All Different and All Beautiful

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!” – Psalm 133: 1

Have you ever noticed that when people don’t understand something or appreciate something they have a tendency to label it as “bad” or “wrong”? Are we naturally threatened by things that are different from us? I’m honestly disgusted by this side of humanity that seems to be the reason behind racism and discrimination in general. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t make it wrong. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t make it bad.

Can we all just get more comfortable with saying, “I don’t understand that” or maybe just acknowledging that another person’s way of life, though not for us, still deserves respect and honor?

Sometimes in Christian circles it feels like everyone is competing to have the “right” answer. Topics are often looked at as “right or wrong” and “good or bad”. Personally, I believe this is an unproductive way of looking at the world. If everything had a black and white answer that could be looked up research style in the bible, wouldn’t it eliminate the need for prayer and reliance on God? My experience with God involves a lot of not knowing…and being ok with that. A relationship with God does not involve having all the answers…it involves faith and struggle because there is tension between our limited human understanding and God’s way of doing things. Yes, it makes life feel safer when we can label and define. We get to feel like we are in control, like we hold the power to judge and make decisions on other people’s worth. Do you really think that’s what Jesus had in mind for us as followers of him? To spend our lives turned inward analyzing ourselves and others?

This is the same God that created the sunset, ocean, rainforest, mountains, and stars. This is a God of variety. This is a God of color, abundance, and life. You know how I feel when I’m in a room of people heatedly discussing some trivial matter like which version of the bible is the “right” one? I feel bored. That’s the colorless, tasteless, bland life.

Have you ever heard the saying about Jesus being the light? As Christians we are called to be the light. Do you know that visible light is made up of different colors? When light passes through a lens or prism it is dispersed in to different colors of the rainbow. Doesn’t it make sense that when Jesus shines his light through us, being that we are all different, we would each shine him in a slightly different shade?

I think that we need to be more aware of the beauty in every different shade of Jesus around us. I don’t think Jesus wanted us to focus so much on “right and wrong” because what he really stressed was love. He said a whole, whole lot about love. Somehow, we tend to overlook that in our quest to be right. If Jesus calls us to live together in unity, but also made us each different, he knows that we are going to have to “agree to disagree” on some things for the sake of unity. Let’s not make our goal as Christians to be who can “get it right” but maybe to be who can love, give, respect, honor, and forgive. Just like the colors of the rainbow, we can all be different and still uniquely beautiful.

One way to line your attitudes and motives up with Christ is with the biblical description of love from 1 Corinthians 13. Ask yourself, “Are my thoughts/words/actions:

Patient?

Kind?

Humble?

From a place of contentment?

Forgiving?

Truthful?

Genuinely desiring the best for the other person?”

If you can’t honestly answer yes to the above filters…maybe just let go of that for a while and spend a little time admiring the beauty around you! 🙂

When Friends Offend: Navigating Conflict and Moving On

I think it’s safe to assume that none of us enjoy conflict. Conflict is just…uncomfortable. It has the ability to bring a relationship closer together if you are both willing to listen and work at it. Unfortunately, and probably most often, it can cause relationships to become weak or even end completely. So what do you do when you have had a falling out with a friend? What do you do when you have openly and honestly shared your heart and the person is unresponsive or does not validate your opinion? What do you do when someone has hurt you (maybe multiple times) and does not seem capable or willing to change their behavior?

This is the hardest thing for me with friendships because I tend to value the people in my life above all else. In the past several months I have asked several of the women I look up to about their past friendships and have discovered something shocking, we have ALL lost friends that we at one time considered near and dear to our hearts. I was so surprised that some of the most beautiful hearts I know have been broken over friendships ending. I am comforted to know that I am not alone and want to share some of the ways I have found to deal with friendship conflicts in a healthy and Godly way:

