May 29, 2020
Happy May (almost June)! This past month has been a whirlwind of old seasons ending and a settling in of a new season before August rolls around. I am just so grateful for a profound sense of rest, balance, and joy in a such renewed and restored sense in these days. Grateful for graduation, celebrations that did not look as expected, slow mornings with too much coffee, summer heat, movie nights with friends, family time, and everything in between. One thing I love so much about God’s character is this: in the middle of the most chaotic and broken and spinning of times like our world is currently experiencing, there is hope in a greater beauty and restoration to come than we could ever imagine. As a long season of my life closes (my thirteen years at King’s Ridge Christian School), I have found myself eager for encouragement and steadfast truth to envelop my mind and heart, truths to carry with me into the next season. Maybe for you, you are also in the middle of seasons’ transitioning. Whether you find yourself graduating from highschool specifically, or even just starting a new job, losing an old job, graduating college, searching for fresh purpose, desperate for hope, or ready for any type of change, I hope these words are sweet like honey to your heart and soul as they have been for me. They are words spoken over and into me by many people that I love and cherish. They are words breathed through mindful prayer and trusted life experiences, and I am too grateful for them to not now share with you. So here ya go, words from my loved ones to you. May they bring light and love into whatever season you find yourself in!
- take advantage of every opportunity
- choose your friends wisely
- study abroad
- find a group of believers as a place of encouragement and accountability
- go to class
- text your parents
- take care of yourself, being kind to yourself always
- be a blessing to others
- take *insert your name* time
- allow yourself to grow in wisdom, far different from just acquiring knowledge
- stay passionate about whatever makes you, YOU
- pursue God’s purpose by pursuing God
- ask the hard questions, avoiding making assumptions to allow for true understanding
- “run at a pace that lets you finish the race” ~John Piper
- allow these years to be ones of molding into who God has intended us to become
- community- necessary to fighting the distractions that pull from God
- give AND take grace
- don’t doubt yourself when making good choices
- never apologize for asking questions- keep an inquisitive spirit
- follow your heart first and foremost
- do not be too busy to build relationships in life
- pray hard and pray often- don’t feel selfish for praying for yourself
- take it one week at a time
- remember the 3 parts of your foundation: faith, family, and friends- these are your roots, water them!
- be a student of life
- you will laugh- laugh with your whole body, mind, and spirit. it is good for your soul and those around you
- you will cry- don’t be afraid to cry. the ability to show emotion shows your real strength
- college will go by even faster than high school
- take time to celebrate God’s gifts in others
- your identity is not found in your college major, social status, successes, or failures
- take the time to say what needs to be said but take more time to listen
- it is often more important to be interested rather than interesting
- wisdom requires and is the best possible product of pain
*John 16:33
*Proverbs 3:6
*Philippians 4:4-7
*Galatians 6:9
*Isaiah 40:31
*Hebrews 6:10
*Colossians 2:6-7
*Joshua 1:8-9
*Psalm 62:5
*Ephesians 3:20
*Matthew 6:33
*Jeremiah 29:11
*Isaiah 41:10
*2 Corinthians 4:17-18
With love,
C