There's this saying... "When you love what you have, you have everything you need".
I've been thinking on this a lot lately. I can tell because it seems I've been pinning quotes like it to my inspiring board basically non-stop. Isn't it funny how, when God's working on an area in your life, you begin to see little hints of Him speaking all around you? It's incredible how He gets to us through the things we read in a book or see while we're scrolling Instagram. An article we stumble upon on the internet or something we come across on Pinterest. How amazing is it that the God who made the universe CHOOSES to use the minute things that press for our attention every day to prick our hearts and point us back towards Him.
I am constantly in a state of awe at the Lord. How he works in and through every little detail trying to nudge us toward His will for our lives. To show us, hey, why not go that way? Try that? Maybe that's the path that you're supposed to take.. I want to share a few quotes + scriptures with you that have really resonated with me recently.
"We tend to do this thing where we project everything to be in the future. Our happiness is in the future. Our fulfillment is in the future. Our purpose is in the future...and we're constantly just trying to get there. But we fail to realize that these things are not a final destination - they're a journey. Love is here. Fulfillment is here. Purpose is here. It's face to face with us every day. It's with the people around us. It's in the skills and passions God gave us. It's in the places we've already been assigned to. We just see it all as mundane because we're so used to it. Your purpose is not a destination in the far-off future, it's living in each day in everything surrounding you. Make the most of it. " - Brittney Moses
"His dream for you is greater than the dream you have for yourself." - Bianca Athoff
"Walk by faith"
"Above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it." - Proverbs 4:23
"A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms."
"Faith tells me that no matter what lies ahead of me, God is already there."
"The longer you wait for something, the more you appreciate it when you get it, because anything worth having is definitely worth waiting for."
"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed, happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude."
"He must increase, I must decrease." -John 3:30
"Nothing in this world can satisfy my soul like Jesus."
I want my life to be about the Lord. There are many, many things that encompass "me". Interests. Passions. Ideals. I love my family. I enjoy blogging and homeschooling my children. I have a passion for style and clothes. All of these things (and so many more) come together to make up the person that I am. So, to put myself out there in all of these many different areas, I have to be careful. Not that I'm really afraid of what the world would say about me. Or that I want to keep all of these things to myself because, I believe that if you have something on your heart to share, there's a reason for it. Whether it be the Bible study you're enjoying or the outfit choice you made today. Someone, somewhere could benefit from it. And, though Godliness and fashion choices don't always align with one another, at times they can. The thing is though, I have a desire to live for Jesus. And, no matter what else I have in me to share, that has to be the main focus. The starting point. The foundation. The rock that all of the other paths I'm walking along lead back to.
To get to my point, I've been feeling a bit of a heavy weight lately. It's like a thirty five pound child hanging on your chest and grasping you by the neck. And the root of it is - want. I want so much. This dress or those shoes or that basket or this rug. I want my boys to have all the best things, the things I think they should have or might even slightly enjoy. I feel like I'm filling my life with t h i n g s. And, it really does have to stop.
It's not a bad thing to want to go shopping now and then. To buy a new purse or a cute pair of shoes you've been eyeing for a year. Home decor can be so nice and very fulfilling in a space. But, when we let those things creep into the spaces of our heart, the place where peace and joy and love and Jesus are supposed to be, it breeds nothing but discontentment and the want for more.
"Collect moments. Not things."
I'm working on focusing my mind, my life, my joy more on the things, the people, that God has placed in it. My husband. My four little boys. Because they are still little. The blessing that we're able to homeschool. An abundance of work for our company. Photography jobs that are equally fun and fulfilling creatively. The freedom to have a play date with friends and not feel like I'm failing my family. The opportunities I have to share the love of Jesus Christ in ways that may not always seem like missions. In a smile or a kind word or not losing it over an ungrateful attitude from my child.
There's a difference in wanting something and working for something. I'm making an effort, everyday, to WORK to be better. And, I pray that the Lord will lead and guide me down the paths that He would have for me to take so that I can reap the full blessings of them. He knows SO MUCH better than I. And I am so thankful for it.
Today, will you look a little more closely at the blessings in your life and, possibly, a little less at the mountains you're facing? I'm going to try to. And, though I fail daily, it will all be okay because the Lord knows my heart.
"So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
- 2 Corinthians 4:18
