Life Without An Aux Cord: Out of the Woods

Its back.

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So, for those few and faithful friends and family who have been reading my blog for a while, you know and (hopefully) love my blogs from my last semester of undergrad where I picked a song from the radio and wrote about how it relates to my life. Well, those are back…kinda. I have recently had a desire to start blogging again and on my timehop today, I found out that on this day two years ago I started my Life Without An Aux Cord series. What better time to start doing this again, am I right?

One of the reasons this series ended, besides the fact that I graduated, was that I got a thing that plugs in to my cigarette lighter that allows me to play music through my car. That means I no longer lived life without an aux cord. But, recently, that thing broke. So, I figured that instead of trying to come up with a new idea for blogging or just doing random sporadic blogs, I would revamp something I know I like doing and that I know works.

This leads me to the song for this week: Out of the Woods by Taylor Swift. I am pretty sure this song is about Taylor being in a relationship with someone and they go through a rough patch (the woods), but now they are through the rough patch and in the clear (like from the song, get it?). Like all of my old “life without an aux cord” blogs, this is not about a real relationship. This time it is about the relationship between me and this series. We were doing great for a semester, but then we went through a rough patch for about a year and a half where I did not write a “life without an aux cord.” But, now we are back together. In the words of Taylor, “We were built to fall apart/Then fall back together.” This series and I are now “falling back together.” It has come out of the woods and is gonna be in the clear for a little bit.

Just a heads up though, this is going to be different than the last time. I am in a much different stage of life, so many of the things going on in my life will be different. Also, this may not be a weekly thing like it was last time. I am much busier, so I will write when I can, but it won’t be as often. Finally, I will probably not strictly do this series on my blog either. If I want to write about something but don’t have song to go with it, then I will just write about it and do a “life without an aux cord” a different day. I am excited about this, so get ready for some great stuff! Or at least stuff that I think is great and that everyone reading just thinks is decent.

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Life Without An Aux Cord

 

Don’t Be My Friend

This title is not true. Everyone should be my friend. I am a great friend. Well, most of the time…

Let’s be real honest, we all suck at being friends sometimes, but we all need friends. So why is it so hard to just be a good friend? Wow, I am saying “friend” a lot. Don’t care.

I have been thinking a lot lately about friendship and what it really means. I took a moral philosophy class my last year of undergrad and we talked about how important friendship was. The focus was on how you do not pick your family, but you have the ability to pick your friends. Also, a true friendship is one of the closes relationships a person can have besides their spouse. I don’t remember which philosopher we were talking about or else I would give credit where credit is due. Long story short, we discussed how important friendship is to a person’s life and well being. Because it is so important, we tend to screw it up because we don’t treat it with the importance it deserves. And if you know me, you know I always have to put my two cents in on a topic, so here are my thoughts on friendship.

As you can tell because I have already said it a million times, I believe friendship is important. Think about who you go to when you have girl/boy (I don’t know what your in to) trouble? Think about who you go to when you have family problems? If you answered “no one,” then no offense, you are doing it wrong. Some people might go to their family, but honestly, you cannot tell everything to your family. Most people would say they go to their friends. Friends are there for you when other people are not, and that is so cool. There is a group of people in your life that you chose to tell about yourself and share life with. Therefore, when we claim to be friends, we should actually be friends.

