Category: Inspiration

Some Thoughts On Labels

Courtney7 Comments

“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde 

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For most of us, labels are something we’ve grown up with. Even in the most subliminal way, many of us are familiar with some sort of labeling or another. Think about it—when you hear jock, what do you first think of? Probably not a straight A student or a profound kind of guy, right? How about a nerd? Probably not someone who’s super popular or has great social skills. This way of thinking can even expand into a particular aspect of our careers, schools, or race/ethnicity. In fact, in many ways, labeling is the very root of social ills such as racism and prejudice.

Thankfully, in the modern world, many of us have been warned against the problem of stereotyping based on one factor or the other. Many of us even try to make a conscious effort not to stereotype and assign labels that are irrelevant to the factor at hand. Nonetheless, there is one area where labeling still seems to be fairly common—gender. 

Even in the 21st century, many people still assign heavy stereotypes to one gender or the other. Girls are often thought of as being particularly “soft” or weak—while guys are expected to be strong and stoic. Girls are often thought of as being talkative and wordy while men are portrayed as quiet and annoyed by irrelevant conversation.

Nonetheless, like with most things, life isn’t always that simple. 

I remember one time, a couple of years ago, one of my guy friends got in the habit of saying that he’s not the typical guy. Oftentimes, I found this phase rather curious. I rarely compared this friend to the other guys we knew, but he often found a way of differentiating himself in his own mind—simply because he didn’t fit society’s idea of what a guy should do. Good, positive qualities such as friendliness, outspokenness, and introspectiveness were somehow dismissed as “not very manly”. Too often, we let this become the case—when virtues became vices, simply because they’re found in the wrong gender. 

I am not saying that a guy or a girl should never display qualities typical to their gender. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a serious vice for typically “girly movies” and enjoy dressing up when the opportunity presents itself. Nonetheless, we should never look down on girls for being strong willed and independent or guys for being sensitive and compassionate. God created these people in His image, and never meant for everyone to look or act the same. 

Some people, unfortunately, have tried to use the Bible to support curtailing someone’s natural personality based on gender, but the Bible never teaches this. Deborah, in Judges 4, was a prophetess, a judge, and a leader of Israel—and a serious example of a strong, independent, godly woman. Meanwhile, David was shown many times to be a sensitive and caring kind of guy—he wrote outstanding poetry, tended to sheep, and knew how to dance! The Bible never instructs women to be weak and needy and men to be overbearing and harsh. This is simply a construct of modern times, true in some cases and false in others. 

God created us all with different goals, ambitions and personalities for a reason. He values diversity in humans and never meant for us to be cookie cutters. He created every inch of our hearts, and wants to see us fulfill our God-given purposes through Him. 

Let us never be people who try to shrink the creation of a creative God.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

 

Some Thoughts On Patience

Courtney6 Comments

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

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I’m going to be honest with y’all—growing up is hard.

Statistically, millennials are the most stressed out generation of all four of the living current age groups (Millennials, Gen Xers, Boomers, and Matures), according to a study on apa.org. Obviously, the cause of stress is different across the board, but many of the concerns are universal. College (and the cost of it), major life decisions, and trying to make it are a few of the many things that most young adults think about on a regular basis. Even for those still in high school, stress can be rampant, between bullying, peer pressure, and deciding on a future career.

Heck, even middle schoolers and elementary school students battle stress in some form or another! 

As a Christian, stress can be slightly easier to manage. There’s the assurance of a personal God who hears your prayers, a community of believers for support, and the Bible to turn to during our toughest seasons. Nonetheless, we still live in the world and have to find a way to deal with the pressures that come with it. Each of us have unique situations and drives that make us susceptible to some kind of stress or another. 

For me, I’ve always been an overachiever. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it often causes me to put huge amounts of pressure on myself to succeed. Wanting so much to be successful in life, I often find myself spending my thoughts and energy worrying about how to achieve my goals. Sometimes, it even causes me to envy those who seem further along than me—which as a Christian, is always wrong.

Meanwhile, in a crazy, stressed out, maddening world, Jesus calls us to do the opposite of what the world says. He tells Mary—the model overachiever seek him before her duties. He calls fishermen to be His disciples. He accepts the humble sinners over the knowledgable proud.

He tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains.

