Think Big Picture

The art of living is the messy and painful moments dancing with the glorious and exhilarating moments. It’s the mundane and the meaningful. What makes life so artful is how beautifully each piece of our day to day lives fit together to form a picture of who each of us are. Sometimes, when I look at my life up close, it seems so ugly that it cannot be adding up to the something spectacular I used to dream up for myself. For instance, when I decide to wear all white to work just to splatter several shots of espresso across the ensemble. Or, when I think I’ve got my temper figured out, I blow up at my husband for not telling me to have sweet dreams before we fall asleep…true story, YIKES.

Three Ways to Restore Your Wonder

When was the last time you were overcome by the WONDER of God? What was that moment like? Did tears well up in your eyes? Did you cry, laugh or maybe even dance? Did you break out in praise or did you silently thank God for who He is? Was that moment recent or a distant memory? It can be tempting to become wrapped up in our daily lives and miss the wonder of God. We get anxious and stressed, overwhelmed and overscheduled. We barely have time to think, let alone notice God in our midst.

Series Introduction: Courage

I was roofied in college. By a complete stranger. In an incredibly dark bar in downtown Flagstaff. Typically, I’m never this blunt in writing about my traumatic experiences. But, most of you already read the entire blog I wrote about this experience back in September of last year. Retracing that night on paper was not easy—it was agonizing. The memory of it all, or what I can remember of it anyway, is enough to make me shiver. Since sharing that scary time of my life with you, I’ve felt the power it once held over me diminish. Yes, being that stranger’s victim scarred me, changed me and hurt me… but, what he did no longer has any power over my life.

Pushing Against the Tide of Doing Too Much

If you’re a busy girl, you know that giving yourself pause to slow down and do nothing for a while can be… difficult. But when you’re running your butt off all day and all week, you have to give yourself the opportunity to breathe and let go. I’m no stranger to this game and oftentimes feel like I need to be doing something worth putting on Instagram stories every day. But you don’t have to. While there’s a part of me that’s always go go go, there’s another part that needs to take one day every weekend to do absolutely nothing in order to rebound for the next week. Rest and time off are essential to anyone trying to conquer the world.

Finding a Rhythm

Stillness, by nature, is not my cup of tea. I am an extravert. A “go-getter.” An adventurer. Sitting still or taking the time to process my thoughts sounds terrible to me. Let me put this into perspective for those of you who are more inclined to rest, to take things easy, and process things more regularly. My alarm goes off at 4:30 most mornings for me to get ready for a 5 o’clock shift at work. I will work for six to eight hours before coming home to deep clean the house while FaceTiming my best friend, prepping dinner and drawing up the floor plan for my dream home all at the same time. I know this might sound like an exaggeration but trust me. It’s not.

Prayers to Pray When You Need Stillness

Being still is very important. Taking a step back to realize what’s going on can truly make a difference. It’s so important to take a day of the week to have as your rest day, just like God did. Six days of work and the seventh use as a rest to day to cleanse your spirit and focus that day on God—a day to be still in the moment. It’s OK to slow down sometimes, to take a step back and be still for a minute so you can assess what’s going on. You can gain so much wisdom from taking a moment to be still with God and focus in on Him. It’s so important to stay aware of what’s going on so you can always have a clear understanding of things. Take your time to relax and be still!

Current Blog series: Purpose