tidbit #1...For once in my life, I feel like I have conquered procrastination! I can only thank Jesus for the discipline he has provided in the past few weeks. I surely could not have done it alone. Homework done not just hours, but DAYS in advance??? Unheard of in my life, until now! It sure is a good feeling, too!
Tidbit #2...It's funny how life seems to take a turn for the worse, but really it is for the better. The end of this semester has been filled with marvelous, genuine, and Christ-loving people and I am truly blessed to have spent the past few months getting to know them. Crazy to think that if some unhappy times hadn't occurred, I would not have crossed paths with these people. Christ sure does have plans bigger than anything we could have ever made ourselves.
Tidbit #3...My career plans are going through a phase of uncertainty, but that isn't all that unusual! I'm just going to trust God to take me wherever He wants, whether it matches my degree or not. It is surely going to be an adventure no matter which direction I go.
Tidbit #4...I missed blogging! There have been days where I second guess it and wonder if it is even worth the time, but then I realize how much relaxation and peace it brings me. As if that isn't enough, I have also received messages of how much some posts have meant to people. I am humbled to think God could use an amateur writer like me to make someone's day! Let's hope from here forward, I can make some more time to embrace the blogging world again and maybe make a few more days brighter for people. We're all in life together, so I might as well share my successes and failures if it can help others!
Take care and have a great end of the semester, fellow college students!
Happy Easter, Readers!
This weekend has been filled with more memories and emotions than any other Easter I can remember! I stayed at school for the holiday this year, but thankfully I had the opportunity to spend time with my beautiful and fun-loving grandma!
Grandma was such a good sport about trying new things and going on all sorts of adventures during the weekend. Wrong turns, building water-system repairs and other craziness did not ruin her mood; in fact, I think these goofy experiences made it all the more exciting! The most special part of the weekend, however, was not just shopping and eating out together as I would have expected.
The truly special memories that I will hold close to my heart were from my grandma's willingness to go to church with me and to embrace the emotions this religious weekend can bring. Friday night, we went to a Good Friday service that far surpassed anything I would have expected. Saturday afternoon, we saw the movie Heaven is for Real. Today, we attended a fantastic church service. On top of all that, we recognized the anniversary of my uncle's unexpected passing of April 19, 2006. Talk about a tear-jerking weekend!
The tears, laughs, and smiles of this weekend all related back to the absolutely mind-blowing love of Jesus Christ. The ugliness of Christ's death on Good Friday became the most beautiful exchange imaginable on Resurrection Sunday. As my grandma pointed out, it is unimaginable to think of how the people must have felt to see their son, leader, and friend Jesus die on the cross that night. It truly places our own frustrations and sadness in perspective!
The beauty that comes from this ugliness is that Christ died as the perfect sacrifice in exchange for our sins. I hope and pray that this Easter, you spend some time reflecting on how much unconditional love that represents. Jesus died for you and because of mankind's sin. He rose from the grave, death has lost it's sting. Christ has provided the sacrifice we need in order to spend an eternity with God, all it takes is accepting His ways and choosing to live for His honor! Spread the message with those you love-- there is no other story more worth sharing!
Good Afternoon and Happy Monday!
I've gone back and forth about sharing an exciting moment from my past few weeks, but today I decided to go with it and write a post!
I hope by sharing openly about mental health I can be a witness to Christ's goodness and can encourage others to pursue emotional and psychological healing through the resources He provides for us. Although it is sometimes taboo in our society to discuss mental illness, I think the only way to make progress in helping people to heal is to be transparent, understanding, and supportive by addressing these issues.
Some of you may not know that last July I was diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Although I've always been a worrier and had anxious tendencies, last summer was the last straw where I realized those tendencies were overtaking my life and ruining relationships with family members. God bless them all for putting up with my snappy outbursts, panic attacks, fatigued and grouchy moods, and tears at every little disagreement!
After diagnosis, I decided there were two main options for dealing with these unpleasant mood swings and my feelings of low self-worth and guilt: ignore the issues or get help. I chose the latter.
However, this choice was not as simple as get some medication and think happy thoughts. In fact, the consequences of the choice to get help sometimes caused more stress than the anxiety itself! I had to make counseling and psychiatrist appointments a priority, decrease my involvement in extracurricular activities, temporarily eliminate caffeine (it can increase anxious feelings), make time to decrease stress through reading and exercise, and increase my time spent processing negative thoughts (therapy can bring up some pretty uncomfortable topics!).
