A Blog Post for Everyone:

It’s okay that it's not okay...

It’s hard to believe it has been almost two years since my last blog post. Up until a few weeks ago, I thought my blogging days were extinct.  That was until a special guy I know persistently encouraged me to give blogging another chance. Transitioning out of a not so realistic life in Chapel Hill into the “postgrad life,” has been more difficult than I imagined. I’ve learned a lot from the process, confirming there’s a lot more to be learned.  I have found that times like these are the best times to blog, as I want to share my experiences with others.

If you too, are a recent college grad, you can probably relate to how my life has felt over the past two months.  Conversations with my “college friends” leave me relieved to know I’m not the only one who has found this season of life to be surprisingly difficult.  From new marriages, to jobs or lack thereof, grad school and much more, our milestones may vary, but they have left us with a common sensation: “I feel like I’m constantly knocked over by ocean waves before I can ever get back on my feet,” as one friend metaphorically put it.   While this is especially true for recent college graduates, I have a feeling life tends to make us feel this way no matter how old or young we are. Therefore, this is a post for everyone.

Disappointment, worry, discontentment, etc. are not just feelings we experience after four wonderful years of college. These emotions seem to find a way to creep into our lives in both the good and bad times. 

But why?

If you’re like me, you may look to things and people to make you feel “happy” in life. Just to name a few: [Over] indulging in food, finding THE perfect outfit, trying to keep people from being disappointed in me, are just some of the things I work at in attempt to establish contentment…to make sure I don’t  “feel any holes in my heart.” I have recently realized that maintaining a comfortable life at school where my friends were right next-door and my only “responsibility” was schoolwork was another way I was trying to “stay happy.”

But guess what? Maintaining, or at least trying to maintain these things, never leave me feeling “whole.” The "hole" is still there. There’s always more left to be desired.  Over the past few weeks, the Lord has been gracious to remind me that there is a reason why even if  I had all of my favorite foods, bought five new outfits that I love, and everyone seemed to be pleased with me, there is and there would still be something missing.

The reason is because I am putting my hope in things that can change from day to day. They aren’t bad things. But they also aren’t permanent things. The material possessions and relationships in my life can and will waiver. Surely they can bring goodness to my life but they will never bring me joy because they weren't designed to make me whole. 

I need to be reminded every single day. Every single hour. Every single minute. Jesus and the love he showed me on the cross when he died for my sins is the only thing in my life that will never change. It is unconditional. It is permanent. It is selfless. It is indescribable. Yet I forget over and over again every day. I am foolish to think that if everything else is stable, I will be happy and I will feel secure.  I don’t and I won’t because everything minus Jesus equals nothing. Hebrews 13:8 says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” That means that the love he showed us “yesterday” on the cross is never going to change.

Whether you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior or you’ve known Him for a long time, I am sure you can relate. If you have any questions or need someone to talk to, I would love to talk to you. I had a conversation just today with a girl who agreed that far too often, we pretend like everything’s okay when there are often so many underlying things going on in our lives.  It’s Okay That It’s Not Okay…[Even though it can be okay if we will lean on our constant, Jesus.]

Check out these beautiful songs that sum up this precious and unwavering love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV3rYXc152E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlOJ5o8W4Lw

Contentment

Hey friends! Hope this finds you doing well. I have decided that I will probably never be a consistent blogger as many times I have tried to be! I did however, want to share with y'all some verses that the Lord has been using in my life and I hope will be really encouraging to you.

I am currently going through a book/study called "Call My Anxious Heart." Labeled as "a woman's guide to finding contentment," this book talks about the things we look to fulfillment for that always let us down, offering a remedy, the contentment that we can find in Christ. I know I look for contentment in things other than Jesus every single day and I am  so thankful for how the Lord is using this book to remind me and show me the true contentment that can be found in Him no matter where we find ourselves!

Just wanted to share the verses and an exert from the first week...it is my prayer that we would allow Jesus to "fill us up" more and more!

¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² 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. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13)

"A look at Paul's life reveals how amazing these verses are.  His life was full of anything but positive circumstances.  He wrote them while imprisoned in a dark, dreary dungeon without sanitation, heat, or exercise equipment--elements that are a part of our American prisons...Paul followed his extraordinary declaration about having learned to be content in all circumstances with the secret of how (Philippians 4:13). This often-quoted verse is translated literally from the Greek as "I am able to face anything by the one who make me able [to do it]"...At all times, in all circumstances, Christ is able and willing to provide the strength we need to be content.  Contentment occurs when Christ's strength is infused into my weak body, soul, and spirit...He infuses contentment into us through His word.  As it seeps into our minds, it transforms us."

 -Linda Dillow (pp. 14-15 Calm My Anxious Heart)