I truly believe that if God has put something on your heart, He’ll work out the details of it in time. Nonetheless, sometimes God’s timing is different than our timing. Sometimes, He says to “seek first the Kingdom Of God and all of these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). God has a plan for your life—but sometimes, those plans take time to unfold. Many of my hopes and dreams have taken time to come to pass, and I have no doubt that my current goals will take time and patience as well. That’s how God helps us grow. Before any dream, goal, or relationship, God wants to be number one in our lives. 

So many of us are Martha’s but God wants us to have the heart of Mary.

So many of us are worried about so many things, when only one is important.

This week, let us make a conscious effort to trust God with our stories.

After all, If we have the Maker of the stars as our author, how can we possibly go wrong? 

Some Writing Tips From 1 Timothy 4:12 Girl

Courtney4 Comments

Hey everyone, I’m back again with a new Thursday post – but this week, we’re changing things up again! 

Typically on this blog, I run posts about belief, inspiration, and current events. Nonetheless, this week, I decided to do something different. I still intend to keep this blog predominantly about those things, but this week I decided to write about one medium we can use to live confidently in Christ—writing!

  • More than likely, if you’re reading this, you’ve done some writing yourself, or have at least dabbled with it at some point. Personally, for me, writing has been a passion since my childhood. Thus, I would like to take this time to give some of my very own tips on writing. 
  1. Know Your Topic – This is vitally important to the process of writing. Whenever your writing, it’s important to know your topic like the back of your hand. If you’re writing an essay on photography, research photography, if you’re writing an article on the challenges of Christians in college, research what it’s like to be a Christian in college. This even applies to fiction—maybe even more so. When you’re writing a book, you need to have intricate knowledge of your characters, settings, and storylines. Oftentimes, I’ll even write character profiles, to learn even the minor details about my characters. The information may not all be used, but it never heard to have it on file for safekeeping.
  2. Get Feedback – One of the most helpful things for me as a writer is getting feedback on my work. It’s pretty easy with blogging, as you’ll sometimes get comments on your work from fellow friends and bloggers, but it’s honestly helpful in every form of writing. I often ask my mom and close friends to read my writing and give honest feedback about their thoughts and opinions. As a writer, it can be easy to get “stuck in your head”, reading your work so many times you can’t even tell a period from a comma. It can be helpful to get objective feedback when this starts to happen.
  3. Silence Your Inner Perfectionist – We are always our own worst critics. There have been countless times that I’ve either written something and obsessed over whether or not it was right or written nothing at all. When we’re writing from a place of perfectionism, it can be almost impossible to write authentically and creatively. Oftentimes, God will take our work in a place different than we expected, and that’s OK. Listen to that inner voice. Go with it. There might just be something beautiful there.
  4. Get In The Mood – Obviously this one could be turned into a form of OCD if taken to extremes, but many times, it can be helpful to write when we’re in our element. This means knowing when to take a break, and being aware that oftentimes, our moods can seep into our writing, for better or worse. It also means making your writing environment comfortable and natural. Oftentimes for me, it can be helpful to play music fitting to the tone of my writing, having the right amount of lighting, and being comfortable, but not the point that I want to fall asleep. For me, these things combined create the perfect writing atmosphere.
  5. Have fun with it – My number one rule of thumb for writing is that if I’m bored, the audience probably is too. Thus, I try to write things that I would want to read myself. Does it sound like the kind of book that I’d pick up? Would I grow to love this character if it weren’t my own? Does this topic sound like it would make an interesting article? These are the kinds of questions we should be asking ourselves as we go through the writing and idea process.

How about you? What writing advice do you have to share? Tell me about it in the comments section below!⬇️

What Is Love?

Courtney4 Comments

Philosophers have been asking it since the beginning of time, and with Valentines day only two days away, now seems as good as ever to discuss the meaning of love on my blog.

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As a Christian, my first and foremost source is the Bible—which contains everything we need to know about some of life’s greatest topic. Mixing poetry with history and truth, the Bible covers a wide range of some of our most explored topics—including identity, faith, grace, relationships, life, and death. Furthermore, when it comes to love, there is no shortage of Bible verses to guide us in navigating this difficult and ever explored topic.