There were times where I freaked out and thought my life would be forever ruined by anxiety. I thought I wouldn't be able to handle myself, let alone be able to have and support a family of my own someday. Depression can bring some ugly thoughts and can make life seem hopeless.
Through Christ, I saw these hopeless moments turn into new opportunities. On Friday, April 4, He brought some major excitement to my spring and made me realize just how far He pushed me towards being a more relaxed and joyful person-- I graduated from counseling!
"Graduation" might be a stretch as far as terminology goes (I think the technical term is I am "terminated" from the counseling program), but that is what it felt like! Hearing the words "I think you met all of your goals for counseling" was music to my ears. I am continually amazed to have made so much progress in such a short amount of time. Although there were some great counselors, doctors, and family members in the process, I know that the most significant factor in my healing was God's grace.
The scariest part of anxiety and depression is that there tends to be a recurrence throughout one's life, depending on situational triggers and genetic predispositions. That thought used to really terrify me, but now I am realizing that if God brought me through it once, He can do it again. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to a more joyful life with less anxiety and negativity. Even if there is a recurrence down the road, Christ will provide all of the resources I need to see myself the way He sees me and to cast all of my cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7).
As for now, I am going to enjoy my "graduation" and embrace the new habits of anxiety-free living. I hope and pray that this post comes as encouragement to anyone dealing with mental health issues. God will and does provide!
I used to think it. I have heard at least three different friends say it in the past year. I'm pretty sure advertisements for online dating sites and apps support the trend I've started to notice. There are an awful lot of people thinking they will be "forever alone" and that they need to do something to make their terrible fate change.
Just like how God knows how to push our buttons to move us to do and think positively, Satan knows how to poke and prod at our nerves to make us do and think negatively.
He makes us forget that God will make all of His promises and goodness clear within His own timing. He has a plan for our life, with meaningful and necessary timing worthy of our patience:
"He has made everything beautiful in its time..." -Ecclesiastes 3:11
Regardless of if it applies to being alone in a romantic sense or in a friendship sense, eternal loneliness is what I've deemed to be the "big fat lie" Satan places in our mindsets. God is always with us and is always leading us down a path He has created especially for us, yet Satan is really skilled at planting thoughts of inadequacy and isolation into our brains. Next time you sense Satan placing one of these feelings of loneliness into your life, take note:
Life with God = Life without Loneliness
Not going to lie to you all, though, that is a concept much easier said than done. Nights sitting alone, school dances without a date, exclusion from social invitations, and other experiences people might have in this category seem to only encourage the "big fat lie". The physical loneliness makes it easy to forget that we are never alone spiritually. Feeling the hurt of being excluded or uninvited can make us feel unworthy of love and can make it seem that God doesn't have a significant other or friendships in our plan.
There are a lot of smaller elements that lead to difficulty with accepting, believing, and trusting Christ's truth that He has plans for our futures in relationships. Here is just a short list of the mini-lies that play into Satan's "forever alone" trap, in no particular order, along with some of God's word to counter them:
Mini-lie 1:
I must have misunderstood God or He lied to me. He placed a desire for a significant other, a future family, or a friend in my heart with no intention to actually fulfill that promise.
Response:
"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made." -Psalm 145:13
Mini-lie 2:
There is no chance for me to meet someone. My life has no opportunities for positive friendships and relationships to develop.
Response:
In Matthew 15:29-39, Jesus fed four thousand, while in a remote location with no access to additional food, from seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. "They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over."
From this story, we can clearly see that Christ can make anything possible!
Mini-lie 3:
I'm too old and missed the boat. Everyone has their friends and relationships developed so there is no hope for me.
Response:
In Genesis 21:1-7, the Lord blessed Sarah with pregnancy in her old age. Her husband Abraham was a hundred years old! "'Sarah said, "God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me." And she added, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borned him a son in his old age."
From this story, we can clearly see that Jesus doesn't place an age limit on finding love and having a family.
Mini-lie 4:
I am not strong enough in faith, not educated enough, not attractive enough, etc. for anyone to want to spend time with me. I'm essentially inadequate and undeserving of love.
