beautiful, beautiful.

oh my... Today is one of those days where I have a million thoughts to write about and struggle to pick just one. I've been wanting to blog all week but I admit that it's been one of those weeks where even finding time to shower was a blessing. I'm afraid my semester might look too much like that... There are a lot of downsides to early morning classes (a lot of them.) but the upside is that I'm enjoying being done so early each day. So for this afternoon, I'm relishing in sweet music, pajama pants, Chickfila sweet tea, and some quiet time to rest and think. Homework, meetings, and calendars can wait a little longer today. Bliss.

The Lord has been doing a lot in my heart this past week. And I don't believe that every piece of that is meant to be shared (it can be a precious lesson to learn that thee are aspects of our relationship with the Lord are meant to be kept intimate) but I offer up His teachings to me to inspire thoughts in everyone else. Last Sunday at church, our pastor, Chip, spoke on this thought: "Sometimes the things we think are holding us up are actually holding us back." Hmm... think through that for a few. As we walked through the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18, the Lord began to slowly reveal to me some things that I am being called to leave behind this semester. Jesus commanded the rich young ruler to go and sell all of his belongings and come follow Him. We see this concept repeatedly in scripture-- the concept of leaving it all behind to come and follow Jesus.

I've been called on a very specific journey to come and follow Jesus and serve this semester and that is already beginning to require some sacrifices, just as I expected it to. There are some things, however that I'm having to let go of that I never expected to. And I think it's a great thing... I am pleased to think that while I am not thrilled to leave behind a few of the things that I feel help "hold me up", I am more than willing to let them take a backseat to continue to pursue the journey that Jesus has called me to. When all the things I'm letting go of get boiled down, they are all selfish ambitions. I'm not saying that they are bad things, but at the deep heart of the issue who is really receiving glory in my life? Do you ever sit down and just want it to be about you for even just five minutes? I love the beautiful reality check that isn't ever really supposed to be about me... I'm well aware that the Lord is far more than enough, and the thought of having absolutely nothing to fall back on but Him excites me from deep within.

My beautiful friend Laura (I promise I'm not speaking in third person here...) and I have decided to keep one another accountable this semester and be constantly in prayer for one another. As iron sharpens iron, right? We met yesterday for the first time and my soul is so pleased and excited to have a friend in a similar life position as myself to talk about the Lord's goodness with. So much of our conversation yesterday was a mutual encouragement-- it is so key in life to have people to help build you up that you may go out and serve.

I'm enjoying the beauty of today. The Lord is good. He is good on our best days and our worst.