Recently I have noticed that I have some freaking great friends, but also some not so great friends. I m not trying to call anyone out or put anyone on blast, so if you are reading this do not assume you are in either category (unless you are a fake friend, and you know who you are [this is a joke fyi, the person who it is intended for will get it]). As a friend, you should be able to drop what you are doing and help another friend out. I had car troubles a couple weeks ago, and a friend I had not seen in a few months offered to take me to go pick up my car from the shop and then stood up for me when the mechanic said it would be another hour before my car was ready. That is a true friend, someone who is willing to do you a huge favor even though you two may not have seen each other in a while. A friend is someone who is willing to sit with you when you have a bad day and not worry about their own stuff for five minutes. A friend is someone who will be your friend even when it is not convenient. I have a few friends that only really want to be my friend when it is convenient for them. They will only ask me to hang out if they have no other options or they will only want to talk if we can talk about their problems or about what I am doing wrong as friend. That’s not someone you want to spend your time with. If you consider someone a true friend, then make them a priority. If someone is important enough to you that you call them a close/best friend, then make sure you show them that they are important and make time for them even when it may not work best for you. Be willing to listen to them talk about their life for a while. Also, be real with your friends. A friendship is not a place to be superficial. That’s what small talk in a classroom or a workplace is for. If you consider someone a true friend and they ask you how life is going, tell them. Do not give the the “Its going good” response. If they really did not want to know, they would not ask. A true friendship is not one where both people know nothing about each other. If someone is a true friend, they will not judge you for saying you had a crappy day and you are mad at so-and-so because they did something. Friends also care about their friend’s feelings. If you know that your action might hurt one of your friends, then be a true friend and don’t do it. That simple. If you really consider someone a close friend, why would you intentionally act in a way that you know would hurt them? I know I struggle with some of this stuff sometimes too, so I am not trying to say I am perfect. I am just trying to say that when we truly care enough about a person to call them a friend, we should make sure we act like it.

Friendship is just a delicate thing. Some people hold to it a low standard and do not expect much out of there friends. Others hold it to a high standard and expect a lot out of their friends. Personally, I hold friends to a high standard because I know how important friendship is and I do not want people in my life who are not gonna treat me like a friend. So, if you are not gonna take friendship seriously, then follow the advice of my title and don’t be my friend. However, I have been told that I am a darn good friend, so you are missing out (and yes I just used the phrase “darn good”).

I’ve stepped down from the soapbox now.

You’re Not Worth It

Don’t let the title fool you. One of the biggest lies I think we are told on a regular basis is that we are not worthy or not worth it. In this world we have to prove ourselves daily. In school it is all about getting good grades and proving to everyone that you are smart enough to be there. At work it is all about being the best at what you do to prove that you deserve to be there. And if you want a better job or a raise, then you must prove that you are more worthy of that job or promotion than everyone else. Every day we try to look the best or act the best to try to prove that we are worthy of friendship and love and support. Life is filled with times when we feel like we are not good enough or when we feel unworthy. This is wrong. If you take away anything from this post, then take away that YOU ARE WORTHY.

Recently I have been listening to Come As You Are by Crowder on repeat. The chorus of the song goes, “So lay down your burdens/lay down your shame/all who are broken/life up your face/wanderer come home/you’re not too far/so lay down your hurt/lay down your heart/and come as you are.” I have been thinking about this song a lot lately, especially when it says that you’re not too far. It reminded me that no matter how far you are from God, no matter how broken you think you are, no matter how unworthy you feel, you are not too far from the love of Jesus. You can come as you are to Him. He thinks you are worth it. He thought you were so worth it that he died for you. How many people do you know that are so worth it that you would die for them? How you feel about that person is how Jesus feels about you and so much more. You may feel like crap or think that you have screwed up so bad or are such a bad person that God does not think you are worthy enough anymore. That could not be further from the truth. Christians tend to focus on how unworthy we are of God’s love and how we do not deserve it. This should not be our focus. God thinks we are worthy enough and that is all that matters. It does not matter how unworthy we think we are, because the Creator of everything thinks we are worth it. In Psalm 139 it says that God knit us together in our mother’s wounds and we should praise Him because we are fearfully and wonderfully made. He created us. He thinks we are worth it. He knows the amount of hairs on our head and calls us His children.

You may not be the best at school or the best at work or even the best socially. You may not have many friends or you may have people that make fun of you or you may have a bad home life. You may think that your life sucks or that you are too bad of a person. Whatever it is that makes you believe the lie that you are not worthy, lay it at the feet of Jesus. Lay down your burdens and shame. He already calls you worth it. You do not have to earn it.