1. Review the situation: Is this situation occurring because you are being taught something about others or about yourself? Be honest. Did you say or do something offensive? If yes, it’s time to suck it up with an apology. (God can help you get your heart in the right place of humility by spending a little time with him first. The worst thing is an insincere apology…it will only make matters worse).
2. Put it in perspective: “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” – Isaiah 64:8 The person who hurt you is clay…a work in the Lord’s hands, just like you. We can not expect people to be perfect and we can usually expect them to grow and change in time. However, only you can choose what is and is not acceptable in your life and sometimes that means loving yourself enough to know who should not be influencing you. If someone makes you feel bad about yourself or disrespects you repeatedly, it might be time to move on. It is important to spend time in prayer to ask the Lord for discernment since every situation is different. He may tell you to “forgive and forget” or he very well may tell you to “forgive and remember”. Being a Christian means being kind…that does not mean you have to be a “doormat” or a “yes person”. Honesty, respect, and consideration are not too much to ask for.
3. Remember Who and Whose you are: So, maybe you’ve decided to distance yourself from someone for a while? What about those yucky feelings you get when you see that they are spending time with all your mutual friends? First of all, stop judging yourself, we can not help the natural human feelings we have of hurt when someone has hurt us but continues to be well received by those around us. Secondly, understand, it is NOT your place to “enlighten” anyone about the person’s character. There is NO EXCUSE for gossip. Remember you are a daughter of God. He bought you with a price and He desires that your heart stay pure even while enduring trials. Again, this takes prayer because God doesn’t call us to be fake. He doesn’t want us to put on plastic smiles and pretend everything is perfect…because that would be lying. He is the truth and He calls us to be the light. He calls us to spend the necessary time being honest with him about our emotions so that he can transform our hearts and remind us He is in control. Remember this, God loves you and He also loves the person who offended you. You can never fight darkness with darkness so when you see the person who has hurt you, treat them with respect (doesn’t mean acting like their best friend). When someone else brings them up in conversation speak either positively or keep silent.
4. Keep Being You: Move on. Keep doing the things that inspire you. Keep listening to your favorite music. Keep meeting new people in random places. Be spontaneous and make new memories. The point is…sometimes we have to leave people behind in order to truly respect ourselves and yes, it hurts for a little while but, LIFE.GOES.ON.

To Say or To Pray?

“Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2

As a believer I feel a lot of pressure to talk. I feel a lot of pressure to tell people about Jesus and stand up for my faith. When the opportunity comes up during conversation sometimes I get a little nervous and I feel like I have to say some perfect, witty thing that will turn people to Christ and cause them to seek him.

There was one time after I got back from my mission trip to Africa where I was sharing about my trip with my non-believing friend. She graciously listenend to me go on and on about how God had used my team and me in these other countries. She listened with slightly glazed over eyes as I tried to paint a picture of what my faith in God is like. I tried to tell the story as interestingly as possible, giving God the glory, making a case for him, trying to show her more about him. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t hear one word of what I said.

There’s something annoying about a person who strives to change the way you think. I know we have all experienced this in one way or another. The person with very strong opinions who goes on and on thinking people actually care. I know I have been that person before. The thing about striving so hard to share your beliefs and opinions with people is that you are relying on yourself. If you find yourself replaying the conversation in your head, or wondering what you could have said differenly to make better points, you really might be relying too much on yourself.

The wonderful news that has taken a lot of that pressure off of me is realizing that God himself draws people in, not me, not you, not the most inspirational person on earth. It is through the power of the holy spirit that people come to Christ. You don’t have to have the perfect argument or the most persuasive testimony. As a matter of fact, when you don’t know what to say it’s totally fine because maybe that is when you need to pray! There is power in prayer. There is comfort in acknowledging that it is not you, but Him who does the saving. I have noticed that some people have a curiousity and a hunger for God, they WANT to know more, they ask questions, they seek. Other people really do not seem to care at all. Which group of people will benefit from words and which simply need prayer? Sometimes people are most touched by the things they see you doing when you don’t even know you are being watched. Today I am reminded that God is in control, not me! 🙂

Relationships Part 2: Happily Ever After Is Now

In my last post about relationships I talked about how it is important to protect your heart. People are not always who they seem and not everyone is at a healthy point in their life. Your life and your heart are yours to guard and you can’t expect anyone else to do that for you. Now, with that being said, I personally feel like if you choose to date you should also take some accountability for the other person’s heart and feelings. This means making sure that you are not the one who is searching for something to fill a void in your life or to “fix” you. It isn’t fair to look to someone else for your happiness or expect them to make you feel complete. The healthiest relationships are between two people who are individually complete and come together to make a powerful team. Dating starts with how you view yourself. You attract people who reflect to you how you feel about yourself. Like it or not, you set the standard for what is considered acceptable.

