So Stressed!

Colossians 3:12

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

 Do you ever wonder if you sometimes have a mental illness due to certain behaviors you seem to revert back to during times of stress?  I sometimes feel like such a mental case that I’m sure people are watching me, ready to call the crazy house which they recently and conveniently added to their speed dial.  This is rather extreme but when I’m stressed, everything feels extreme.  My boyfriend could forget to give me the green M&Ms (which are my favorite) and I’m destroyed because he knows they’re my favorite!  It’s the end of the world; he hates me because he didn’t remember to give me the green ones.  Although many of us have been there and it can be comical to those around us, it can also be detrimental not just to ourselves but those around us and our witness.  Having no control is not going to help you and it won’t help the situation change any.  When I was younger my mom always used to tell me to choose my battles with the little cousin who stayed with us.  There are some things worth letting go because in the long run they don’t matter.  However, there are other matters that will need to be addressed in life; there’s no missing out on them.  If we approach those matters with patience and a clear head, they could end up being a wonderful step for us in life.  Life is ten percent of what happens to us and ninety percent of how we handle it.    

Romans 12:12

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Do you want Sunshine or not?

Proverbs 21:17 “You're addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.”

As the seasons change, I find it hilarious to listen to everyone wishing it was another season other than the one they’re currently in.  If it’s summer it’s too hot and needs to be spring.  If it’s winter it needs to be summer because it’s too cold.  It would seem we’re never satisfied with what we’ve got.  Always wanting more more more.  Unfortunately, no matter how much we get we won’t ever be satisfied.  Our satisfaction is found in Christ not material possessions, labels, or absolutely anything else in this world.  The satisfaction we yearn for is nothing like the satisfaction we’re given in Christ.  Do you know what I find satisfying?  The look on a young mother’s face when she realizes her children will have presents on Christmas morning because someone went out of their way to help her in Jesus’ name.  I love Taco Bell’s slogan, “Think outside the bun.”  The majority of fast food places are based on hamburgers where is Taco Bell is based on tacos.  Instead of basing our lives and satisfaction on the human instinct that pops into our head, which the majority of mankind lives by, think outside the human bubble we tend to put ourselves in and grasp God’s instinct.  If you’re willing to try everything else, then why not at least try this? 

Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 “I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, "Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?" More smoke. A bad business.”

YOLO

Matthew 6:33 “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out.”

     Many days I wonder if God has me working at a college just to have a storehouse of quirky stories.  Without fail, there is always something random happening.  There was a new phrase I heard students using, “YOLO.” I had no clue what it meant and I tried deciphering it with my fancy texting lingo skills but was unsuccessful.  I caved and finally asked my boyfriend what in the world “YOLO” meant.  He replied with, “You only live once.”  Isn’t that the truth? Man, if it were true that cats had nine lives I would hold one at gun point and make it give me a few.  Being able to go back and start life over again would be an amazing opportunity.  We don’t have that luxury.  Most often what I find at college are students wanting to get the most out of life for themselves.  Only going to school to appease parents and then giving it minimal effort so they can spend more time on other things they think are the most important.  As we age, all of us have things we wish we wouldn’t have spent so much time on and things we wish we would have spent more time on.  Every day you live is a day you can’t get back after it’s gone.  Are you going to spend it trying to get away with as much as possible? Or are you going to get out of the garbage called immaturity and spend your every waking moment seeing how much you can give God?  You know, you hear all the time, doctors telling people they have 6 months to live or two weeks to live or even a day to live.  None of us know if we’re going to be alive tomorrow.  Life can be snatched from us quicker than a computer can process information.  Rabbi Samuel Silver once said, “The greatest of all miracles is that we need not be tomorrow what we are today, but we can improve if we make use of the potential implanted in us by God.” YOLO.

Acts 17:26 “Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God.”