December 10, 2017
Hey, friends! Tonight, I am blogging to you in a big cozy blanket and a big bowl of popcorn while there is SNOW on the ground… in GA… in early December!!! Needless to say, this weekend has been amazing! The month of December is very special in my home as we all LOVE Christmas! Anyone that knows my family knows that even start listening to Christmas music in late October, not kidding at all. The Christmas season is by FAR my favorite time of the year… and the most stressful one. All I want to do is watch Christmas movies and drink hot chocolate, yet I end up being more stressed than usual at this time in the year. I think a lot of it is due to the impending exams that linger in my future before I can fully enjoy the season. This stress with school and the increased amount of events outside of school can get to be a lot. I mean… A LOT! I just get to the point sometimes where I just want to have a pity party and cry by myself. Yes, I know it is silly to be so uptight and worried, but it is by far something I struggle with a lot. My issue, and maybe yours, is that I think I can’t enjoy myself or participate in fun activities until I have fulfilled all of my duties, checked all of the boxes, dotted all of my i’s, and crossed all of my t’s. I just want to get things done quickly and efficiently. It is like one big hustle/contest to the end that I challenge myself in to try to accomplish as much as possible before I decide that enough is enough. However, I have to remind myself constantly that I was NOT made to be a robot, and I was NOT made to do a week’s worth of work in one day. Not that hard work is not commendable by any means, it is, but there is so much more to life than just getting by and doing what I have to do day-by-day. I can choose to enjoy today even though I have a lot on my plate to do! The enemy tries to steal my joy by aiding me in compiling burdens and to-do lists and worry over my future all on my shoulders. He is perfectly willing to pile on another burden, another fear. He tries to steal my daily joy by offering ephemeral gratification in accomplishing earthly tasks, and he does succeed in this more often than I’d like to admit. This satisfaction in “checking off all my boxes” lasts very shortly. As soon as it comes, another burden piles on and takes it away. However, that cycle of short-lived satisfaction and long-term lists of burdens is not the end that God intends for me, or for you. He calls me to take it day-by-day. I constantly remind myself that today is all I need to focus on, all I can focus on. Today is my chance to do my best and live out my purpose in God. Today is the day I can choose joy over fear and hope over despair. When we look too far ahead, it is so easy to be quickly overwhelmed and weighed down by the future’s problems. Oh, they will come! However, they don’t need to be today’s fear. When they come, they come. All we can do is choose to live in the present and grasp its opportunities. Living day-by-day offers a whole new release from burden and hope in our strength as God “give[s] strength to his people… [and] bless[es] his people with peace” (ESV, Psalm 29:11). Join me in relishing today as our joy instead of worrying over the issues of tomorrow.
With love,
C