In Scripture, we learn that we’re supposed to love our enemies (Luke 6:35), our neighbors (Mark 12:31), and Jesus (Matthew 22:37-38), our friends (Proverbs 17:17), and if married—our spouse (Ephesians 5:33). We also learn in John 15:13 that Jesus showed the ultimate demonstration of love— by laying down His life for each and every one of us, making us friends of God.

We are also given a description of what love, ideally, should look like in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, which reads that love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, and rejoices with the truth. It always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and it never fails.

Please note that this is not some sort of impossible standard that we’re supposed to keep 100% all of the time. Some people have said that if your relationship with someone you loved didn’t perfectly match this standard, it wasn’t love. I don’t believe this is either true or Biblical. The only one who fulfills all of these things all of the time is Jesus Christ—who is the personification of love in flesh. Jesus’ standards are always something we should aspire to, but as humans, we will never be able to love perfectly all of the time. All of us are living in the in between, where our ability to love is both broken and beautiful at the same time. We’re affected by the fall, but we’re also new creations in Christ, created to do good works and make this world a brighter and better place and point others to a perfect love in the form of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, as likely many of us are aware of, even on a subconscious level, there are different types of love. C.S. Lewis breaks these types of love into four different categories—Storage, Philia, Eros, and Agape. According to Lewis, Storage is a general kind of love—the kind that we’re supposed to have for the world, Philia is friendship love, Eros is romantic love, and Agape is an unconditional love—like the kind that God has for us.
These different kinds of love each play a part in our life in various ways—from our close friendships, to our families, to our desire to reach lives. Each of these different kinds of love were created for a specific purpose, to touch the world in a unique way when used right and according to God’s purposes. Furthermore, the Bible gives instructions on how to wisely steward each of these loves—teaching us how to love in our greatest capacity and in the most beautiful ways.

This Valentines Day, let us strive to be people who love well. In our families. In our friendships. In our communities.

Let us be known as people who love, and people who serve the God who created it all.

Thirty Day Blogging Challenge #2: Day Nineteen

Courtney2 Comments

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Day Nineteen: If you could spend fifteen minutes with any celebrity, who would it be and why

I’ll be honest, when I first starting thinking about this challenge, I had no idea how I was going to approach it. I have a couple of celebrities who I like and admire, and just a few short hours ago, I was planning to either write about Britt Nicole or Tim Tebow (Both awesome people, right?). Nonetheless, just now, God revealed to me who it is that I would most like to meet and who I would like to talk about in this post.

Jesus. 

If I could spend fifteen minutes with literally any person, I would spend that time talking to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Could you imagine what it would be like, getting to talk to Jesus Christ—in flesh and actually have a conversation? To me, that would be a dream come true.

There are so many things I’d ask HIm. I’d ask about my life. I’d ask about my family line, and those who came before me. I’d ask about my future, and my past—all those I’ve encountered over my years on earth. I’d ask what it was like, coming to earth as God in flesh, and living His life, knowing that He’d die in the worst possible way.

 Most of all, I’d stand in awe of Him. I’d stand taken back by the fact that He created the world, and knows each of us by name. How He created everything from nothing, and how He’s written each of our stories before we were born. I’d thank Him for all He’s blessed me with—my family, my friends, my life. It would be an experience too overwhelming to even write about.

The lyrics to the old song by MercyMe, I Can Only Imagine, sum it up best.

Surrounded by your glory

What will my heart feel

Will I dance for you Jesus 

Or in awe of you will I be still?

Will I stand in your presence 

Or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing Hallelujah?

Will I be able to speak at all? 

I can only imagine

I can only imagine…

How about you—if you had the chance to spend fifteen minutes with Jesus, what would you ask Him? What would you say? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below! 

New Years Resolutions

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This is a new year. A new beginning. And things will change—Taylor Swift. 

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As 2016 comes to a close and we walk into 2017, I wanted to take some time to create some resolutions and share them with y’all. I believe that the new year gives us a great opportunity to better ourselves and press more into our goals, hopes, and dreams.

Since I try to be transparent on this blog, I decided to share my resolutions. I would also love to hear yours, if your comfortable sharing them. I can’t wait to see how we all grow and where God leads us in 2017!

Thus, without further ado, the resolutions! 