Response:
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." -Psalm 139:13-14
...and...
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." -1 Timothy 4:12
From these verses, we can clearly see that Christ has created all of us with beauty and care. He intends for us to be valued, no matter how young/old, skilled/unskilled, or weak/strong we might feel.
Mini-lie 5:
I am too shy to even talk to people. How am I going to fall in love, let alone form meaningful friendships, if I can't even hold a conversation?
Response:
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:13
That's just a short list of all of the related issues that can tie into the "big fat lie". If you cannot personally relate, I think it is fairly safe to say that you will meet someone with these thoughts or have already met someone with these feelings.
With that in mind, remember that God placed a desire for intimacy, acceptance, and companionship as a model for how He wants to relate to us. God will always be our companion, our life partner, and our supporter. His grace and love are endless.
Seeking Him is the perfect way to learn how to love and how to see ourselves the way He sees us. Pursuing Christ not only gives us contentment in our present scenario, but also in the future to come:
"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." -1 Timothy 4:8
Take a moment to realize your value and acceptance with Christ, as well as the importance of seeking a relationship with Him before pursuing relationships with others. You are never alone, as long as you accept Jesus into your life.
Let Jesus worry about your love story and friendships. Keep yourself open to hear His guidance and He will lead you down paths you never could have imagined on your own.
I went through a phase not too long ago where I got annoyed by people who seemed to constantly post something about Jesus on social media. I automatically would see it as being pushy and a turn-off, as a poor, inaccurate, and shallow representation of the religion I followed.
While I do think there has to be a balance when it comes to expressing faith, I now realize I was far too quick to judge and become annoyed by those posts. Christ doesn't call us to fit into the social norms and to nonchalantly express our love for Him. He asks for action that is much bolder and more direct.
In Acts 28:31, Paul "boldly and without hindrance preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."
Although every word we speak and write may not always directly state Christ's name or include a Bible verse, those words should still be a reflection of His goodness, His grace, and His teachings. He asks us to follow His call and to forward the kingdom, so who am I to judge someone for posting spiritual/religious statements online?
What truly matters, after all, is the intent behind what we say and do. If those people are posting to share the gospel and to follow Christ's lead, good for them and glory be to God! Maybe it is more often than I would prefer, but for all I know those posts could be exactly what another Facebook friend or Twitter follower needed to read. God has a plan beyond my understanding, which sometimes means I need to take a step down from my own judgement platform and see the beauty in the efforts others are making.
So if I ever become that person annoying you for continuously speaking out online about Jesus, I get it. I completely understand your thought process and annoyance. But I will promise you, the intent behind these posts is completely to strengthen my relationship with God and to share stories of His grace in my life with others.
I hope and pray that I can offer some bold writing in the name of Christ. It's what He calls us to do, after all!
I had not intended to make more than one post a day, but a friend from high school made today extra special in a way that is worthy of a second post!
Some of you might remember the catchy song "Pocket Full of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield. It was very popular during my childhood and came to mind as I brainstormed for this post.
A pocket full of sunshine would make any day seem nice, especially considering how cold and dreary the weather has been lately. Moments of life that seem utterly dull and depressing could certainly use some brightness.
Nevertheless, upon opening this care package I realized God wants to give us MORE than just a pocket full of sunshine. Not just moments, brief glimpses or peeks from beneath clouds. Every moment of our life, God seeks to make His words of encouragement available to us through the Bible, fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, and blessings from others. He is always with us and working our lives for good, no matter how troubled life may seem.
The inspiration for this post was a care package from a friend from high school. She wanted to shower me with encouragement and remind me how special I am in God's eyes. She did so with an entire BOX full of sunshine!
What a blessing! But that blessing would not be done right if I did not take advantage of the opportunity to share encouragement with those around me as well. The opportunity I think God has laid in front of me is to spread His words to bring sunshine to others, just as my sister in Christ did for me.
Here is a list of some refreshing verses that were included in my box of sunshine. I pray that they will make you feel cared for by Christ and special in His eyes, just as they did for me!
"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." -Psalm 55:22
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." -Revelation 21:4
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart." -Psalm 91:4
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him." -1 John 4:16
"I will make an everlasting covenant with them; I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me." -Jeremiah 32:40