Life Sucks

You know, sometimes life just sucks. There will be times when nothing is going right and you just feel like you cannot win. I have had conversations with a few friends recently who are going through a time like this. Even I have not been having a great time recently either. One thing that always happens when you tell someone you are having a rough time is they tell you to cheer up because “God’s got a plan” or “everything happens for a reason” or “this will all work out and be alright” or any other typical “uplifting” response you can think of. And sometimes that is what you want to hear, but recently I have not wanted to hear that or wanted to tell other people that. I just feel like those phrases have become watered down and when people say them, they do not feel sincere. Sometimes I just want to tell people it is okay to be sad and I just want people to tell me that I am not weird for wanting to take some time to be sad before I get over all the junk that is going on. And the truth of the matter is, it is actually okay to be sad. As Christians we try to put on a brave face to try to show the world that we have it all together, when in reality, we are just people too. We are not perfect, we have emotions, and we have crap that goes on in our lives that make our emotions go crazy. We should delight in the fact that we are not perfect, but have a God who is. We should not be afraid to let others know that we are having a tough time because it shows that we cannot rely on earthly things to keep us happy. We all know that famous two word verse in the Bible where “Jesus wept.” Even Jesus took some time to be sad and weep. We should be allowed to have time to weep too. When Job was tested, he took time to mourn for his family. He was going through the epitome of tough times and he took some time to be sad and his friends just sympathized and comforted him. That is what we should do. We should realized that taking time to grieve for whatever is happening is not a bad thing and as friends of those who are grieving, we should just comfort and sympathize. We should not try to fix our friends and imply that being sad is wrong, but should instead show love, always. Throwing out tidbits of life advice is not always the most helpful response. Sometimes the best response is just to let a friend know that they are not in the wrong for being upset about what life has thrown them. Sometimes sadness can even be a good thing. Matthew 5:4 says “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Ecclesiastes 7:3 says “Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.” Allowing yourself to grieve in the sad times makes the happy times even better. Therefore, if you are going through a rough patch right now, no matter what the circumstances are, know that it will pass and you will find your happiness again, but also, don’t be fake. Don’t try to put on a face like you do not need any help or like you have all the answers. Let others know that you are sad so that you can be comforted. Let God know that you are sad so you can be comforted. Take the time to be sad and go through the grieving process. You are not worth any less because things out of your control have caused you to be in a tough situation. Lean on those around you and on the fact that you have a God who has died for you so that you don’t have to be perfect and can take time to be sad and a God that loves you through the sadness.

Letter to My(younger)self

Hey Hayden,

So, its currently one in the morning and for some reason I thought it would be cool to write a letter to you, or I guess me, or just a younger version of me, even though you technically do not exist anymore. Whatever, doesn’t matter. This is just what I think I would tell you, or me, if I had the chance. And speaking of things that don’t matter, that is what this letter is going to be about. Kinda.

I’m only 21 now, and although I might be filled with wisdom beyond my age, I am not saying I have all of the answers. There are many things that I have not experienced or learned yet, but there are a few little tips that I have picked up along my short journey. Whether you really want to hear them or not, I am still going to tell you, because, as you know, I love telling people how to live their lives. Actually, you might not have figured out about that great trait yet. Don’t worry, you will, and you will love every minute of it.

Tip #1 – High school ends, so stop caring, it does not matter. Now, I am not saying to stop caring about school or about family or about friends. (Okay, maybe school a little bit.) I am telling you to stop caring about things that do not matter. I know that you are trying to rock the American Eagle jacket and white KSwiss shoes right now because you are so concerned about what everyone in school thinks of you. You just want to fit in and be cool. Just stop. You look like a fool. Stop caring about what other people think you of. It will not matter in a couple of years when you go off to college. (You end up going to Baylor by the way, good job kid.) You will learn really quickly that those people who you were trying so hard to please in high school are still back home trying to retain their small town fame while you are off living your own life. And even when you do come back home, you never see those people. And if you happen to run in to them, you won’t need their approval anymore because their opinion could not be any more irrelevant to your success or your worth in this life. In a few years it won’t matter what lunch table you sat at, who you took to prom, or what you wore. Just spending your time worrying about all that stuff distracts you from really enjoying your time in school. And you should enjoy it, because school just keeps getting harder and your responsibilities keep increasing.