  1. Read a little bit every day – As much as I love reading, I don’t do it nearly enough. Nonetheless, I received a bunch of great new books for Christmas written by authors such as Karen Kingsbury, Tim Lahaye, and Ron J. Sider that I cannot wait to break  into (I’ve already broken into a couple)! They should last for at least a couple of months, but regardless, this resolution remains. I plan to make a conscious effort to be an avid reader in 2017.
  2. Continue learning – My school situation went a little crazy this year, as I recently made the decision to transfer from my current college to Liberty Online. Nonetheless, it’s a little more pricey than my family had originally planned, so I’m taking the spring semester off, leaving me with what I’m calling a “gap semester”. During this semester, I want to continue learning, even if it’s informal. I want to research topics that I’m interested in and keep up with current events relevant to society right now. Just because I’m taking a break from formal schooling doesn’t mean I have to stop learning!
  3. Journal regularly – Recently, my pastor’s wife has begun mentoring me and as we’ve talked, she’s encouraged me to keep a journal to write about what God is showing me. I started this year and I’ve found that it’s been really helpful to have a private place to reflect and talk to God. As a recent high school grad, there are a lot of changes and decisions ahead, and I believe that journaling (and God) is going to be the thing that will keep me sane through it all. It is definitely something that I’d like to continue into the new year.
  4. Complete a book I’m writing – As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently in the process of writing a series that I’ve been working on since freshman year of high school. Needless to say, it’s changed a lot over the last five years. I would like to continue working on it in 2017—hopefully completely book two in the series before the end of next year!
  5. Read my Bible faithfully – I fell into a bad habit with forgetting to do this for a while, but this past December, I’ve begun to make it a priority and have been faithfully reading it every morning. I believe that staying in the Word is vital as a Christian and I’d like to continue reading it faithfully in the new year.
  6. Stay in touch with friends – I think one of the hardest things about being a high school grad is trying to stay in contact with friends. When I was in high school, I literally saw almost everyone every week, having regular discussion and the privilege of being in close quarters. When everyone is spread out at different colleges, you have to really be intentional about keeping those friendships intact, through email, texting, and get togethers. In 2017 I would like to be more conscientious about staying in touch with everyone.
  7. Be healthier – This is pretty much the token resolution, right? Eating healthy, exercising…all that jazz. Nonetheless, it is something that I would like to be more intentional about, as I steward the life that God has given me.
  8. Find a job – This winter/spring I’m going to have a lot more time to find a job. I have already started a resume and I’ve been looking at different places in the area to work, and have currently narrowed it down to three options. Hopefully, as I enter into the second year of adulthood, I’ll be able to secure a position at one of them.
  9. Step out of my comfort zone – In 2017, I would like to take more (practical) risks. I have a tendency to stay within my comfort zone, but as I go into the new year, I would like to consciously look for ways that God may be calling me out of my comfort zone. By risks, I don’t mean anything crazy (I am not sky-diving y’all!), but simply obeying God’s call to do things that I may not dare otherwise.
  10. Blog more consistently – Admittedly, I’m horrible about having set days to write, but I would like to change that in the new year. Rather than blogging sporadically, whenever I have some free time, I would like to set a schedule of days that you can expect to see new posts on 1 Timothy 4:12 Girl, so stay tuned!

How about you? Any resolutions for 2017

Some Musings in Joseph’s Shoes

Courtney12 Comments

Note: The story below is in no way intended to be an addition of or distortion of the nativity account written in Scripture. This is not meant to be an exact, academic account of Joseph thoughts and feelings—this is simply written as a journal entry of what Joseph may have been feeling and thinking in light of the facts we are given in the Gospels and historical documents. Please do not take this as anything other than speculation as to what it may have been like to be in Joseph’s shoes.

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I can barely believe all that’s been going on lately. It all seems surreal, like something that would happen to some other guy. I knew it was supposed to happen someday—I studied it throughout my schooling, after all—but to me? A simple carpenter, engaged to a nice local girl? 

At first, when she told me, it felt as if someone had stuck a dagger through my chest. “It’s God’s baby.” she had told me. “An angel visited me and told me I would give birth to the Son of Man.” Now, I’ve never been one to doubt God, but this sound a little far fetched—even to me. My initial thought was that she’s been sleeping around, even though she’s never seemed like the type of girl to do such a thing. After all, Mary’s as pure as snow. She would never do something like that—not Mary. 

