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Soli Deo Gloria
Almost Twenty-One: Reflections + Lessons
Saturday, November 11, 2017
I'm turning twenty-one next week and I'm feeling pretty neutral about it. Twenty was exciting last year, and one of my friends threw me a surprise party and I wanted to weep because it was the cutest thing EVER. However, yesterday I was realizing that my birthday is in a week, and normally I'm excited by this point, but I'm really not this year.
I think it's because I've woken up. I've been realizing that life is rough. I mean, I LOVE my life, don't get me wrong!! But I feel like I'm constantly running from one thing to the next, trying not to cry about graduation being in six months, and I'm always looking for my next cup of coffee.
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| Source: Gaelle Marcel. unsplash.com |
I think it's because I've woken up. I've been realizing that life is rough. I mean, I LOVE my life, don't get me wrong!! But I feel like I'm constantly running from one thing to the next, trying not to cry about graduation being in six months, and I'm always looking for my next cup of coffee.
Also I feel like I've grown up. Not entirely though. I've got tons that I still have to learn, I know that for sure. But.
I've realized that life isn't all sunshine and rainbows (however, a good amount of it actually is).
I've noticed that people who are a good forty years older than me still don't have it all together (which is lowkey relieeeeving).
I feel like I'm becoming my own person (even though I wish my mom was here at all times tbh).
Since I'm all mature and grown now (HAHA imagine), here are a few things that my almost twenty-one year old self has really found to be helpful and important, especially within the last year.
Getting eight hours of sleep.
Tbh, nothing is more annoying than people who complain about being tired when they went to bed at 3AM, knowing FULL WELL that they have an 8AM class... Go to sleep at 11PM, wake up at 7AM, you'll feel rad. Trust me.
No one has all the answers.
I wiiish I did. But being twenty has really taught me that I don't. But like, no one does. That's another thing that twenty has taught me. I can no longer ask my parents or teachers to solve all of my problems. Some of them? Sure. But I have to figure out a lot on my own and sometimes just go with the flow. Which is okay, apparently.
Rest.
I'm not talking about when you're asleep. I'm talkin about the type of rest that you get when you're awake. My life has been very go go go lately, and I've been crashing because I'm not taking enough time to rest while I'm awake. Prioritize that self-care, ladies and gents.
It's okay to ask for help!!!
I HATE admitting when I'm not doing okay. It's one of the worst feelings for me. I like to appear well put together at all times. But that's not realistic. Plus everyone has problems. It's okay to show that you do too.
Honesty and vulnerability are SO. GOOD.
Both can be hard. But what's the point in lying about stuff? And vulnerability and honesty oftentimes make you more relatable tbh. Because we all have problems (see previous point).
Trust God. Always always always.
This should be my first point, but it's my last because Imma go out with a bang. Plus, all of my previous points build up to this one. Because God has all the answers. God will give you rest. God will help you. And this very last point is what gets me through every day. Because growing up is hard. Life is hard. But God is stronger and more powerful than anything we face. And His plans are higher than mine (and yours), and He's gotten us this far, so how much more can we trust Him with the future?
Here's to another year of the twenties, another year of bumbling through life looking for coffee, another half-year of Bible college, and another year of living for the Lord. To Him be the glory.
Free Coffee + Small Things that are Actually Big Things
Saturday, October 14, 2017
In the past twenty-four hours, I've had three different friends selflessly buy me coffee. And I'm sitting here, working at the circulation desk in the quiet library this morning, wondering what I did to deserve this typa love from my friends.
It's dawned on me that to a degree, it's like Jesus' love for me - I didn't do anything to deserve it. This love says nothing about my own goodness, my own character, my own good works. It says everything about my friends.This love - and Jesus' love - is bestowed upon me in spite of my shortcomings, my failures, my imperfections.
And I love when God reveals Himself to me in the small things. Because it helps me to realize that sometimes the small things in life are actually the big things.
Some people may call that over-spiritualization, but how can we as Christians say that we believe that God is in everything and He allows everything that happens to happen but then we go and say that He had nothing to do with those seemingly super small things?
It's dawned on me that to a degree, it's like Jesus' love for me - I didn't do anything to deserve it. This love says nothing about my own goodness, my own character, my own good works. It says everything about my friends.This love - and Jesus' love - is bestowed upon me in spite of my shortcomings, my failures, my imperfections.
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| Source: Annie Spratt, unsplash.com |
We spend so much time waiting for God to show up in the hugest of miracles - curing illnesses, transforming the lives of unbelieving family members and friends. But sometimes we forget that He's present in the whispers as well as in the deafening screams.