Tip #2 – Be yourself. This is very similar to the first one. If you stop worrying about what everyone thinks, you can then be yourself. I know you would never believe this, but nowadays you dress like a fool. You wear big, chunky sandals (Chacos, get a pair as soon as you can) almost every day of the summer and a flannel almost every day of fall or spring. You do not wear American Eagle, Hollister, or any of that other crap anymore. You are able to just wear what you want and not worry about what other people think. Don’t worry though, you still have 50 shades of khaki shorts, so we are all good there. Also, you do not have to listen to alternative, hipster music to be cool. If you like that kind of music, which you kind of still do, then listen to it. But also, do not be afraid to listen to some One Direction (you probably do not even know what band that is, but just a heads up, Zayn quits the band on March 25, 2015, so leak the story to the tabloids and maybe we can be famous) if you are really feeling like it. You do not have to try and impress people with your music taste. Wear what you want and what makes you feel comfortable and listen to what you like.

Tip #3 – Embrace your friends, no matter the age. Right now you probably have a few younger friends in school that you are embarrassed to call your friend. My eyes are rolling out of my head just thinking about that. If you have people who want to be your friend and you enjoy their company, then just be their friend. You have friends your own age at school in Waco and they are great. But when you go home for a break you are either hanging out with people a couple years older than you or a couple years younger than you, and those people are also some of the best friends you have ever had. That’s completely fine. If you find a group of people that you feel comfortable around and who accept you for who you are and lift you up as a person, then embrace it. Do not push them away because they may not be the ideal age, or really for any stupid reason like that.

Tip #4 – Don’t plan your life. I cannot stress this enough. Don’t go in to every aspect of your life expecting certain results. This has not worked out for you so far. Your life has not been perfect. However, when your life does not go as planned, keep going, because it has all turned out just fine. For example, your first couple of weeks of college are going to be a few of the toughest weeks of your life. You will want to quit and go home. Tough it out and you end up just fine and have a few of the best years of your life. I know right now that you have a specific career path in mind: graduate top of your class, go to school for three years, then go to law school and become a big shot attorney. First, let me put you at ease, you did reach those goals (surprise, you are in law school, and it is super fun [you get really good at sarcasm and side eye when you get older]), but you have had your mind set in its way for so long and have been so busy planning your life that you did not stop and look to see if this is what you really want or are really supposed to be doing. Make sure to continuously stop and reflect on whether or not you are making the right decisions. Right now you are in law school and you have never been more confused about what you want to do with your life. You planned too much and that backfired. I know it will work out, but just taking that time to reflect would have helped this process so much. You should not regret having those ambitious goals and working hard to achieve them, but you should also make sure that your goals are actually something you want.

Well, I hope that helps. But if I know you, then I know you will basically disregard everything written because you never fully look at the big picture. We are just too stubborn for our own good. If you take anything away from this, just remember that you are highly favored by a High God who is looking out for you, so just don’t stress. You turn out alright (and still a little awkward), I guess.

You’re welcome for my brilliance,

Hayden

Summer of Thankfulness: Leadership

I try to open every post in some unique way, today I have nothing.

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Today I am thankful for leadership. I am thankful that I have had leaders in my life who have taught me lessons and helped me grow. I am thankful for having the opportunity to be a leader to other people. Finally, I am just thankful for the quality of leadership.