I knew Mary was a good person, but what was I supposed to think? Even more pressing, what was I supposed to do? I didn’t want her to be stoned—I didn’t want anything to happen to her. I love her—I have even before the marriage was arranged. She had a beautiful heart, I couldn’t be more lucky to be set up with someone like her. 

“What would our life look like together?” I wondered. Holding our heads down as we received dirty looks from the townspeople? Having to desperately try to explain to my friends that we did nothing wrong? Constantly being object of suspicion among the townspeople? I thought that the best thing for both of us would be to divorce her quietly, and draw the least possible amount of suspicion and attention as possible. That is, until I was visited by an angel last night, confirming that everything Mary had said was true. 

Mary was pregnant with the Child prophesied about in Scripture. 

She was telling the truth all along. 

I knew the road ahead would be hard, but after that sign from God, I knew what I had to do. I had to marry her—and be the best father I could be to this Child.

This blessing to us and the world.

Out of every couple throughout the course of history, we were the ones God picked to raise the Savior. I may have no idea what I’m doing—I’ve never been a husband or a father, after all, but I know that Mary and I will figure this out together. We’ll figure it all out together, because we’re a team. From this day forward, Mary and I are going to face the biggest challenge two people could face. 

Raising God’s child through the power of God and for the glory of God. 

As hard as it will be, I knew deep down that there was no greater honor. 

And I’m going to do this thing right.

No matter what the cost. 

 

One Semester ~ A Story of Faith Overcoming Fear

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Hey guys, sorry I’ve been sort of inactive on this blog lately – I promise to post again soon!

In the meantime, I’d love for y’all to head on over to Emily’s blog at Fearfully Wonderfully Me and check out a guest post that I wrote for her! It’s a reflection post on a specific situation that happened to me at college and I hope you guys are inspired by it! You can click through to the link here!

fearfullywonderfullyme-com

Some Musings In Mary’s Shoe’s

Courtney8 Comments

Note: The story below is in no way intended to be an addition of or distortion of the nativity account written in Scripture. This is not meant to be an exact, academic account of Mary’s thoughts and feelings—this is simply written as a journal entry of what Mary may have been feeling and thinking in light of the facts we are given in the Gospels and historical documents. Please do not take this as anything other than speculation as to what it may have been like to be in Mary’s shoes. 

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I may not have believed it – if I hadn’t seen it so vividly with own eyes. I would say that this is the kind of thing one might expect from a dream, except I’m not sure even a dream could cover the absurdity of this situation. If I told any of my friends, I’m pretty sure they’d think I’ve lost it – and that’s the best-case-scenario.

I mean, virgins don’t get pregnant. They just don’t. And they certainly don’t get pregnant with the Awaited One —the man my entire country has waited centuries for. Why would God choose me of all of the girls in the world to carry His Son? What makes Him think that I’m fit for something so great? 

I’m just your average girl on the brink of adulthood (But don’t get me started on that). I laugh too loud when I’m nervous and sometimes I cry from joy rather than sadness. I grew up in a humble little town where literally nothing ever happens and I’ve had the same neighbors since birth.  Nazareth isn’t a place that’s big or flashy or important, it’s a small town — a town where everyone knows everyone else.* It’s not the kind of place that would bare someone so important. It’s not the kind of town where an ordinary girl becomes the mother to her Savior. 

Juse writing those words sends chills up my spine. Somehow, writing things like this down make them seem more real, more concrete. This is really happening — I’m really going to become pregnant with a child who is, as the angel put it, “The Son of God”*. 

I want to be happy about this — I really do. I am for the most part. But the other part of me is scared, terrified even. How will my parents react to this—their clean-cut daughter becoming pregnant without being married? How will my friends react—will they even talk to me any more? And what about Joseph? He’s bound to think that I’ve been unfaithful, there’s no other way of interpreting this kind of thing. I know I did nothing wrong, but I’m not sure anyone else will believe me. There’s a very real chance that I could even be killed for something like this. But even if that doesn’t happen, the public shame that’s certain to come will be a certain death in itself. Just yesterday, the only big event that I had in my near future  was the upcoming wedding. Now, not only will I soon be a wife, I’ll be a mom too. 

It’s all just happening so fast. I like Joseph, I really do! He’s a great guy who lives his whole life for the Lord. He’s a hard worker and a kind, sensitive soul. But I just wish there was a little more time – more of a chance to get to know him before marrying him. 

