Monday, September 29, 2014

31 Days to Contentment

Oh how contentment eludes me. It has always eluded me. But thanks to the 31 days {writing challenge} I am going to spend the month of October finding my contentment in God. 

Where do I search for contentment? Typically in worldly things also known as my possible future husband, my friendships, my weight, my appearance, my job, my family, & pretty much anything else you can think of. Because in all seriousness, my heart is so prone to wander. 

Why is my heart so stubborn? I am continually turning to a million & one other things to complete me & give me contentment, but they never fill me. ever. 

When do I struggle the most? The number one culprit of my discontentment. Facebook &/or all social media. Anybody else been in that same boat? It's not until I'm looking into the FB window of everyone else's life that I start to think less of my life and lose all contentment.



What is a girl to do? Well, this girl is gonna write about it. & for 31 days at that. 

Check back here for daily updates. 

Day one. Intro. You're here. 
Day three. This is the Start 
Day four. Just a Glimpse
Day seven. The Other Side
Day eight. She Laughed
Day nine. Don't Look Back
Day ten. A Heart Divided
Day twelve. My Prayer
Day thirteen. Pressing On
Day fourteen. I May Be
Day fifteen.  Halfway to Forever
Day sixteen. The Long Haul
Day seventeen. The Silver Lining
Day eighteen. Just a Glimpse {Round 3}
Day twenty-one. Everyday is a New Day
Day twenty-two. Nothing New Here
Day twenty-three. Mirror Mirror
Day twenty-four. Doing Some Backtracking 
Day twenty-six. Make Me Content 
Day twenty-seven. If You're Single & You Know It  
Day twenty-eight. #GirlProblems 
Day twenty-nine. Do Something
Day thirty. The Battle of the Scale  
Day thirty-one. 31 days later

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

ONE HUNDRETH POST

Okay, technically this is 101, but don't judge me. I never claimed to be perfect. Life got away from me there for a second and 100 passed by before I could publish this little gem of a post. Kind of an introduction of sorts to the new blog look. Here we go.

May 10, 2010. The date of my first ever blog post. I didn't know what I was doing. & I sure didn't expect this little blog to become such an important part of my life.

Since 2010, the purpose of this blog has definitely changed a few times. It started out as a way to keep family & friends updated on my travels in Ukraine when I spent the summer there as a BSU missionary. I enjoyed writing/updating on the blog, but it didn't really stick at first.

It wasn't until July 21, 2011 that God gave me a vision for where He wanted this blog to go and how He wanted to use it for His glory. That was the day that this blog turned into a place where things get real. There's no sugar-coating. no pretending. no faking it here. I began bearing my soul and God's pursuit of my heart & life right here for all the world to see ... okay. maybe not the whole world. like twenty people. but still. I knew that in order to be effective for God's purposes, I had to be open & honest about my struggles, my victories, my emotions, my hurts, my joys. literally my everything. It was scary. This blog is more than a place to just type words on a page. It is more about God speaking to the hearts of those who need to hear these words {especially me}. When I feel the most inadequate to do this, God reminds me that He uses it for His purposes not mine. Just as I finish what feels like the most scatterbrained post ever, someone sends me a message telling me God spoke to them through it. Reminds me of the verse that I will boast all the more in weakness because through Him my weakness are made strong.

Summer of 2011, God was wrecking my heart & life over my attitude toward my singleness. I have/had so many friends in this boat with me. I sincerely doubt they were as bad off as I was/am, but I knew God had something to say to single Christians that He wanted to say through me. I was hurting so badly that I was willing to do anything to allow God to overhaul my heart & life in order to empty it of my dreams. my plans. my desires. In order to replace them with His dreams. His plans. & His desires. Since then I have gone back and reread those posts from that time, & I don't recognize the words. It wasn't me writing. It was God speaking directly to my heart. Every time I write on here, I publish the post and go back to read it one last time {usually to proofread}, but as I read, it's like I'm reading it for the first time. It is so clear that God is working here on this simple little blog of mine. I praise God for that.

Singleness was the only focus for awhile on here, but soon God started impressing other topics on my heart. The blog again morphed into a forum for me sharing what God is teaching me. He continually teaches me through the words on this page. He speaks so much truth into my life from this place.

Just a few posts that have so radically changed my heart & provided such powerful clarity are linked below:

As I step out on this crazy new journey in NOLA, I am thrilled to be stretching & expanding my faith & trust in God. My life is nothing without Him, and at the end of the day, I choose Him. I choose Him. I choose Him over earthly things such as comfort, happiness, possessions, relationships. In Him, I find the greatest comfort, more than happiness ... joy, treasures in heaven, & the greatest love of all time. Oh how He fills the deepest longings of my heart & soul.

Documenting my life {without borders} here should be an adventure that you won't want to miss.

I'm stepping out. Who's coming with me?

God's calling you to step out. Trust Him. Put your faith in Him.

Here's to one hundred more posts glorifying the Creator of the universe, the Lover of my soul, & the God who calls us out onto the water where our faith will be made stronger.

Here's to {Without Borders: A Life Documented}.




Thursday, September 11, 2014

I'm A Runner

I wish I was talking about the physical activity of running. Because goodness knows I wish I was good at that versus the running I'm referring to. 

Nope, I mean running from God. I'm a runner. I see God do these amazing things and work in crazy awesome ways. And then I get scared. I take my eyes off of Him. And I run. Not necessarily fast running. More like a turtle pace which is really my actual real life running pace. Turtle speed. But none the less I run. 



And here is where Hosea comes in. This book of the Bible is brutal. I started out reading each chapter judging God's people in thier God-doubting, idol-worshipping, back-sliding ways. I thought I was above that. At the end of each chapter, I felt the overwhelming conviction that my name could just as easily be read in place of Ephraim and so on. I doubt. I have idols. I have tried to run. 

Why did I run? I was scared. Scared of what God may have me do next. Coming off a season of such huge growth in my relationship with the Lord and such intense clarity and direction, I took that leap of faith. I followed God on this unexpected journey down to NOLA. I was obedient, so I can coast for a little while, right? Never. Before I knew it, I was doing the expected. Only what is expected of me. I was/am doing the bare minimum. Which led me into a state of fear. What if God asks me to do something else frightening? What if I can't do it? What if it's hard? 

So, I ran. 

But the beauty is in the return. 



I'm done running. It's not worth it. 

I want to return and run with endurance the race set out before me. 

I'm a runner. 

But it's time to run in the direction of my God. The only running I'm gonna be doing is closer to Jesus. 

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This blog post is a part of #SheSharesTruth with SheReadsTruth.com. 
Check out other blog posts about Hosea and what the other women in the SRT community learned through this study here