Spreading Some Sunshine

For anyone keeping track (which is probably nobody, which is fine because I have), this is the 3^rd post I’ve written this month. Normally they are more spread out than this, but I just have so many thoughts I want to share! It’s no secret that the world today is full of a lot of messed up stuff. There’s so much tension and hurting and sadness. And if you know me at all, I try to focus on the good stuff. Especially as we move toward Thanksgiving and all of the other major upcoming holidays, I think it’s super important for us to think about the good things in our lives and the things to be thankful for. So here’s my list:

I’m not failing school yet! I was sure that between working as much as I need to and all of the hours I am taking I would be behind. But not right now! I mean there are some nights that I get less than the ideal amount of sleep, but that’s what coffee for. (I’m super thankful for coffee!) Also, for a while there was some confusion and delay about me receiving my bright futures scholarship for this semester. But I got it last week! Talk about a major stress relief! I literally did a dance when I saw it was in my bank account.

Today is my best friend’s birthday! So even though I’m spending most of my day doing homework and working, I’m still crazy thankful for her. She has been there for everything. And even though we have been friends for over 7 years now, we’ve only had a fight once. And it was the most awkward 5 minutes of our friendship (yes, literally it only lasted 5 minutes).

In 138 days, I get to go spend my spring break with my soul sister and her new husband! *cue overwhelming amount of tears of joy* She’s my first friend to get married and move away which has been really hard but I know she’s happy and that makes me so, so happy. I can’t wait to attack her with all of my built up hugs and love for her.

A couple weeks ago, I got to go to a wedding for someone that was on my mission trip. I love weddings! And I love that I got to meet my #1 snapchat friend on my trip and I got to see her start her forever with her wonderful husband. And in 221 days, I get to go to another wedding for someone I met on my trip. I don’t like that both of them don’t live in the same state as me but I like reasons to travel!

There are so many other things I could write about that I am thankful for. I can’t really even explain why but I have never been so content and continuously joyful as I am right now. My life definitely isn’t perfect and I’m not living the dream yet. But I am just overwhelmingly happy with everything. I am so beyond blessed!

You know what else is good news: Jesus. You had to know this was coming. I started reading 1 Peter this week which is a book I’m not super familiar with. But I found this verse that I wanted to share. It’s not very long but it says so much in so few words. “Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1: 3-4) If you have no other reason to be thankful, celebrate what Jesus did for you. He is our LIVING hope. Living. It’s still a thing. He didn’t just come and go and that was the end. He is living, currently. And not only did He give us a new purpose and life here on earth, but as believers we get to be a part of the party going on up in heaven after we die. We did nothing to deserve Christ’s sacrifice for us. And we really don’t deserve the gift that heaven is. But God gives it to us anyway!

So maybe try making a list and add one thing each day of something you are thankful for. Some days, it may be easier to come up with something than others. But try! Tell God what you are thankful for! If you need help getting started, today (October 25^th) is national greasy food day. I looked it up! So start by being thankful for deliciously unhealthy food, like pizza, and go from there. 

Single Pringle

Now, I realize this is a frequent topic of discussion for me. However, this is something that is brought up in my life very frequently and I kind of consider myself an expert in the area. It also might seem like I’m trying to low-key advocate for myself, but I promise, that’s not the goal. The goal is to encourage and support those in my similar situation. (Mom, don’t read this part) I also might be avoiding the homework I’m supposed to be doing that’s due tomorrow… But that’s why we have coffee #DDaddict

For those that don’t know every detail of my life, I live with the Rachel(e)s. And they are both two of my favorite people on the planet. They help me laugh when I am having a bad day. They listen to my rants. They keep me smiling on the good days. They are both smart and beautiful and motivated… And in love. Like marriage on the brain kind of in love. That’s something we do not all have in common. And I have been asked by several people “don’t you get lonely when they have their boyfriends/ fiancés over and you don’t have anybody?”

Here’s where there needs to be a lot of clarification. There is a major difference between being single and being lonely. For the vast majority of my life, I have been REAL single. But I am by no means lonely. The way I picture loneliness is as a sad, longing for something different kind of state. Loneliness happens when we start criticizing ourselves because we can’t figure out why people don’t want to date us. When I think of loneliness, I think of watching “The Notebook” while crying your eyes out and eating a half gallon of ice cream. So am I lonely? Oh for sure not!

