Rainy Days

I am currently sitting in our local donut/coffee shop and I just indulged in a huge chocolate donut with rainbow sprinkles. So therefore, I am happy. It is also Friday, that makes me happy too. And, it is raining outside, which surprisingly is a joy as well. I am all about some sunshine and the perfect weather to play outside; but cozy, slow, rainy days like this are just what I need every once in a while. I like to call these days dreamy days, they make me slow down after a week of running through the week at full speed. Now, I can sit and be still.
I was just reading my Bible and read some sweet truths (shocker, Jesus teaching me something new). So as I flipped open my journal to scribble down some verses, I opened to January 8, 2013 and saw a sweet blurb in large letters across the page. It read:

"O Lord, I will only triumph in you

once I have learned the radiance of rain."

I don't even remember how I was feeling that day, or what I was doing, or how these words impacted me, but today- it hits home for me. I don't know about y'all, but I spend too much time rejoicing in the Lord when I come out of a hard season in life, rather than rejoicing in him during the storms of my life. Not even just rejoicing in Jesus, but thanking him and seeing the beauty of the rainy season. As soon as life gets hard, I easily run to the Lord in prayer that he will fix everything and help me. And that's if I even run to Him, sometimes that doesn't happen, which is hard to admit, but it's true. The things to remember with these rainy seasons in life are: 

1) They will happen, I'm sorry but you're human and you can't avoid it. 2) God is not punishing you. 3) God is teaching you. He is using this experience to teach you something great, something that the Lord knows you need. So rather than grumbling about how life sucks and unfair and God must not be listening to my prayers, blah blah blah (I'm saying this because I am guilty of these thoughts)...try praising the Lord for this time of growth He has given you, open your hands and prepare to receive this gift of learning from our Savior.

As Christians, we talk about living a "fruitful" life. Well, in order for a harvest to be fruitful, it needs to experience rain so it can grow.

The fruitful life seeks rain as well as sunshine.

So my friends, while I am thankful for the physical rain on this cozy Friday, I am also super thankful for the rainy seasons in my life. I don't want to look back on those times and think, where was God during that? I want to look back on those challenging times and praise God for being a faithful teacher and loving Father every step of that season.

Thank you Jesus for bringing abundant showers.

Happy Friday sweet readers.

Coming Home

This weekend was the sweetest of times when my friends and I escaped from school and the cold. For my most recent roadtrip adventure, we drove down to Charleston, SC for the Cooper River Bridge Run, and to get some much needed Vitamin D from the sunshine. The weekend consisted of running, screaming Taylor Swift music, sunburns, tanning in strangers' yards, our new favorite dog Homer, an incredible amount of laughter, and dreaming of ways to live in a beautiful home located right there on the Battery in downtown Charleston. I think everyone could always use a weekend away with your friends and no itinerary.

Sunday morning we explored the city of Charleston. I think I speak for everyone when I say we took in all the beauty we saw. We loved walking by slowly and staring at each brightly-painted home along the cobblestone street (which by the way are a joke to walk on). Oh, and the flowers...unreal. We had to pull my nika friend Avery off every flower we walked by, she could smell them all day. It is crazy to me that those sights are ordinary for the residents there. As we saw more of the city, we began joking about why we didn't go to College of Charleston for school. Now keep in mind, this all started because this was the first beautifully warm place we had seen after being buried in snow for 5 months. This place seemed so ideal compared to the winter we experienced. I got back in the car later slightly bitter that we had to return to Boone, the frozen tundra (okay- dramatic). But as we drove up the mountain and looked over the Blue Ridge mountains, I was reminded why I love Boone so much and why I go to school here. The purple in the sky blended perfectly with the blue haze of the mountains, and orange burst out from behind the ridge like fire. My words or even a picture do not give it justice. Then, this week in Boone has been incredible, it is finally Spring! Tank tops, hammocks, slack lining, frisbees, and dirty bare feet have finally returned to my life. Now, I can't imagine being anywhere else.
The only downside to all the roadtrips and seeing new places is that it becomes easy to long for what I don't have. Wanting a cute Charleston home, warm weather year round, an ocean view, is all pointless because it takes me away from the present. I focus so much on what I want rather than appreciating and seeing the beauty in what I already have. Now I know, I don't need those things to be happy. I'm already living the dream life at Appalachian.
Be present where you are and find the beauty in your current place in life. Goodness is there. And that is my cheesy life lesson for the week.

In reality, I love Boone and would never trade the mountain range as my backyard and my friends that have become family for anything else. No matter where life takes me, one of my favorite parts of roadtrips is coming home.