If you are currently hyper-focused on meeting the man/woman of your dreams, I have some life-changing news for you: Happily Ever After is Now.

Yes, that’s right. Your life is happening right now. It already started. You are living in precious moments that you will never ever get back. It is time to start loving the life you live! You know how I like lists so I am going to share some ways that I have found to love your life and feel full so that you won’t be tempted to settle for less than the best.

Invest in what you have: It’s easy to get stuck in that rut of dwelling on what you don’t have but no matter what your situation, you have a lot and you might not even realize it. Could you invest more time in your family? Could you spend time making sure your current friends know how appreciated they are? Instead of texting that new “potential” while you are at coffee with a coworker, actually take the time to listen and ask questions. Give your undivided attention to what is already in front of you. Instead of spending time thinking about and searching for romance you can be taking what you already have and making it that much better because like I said, you will never get this moment back…might as well make it amazing!

Give love: There are other kinds of love than just romantic love. Do you feel lonely? Do something about it. Volunteer, get involved, or find a way to brighten someone’s day. Sometimes just being there is all it takes. Do you have a friend who is stressing about her job? Take her some chocolate, spend the afternoon together, live life with the people who are already in your life. Seriously, doing things for others is energizing.

Say Yes: Now is the time to try new things. Life is about learning and we learn through experiences so go out there and experience as much as you possibly can! Don’t worry about making mistakes or what others think of you, just say yes, and see what happens.

Expect the best: There is literally no point in thinking negative thoughts. Will it change the outcome? Definitely not for the better. Why not just assume that things will go your way and confidently pursue your goals? Change the negative thoughts in your head to positive and be supportive of yourself and others.

When you finally start living life in the moment and focusing on what you do have instead of what you don’t have, amazing things will start to happen. You will find out more about yourself. You will naturally value yourself and your time more which will mean you have to be choosier of who you will date. You will realize that you don’t need another person to complete you. Some people think the worst case scenario is never meeting “the one”. Personally, I think the worst case scenario is ending up with the wrong one. Just remember: If it is God’s plan for you, there is nothing you can do to mess up. Here’s to living life to the fullest with what you have right now and letting go of the pressure to settle!

How a Street Preacher Made Me Question Everything.

Have you ever had something happen that caused you to challenge everything you believe in? Sometimes we can be so sure of our faith and so certain of God that we aren’t afraid to share about Him and we confidently proclaim the wonderful things we know to be true. Other times we question. It is human nature. In my opinion, it is good to question what you believe because truth will always be truth, no matter how you question it.

 

Last Friday as I was walking in to Nats stadium to celebrate the Fourth of July with America’s favorite pass time, I had an unexpected encounter with a street preacher that caused me to question my beliefs. Here I was, a beautiful day at the nations capital, thousands of people enjoying themselves, eager to celebrate baseball, independence, and everything that America means to them. I imagine that most people were just in an overall great mood, three day weekend, family, freedom, hot dogs, and fireworks. Can you imagine the vibes of the crowd now? And then there was one man in the middle of the crowd with a giant megaphone screaming about hell. He seemed so out of place in this context. He wasn’t happy, joyful, loving, or kind. He seemed burdened, maybe even desperate for people to hear his message. I watched as the crowd passed by him, literally thousands of people, stampeding to get in to the stadium. Did they even hear a word of what he was saying? “Repent or burn in the fires of hell!” You could hardly even make out the words he was screaming but he was holding up a sign so you definitely got the gist of it. Looking at him and looking at the crowd, I thought about how I would much rather be a part of the crowd. If Christians are called to be a representative of Christ on this earth well, this man did not act at all like the Jesus I follow.