I’m now going to cover those in reverse order. First, the quality of leadership is something to be appreciated. I think before I explain why, I should explain what I believe a leader looks like. A leader is not someone who brags about being a leader or needs affirmation about being a leader. True leadership is doing something for others and then not telling anyone about it. It does not mean go on to facebook or twitter and talk about how great your leadership experience was; it means just appreciating that you were able to serve a few people. Just you knowing you did it should be enough, needing everyone else to know you did it is not true leadership. Leadership also does not just mean being in charge, it means using the authority you have been given to benefit others. People who consider themselves leaders but think they are better than other people and should be given special privileges are only concerned for self. True leadership is realizing you have been given some authority and then using that power to benefit others and lift other people up. True leadership is service. A leader should always be ready to step up and serve others, even if it means doing the hardest and most demeaning tasks that normally the person who picks the shortest straw has to do. Leaders should be willing to humble themselves and realize that they have not been put into that position to be a trophy but to be in the pit crew. I have been reading a book about leadership and have listened to a couple leadership sermons the past week, and the same theme that kept coming up was that leaders are servants, the lowest of the low, not kings, which are considered the highest. Leaders should be concerned more for the people they lead than themselves. Okay, rant over, but when you meet people with that leadership quality, it is so refreshing. If I meet someone who expresses true leadership, I immediately want to be their friend. More true leaders are needed around the world. When we start focusing on others instead of ourselves, the world will be a better place. Therefore, I think the quality of leadership, and when you see that quality in another person, should be something to be thankful for, especially because it is so hard to find.

Second, the opportunity to be a leader should be something to be thankful for. I am not saying that I am perfect and express all the qualities of true leadership, but over the years people have given me the opportunity to be a leader. It has ranged from leading a big group at camp to having one-on-one, mentor conversations with kids younger than me. These opportunities have been so great, and I know I said true leaders should not brag about their experiences, but I never said I possessed all the true leadership qualities. I always walk away from times where I get to be a leader filled with joy and appreciation that I have been put in that position. I think everyone should be thankful when they are allowed to be a leader, because that means that someone thinks highly enough of you, whether it is the person in charge or just the one kid who asked you to be their mentor, and you have shown enough qualities of leadership to be placed in a position of authority. It is a great honor and experience to be a leader, so I think those times should be celebrated.

Finally, the leaders in your life should be appreciated. Everyone has a leader in their life, whether it is a mentor, a teacher, a pastor, or just a parent. Whoever it is, that person, or people, should be appreciated. They have devoted part of their life to serving you and making you into the person you are today and the person you will be in a couple years. A leader challenges you and forces you to grow, and they should be thanked for that. I am so thankful for all the leaders that I have had in the past and all the ones I have now. They have helped me through some stuff, and I could not be more thankful.

Leadership in general is just a great thing. I think the term scares and intimidates some people and makes other people mad because they have been hurt by someone who considered themselves a “leader,” but when we look at the true idea behind it, it is something to be thankful for. There are people who show true leadership, and even though they are hard to find, they help redeem the whole concept. It is those type of people, and the instances where people are really touched by leaders, that we should look at to judge just how great or poor the idea of leadership is. Personally, I am always going to be thankful for leadership because of the impact it has on my life.

Thnx leadership 4 bein so important in my life.

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Summer of Thankfulness

 

Summer of Thankfulness: Life

This is basically going to be one big subtweet, but it is directed at everyone, so that makes it okay, right?

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I am sick of seeing sad tweets. It seems like that is all I saw last night while scrolling through twitter. I hate them, and they serve no purpose. How is tweeting about how awful a night is going to fix the night? Trick question, it won’t. Trust me, I have tweeted my fair share of sad tweets and they have not fixed anything. Therefore, this blog is going to be showing why those kind of thoughts that make a person feel so bad that they have to tell the whole world about it should not consume us enough to make it on to the internet.

