Pictures + Prayers 💖

Hey guyssss, long time no see. I haven't written on here in a bit. Things have been busy, but I’m happy to be here writing on Happiest Here ;)

Today I’m talking about the importance of remembering God. I know this sounds so silly, but it’s sometimes really really hard to remember who God is, what He has done for us, and what He says about our future when in a moment of panic, a day of doubt, or a season of distress.

Though it’s sad to say, sometimes God seems like a distant figure who doesn’t understand what we’re going through. If I’m being honest, I wonder more often than I’d like to admit if God really is working all things together for my good.

The devil likes to hurl thoughts into my mind amid my weakest moments because that’s when he can accomplish his work best. Lately, he’s been throwing these at me HARD:

How is God gonna make this work out for your good?

Failure is final. 

This is too good to be true. 

Your imperfections are too great. 

If I’m not careful, I can easily let these thoughts become my reality. It’s only when I intentionally turn my attention to whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, and whatever is excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8) …… that the devil’s words slip out of my mind- as they should.

Thinking thoughts that possess the qualities described above is a lot of work though. I’m a girl that loves practicality- aka real-life application. I love reading the Word, but I also love learning what it means in my life and how I can truly live it out.

So here are a few things that help me filter my thoughts to better align with the adjectives in Philippians 4:8 ⬇

1. When I’m anxious of what is to come, I recall the hardships I’ve already encountered & the feats God has helped me overcome. I have found that one of the best ways to do this for me to do this is looking back at old pictures📸. Kinda weird, but very practical!

Pretty pictures always remind me that even cloudy days have beautiful silver linings 🌤️✨ My obsession with photos is manifested in my room (both at home and in my dorm room) quite well hehe.

Here's just HALF of the pictures in my dorm room to prove my point 😂

The funny part is that I look at the pictures on my wall, and I can usually remember the day they were taken. I often remember the stress that was had trying to get my hair right, the unpreparedness I felt leading up to an event, or the argument I had with my parents that morning. But still, I think it’s beautiful that a perfect moment can still exist within a not-so-good day. And this always directs my mind back to Jesus- the perfecter of my faith.

If you love pictures too, make yourself a VSCO account that you can go back and look at when you're sad. It’s like your own Pinterest board of your life.

google vsco.co/baileechavez to see the highlights of my camera roll

shameless personal plug ;)

2. I also love prayer journaling✍️💌. I actually have many prayer journals at this point, and I love going back and reading them. It’s pretty interesting to read about my life from as far back as 8th grade. As I turn each page and read all the times I poured my heart out to God about whatever I was stressed, insecure, frustrated, happy, or excited about, I’m able to look at it from a fresh perspective.

More often than not, I’m able to see that that boy's opinion of me didn’t actually matter, that bad test grade didn’t change my worth, that party I wasn’t allowed to go to was actually for the better, and that friends advice that went against God’s actually made things a lot worse - shocker right?

I think it’s good for us to have tangible reminders of an ever-present God.

Pictures + Prayers do that for me. This might not be the case for you, but I challenge you to find the things that make you feel close to Jesus, make you believe with your whole heart that He wants what’s best for you, and make you want to keep going when times get tough.

Once you find those things, make space in your life for them regularly for best results ;) !!

This was what was on my heart today 😇

You’re beautiful in every way, it’s just gonna take you some time to see it 💞

- bailee ⚡⚡