Making Sense of the Madness




 

At this moment my head is full of jumbled thoughts. As usual. They never seem to slow down and never seem to go away without a new one replacing it. These are the things that are cluttering my thoughts right now...

I'm tired. Do those stinking college apps or you're never going to get in!! I need to see my friends before they leave-I'm really going to miss them. That nap in the sun probably wasn't a good idea, was it now?  Those fireworks last night were so pretty. I hope my cousin is doing ok today.  Is this trip I'm going on in a few weeks really a good idea? What am I going to do with my life? I need to figure out my schedule for next year or I'm going to be stuck in the horrible classes. I need that person to turn in my reference so I can start this internship!!

And so the constant, worried blabbering in my mind continues. It's summer right? The time of year when I should be the most carefree and unstressed! Why do I keep running these thoughts through my mind over and over again?

I was thinking about this last night. It was the picture perfect 4th of July. I was going to a fireworks show with one of my best friends in the world. Driving into the sunset with our hands out the car windows singing our favorite songs, knowing we would meet up with friends and then spend the night watching movies and talking. How could a 17 year old girl ask for anything more? Yet my mind still wandered and went back to the things I had to do and the decisions I would have to make. And worse, I thought about how I wish I could change the situations. Why can't God just show me where to go to college? Why couldn't I have just gone on a trip with all of my other friends?  Why can't I have an easy schedule for senior year? Why couldn't I just be content with where I was at this point in my life? July 4th, 2011 at 11 p.m. watching fireworks with my bestfriends.

I think I had the wrong idea of what content means. I so often view it as meaning that everything in my life is perfect. That I'm happy with my friends, my family, my relationships, me, my school, my future. And with all those perfect aspects of my life, there would be no reason for me to need a God that would help me deal with all the nasty, scary, hard parts of life. I had totally missed the meaning of being content. God gave me Philippians 4:12-13 to help me understand...

{I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.}



So what does it mean to be truly content?....

True contentment is realizing that the imperfections of life that are bound to happen are nothing compared to the God that is facing them with us. True contentment is seeing the beauty of the fact that we cannot face life on our own, but instead have to rely completely on our Savior-we truly have no control. True contentment is realizing that these imperfections in life are what mold us into the people we need to be. True contentment is knowing that in time, God will make all things beautiful again. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I don't want to keep chasing the idea that someday I will have it all perfect. When I look at the big picture of my life, I'm glad that I have these worries and struggles. I know that God's got it and I will be stronger in the long run and that's good enough for me. :) 

Psstt..

Just in case you forgot...

SUMMER IS ALMOST HERE!!!

Well for me, at least.

The next few days are busy with finals, grad parties and trying to keep myself together until school is finally over. It's worth it.

Summer means....

Sunshine & Beaches,  Tanlines & Flipflops, SUndresses & Sunglasses, Bare feet & Freckles, Sleepovers & Movie Nights, Smore's & Lemonade, Guitar Music & Laughing, Best friends & Family reunions, BonfirEs & StaRgazing

I simply cannot wait.

Safe In His Arms



The past two weeks have been hard. Really, really hard. You know that feeling when it seems like everything crashes down and there’s nothing you can do to stop it? Yeah, I’m beginning to get used to that feeling. It’s not fun at all, but I’ve learned some important things too.

1)      God is good. God isn’t just good because He makes good things happen (which He does), but because it’s who He is. His very nature is that he is a sovereign, loving, good God. It’s so easy to get caught in the emotions of a bad situation and not be able to look outside of our “box” to see the bigger picture. We blame God for bad things that happen in our lives and ask how he can be good if hard times come into our lives.  A perfect God is not defined by the events in a fallen world.  An awesome God is not defined by the situations that he allows or stops, but by the fact that He is God. Every day. All the time. Forever. He is good. And if He is good all the time, then why should we only praise Him in the good times? I’ve found that even in the hurt and the tears and the confusion of a tough situation, when I look at WHO God is, I can’t help but praise Him. It’s like Peter trying to walk on the water. The storm was bad, and things were scary. It was easy to ask “why is this happening to me?” but instead Peter fixed his eyes on the Savior, not the situation. I’m so thankful that my God isn’t defined by the events in my life and that He is good all the time.

2)   I’ve learned that God gives peace. I’ve always read about the “peace that transcends all understanding” and I believed it was true but I’ve never experienced it until recently. On the night my family received some really hard news, we should have fallen apart. Everything came crashing down mentally but somewhere in my heart there was a small whisper saying “there is so much more than you see right now. Wait to see what God will do.” I can’t say it stopped the tears or my mind was at ease, but I knew (and still know) that God is in control of everything that’s going on. I love resting in that peace.

3)     I love the church!! I’ve gotten the chance to see God’s people in action and I seriously love it. It’s been amazing to see people pour out love to a family in need…it’s such a beautiful picture of what God intended the church to be like. I’m so proud and blessed to have such amazing friends that love God and others so much.

{{“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.” Psalms 32:7}}

                                                                              You will be safe in his arms,

                                                                              You will be safe in his arms,                             

                                                                       For the hands that hold the world

                                                                               Are holding your heart

                                                                               This is the promise he made

                                                                               He will be with you always

                                                                              While everything is falling apart

You will be safe in his arms

                                                                                     -Safe:Phil Wickham

Be still.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Exodus 14:14

Its hard to drown out the noise of everything we have going on. We fight for what we want- always working towards something. Restless. But when we are still and focus on the more important things, we realize that we aren't the ones winning battles... or even fighting them for that matter. God is fighting for us.