Now, do I feel super single a lot? Totally! But that doesn’t mean I’m jealous of my friends that are in relationships. I don’t try to figure out what is wrong with me. It’s not hard for me to be happy for my friends who have found that person that they want to spend the rest of their lives with. I even get to go to a wedding this weekend to celebrate one of my friends who has. I never feel more single than when I am at a wedding. But not in a bad way! Instead, I get to go see two people who are crazy in love with each other commit to sharing their lives with each other, and I get hope and pray that one day, I will be that lucky.

But until that day comes, I get to share all of my love with so many other people. Everyone needs love! I’m not ready to let one person have so much of mine. I have too much fun investing it into my girls at church, the people I work with (although, most of the time that comes out as tough love), my family, my friends. The list goes on and on. I am so, so happy with my life right now. God continues to show me His love and His blessings in all of the little things.

So how are you feeling? Are you a single or a lonely person? I mean I guess you can technically be married and lonely. (I have no advice on that though other than relationships are worth the hard work. So invest in a bonding time vaca.) But maybe you are feeling real single and lonely. I’ve totally been there. I haven’t always radiated the “I don’t need no man” confidence that I have today. It’s taken a lot of time to understand how much God loves me and learning how to love myself. I’ve also significantly cut down on the number of romantic comedies I watch. That seems to help a lot.

This is an offer especially for my single ladies (now put your hands up… sorry couldn’t resist) but this really goes for anybody. But us single pringle chicas have to stick together! If you want a no strings attached date night, hollacha girl! We can go to your favorite restaurant and I’ll tell you how beautiful you look and just listen if that’s what you need. Sometimes, it’s nice having a reason to get dressed up. I’ll totally be that reason for you! Or if you just need someone to talk to you on your lonely days, feel free to text/ call me whenever. I’ll be that person too. Like I said, I got a lot of love to give out. Don’t be shy :)

2.0

I don’t normally post this late at night but I’m currently at the Catalyst Conference in Hot-lanta (which is basically like the adult version of Passion) and feeling super overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions so I just really needed to spit all of this out. (Also part of the reason I’m writing so late is because Morgan and I may have brilliantly locked ourselves out of our hotel room but that’s a whole other story!) So what you are about to read actually has nothing to do with what we have been talking about at Catalyst. It’s just something that was running through my mind during worship. I’m sure I will write about Catalyst soon but I gotta process it all first.

This is going to sound so stupid but I used to think that people who could sing hymns like a boss and lead exhilarating praise and worship were somehow doing it better than me. Like as if our singing ability was determined by how much God enjoyed our praise and worship. Yeah, I know it’s stupid. But it’s what I thought. I thought that if I worshipped hard enough, I would suddenly be able to sing like Carrie Underwood because God was going to glorify my worship by making it sound pitch perfect. And then that’s when I would know I was doing it right. If I sounded better one day than another, well I must be more in love with Jesus that day.

Or another example (just to show you the less attractive parts of my heart): sometimes I look at people like the speakers here at Catalyst and I think to myself “they must carry wisdom that I can never achieve. I mean I have this blog that some people read but obviously the way I see God isn’t perfect because I’m not talking to thousands about my version of Jesus.” That’s real selfish and prideful I know. But that’s sometimes how I feel.

Maybe at some point you have felt the same way. Maybe you feel like Christianity should make us into a better version of ourselves. And in a sense it does. But not in like the way iphones simply update all the time. No. Salvation deletes our “app” entirely and downloads Christ into our lives. It’s not that we become a 2.0 version of ourselves. We are literally supposed to become Christ.

I have just had to come to face the reality that I will never sound like a recording artist. Does that stop me from praising my heart out? No it sure doesn’t. I just let loose now. I may not even be singing notes in the song. I don’t care! I’m making a joyful noise to the Lord. Am I going to become a best-selling author one day? Not at the moment. (I mean first I would actually have to write a book.) But does that mean that I or you don’t understand having a relationship with Jesus as well as these pastors who lead conferences do? Definitely not!

Listen, if you don’t feel like you have anything to contribute to your church or your community because you don’t have golden pitch pipes or a great sermon with a well-organized power-point, then you have missed something big. We can’t all be Andy Stanleys and Judah Smiths. We can’t all be Chris Tomlin and David Crowders. If we were all up on stage doing our own version of what “ideal Christianity” looks like, who would be at your work telling people about Jesus? Who would be investing in the lives of your neighbors and those around you? I don’t know where your niche is. And honestly, I’m not always sure where mine is either. But the world does not need you to update and make a 2.0 version of yourself. It needs you to take on the heart and soul of Christ and just go. Go. Be. Love.