End of Year Takeaway

Hey everyone! Long time, no blog. Times have been busy, and if I'm being honest, it's super hard to sit down and write about what the Lord has been doing in my heart. I thought that once school was out, I'd find the time to sit and be still with the Lord. But turns out, no matter what season of life you're in, the world will always find some way to distract you from your purpose.

This blog is going to be a small insight into what the Lord has taught me in 2022. I vividly remember not really knowing what this year would hold. Of course, I knew it would entail school, but I could not have anticipated what the Lord would teach me in between the schedule laid out for me academically.

The main thing I learned is this:

God has good works for us- both on earth and in heaven.

Our last Sunday in college station this semester, my sister and I accidentally went to a new church (kind of). We intended on going to one church, but there was construction in our usual path, so we ended up being rerouted. To our surprise, we stumbled upon another campus of the church we were originally planning to attend. We pulled into the parking lot and nervously walked in.

A nice lady helped us find a seat, and as the pastor walked on stage, he turned out to be somewhat of an "influencer" pastor in our eyes, as we were familiar with him through social media.

He began speaking, and one of his sermon points was that in heaven, we will actually have work to do! Don't get me wrong, I like resting as much as the next person, but I also know I get antsy when I don't have much to do. Luckily, in heaven we will not have that problem! In other words, our job will actually be fun, as we will be doing what exactly what we are created to do. We will get to serve the Lord and perfectly utilize the gifts He has given us. Tiredness, frustration, annoyance, lack of motivation, anxiety, anger, pride, etc. will no longer be an issue for us.

We will get to serve the Lord in a perfectly safe environment with the permanent presence of God.

Fortunately, we get glimpses of that joy here on Earth, and I've been fortunate to have a few. These glimpses of heaven happen for me when I'm being fully myself and aligning myself with the call God has put on my life.

One such example occurred during my junior and senior year of high school, when I was fortunate enough to serve as an Area 6 FFA Officer. I remember being unsure of whether I even wanted to try out, as I was scared it would be too much of a time commitment and was worried it would negatively impact my grades. I was also nervous because I did NOT want to have to ride a plane to Indiana for the National FFA Convention without Bailee or my parents. Finally, I just didn't think I had the personality for it. I definitely didn't fit the mold of a typical FFA officer. I wasn't very outgoing, I didn't show any animals, and I didn't come from an agricultural background. To top it all off, I hadn't even served as a district officer because Bailee had served as our school's district officer the year before (only one from each school is allowed)!

In my mind, the world was against me. However, the Lord led me to tryout despite my insecurities, and I ended up making the team. Throughout my year of service, God uprooted a lot of my fears. For one, COVID hit, so Texas FFA held their own national convention experience in Waco rather than Indiana, so having to get on a plane was not even an issue. Additionally, although I missed a whole week of school to attend this convention, I ended up making all 100s that grading period. Finally, (and definitely the biggest blessing of all) the Lord worked in my heart and showed me that He did not make a mistake when creating me - - my slightly more introverted personality and all.

Part of my Area Officer duties is to attend Greenhand Camp. It's a two-day camp that is meant to inspire young FFA members and grow them in their leadership skills.

At the end of camp, we all write each other "warm fuzzies". I know, definitely an odd name if you've never heard it before, but essentially, they are nice notes complementing someone you met at camp.

Here is one a fellow camper wrote to me:

My personality stood out the most?? I almost laughed out loud as I read that. Just a year prior, someone had told Bailee that if she wanted to be an area officer, she needed to change her personality to fit the typical mold. Although this wasn't said directly to me, I carried the weight of this insecurity into my year of service, only to find out that my personality was exactly what some members related to.

Let this example be a reminder that you are perfectly made to accomplish the good works God set before you. You don't need to be skinnier, more outgoing, less talkative, etc., etc.

Yes, you can and should continuously let the Lord refine you into looking more like Jesus, but there's no need to muster up your own strength to try to change something about yourself that the Lord never asked you to change.

This leads me to my challenge for the new year:

Think of the most Christ-like person you know.

Now, ask yourself what's stopping you from being like them? You have access to the same God that they do. You have access to the same Bible as they do. And you have access to the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

I'm not challenging you to try to be like someone else. Instead, I'm challenging to truly ask God to what He wants to show the world through you this year and for the rest of your life.

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I have a million more things I could say. The Lord speaks to me all the time! However, I hope that this will bring life to someone today!

Thanks for reading. Wishing you a happy New Year full of the Lord's goodness. With your eyes fixed on Him, you have nothing to fear.