28 | 3 Things.
I have so many thoughts that I want to communicate about my 27th year. One of my good friends always asks if there's a "highlight" and a "lowlight" that covers it all at once. I suppose I could tell you that there was a lot of learning, but what else is new, right? I'm afraid that a highlight and lowlight would be a pathetic attempt to cover everything that happened because it was a FULL year. But I'd like to pass on some lessons, if you'll indulge me, that I've lived through and maybe they'll be as helpful (hopefully more) as they were to me.
1. TRUST: This is something that I've been learning my whole life, actually. There were a few times where
I felt like Abraham because The Lord would tell me something and I really didn't know how it was going to go or what the end result would be. Trust, by definition, is the firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something. How I understand that word in the context of my life is to believe that God has better plans for me and is to surrender control over to Him. He can take the control, without a doubt, but the surrender of it is so important because it's also admitting that He knows better and it enables the partnership to be stronger.
2. OBEY: This is the action that ought to follow trust. Because I can trust God but not actually obey, they're very different things but go hand in hand because one cannot exist without the other. There were a few circumstances last year that I had to just obey, actually force myself to, because I really didn't want to do it. And now I look back and, of course, hindsight is 20/20, but I now have the clarity to see why it was the right and only choice to obey. Otherwise, God would not have been first and it wouldn't have been as beautiful as what He has coming for me (which is also a part of trusting).
3. LOVE: Many of you are hoping that maybe I have some lovely secret to tell you, and I do, it's just not what I thought it would look like. I've been reading a book called Crazy Love, by Francis Can, and the book of Ruth (in the Bible) and I'm wowed by God's love. I've also discovered recently that I've never let it sink in or worn it as an identity. To put it simply, I don't often think that I'm worthy. The Lord brought this to light at the beginning of the quarantine for COVID-19 and I thought, actually great timing. It's just God and me when I come home in the evening. Plus, He has blessed me with the most beautiful community to encourage me to pursue Him completely. You know who you are and thank you so much.
So where does that leave me? Taking it day by day, as I put it last year. But I've also discovered that gratitude is the answer of most of my problems. When the pain is too much, count your blessings. When you only have one thing to look forward to because you have no idea what the future holds, count our blessings. And when you get terrible grumpy and grumble about anything and everything, count your blessings. I promise the Lord is with you through every struggle and road block that you encounter and will bring you through them. You need only ask, my friend. How should I know? Well, last year wasn't a walk in the park but it was incredible for three things: to trust God, to obey His commands and to live fully in His love.
Love & Prayers,
Lauren xo