call Him when you get lost!
so, when everything feels like the movies, yeah, you bleed just to know you're alive! & I don't want to world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand! (iris - the goo goo dolls)
hey there & happy tuesday morning! I hope you had a very happy week full of love & memories. thank you for being here! if you enjoy my content, please make sure that you are subscribed to get weekly updates straight to your inbox:
the week recap! week of: 6/25/24 - 7/1/24
⛅️ something to celebrate: occasionally breaking the mundane cycle! for the weekend, my best friend, Elyse, & I decided to take a short trip out of town (to Oxford, our future college town & her aunt’s house!) as an attempt to break the soul-crushing cycle that the mundane summer days left us feeling trapped in. & it totally worked! this forty-eight hour trip made me realize that, sometimes, all you need to do is see different sights with your loved ones to get back on the right track. in this case, back on the right track with the Lord!
I’m going to share with you two takeaways I caught onto from our weekend getaway: (a) child-like wonder is the only way to continuously remain close to God, & (b) taking life for granted has become too normal - the little sparks of daily joy are eclipsed.
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⛅️ something I’ve learned: let me break these two points down for you! (a) Elyse has a little cousin who is only five years old & is currently in the season of asking so many questions. while we stayed with her family for the weekend, she used our visit as an opportunity to attempt to satisfy her curiosity with our lives & life in general; seriously, she has the super-power ability of spinning heads with all of her questioning (it was super cute)! to those with more life experience than her, these questions seem silly & pointless (such as, why do you like lemon in your water? or, why did God make you with food allergies?), but in reality, these questions revealed her necessity to depend on us, especially her parents, for knowledge & answers. we need to start looking at our relationship with God in the same way that Elyse’s little cousin looked to us for answers & assistance. every time she would ask a question & receive an answer, her eyes would light up in wonder & gratitude! when did we stop depending on God for our every answer & need? & when did we stop being thankful for His answers & assistance? as we learn how to become more independent in life by growing up, we forget that we are still children in the eyes of the Lord, our Father (& that will never change). we tend to put our desire to figure out the ways of the world on our own in front of our view of God & need to remain close to Him. Mark 10:14-15 states, “let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the children of God. truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” here, Jesus explains that children are at the very heart of life in the Kingdom - accept God’s Kingdom in the way of the child!
moving on to the second point! (b) around thirty minutes outside of where we were staying is a small community of Amish people who make a living by selling their handmade goods from their homes. upon my first visit to this community, I realized that I absolutely take my comfortable way of living for granted. for those of you who don’t know much about the Amish, they tend to maintain a degree of separation from their surrounding populations & adhere to a more strict, traditional, simplistic way of life; everything they do is by hand (beautifully, might I add), they live without the internet & electricity, they travel by horse & buggy (the Walmart & Dollar Tree down the street had horse & buggy parking spots), & they lack things such as zippers & shoes (I mean, could you imagine going through your day without all of your zippers? or shoes? or electronics?) although, almost every person I came across radiated contentment & joy! I firmly believe this is because they are genuinely happy with their hard work, handiwork, & hardly modern lifestyle - they lack certain pressures we place upon ourselves such as social media, fitting in, & having the flashiest lifestyle. 1 Peter 3:3-4 states, “do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of hair & the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear - but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle & quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” what matters most is not your outside appearance, but your inner disposition! in this culture, we tend to take our lives & instant luxury for granted, leaving the void of true accomplishment, peace, & gratitude in Christ. think about that, friend!
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as an ending note, I’ll add that these two takeaways genuinely brought me closer to God - when the Holy Spirit exposed my lack of childlike wonder/faith & my excess of worldly vanity, I knew I was lost in my faith because I tried going through the Christian walk by myself, without Christ, again. it was time for me to call Him again by opening my Bible (after a few days of not doing so)! call Him when you get lost!
this week, I mentally made a note to not let the mundane feeling eclipse the small joys of the everyday! I stayed with my grandparents for the first half of the week & then took that trip with Elyse where we stayed with her family, visited the Amish, took selfies on an early 2010’s phone model, tried new restaurants/foods/coffees, went shopping, checked out the bookstore, & basked in lots of sunshine! spending four & a half total hours stuck in a car isn’t too bad when your best friend is the one driving - Elyse, I had so much fun with you!
⛅️ something out of my comfort zone: neglecting my walk! as lightly touched on above, I faced a short season of neglecting my walk with Christ because (until the Holy Spirit intervened) I thought that I could handle it all by myself. since I am supposed to be growing up into adulthood & handling everything like a “big girl,” I thought that meant my faith walk also had to change so that it could make me feel more independent too. wrong! one thing I know that I need to work on is learning how to follow Jesus in a social media obsessed world that has a fascination with the idea of independence & a five-second highlight reel.
following Jesus is nothing like following someone on social media!
- Sadie Robertson Huff
so, what does this look like? what does following Jesus in a social media obsessed world look like? well, I’m still figuring that out, but I believe a lot of it has to do with not caring about losing followers. not caring about not fitting in with the wrong crowd. you can only follow Jesus if Jesus is in the center of your life! friend, let’s get back on track today - read your Bible! put down Instagram!
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⛅️ something I’ve read: The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center - my signed & magenta spray edge copy that came with a sticker! let me fangirl! this novel is about a girl who finally gets the chance to work with her favorite famous screen writer on a rom-com; although, she’s leaving her ill dad behind to work with him & he didn’t even know she was hired (of course they’re going to fall in love). currently, I am 140 pages in out of around 340 total (42%)! so far, I am so in love with the unique storyline, & I find myself relating to the main female character’s dialogue more often than not. also, did I mention I got my hands on a special signed copy?!?! other than this novel, I am in the middle of Reign of Brayshaw by Megan Brandy - on page 111 out of 410 (28%). this is the third novel in the YA Boys of Brayshaw High series by Brandy.
from last week’s blog, I rated Trouble at Brayshaw High by Megan Brandy, the second novel that is 344 pages, a 3 out of 5 stars. right before I completed this novel, I read All In by Jennifer Lynn Barnes! this was the third novel in the YA Naturals series that was 378 pages & earned a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. I also ended up reading Redeeming 6 by Chloe Walsh, the fourth book in the YA Boys of Tommen series by her, & rating this 774 page novel a 4 out of 5 stars. I believe that this is my longest book read this year (so far)!
reading goal update: 50 books read so far this year out of my goal of 72 for the whole year. make sure to check out my goodreads (linked on the blog’s homepage)!
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one of the most iconic live performances of all time, in my opinion, was The Goo Goo Doll’s performance of their song “Iris” in the rain live from Buffalo on July 4th, 2004 (nearly 20 years ago)! I may not have been alive to see them perform it, but the recording still does the trick. not only is the song in itself timeless, but this version of it is an absolute classic! I want to share with you a part of the chorus: “so, when everything feels like the movies, yeah, you bleed to know you’re alive! & I don’t want the world to see me, ‘cause I don’t think that they’d understand!” the world may not understand you or your brokenness, but Jesus sure does!
this week, I challenge you to follow Jesus - not someone on social media! (get off of your phone, make a specific quiet time routine, go see something new, etc.) thank you for being here & I hope to see you again soon! 🕊️
“therefore, encourage one another & build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Love this so much! You are wise beyond your years, my girl! You are such an example to me and all those around you! 💗
Great message as always best friend!! Getting out of the mundane cycle is so important and eye opening and I’m so glad we got to experience that together!! 😆 looking to Jesus with a childlike wonder is such a great reminder as to how we should approach our relationship with Him! ⛪️