An Open Letter to the People I Love As I Leave For College

  

Dear people I love,
In less than a month, my new journey begins. I will move in to a new temporary home with amazing roommates. I’ll sit down in classrooms with people from all across the country, and even the world, who have similar dreams as mine and all different stories. I’ll start my path to discovering the rest of my life… And I’ll be the first to tell you that I CAN’T WAIT.
But before I embark on my adventure, there’s something I need to tell you all from the bottom of my heart:

Thank you.

Depression v. God

This is a post that I have been wanting to write ever since I started my blog. It’s an incredibly sensitive topic for me, but I have learned a lot about it and I want to share that with you.

This isn’t a subject I usually willingly bring up to anyone. It isn’t comfortable and it’s not something I’m extremely proud of. But for quite a few years of my life, I battled depression. It wasn’t pretty and it left many scars on my heart that I wish I didn’t have.

Self-Diagnosed With Missionary’s Guilt

Going into my first international mission trip, I had a lot of misconceptions about the impact I would have on the trip. I had this picture in my head that we would arrive in this sad, impoverished village and be like a super hero for these oppressed children. Boy, was I wrong.

The moment I stepped off the bus, screaming, excited, joyous kids flooded our team; it was like a sea of smiles. Every hole that had been left in my heart that summer was immediately filled by God using the love that these kids emulated to me. They didn’t even know me, yet they wanted to give me the little that they had. I was completely astonished to say the least. I ended up needing them so much more than they needed me. How could people with nothing, be so grateful and elated? People in America sulk and pout and throw fits about not having the latest iPhone, when they already have everything they could possibly dream of.

Over the course of this trip, as well as the next, I wrestled with many questions. How is it possible that people who have everything can so easily take things for granted? Why has God blessed my life so immensely with everything I had ever wanted when there are people who have absolutely nothing?

15 Things I’ve Learned From Being In a God-Loving Relationship

©Aldabella Photography 2015

Now, let’s be clear here: in NO way am I a relationship expert. However, my current relationship is healthy, we are happy, and we love Jesus with our whole hearts. I have had several friends recently ask me something along the lines of, “what is the best piece of relationship advice you can give me based on what you have learned so far?”  So this is a compilation of all the things I would tell anyone who is in a relationship or eventually will be!

**Disclaimer: I will be speaking purely from personal experience. Feel free to take or leave what you please because every relationship is different and some things work better for some couples than others.**

His Joy Awaits You, Too

I wrestled a lot with what to name this blog, what it should be about, and if I should even make one. In the end I finally decided that it is a good way to organize and share my thoughts in a way that will hopefully glorify His name. The overarching theme will be “awaiting on the Lord’s joy.”

By this, I mean our eternal joy that is waiting for us in Paradise with our Father. What an exciting thought!

What do I mean by heavenly treasures? In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus said, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store you treasures in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” This means that if we invest our lives in material treasures and wealth, they will VERY quickly fade away or be taken from us and we will desire them more than our Heavenly Father. However, if we invest our lives in God and helping others come to Jesus and accept the cross, this will never fade! The riches that the Lord has prepared for us are IMMENSE and WONDERFUL and ETERNAL. They are untouchable by earthly things and unable to be destroyed.