Okay, so I have been praying about what I should blog about next. I’m not trying to post just to post but at the same time I don’t want to not post anything until I’m in a foreign country. There’s a balance of this. There’s also a balance to my life as I know it even if I don’t think about it, but that’s what has been on mind recently…shouldn’t I think about it? Shouldn’t I spend more time contemplating what I’m doing in my life and what I plan on doing? You see for me as a senior in high school I hear a lot of things from a lot of different people most of which consist of one question and one piece of advice:
1. Where are you going to college/ what are you planning on doing next year?
2. Don’t wish away senior year, take in every moment.
Do these two things not contradict each other? As a senior I am expected to plan next year, but not wish next year to come too fast. I have personally taken them as two different things to focus on at a time, but that isn’t what I’m called to do. This brings me to the first point, we are called to live ONE life full of different things surrounded around God. At the beginning of this year I had the opportunity to meet with Christian Yoder and simply talk about life and just hang out. Something from that talk that not only stuck out to me then but also later on in a conversation when I was being interviewed to work at One Accord is the idea that we don’t have to put our life into compartments such as this is for school, this is for church, this is for the friends that know me, this is for the ones that don’t, this is for sports, etc. It is all supposed to be one. God is supposed to be in every aspect of life. This helped me when I felt my calling to go on the World Race because what is my answer to the first question now? It’s instead of college I’m going to be learning from God for a year. I’m not doing the norm, and everyone isn’t called to what I am doing, but what I see now is that when I prayed that I wouldn’t put my life into compartments he has arranged for me to not have that. Everything I do next year will be flowing around God and through him. So what compartments do you have that you need to get rid of?
This brings me to my second idea which is contentment. This happens to be the focus of the book my small group is reading it is called Called My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow (its a womans’s guide…sorry guys!). Anyway a chapter in this book talked about having contentment in the spot of life you are in right now. Within reading that chapter something that stuck out to me is how I the majority of the time am talking about what’s next and how I can’t wait until I’m somewhere else or have something else, basically not where I am. And this isn’t what we are called to do. So recently God has been challenging me to love the spot I’m in, because I’m here for a reason. For me the main part of me not loving where I am at is because I know how radical my life will have to be next year. I know that I will be on fire for God and I know that he will change me and show me things I never thought possible. I long for this and so instead I look to next year rather than now…but we can have that here. For instance my newest thing is listening to the David Dunn radio on pandora aka christian music that I don’t find boring and I jam to it. I was playing it yesterday and I just felt like dancing so what did I do? Turned the music up even louder and just jumped and danced around. I felt an uncontrollable joy within me and so much emotion. I knew I had the biggest smile on my face ever and I could have cried (why idk but I could have). My point within this is I’m sure I’ll do this next year but did I ever think I would just dance and sing to the Lord here…No! But did I, yes! It isn’t always the big things that God shows us he’s here for me I didn’t have to see a miracle instead he showed me the joy and happiness and carefree life I long for next year I can have right here in the moment I am. So if any of that makes sense I guess I just want to ask you if you’re living a safe life because you don’t believe life is as radical here as it can be somewhere else? Or are you longing for a different phase of life that you aren’t at right now…because if you are you’re never going to be satisfied even when you reach that point of life.
But while you have to be content in where you are you also have to have a fixed focus on God and the purpose he has created for you and if you don’t know what that purpose is than pray about it! That is why I was saying looking to the future and focusing on the here and now contradict but are one. I sure don’t know what the purpose of my life is yet, but I plan on praying till I find out!
I know this is super long, I just wanted to give yall a little piece of what has been on my heart the past couple of days! also to all woman and girls…seriously read the book, its challenging and AMAZING. Also pandora radio, I’m telling you its bomb!
okay that’s all I got for today, over and out friends!
