Vulnerably Beautiful

This day, 3 years ago was a very different day. It should have been an ordinary day, a day that had a routine wisdom teeth extraction, videos of the aftermath of laughing gas, lots of liquids, and an ice compress to make chipmunk cheeks not seem nearly so big. That is exactly how the day started, the ending was not quite as planned or normal. I started the day in the hospital and also ended the day there. This day seems to bring conflicting feelings as to whether it is a day of celebration or a day of pain and sorrow. It brings pain and sorrow as it is a day that changed the course of my life completely. It brought and still brings so much pain, struggle and hurt into my life. The accident that occurred 3 years ago has brought problems into my life that without them my life would be drastically different. So many tears have been cried and so many days, weeks have been spent in bed, doing nothing. Being too sick to do anything. Without the events of the day, my life would be in ...

When you hear the quote "when it rains, it pours", it usually comes with a negative connotation. It is commonly said when many things don't go as planned in a short period of time. Time and time again I hear people say it with such negativity regarding a situation, and rarely does saying it ever make the situation better. In the last 2.5 weeks, I have spent a combined 20 hours in a vehicle driving so I have had a lot of time to think about everything and anything. Just before I left for one of the drives, one of my friends had said this in a joking matter about her life, again with the negative connotation. The more I thought about this and the negativity surrounding it, I wondered how it could become a positive thing. I've been thinking about that lot in my spare time and I have come to the conclusion that just because it's pouring, doesn't mean it is always bad. In fact, some of my best memories at camp are from days that it poured all day long. When we ...

Ever feel like the world around you is spinning out of control, one moment you are on top of the world, and the next you are in the deepest, darkest pit? You can go to bed at feel so in control and aware of all the things going on and all the things you need to get done, but then wake up in the morning and feel so overwhelmed and stressed. Today was one of those days, I went to bed last night feeling at peace with everything that the next couple weeks would entail, and woke up this morning feeling so overwhelmed and as though I was drowning in my to-do list. I had this so much anxiety rising inside of me and just couldn't handle it. At that moment, I decided that instead of trying to block the stress and anxiety out and put it somewhere to simmer and then go back to it later was a bad idea. Instead, I pulled out my Bible, and notebook and began to pray and go to God with everything that was a stressor in my life. I prayed and listened. Listened to God and gave Him time to respond...