What I've Been Taught in 2018

       Live Loved.

         So we've been in the process of moving houses this past month, and needless to say its been rough and not very pretty. I came home from college to suddenly be thrown into waking up early, throwing my hair in a bun to start sifting through, moving, organizing, lifting, and carrying all of our things from our hold house to our new house. I also realized you never really comprehend how much stuff you actually have until you decide to move houses and it makes you not want to buy anything again, ever.

       Now as I sit in my new room in a new house with some old things and some new things I've realized the biggest change of moving is just how much we got rid of, how much we decluttered and downsized and minimalized. Sitting here typing I realized that is what God loves to do in our lives and much of what He has done in my life this past year. It wasn't fun and it wasn't pretty, but I now live a life with a lot less baggage, a lot less clutter, and a lot more joy than before.

     It's hard to condense a full year into a small phrase but if I had to it would be, "Live Loved". If you've ever read the book "Uninvited" by Lysa Terkurst (which I highly recommend) she consistently pushes forth this idea of living loved. Living every moment of every day knowing we are loved by God. She goes onto explain how having this mindset and living it out would impact the way we handle situations, relationships, how we deal with pain, fear, doubt, insecurities.... and so much more.

"For the Lord your God is living among you.

    He is a mighty savior.

He will take delight in you with gladness.

    With his love, he will calm all your fears.

    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs."

                                 Zephaniah 3:17

        The reason behind me going 17 hours away to college was the idea of a fresh start, a way to get rid of the middle/high school me and finally be the person I always had wanted to be. While college did allow for me to open up into the extroverted, bubbly person God made me to be it also showed the parts of me that I thought I had moved on from. Insecurities, fears, doubts... that I thought were no more God showed me that I had just shoved them down farther and bottled them up only for God to bring each and every one of them back to the surface. God wanted me to see that even though I had tried to run 17 hours away from everything, I still had some serious work to finish on my heart and mind. 

     So that's what this year was one of figuring out what "living loved" even looked like. It took a lot of hard nights and painful moments, but it brought with it sweet mornings and joyful memories. I had to start at the basis of really examining who I thought God even was and who He even thought me to be. He brought people and still brings people into my life to challenge the way I think, to grow and encourage me in this journey of chasing after God. 

    Learning to live loved changes everything. It changed the way I use to view myself. It changed the way I use to view others. It changed the way I use to view life. It changed the way I view God. It taught me so much and more that I could ever condense into one short post. So strive to learn to live loved and I promise that every situation, every relationship, every insecurity, every pain... God will help you to see through His eyes of being a person who is already completely, unconditionally, fully, and solely loved by Him.