 

I was with my friend who is much bolder than I am and she insisted we approach the street preacher and ask him about his success with this “scare tactic” method of “sharing the gospel” (although he left out Jesus, forgiveness, and grace so not sure if it counts as sharing the gospel?). When we approached him he quoted scripture to us giving reasons for why he felt compelled to stand here in the crowd, screaming about hell. I have to admit, I was confused. He was quoting scripture…scripture is truth…right? I started to question my view of God. It weighed on me the rest of the day as I had thoughts like, “what if my view of God as a kind, patient, merciful, all loving father is wrong and he is actually disappointed in me?”

 

Finally, I had a chance to sit down in scripture and see what The Lord would lead me to. I asked him to remind me who He is and who I am in Him. What I found, I could literally go on about forever so I am going to try to make this brief. He led me to the book of Ephesians which over and over again says how much God LOVES us. I would encourage you to read the full book of Ephesians but here is just one verse that completely shatters what the street preacher was preaching:

 

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Ephesians 1: 7-9

 

It’s really crazy to me that my beliefs about God were challenged so easily in a split second. I realized a few things through this experience.

 

1. Truth is truth and will always be truth: Don’t let anyone tell you what to believe. Seek for yourself and you will find it. (“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you” –Matthew 7:7)
2. Scripture when taken out of context is NOT truth: If someone tells you something and it doesn’t sit right with you…question it. Pray about it. Test it. Wrestle with it. Remember, even Satan quoted scripture when he was tempting Jesus in the desert. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” – Matthew 7:15)
3. You can recognize truth by the fruit it produces in the lives of those who follow it: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5: 22-23)

 

The street preacher was not speaking out of love. He was not joyful. He was not peaceful. He was not kind. When I put him up to the test of truth, he did not stand up to it. As believers we are called to tell other about God. I think this can be done differently depending on the specific situation. Maybe in America, where most everyone has heard of Jesus…and most people have a distorted view of him…maybe it is best not to use words? Maybe it is best to serve. Maybe it is best to just love one another and let people see that and see our joy and wonder what it is that makes us different. So today I ask you: What do you believe? Who is God to you? How will you show God’s love to those who do not believe?

Relationships Part 1: Be Protective of Your Breakable Heart

You don’t have to look very hard to find dating advice these days. There are countless shows on TV, magazine articles, books, and internet websites devoted to giving their take on what makes a successful relationship and how to find your “perfect match”. Unfortunately, most of this advice is counterproductive because it is encouraging people to “act” a certain way instead of just being themselves. This drives me crazy! The point of dating is to honestly get to know someone and carefully decide if that person is worth investing your heart and your time in. The WORST thing you can do is try to be someone you’re not because an act can’t last and neither will a relationship that is built on deceit. In the next few posts I am going to share some of the most valuable lessons I have learned about dating starting with why you should be protective of your breakable heart.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” Proverbs 4:23

When it comes to break-ups and heart break everyone wants to blame the other person but the truth is; it is your responsibility to guard your heart. Nobody is perfect, has the perfect family, or has never been hurt. It’s important to know that there are people out there who are incapable of having healthy relationships because of their past hurts. People, who are hurting, hurt others. When someone hasn’t given an emotional wound enough time to heal they are searching for a “band-aid”. Trust me, you don’t want to be someone’s band-aid. People often seek out relationship band-aids when they are unhappy with their current life or need reassurance of who they are. They are looking for someone to boost their confidence and fill a void in their heart. When they start to become stronger and the wound starts to heal, they won’t need that band-aid anymore, they will be ready to move on. Even the most well intentioned people could be trying to resolve past hurts or regrets without realizing it, so it up to you to be smart and not get caught up in someone too soon. Here are some ways to make sure you protect your heart from being hurt by the wrong person:

1.Listen: Listen to what the person is telling you, not what you want to hear. If you are looking for a christian and the person you’re dating says, “I went to church once with my grandma” that does not mean he/she is growing and walking in their faith at this time.
2. Watch: Pay attention to how the person treats others. This is an easy way to see where someone’s heart really is. When someone is interested in you they will be on their best behavior so it is easy to think they are genuine and wonderful. You learn more about a person by watching them interact with others than by how they treat the person they are trying to impress.
3. Be Patient: Getting to know someone takes time, patience, and openness. Don’t let your mind run wild thinking you’ve found “the one” after three dates. Chill out on those fantasies of “happily ever after” until you have been able to make sure this person is really who they seem to be.

