Finding Joy in the Rain.

My alarm goes off and I wake up feeling like I just finished a 5 mile run. My t-shirt is wet and yesterday's shower seems like it was a week ago. Night sweats are a consistent part of the side effects medically induced menopause that my medicine Lupron has given me, so I've learned to roll out of bed, take a cold shower, and move on with my day. I suppose that might gross some of you out. I suppose you might think I'm sharing a little too much on social media. But for the past three months and for the next three months, this is my life. I can't do anything to change it, so I'm not ashamed. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here to read about it.) Someone once said, "From the outside looking in you can't understand it, and from the inside looking out you can't explain it." I feel like that pretty much sums up my life these days. On the worst days, I wake up feeling like I have the flu. It's the exhausted, headac...

You graduate college and you're excited to figure out adult life. You hope for that dream job, you hope to move to a new city, or you're eagerly counting down the days 'til you get married. Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. Right? But it's inevitable. It's inevitable that at some point in the months after your biggest accomplishment in life yet, things crumble. Expectations aren't met. Hardship arrives. The dreams you were once so determined to accomplish seem to slip further and further away as reality sets in and adult life doesn't seem as exciting anymore. And it's in these moments that you create your future. It's not your circumstances, but the way you approach them that will define the quality of your life. So what's your vice? What are the circumstances that caught you off guard and tried to crush your dreams? For me, it's this evil little disease called endometriosis. Let's be real. I had never heard of endo befo...

Over the past few weeks, I've seen several blogposts about the negative aspects of turning 23. As much as it probably shouldn't have, it's made me a little bit pessimistic about this next year of my life. I think perspective is everything & regardless of my circumstances, I want to choose to live a life of joy. Plus, I really believe this year is going to be WONDERFUL. I decided to set goals for myself with the hopes accomplishing at least 20 of them before my 24th birthday. "Do not regret growing older, it is a privilege denied to many." 1. Take a selfie in at least 4 different countries. Because there are few things in the world that bring my heart more joy than traveling. On the agenda? Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain, & Texas. Yes, I consider Texas its own country. 2. Learn to cook I think women that can cook are classy. I strive to be a classy woman. 3. Run a half marathon. Slowllyyyy. 4. Pay off my student loans Student loan...

I am not expert in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community. I am not writing this because I think I am & I'm not writing this to convince you whether or not it's morally or biblically wrong to live that lifestyle. You're going to make your own decision-you probably already have. I don't expect to change your mind. This is for the people that profess a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and believe that his life, death and resurrection was necessary for our salvation. This is for the people that believe Jesus is the only way. This is for the christians that are condemning people to hell for their LGBT lifestyle. This is for the people that define people by their lifestyle. I've spent the past couple of days at a conference for Social Services workers in the heart of downtown Austin. These past few days I've felt like the only person here that doesn't agree with the LGBT lifestyle. While it used to be the ones that professed this ...

May 31st is in 88 days. May 31st is the day my lease ends & the day I officially don't have a house anymore. I know that people's leases end all of the time & really it's nothing out of the ordinary. Except it is. Because I have absolutely no life plans after that.  None. Zero. Zilch. I've been thinking a lot about the concept of "home" recently. What makes up a home? Is it people? A location? A bed? How long do you have to live somewhere before it becomes your home? When I think about "home", I think of two things. 1. Reliant K's song, "I'm taking you with me".  If home is where the heart is Then my home is where you are  It's getting oh so hard To spend these days Without my heart. (Completely irrelevant.)  & 2. Jesus had no home.  "And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." -...

Sometimes I read the Old Testament and think to myself, "Wow, the Israelites were a bunch of idiots". Today, I looked back at my life, and thought to myself, "Dangit. I'm Israel. I'm the idiot.". I've spent a lot of time learning about the Israelites the past couple of weeks. Basically, the Lord rescues them. They thank him. They forget him. He is faithful, and they are not. Over and over and over again. At some point, they end up wandering the wilderness for 40 years. Yet even in that wilderness, the Lord still provided. He was always faithful. What a bunch of idiots. I'm Israel. The Lord has been faithful to me. He picked me up and rescued me from a meaningless and loveless life. I thanked him. Things got tough, I slapped him in the face. I repented. He forgave me through the blood of Jesus Christ. He is always faithful. I'm faithful on occasion. Over and over and over again God has provided for me. How is it that i always forget h...

The Lord has been exceptionally quiet with me lately. I think i've been exceptionally loud. Things are crazy and I'm homeless after May and my car is officially totaled and I'll likely owe a few thousand dollars on it and I'm running around and I'm trying to fix what's broken and it's loud and stressful and I'm calling out to God and I'm trying to make plans and I'm asking him what to do and I'm not hearing anything and I'm getting frustrated and and and. HELLO, GOD! WHERE ARE YOU? But I can't hear anything. Because I'm yelling. & He is whispering. "Be still, and know that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations,  I will be exalted in the earth!".  Psalms 46:10.  The hardest thing in the world is for me to be still. I always think I know better. I want instant answers. HERE. NOW. Sometimes I suck at having faith. This morning, through prayer and the wisdom of a mentor of mine, I finally ...