I've had a couple of conversations with people over the last couple of weeks just talking about giving God the glory for everything. Even if it's something as small as your favourite song coming on the radio on the way to work, the ice cream you're craving being on sale, or three different friends buying you coffee in a twenty-four hour span.
Some people may call that over-spiritualization, but how can we as Christians say that we believe that God is in everything and He allows everything that happens to happen but then we go and say that He had nothing to do with those seemingly super small things?
(Back to the point tho.)
I'm grateful today that God uses people in my life who are special to me to show me small glimpses of His deep and unconditional love for all of His children. These special small moments remind me that God is sovereign over everything. He is so good, and so faithful all the time. And even when my heart wanders, He is still consistent. He is seeking me and placing practical reminders directly in my path that redirect my heart back to Himself - the One whom my soul loves.
I don't know if they'll read this, but thank you Hannah, Jamie, and Rachel for buying me coffee. It was a small, selfless thing for you to do, but it spoke volumes to my heart.
It's Not About Me (or you, for that matter)
Saturday, September 23, 2017
I've been back at school for a mere nineteen days and God has already been doing so many cool things and I'm super stoked about it.
We live in a society that tells us that the most important thing is our own personal happiness, and we need to make sure that we're at our best, doing our best, feeling our best - living our best life. In a sense that's true I suppose, however we NEED God in order to even get close to living our best life.
I actually just had a conversation with a friend (literally, we stopped talking like five minutes ago), and he reminded me that God can do the most with my life when I admit to Him that I'm done with myself and with trying to be in control, and I submit to surrendering to His will alone and say that I want Him to take complete control and use me in whatever way He desires.
And yes, that may be scary, but it's the most exciting and satisfying life that one can live.
It was also really cool because the other day in chapel we had a speaker who was talking about Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone), and God spoke through that speaker and straight into my heart.
The speaker actually quoted John 3:30, and said to everyone in the chapel service "Your life is not about you. It's about God. God doesn't need anything from you. In fact, all that you already have has come from God."
I was so amped up about that - tbh I'm still amped about it - and I practically preached about that chapel speaker's message later that day to one of my friends who doesn't go to my school anymore. I told her that I'd been asking God to constantly be reminding me that everything in my life has more to do with Him than it does with me.
So He did.
And I trust that He'll continue to.
I want my life to reflect how good God is. I want others to see how good, loving, merciful, and forgiving my Saviour is. I want the Lord to use me in any way that He so chooses, for His glory alone. Not so that I look good or look like I'm put together and know what I'm doing, but so that His glory is seen.
I am filled with the most joy, peace, and satisfaction when God is the One being glorified. That, my friends, is how you can live your best life.
Soli Deo Gloria.
A big thing that God has been constantly pointing out to me that might not actually seem like a really cool thing, is that life is really not about me.
At all.
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| Source: Julio Casado; unsplash.com |
It's not about you either, and I'm not going to apologize for saying that. Because it's true.
In God's Word, in John 3:30, it says that:
"He must become greater, I must become less."And that's what I'm striving to remember at all times.
We live in a society that tells us that the most important thing is our own personal happiness, and we need to make sure that we're at our best, doing our best, feeling our best - living our best life. In a sense that's true I suppose, however we NEED God in order to even get close to living our best life.
I actually just had a conversation with a friend (literally, we stopped talking like five minutes ago), and he reminded me that God can do the most with my life when I admit to Him that I'm done with myself and with trying to be in control, and I submit to surrendering to His will alone and say that I want Him to take complete control and use me in whatever way He desires.
And yes, that may be scary, but it's the most exciting and satisfying life that one can live.
It was also really cool because the other day in chapel we had a speaker who was talking about Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone), and God spoke through that speaker and straight into my heart.
The speaker actually quoted John 3:30, and said to everyone in the chapel service "Your life is not about you. It's about God. God doesn't need anything from you. In fact, all that you already have has come from God."
I was so amped up about that - tbh I'm still amped about it - and I practically preached about that chapel speaker's message later that day to one of my friends who doesn't go to my school anymore. I told her that I'd been asking God to constantly be reminding me that everything in my life has more to do with Him than it does with me.
So He did.
And I trust that He'll continue to.
I want my life to reflect how good God is. I want others to see how good, loving, merciful, and forgiving my Saviour is. I want the Lord to use me in any way that He so chooses, for His glory alone. Not so that I look good or look like I'm put together and know what I'm doing, but so that His glory is seen.
I am filled with the most joy, peace, and satisfaction when God is the One being glorified. That, my friends, is how you can live your best life.
Soli Deo Gloria.
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