Life is...Why Now?

Life is...Why Now?

Why a mental health crisis now? 

Why the rise in mental health issues when we're finally getting out of the pandemic? 

When I've gone through difficult times I think...

"If I can just get through this part - THEN everything will be better."

And when the season passes and it's not all better it's devastating.

Life is still hard, even after the storm passes.

There's a rainbow, there's sunshine, but there will be another big storm or small thunderstorms and rain, BUT it's nothing to fear. 

 

There's a beautiful story about a storm in Matthew 4. 

The disciples and Jesus were in a boat and a great storm came upon them.

They cried out to Jesus, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And he awoke and and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be Still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 

He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" 

And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

What storm do you have in your life? 

What changes can take place if we are bold enough to... 

+ Cry out to Jesus.

+ Listen for Peace! Be Still!

+ Take in the great calm.

Jesus showed that he did care. 

Then and Now.

If you're struggling don't stay in the darkness alone. Cry out to Jesus. Call out to a friend, a counselor, a pastor, a helpline.

"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us." ~Psalm 62:8

Skinny Jeans

Life is...Skinny Jeans

So, I have a pair of skinny jeans in my closet with the note "Before I was pregnant - fit into them again." It's been almost 8 years & 

I'm throwing them away! 

It is not a real incentive to eat better or workout more. It does make me feel like a failure. I don't think my hips will ever go back to the way they were - and that's ok. 

I'm not giving up on being healthy and feeling good, but I don't need jeans I wore before I was pregnant to gauge how I'm doing health wise. It's like a scale - personally I don't see the purpose for one in my home. I know if I am gaining weight or losing weight without a number. And I'm grateful my parents didn't have one in the house growing up. Some of the high school memories I think about often is...
-When I would go on a walk with my mom, and she would tell me how beautiful I was. I didn't think I was, but I knew she truly believed it and that mattered. 
-When I was at a restaurant with my parents and some of their friends, and someone commented that I was eating too much. My mom put them in their place right away. "You will not talk to my daughter that way." 
Funny that I think about that so often; probably because most of us think about our looks or our weight A LOT.
I didn't really want to tell those two stories, but felt for some reason I should. I hope it's helpful.

Here's what I would hate, for someone's first thought of me to be..."Oh yeah, she got back into those jeans she wore before she was pregnant."
Wow, who cares?
So why would I keep them?
I have things in my life that I actually care about. That I actually want to do. 

So goodbye skinny jeans! Hello goals that I actually care about!

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