If you find yourself too overly eager to be in a relationship you might want to ask yourself if maybe you are one of those people looking for a band-aid. Are you looking for an escape from your life or someone to boost your self-esteem and confidence? We will talk more about this in my next post, “Happily Ever After is Now”.

Whose Timeline Are You On?

I can’t even count how many times a week I hear people complaining about where they are at in life ( and I’m guilty too). “I thought I would have started my career by now”, “I thought I would be engaged by now”, “I can’t wait to buy a house and start my life”. These are a few of the common ones I’m sure we have all heard.

Why do people have these inner timelines that stress them out? Trying to plan the timeline of events in your life is useless…no one can control time, you can’t speed it up or slow it down. Have you ever noticed that when you have been running for what feels like 30 minutes, you realize it’s only been 5? Or how about when you are having an amazing time and you suddenly realize way more time has passed by then what you thought. This shows that time is relative. When you are sitting around wishing and waiting on some big life event to occur, you are not only making it seem to take a lot longer to get here but you are also missing out on the blessings that are right in front of you.

This is mainly a faith issue because dwelling on our own individual timelines is failing to acknowledge that God is the one in control of all of our time. We are not promised so much as one more day on this earth so why would we dwell on we don’t have yet?

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Do you believe that God wants to bless you with a prosperous future? Well then sit back, relax, and enjoy where you are. Every good thing will come in perfect timing, God’s perfect timing. The stress of the “time line” is stealing your joy and your peace…let it go and trust! When you focus on God alone you will get so lost in his present blessings that if he chooses to bless you with your desires in the future, you will be able to say that you lived fully while you were waiting and did not let one single second of your life go to waste.

He might even use this time in your life to change your desires if you let Him. Let’s face it, we don’t even know what we want half the time, let alone what is best for us. There is a reason for this chapter of your life…Are you living it to the fullest?

Unfortunately, We don’t always know when it’s the last time we will see someone we love so be in the moment, listen when people talk, pay attention to the little things, and seize every opportunity because you will never be able to come back to exactly where you are now.

Sometimes You Gotta Fight For Your Rights!

As children of God we know we have the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, guiding us, strengthening us, and filling us with his presence. This is our birthright as princes and princesses of The Most High God. We are entitled to the fruit (or evidence) of the spirit and the enemy would love to try to tell us otherwise. This is why we have to fight for the life we are called to! The evidence of the spirit in our life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5: 22-23). If you take a second to dwell on these you will realize that they are the qualities that help guide us through life. What else do we really need to overcome any situation? These are the qualities that help us forgive the seemingly unforgivable, serve the people who aren’t easy to serve, and reach out to those who are hard to love. When one of these things is missing from our lives we need to immediately identify the problem, most often it is a lie that has infiltrated our thought life and is messing with our spirit. When we are not experiencing the fruit of the spirit in our life, it is a nudge from God that something is “off” and sometimes we really do have to put up a fight to figure out what it is and take back the gifts that we have been given. Here is what I have found helpful for when my Spirit is lacking:

1. Immediately pray and ask The Lord to reveal to you what is going on that is causing you to feel this way. Remember to invite the spirit to guide you and have full reign in your life.
2. Try to find a place to be alone and in quiet to listen to what God could be speaking to you.
3. Spend some time in the word and see if anything is revealed to you. If you are able to identify a lie or obsessive thought, memorize a scripture to combat it. Write the scripture somewhere that you can keep looking at it every time the lie creeps in.
4. Give thanks- acknowledge The blessings in your life and thank God for them
5. Worship- listen to praise music or life up the name of The Lord in prayer
6. Serve – How can you touch someone’s life in Jesus’ name today? This is one of the best ways I have found to get my joy back!

Praise God that things are not always perfect or smooth in our lives because these little stumbling blocks send us running back to the one who guides us and fills us! He is our hope, our strength, our very life and He is worth fighting for!

