My heart is saddened. I look around and see people that look for validation in anyone who will give them their time of day. They seek the attention of those around them. They try to be someone their not just to prove their worth to others. I see people seeking approval in their peers, replacing their own values hoping for acceptance in others. I overthink things I say or randomly do because it's hard being judged by teenagers or even adults. I act a certain way around some people not because I want to be "cool" but because it feels so good to "fit in". But what exactly am I conforming to? What does it mean to fit in? If it means that I can't openly share my faith, then I don't want it. If it means I have to put what I value on the back burner, then I don't want it. If it means I change the way I dress or laugh or carry myself, I don't want it. If I can't be who I was made to be then why would I want to fit in? Why would I want to change the person who was made from God's image? You see, I read this story from Facebook or somewhere and it changed my perspective. It went something like this, "You've just painted the most beautiful painting. One that you've worked on for really long time and you're so proud of it. It shows the type of artist that you are and it is just so beautiful to you. You show it to your friends and family and they tear it shreds. They point out every little thing that's wrong with it. You're crushed. You worked so hard on something that you thought was so beautiful. When you find things that you don't like about yourself or that you don't like about others, God feels the same way. He made each of us in His image and we tear each other to shreds". I butchered that pretty badly but, the point is, God feels so disappointed and sad when we bring ourselves and others down. We do this without even realizing it. When we try to "fit in" we're showing God that we don't like the way He made us, we would rather be something else. We'd rather be popular, more attractive, funny, smart, or rich. We can sometimes get jealous when someone has traits other than our own. I'm here to tell you it is so much better to fit out. To be your own person. No one on this earth is the exact same as you. God instilled different talents and traits into each and every one of us. It is sometimes difficult to accept them in ourselves and also in other people. It can be hard to love others when their values don't fit with ours or if they've changed as a person. People will change and they will find different talents in themselves. We have to accept other people's stories. God has a special plan for each of us. If we "fit in" then we aren't who He created us to be. I put quotations around "fit in" because no one really knows what that means, or at least I don't. No one of us can be exactly the same as someone else, so why try? Relationships will end. People will grow apart. You will lose friends that you thought you'd have forever. Life changes. It has its ups and downs. When you're in a time of change and you find your talents and what you value, don't try to fit in with people who aren't willing to see you grow and be with you through that journey. It's hard to love some people, but it's even harder to understand their journey. It's difficult to stand alone and be different, but when you stop and think about it, none of us are really the same. We may like the same clothes or music, but we have differences in other places. Instead of conforming because it's easier, stand out because you're strong. God didn't make us so that we could change everything about ourselves and become a different person. He made us in his image, which is perfect. You are perfect in God's eyes. You are beautiful. You are strong. Shine your own light to the world and nothing will ever be the same.
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When we're tired or stressed we do two things: sleep and eat. For me, I do my fair share of both. I love to eat. I love to sleep. When I'm happy, sad, stressed, angry, etc., I eat and then sleep. I believe that sleeping through my problems will help me and I'll feel more rested, but when I wake up I feel the same. If I'm stressed i feel even more stressed because I just wasted a few hours of my time. I feel like I'm always trying to fill a hole and maybe sleep or food will be the answer. I think that it will cure something inside of me and I'll wake up refreshed. During the day if I feel drained, I take a nap, which isn't an uncommon thing. Naps are pretty normal. If you're like my mom, you can take a 10 minute nap and instantly feel better. If you're like me, you can take a 2 hour nap and wake up feeling worse then you did. my point here is, sleep is pretty important to us, but is it actually beneficial if we sleep too much. It's hard to find the right balance of too much sleep and not enough. I used to think there was no such thing as "too much", but I'm sad to say there is. Sleeping too much can cause of to feel more tired then we were before. It's hard to find rest. Sleep doesn't help if it's our soul that's tired. Sleep isn't what we need when we feel tired and drained. Sometimes it's our souls that are tired and sleep doesn't cure that. The only way that we can truly find rest is in the Lord. He calms our souls and lifts weight off of our shoulders. Don't get me wrong, sleep is a beautiful thing, but nothing compares to the peace you will feel when you find rest in Him. One may ask, "How do you find rest in the Lord", well I am so glad you asked! It's something that I don't think about often, but it is so important. Finding rest in God is a little different then finding rest in sleep. Sleep is something that comes natural to all of us. We all know how to sleep, well at least I hope! Finding rest in God is something that we have to search for. I can't exactly tell you how to do that because it's a little different for everyone, but the scripture is always a great place to start. Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" Exodus 33:14 "The Lord replied, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest'" Psalm 23 "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake" Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" Finding rest is all about trust. Put all of your eggs in His basket, bet all of your marbles, Once you understand that God has complete and total control of your life, you will like you've just had the most amazing sleep of your life. I'm not saying life will be easy, but I am saying life is so much more worth the living because He lives. It enables us to wake up in the morning even if we had the worst sleep of our lives. Nothing is impossible with Him. Instead of worrying about how early you have to wake up the next morning and how late it is, spend time reading about Christ. Before getting rest, find rest within His words. None of us have an excuse. We can be as "busy" as we want to believe, but 5 minutes is not going to hurt us. In fact, those 5 minutes every day will actually be what saves us. Quick little tidbit about my life, i've grown up in the Church. Besides attending the 11 o'clock service almost every Sunday, I am also active in Sunday school and youth group. I have attended Vacation Bible School for as long as I can remember and for the past few years I have assisted in teaching a class. For the past 7 years I have attended youth group and will go on my 7th mission trip with them this summer. Church for me isn't just about the service, but also about being held accountable. It isn't just a building or a room full of people- it's a family. I have grown up with some of my very best friends in Church and have 100+ brothers and sisters there. My parents have done an amazing job leading as an example and not just telling us about Christ. Needless to say, I like to think I have a very firm foundation in the Lord. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "typical"? Well, if you can't think of any I went ahead and looked up some synonyms. Classic, common, normal, ordinary, and regular were just a few that came up on thesaurus.com. Keeping these words in mind, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a Christian? Maybe it be some of the more obvious answers like someone that believes in God or someone that attends church regularly. Or maybe it's someone that shows you God's love in a way you've never experienced it before. Whatever it may be, we generally all think of Christians in the same way. If you Google what a Christian is, one of the answers you will get is someone having or showing qualities associated with Christians, especially those of decency, kindness, and fairness. Noun. If you ask me, that isn't common. I'm seen as this "typical" Christian and I don't mind it at all. Attending Church has helped me strengthen my relationship with Christ and learn more about Him. I think we sometimes, including myself, have a hard time seeing and understanding that others see church as something that's typical. You see, God didn't call us to be typical. In fact, the people that followed Him were fair from it. Matthew, one of the 12, was a tax collector. He was someone you didn't exactly see as a Christian, but Jesus saw more to him then what met the eye. God doesn't want us to be typical, but please don't confuse this with Church being a bad thing. If you recall what Google said about Christians, it is that they are kind and fair. In the world today, we don't see love. We don't hear about the acts of kindness. As Christians, we are called to change this epidemic. We are called to be anything but typical and kindness goes against all the odds. We need to share God's love through our actions and words. When I say we are typical, i'm saying that to the average person we look like everyone else. We need to stand out with God's love and prove the world wrong, even if the the world is just one person you hold the door for. If you have autocorrect on your phone or computer then you know the struggle. Something that I have noticed about it though, is that it often times changes the word love to live. If you don't believe me, try it out. I think this is because we are supposed to live and love simultaneously. Without love we cannot live and to live we need to love. I doubt that's why it actually changes, but it's something to consider. Being a Christian isn't just about attending a worship service, sometimes it's about being Church for other people. By this I mean that you may be the only reason someone's heard about Jesus. Or maybe someone believes in Him because they see how loving you are towards others. On mission trips, most of the time our residents have never heard of Jesus or they don't believe in Him, but when they see kids that paid to take a week out of their summer to work on their house, believe me, they see God. If we only we treated our day-to- day lives like a mission trip. Be the change in the world. Show them that we are anything but typical. We are the church but that doesn't mean that we should skip out on going to Church. We need to be around believers and followers of Christ. They hold us accountable and make us better Christians. And They will know we are Christians by our love. I would love your feedback! If you feel called to do so, please fill out the survey below. Thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed today's post! |
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