There’s so much I wish he knew about me. Like, how I draw in the sand to make sense of life around me. Or how sometimes, once everyone has gone to sleep, I climb up the old olive tree outside my house and wonder what’s out there, outside of my hometown. Or how often, when I’m tending to the animals, I wonder how aware they are of life around them.

And I want to know about him too – what he does when he’s not studying or working with his father…where he sees our life going in the future…what his favorite pastime is..the secrets that he’s never told anyone. I just feel like you should know these things about a person who you know is going to be so significant in your life. 

I wish I could talk to him about these sort of things, but I have a feeling that he wouldn’t understand. Joseph has always been quick to accept others’ expectations of him. He’s responsible, level headed, and never seems to to be jilted by anything. Well, up until now, that is. How he’ll respond to this situation is anyone’s guess. 

This pregnancy is about to change everything. My life will never look the same again. Never again will I be a young child—I’m about to have a child. But, do you want to know the craziest thing about all of this? Somewhere, deep down, I still have a certain peace. If everything is as the angel says it is, than the Lord is with me in very real way. He has His hand on this and what’s about to happen is all for His glory. It’s about Him. 

It always has been. 

It always will be. 

*Luke 1:32 

*www.jesus-story.net 

 

 

 

What Are You Chasing?

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“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” – Mark 8:36 

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What are you chasing? The answer to this question is different for everyone. For some, it may be a better job, or any job at all. For others, it may a relationship—either romantic or platonic. Still for others, it may be a dream or goal you have yet to achieve.

What are you chasing? 

The truth is, we’re all chasing something. The thing that we’re chasing is often the thing that we tend to obsess the most over—the thing that takes up our thought space in our free moments. It is often accompanied by thoughts such as “I’ll be happy when…” or “This will be my moment…” No one is immune to this chase, because deep down inside, something tells us that we were born for it—we were born to pursue. We weren’t meant to stay stagnant. 

This pursuit is not a bad thing, but it can become a bad thing when focus more on the things of this world than the things of God. It can be such an easy trap to fall into that most of us don’t even realize we’re doing it. Truth be told, I struggle with this on a nearly daily basis. I’ve written in previous posts that I struggle in a big way with OCD and perfectionism and often those tend to be the driving forces in my chase.

I’ll analyze something that I’ve completed over and over again to the point of insanity. I’ll make a long and detailed bucket list that I absolutely must complete before I die. I’ll set up grand, exciting goals for myself and worry whether they’ll ever actually happen at all.

Again, I’ll clarify, having dreams is not a bad thing. Desiring to be in a relationship or have a family is not bad. Hoping to get a good position at a job is not bad. They only become bad when they take the place that only Jesus should have and become an idol. God wants to give you the desires of your heart, but first He wants to become the desire of your heart. Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” We are called to seek God before we seek anything else we desire.

Here are some points to remember as we go throughout our week and strive to put God first.

  1. It’s not about you – Recently, God has convicted me that I have unintentionally made my aspirations about me. The ironic part about all of this is, many of my goals pertain to ministry—things that are supposed to further His kingdom and reach people for Christ.  Nonetheless, I’ve somehow managed to turn these callings into what ‘I’m’ going to do.’ I’m’ going to change the world. ‘I’m’ was going to leave my mark. I’ve made God’s callings about me rather than God, and I repent of that. Sometimes, we can make ministry and outreach the focus, rather than an outpouring of the One who should be our focus.
  2. Everything but Christ will someday fade – Moments don’t last forever. Someday, that goal that you’re working so hard for will only be a past memory. Someday, that wedding day celebration that you’re planning on Pinterest will only be a photo in an album. Someday, that glamorous job will loose some of that excitement it once had. The only thing we can chase that will never fade away is Christ, Who is outside of space and time. 
  3. Let Go And Let God – I know, this saying is beyond cliche—but it’s true. In the words of a recent Jason Gray song “You can’t add a single day by worrying…You can’t change a single thing by freaking out, It’s just gonna close you in, Oh don’t let the trouble win.” God is going to do things in His timing, which is often different than our timing. There have been many times in my own life where I’ve wanted something to happen right. this. instant. Usually, in those situations, God tells me to wait. I’ve found that when I listen, and wait on His timing, it’s always for the best.

How about you? What are some things you’ve been chasing? I’d love to hear your thoughts and stories in the comments section!