An Answered Prayer and a Moment of Doubt

For the past several months I have had Psalm 90:14 on a note card in front of my journal, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” My goal of course is to actually spend time with The Lord first thing in the morning. I don’t know why this is such a difficult task but every time my alarm goes off I can’t seem to find the will power to get up out of bed unless it is for something mandatory. So a few weeks ago I started thinking that if only I had a secret place to meet with The Lord than I would be more motivated to get up and actually go sit in peace somewhere. I pictured something outside like a garden or a pond so last week I went for a run to try and find a secret place. I went about a mile and half in both directions and could not find anything secluded. Well last night one of my close sisters in Christ invited me to her “secret place” where she spends time with The Lord. It was a small, private beach that overlooks a lake and even has a fountain. Unfortunately, she lives atleast 30 minutes from me so this is not a good option for my mornings. I sat there last night, looking out at the lake and listening to the peaceful sound of water from the fountain and I prayed, “Lord, I just really want something like this but closer to me. Please help me find it.”

So today I decided to go for a walk. I went my usual route but when I got to the entrance of the neighborhood where I usually turn around and head back, I turned in. I literally went 5 steps farther than I usually do and guess what i found…a beautiful, secluded, secret place, complete with 3 fountains and a bench! He never ceases to amaze me. What a wonderful father we have that He would hear such a small request and bless me the very next day.

I wish I could say that from there I had a positive and faith filled day but that is far from the truth. I sat down tonight to start putting together my support letters for my upcoming mission trip and the whole time I was being so incredibly negative. I made a list of people to send letters to, the whole time thinking that they will probably be annoyed to receive my letter. From there my negative thinking just went down hill to dwelling on how much money I need to raise and how no one would want to donate to me. What the heck?! Didn’t God just literally give me a huge boost of faith earlier in the day?!! UGH…it’s so hard to focus on truth sometimes. Thankfully, as I was listening to these lies of the enemy and putting myself down, I was directed back to the word (the truth) and remembered that God is in control.

 

Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable!

One thing I really struggle with is patience. I HATE TO WAIT!! Let me clarify, I’m perfectly fine waiting in lines or sitting in traffic because that is more of a “physical” form of waiting and you obviously know the outcome…but as far as emotions are concerned…I am terrible. If I apply for something or try-out for something, or even have just taken a test, I literally can not think about anything else until I find out the results. When I am waiting to find something out or am unsure about a future event that is approaching I have several coping mechanisms that I tend to midlessly turn to, some of you may relate:

1. The snack attack: I will eat everything in sight because somehow my subconscious thinks that if I am satisfied with food and sweets my anxiety will be less unbearable.

2. A (large bottomless) glass of wine: It never fails that when something stressful happens I automatically think, “I need a drink”. And when has anyone who is stressed or worried ever just had one drink? Let’s be real!

3. Vent to anyone and everyone in sight or in phone: Doesn’t it just feel good to talk..and talk…and talk…and talk about your problems? I’m sure the person listening loves it too. Especially when they try to get a word in edge wise and I’m like, “Yeah, but can we just go back and analyze the analysis of my problem one more time?”

These are just a few of my common stress tactics that surprisingly do not help at all. Recently I have been paying more attention to these habits and I realized that they actually NEGATIVELY effect me. Snacking of course leads to overeating and not feeling as energized and healthy. Drinking too much can cause me to think irrationally or make bad decisions. Talking about the situation too much usually wastes other people’s time and I end up giving out too much information and it could turn to gossip. So what is the solution?

I am learning how to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable”. When something stressful happens and I just can not wait to find out the outcome that is the exact time that I need to PAUSE. When emotions are building and I am feeling the pressure of the unknown and the the possibility of failure is at hand, that is the perfect time to ask The Lord to strengthen my faith. When I just sit still in his presence and in his word I am reminded once again that he is at work in my life…which means I can relax! In the face of the unknown I can go back to the words that I have chosen to believe because God has time and time again proven Himself faithful in my life. Say it with me now, Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His will”

Phew! Well thank God for that because I can’t see one second in to the future. It is definitely not easy to go against racing thoughts and the urge to “do”. Sometimes you have to force yourself to sit still and just allow the feelings to be there instead of trying to control them. Eventually you will have done this enough to get comfortable with being uncomfortable!