Leaps of Faith

As I sit on my back porch where I've spent a lot of time while being home this week on a break in between my May term class and my summer job, I realize how much of the month of May has been about realizing and enjoying the simplest things in life. Although I believe this is a cliche saying, I believe it's something we need to say less and practice more. The month of May has become a season of slowing down and appreciating the simple things in life throughout the past few years of being college, yet this month always seems to fly by and I can never seem to get enough of it. There's something precious, sacred, and rare that comes with enjoying the simple things in life. I'm not sure if it's the fact that I don't slow down my life often enough to enjoy the simple things or if it's just the constant rush of the world that almost never seeks to enjoy the simple things. See, I am careful to not call them the little things in life, because I know they aren't

This whole semester has seemed to be filled with ups and downs. I would feel emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted one week and the very next, I would seem to feel like I was thriving in so many aspects of life. This past month has had a lot of different ups and downs, such as going to concerts, telling some of my friends goodbye for the summer, days where I didn't even know what I was feeling, questioning what the future looks like even more deeply, ending my year as an RA, and spending time with my family. I'm thankful that no matter our ups and downs, God is always constant and His consistency isn't based upon our feelings. These moments, whether classified as ups or downs have been some of the moments where God has seemed the most present in my life within the month of April. -a moment where I realized I was severely distracted in class, but instead found myself thinking about how God has protected me in so many ways this semester -having dinner with a dear

I'm sitting at my desk in my room in my dorm, the halls are eerie and empty as all but one of my residents has moved out, I've taken down all of my hall decorations and there are less than twenty people still living in the residence hall as a total. I've done a lot of reflecting within the past several days as this space has been a space that has truly felt like home this year. I've experienced some of the most joyous moments here, such as meeting my residents for the first time, creating memories with my staff, hosting friends and family in the space that I claim as home, and even receiving the news that I got the job that I was hoping for next year. However, I've also experienced some of the most challenging hardships here, too, such as having hard conversations with friends, crying multiple nights when going through a brutal breakup, and experiencing anxiety. All of these things, ups or downs, have led me to such a greater reminder: that I'm not in control.

A few months ago I met with one of the most intentional people I know for lunch and she asked what I was learning from God. Although this thought always strikes me with anxiety as there are normally so many things I want to share, I was caught off guard and honestly didn't know what to say. I knew God was teaching me to just put one foot in front of the other in order to walk in obedience with Him, but I guess I couldn't think of those words in that moment. She shared in my time of silence "it's okay, sometimes God is teaching us to just sit still." Wow, that hit me more than I would like to admit. There are so many times when I catch myself so busy and on the go, just to get to the next thing that I don't actually take the time to be okay with sitting still. However, this past month, so many of the times where I've felt the presence of God the most have been during the times where I've intentionally been okay with sitting still and listening for His

A few days ago, I was on a walk with one of my mentors. In the middle of our conversation, she stopped and looked at me and said the simple yet humbling statement of, "You're beautiful..you know that, right?"  I was very caught off guard by this question. Without much hesitation, I replied back with, "Yes." She went on to ask me about how I knew I was beautiful and what I thought made me beautiful. As we talked more and more about this topic and as I've processed this conversation over the past few days, I've come to the realization of how much our culture, especially women, struggle with knowing their self worth and their beauty (inner or outer) and how much our society doesn't talk about it or tries to mask it.  I feel very blessed to have not ever really struggled with self worth issues. I've had incredibly strong women in my life that have displayed what knowing and living out their self worth meant and from a young age, my mom always

I have been reading several books just for fun lately. Reading is actually therapeutic to me so I somehow find time to read in addition to the books I read for assignments for my classes. Right now, I'm almost finished with Leeana Tankersley's book, Begin Again: The Brave Practice of Releasing Hurt & Receiving Rest . This book has been so life-giving to me and has really helped me walk through many of my struggles and thoughts in this season of life. One of my favorite quotes from the book has been something I've been pondering lately, as what it states is so true and raw and something I've wanted to say, but didn't really know how to put into words. She beautifully states, "Most of us, though, would rather hang on to a known, even if what is known isn't working, even if it requires no faith at all, than venture into the unknown."  On an early morning while drinking my coffee before class, I read this statement in the middle of one of the ch