Today I am thankful for life, and I believe that if everyone took a step back and appreciated life every time they became sad, it would help cheer them up. Think about it, no matter how bad your night was, unless you got some very unfortunate news about health issues, then it is probably not going to kill you. You are still alive if you are reading this, which means that you have the opportunity to make tomorrow better, or even just make the rest of your night/day better. Only you can decide if you want to sulk in a little misfortune or if you want to pick yourself up, realize that it could be much worse, and then decide to make the best out of the situation. You have been given the chance to experience this thing called life, and live on this planet, and for probably almost everyone reading this, you also live in America, the cushiest country of them all. Don’t even try to say something to me like we have it so tough here because of some issue. I’m gonna be real here for a second, when you have to walk hours to get clean drinking water, then you can talk to me about how tough your life is. We have it good, and we should appreciate that more. We are growing up privileged, so an argument with a parent or friend or significant other, a circumstance not going your way, or a little misfortune should not be such a big deal. If we have the ability to connect to the internet to go on twitter to complain about something, we should not be complaining. We have been given a great life, and if we took a step back to look at the big picture and believed that everything will work out, which it will, then it would take much more than a break up to bring us to devastation. We should be more devastated that there are people out there in the world suffering from hunger than being worried about the barista at Starbucks messing up our order. Life is precious, and if we acted with that truth constantly in our head, we would walk around more grateful for everything around us rather than criticizing every little thing that does not go our way. Also, when we actually begin to look at the big picture, life is amazing. Think about it, we are one person, but then we get to be friends and have community with other people. We get to meet many different people during our lifetime and make companions that will be there for us forever. We also get to do may great things in our life, like traveling and pursuing passions, but if we spend all of our time down on ourselves, we will miss out on these things. We can even see greatness in the little things, for example, trees produce oxygen, we use oxygen then put out carbon dioxide, which trees then use to make more oxygen. Like what?! How does that fact alone not get you pumped about life? This world is so intricate and beautiful and awesome, why would you not be excited to wake up in everyday? I know there are some people that can make this world bad, but that is only if you allow them to. No one can make you feel bad about yourself unless you let them. Surround yourself with people that build you up and life can be beautiful, trust me, I’ve learned that the hard way by trying to surround myself with the “cool people” instead of people that will lift me up and support me.

All of that to say, everyone should be thankful for life. You are alive and getting to experience another day. You can choose to be happy, or you can sulk about something not going your way. It’s your choice, but as for me, I am going to choose happiness. Just so everyone knows though, this post was not directed at anyone specific and none of the examples I used came from actual people, they were just what I thought of on the spot. I just think everyone, including myself, probably myself the most out of anyone, needs to hear this. Life is great if we let it be.

Thnx life 4  allowin us 2 experience gr8 things.

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Summer of Thankfulness

 

Summer of Thankfulness: Jesus Talks

Still trying to perfect horizontal line placement, did I succeed?

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Today I am thankful for Jesus talks. I know that some of you are probably upset because this is very similar to my conversations post, here it is if you haven’t read it, Summer of Thankfulness: Conversations, but I promise it is different. Okay, so you probably are not upset, but just humor me and pretend like you have a huge concern for what I write about. I do enjoy conversations, especially one-on-one conversations, and yes, Jesus talks fall into that category, but they are a special type of conversation that deserve to be appreciated on their own. Conversations can be about anything, but Jesus talks are when two or more people sit down and just talk about Jesus, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He is going to do. This could be a couple friends sitting down to just chat, it could be a couple friends trying to minister to other friends, it could be accountability partners talking about what they are struggling with, it could be a mentor/mentee (is that a word, it has a squiggly, red line underneath it, but I have heard people use it before, ohh well) meeting, it could be a devotional/Bible study that two or more people decide to do together. Jesus talks cover a wide variety of conversations, basically, if two or more people are talking about how great Jesus is, then it is a Jesus talk. I just wanted to take the time to talk about this one specific category of conversations.

Now that I have covered all of that with the infinite amount of wisdom I have (that’s a joke), let me explain why they are so great, if that even needs to be explained. First, it allows two people with similar life philosophies to connect with each other. Think about it, people who consider themselves Christian have a certain outlook on life that probably differs from people who do not consider themselves Christians. Therefore, when they get together to talk about the backbone behind their belief about life and its meaning (Jesus), then the two people are able to connect on a deeper level. For example, people who like comic books go to Comic Con because they like to be around and have conversations with people who also like comic books. Just like that, Christians also like to have conversations with other Christians. Like why would you not want to have a conversation with someone who believes the same thing as you?  In addition to creating connections, Jesus talks allow you to brag about what God has done. You get to brag on the One who took you from being dead and made you alive, you get to brag on the One who defeats any evil in your life, and you get to brag on the One who knows and is in control of all. If you believed in a being, supernatural or otherwise, that created the world and makes your life meaningful, wouldn’t you also want to talk about it all the time too? Finally, Jesus talks give you a warm feeling inside. They allow you to see how God is not only working in your life, but in others’ lives too. It makes you feel good that God is going to do great things in the life of someone you know well enough to have deep conversations with. Even if the talk is about something you or the other person is struggling with, it is still encouraging to see that you or they are aware of what is going on and want to fix it. And if anything else, it gives you an opportunity to pray with another person, and if you have been around me at all this summer you know I am a big advocate for people praying about things.

