Pittsburgh ::

I wanted to take a little break from the usual posts and share some pictures I took in the city last night. I love Pittsburgh. 

-

to grow // to change

I'm sitting in the student center studying for my last final of my junior year of college.

WHAT.

Life is so especially crazy as of lately but I can't help but be thankful for every twist and turn. Throughout this semester I have learned a lot about growing and changing. Coming back to school this semester was difficult after doing the Fall Semester at home. I was coming back into a place where peoples lives kept moving while mine slowed down a little. There was a ton of new people i had never met, and oddly enough it felt like freshman year all over again (and who really wants to relive freshman year? probably no one..). 

This semester ended up being a lot more difficult than I had thought it would be in more ways than one. I was challenged in ministry in a whole new way, and I was given opportunities to do things that would stretch me and grow me in the aspect.

Along with that, I made some new friends. They always say you make lifelong friends in college and I fully believe that. I'm starting to realize more and more how important it is to have friends who are in the same stage of life as you. It sounds a little silly to say, but you need people to go through life with. And although it can be beneficial to have people who have "been there, done that", it really helps to have people to walk with through it all. 

I know I haven't posted a lot, and when I do it always seems to have the same theme. Growth and change. I think that's the theme in my life right now. A much needed season of growth and change.

Thanks for listening.

r e s t

Lately I've been very tired. In every sense of the word.

Something I'm learning more and more in life is that rest is important. Not even just sleep. But rest.

Sometimes it's better to turn down plans to just lay in bed and watch a movie by yourself. Sometimes it's good to hit the snooze button. Sometimes it's good to take bubble baths. Sometimes it's good to just be quiet.

I'm finding myself in the rest. I'm finding God there also. Coming to him in the quiet, for me, means that He truly has all my attention. All my focus is on him. 

I hope that you can find rest today, and peacefulness in the quiet.

Time to turn a new leaf ~

It's finally here. The last day of 2015. I honestly thought that this year would never end haha. 

This is a day full of reflection and resolution making. A day full of celebrating what has come to an end and that which has yet to begin. Some people will go to parties with friends and others will stay in and spend time with family. 

Since I already did my "reflection of the year" post, I want this post to be all about my favorite things from 2015, and things that I am going to leave behind going into 2016.

:: Having a picnic with my sweet friends before they graduated ::

:: Going to bridal expos with my friends ::

:: Ice skating downtown with my very best friend ::

:: And going to the zoo with her ::

:: Lots and lots of grocery runs and coffee dates ::

Of course, there were many other memories, I just can't find pictures that document them all haha.

I'm not a big fan of resolutions because I'm really bad at following through with them. But there are a few things that I am going to choose to leave in 2015. Things that I feel need to be left behind so that I can better myself in this new year.

1.) Letting my emotions get the better of me :: I tend to do this all the time. No matter the situation or the feeling. Be it good or bad. My emotions almost always take control. This often times leaves me making half minded decisions on a wim just because it "feels right".

2.) Not celebrating tiny victories :: Tiny victories need to be celebrated. Because even the little things are important.

3.) Not telling people how important they are to me :: Something I learned in 2015 is that it is so important to express your love and thankfulness to those around you. To those who take time to be your friend and to be there for you.

4.) Being afraid :: In 2016 I want to be more adventurous without being so afraid of doing so. I want God to lead where my feet have never gone before.

5.) Not encouraging myself :: One of my God given gifts, I believe, is encouraging others. But unfortunately  a lot of the time I forget to encourage myself. In 2016 I want to always be reminded that is okay to cheer yourself on, and it does not make you conceited. 

There are a few more personal things that I am planning on leaving behind in 2015 as well. But all 5 of these are important. Maybe in reflection of your own year you have found a few things that you wish to leave behind as the year changed. I want to encourage you to not be afraid to do so! Change is good. Sometimes scary, yes. But good. 

So here's to a New Year. A fresh start. 365 new chances.

Have fun, and be safe.

Reflection on reflecting -

First thing's first, MERRY CHRISTMAS. 

I hope that everyone had such an amazing holiday and sweet time spent with family and friends.

I took a little Holiday break from my blog to focus on family and just to soak up this season. But as I was anticipating and planning this post, I went back to my posts from this time last year. Specifically my "new year" post. As I was reading I realized that I hadn't accomplished barely anything I had hoped to accomplish. Not just the petty little things either... but the big and important things as well.
2015 was not at all the year that I thought it was going to be. It brought so many challenges and hardships, and if i can be honest, I let it stomp all over me.
I know the new year is a few days away, but as I sit and reflect on this year and even reflect on the way I approached this year last year, I don't want to look back on 2015 as being a year of regret. Or a year of hurt. Of hardship. Of change that I didn't always like. Rather, I want to look at it as the year that woke me up.
You know how sometimes in life you lose sight of where you're going? That's what happened to me this year. And I think part of me was in denial about that, because I didn't want to believe it myself. The truth is that we are human. Sometimes we lose our footing. Sometimes we stumble.
That was me. Stumbling around, desperately trying to grab hold of what I thought I needed. When in reality, all I really needed was to be still, stop trying to do my own thing, and listen to God.
Have you ever had a realization like that? It's kind of like a slap in the face. But a very necessary, done-in-love, kind of slap in the face.

As the new year quickly approaches, I am going to choose to not look back negatively on this year.

“Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:18-19

Maybe you find yourself feeling like me, and looking back negatively on your year. I want to encourage you that there are better things ahead. As it says in Isaiah, God is doing a new thing. In you, and in your life. That alone is something to be so grateful and so happy for.