Okay, I think it is time to end this. This is my longest post in a while because I have been trying to keep them somewhat short, but that definitely did not happen tonight. I would just like to finish by saying that I love Jesus talks and am thankful that I am surrounded with likeminded people who will have this type of conversation with me. Also, if you ever want to have a Jesus talk or I have ever asked you to have a Jesus talk, just hmu (that means “hit me up,” which means to give me a call for all you uncool people) and I will talk with you in a heartbeat because I want to hear about what Jesus is doing in your life, especially if we have had a Jesus talk before because follow up talks are just as good as the initial talk, just like frozen pizza.

Thnx Jesus talks 4 bein gr8.

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Summer of Thankfulness

 

 

Summer of Thankfulness: I Don’t Know

I honestly have no idea what I want to write about…

Okay, that is kind of a lie because after writing that I know exactly what I want to write about. Today I am thankful for times where I do not understand. Here’s why (yes its another list, sorry if you do not like these, but not really, I’ll add color to the text if that will make you feel better, which it probably won’t):

1. Times when you do not understand allow for growth. They provide the opportunity to learn more about yourself or life while you are trying to understand whatever circumstances or problems surround you. Then, once you overcome the time of confusion, you come out the other side being a better and/or stronger person.
2. Times when you do not understand allow for revelation. In times of confusion and misunderstanding, you learn who your true friends are because they will be the ones to step up and help. Also, you learn just how strong or smart you already were as you are patiently waiting for this season of life to pass by. Finally, you learn how great of a support system you have in your family and the people that you are around as they life you up and help you during this time.
3. Times when you do not understand normally come before something big. Normally, right before a big event, or a drastic life change, is when this time of not understanding happens. You question why you are about to do something, or even if you should or are going to be able to do that something. Therefore, know that at the end of this period of life, something big is probably going to happen, so the confusion is worth it.
4. Last, but definitely not least, times when you do not understand force you to rely on God. When you do not understand why something is happening or what is going to happen next, you are forced to trust that God has it under control. He knows way more than us, and He is in control of everything, so when you do not know, it is just further proof that you need to find your peace and understanding in the One who knows it all.

Okay, that was only four points, so not that bad, and the colors helped, right? All of this to say that next time you do not understand, be thankful that there is One who does understand, and that this times of confusion can be beneficial if you just look at what can come after.

Thnx time when I do not understand 4 makin me better.

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Summer of Thankfulness (I found out how to do a horizontal line, does it look nice or no?)

 

Summer of Thankfulness: Rest

I really should start writing these earlier in the day.

Today I am thankful for rest. I am definitely in a time of rest this summer. It has been low energy and low stress all summer long, and I am very thankful for that. I believe that rest is something that we should all be thankful for because not everyone could say that they have time in a day to just sit and veg in front of a screen. Therefore, if you ever just get an hour to sit down and not deal with anything but the drama on the TV show you are watching, think about how privileged you are to be able to do that. It is a luxury, not a right, to be able to take time out of the day to not worry about or work on anything. However, I do think everyone needs a little rest in their life. I know there are some people out there who say that they always need to be working or doing something, but I guarantee that if they were offered a week away on a beach somewhere, they would accept in a heartbeat. We all need time to sit down and relax. It is an opportunity to refuel and recharge so that you are able to go back to work after the rest is over. I am very thankful that this summer has shown to be am extended period of rest before I head back off to school, and I am going to keep taking full advantage of this opportunity to just hang out and relax.

Thnx rest 4 bein a way 2 refuel and recharge.

Summer of Thankfulness