VOICE | Finding Peace in All the Noise

"Hey, God has you." 

It's the short text sent from an Asheville airport that finds me in an exhale. My father, hundreds of miles away and experiencing anxiety of his own, sends the text anyway.

God has you.

When circumstances change or our emotions run rampant, it can be hard to find peace. When demanding deadlines and confusing questions fill our days, it can be difficult to slow down enough to remember Who is behind it all, weaving beauty into our lives and sprinkling little joys throughout our days. Butterflies and birds soaring and someone sharing cake in the break room. A bouquet of carnations and a Switchfoot song to sing at the top of your lungs.

I went for a walk in the woods this week to get away from the noise.
To be present in nature, even if just for a little while.

This week, the Lord has been whispering to me about peace: "Trust in Me. I've got you." I'm learning that I don't need to know what lies ahead and that when my own anxious thoughts try to solve everything and see the end of my story when I'm still at the start, there is One who speaks to me in a soft VOICE.
He tells me to take it one day at a time.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own."
- Matthew 6:34

I want to put this VOICE first. Sometimes it can be hard to hear Him, when I'm so focused on my own thoughts, the blare of social media, the magazines I read, the lyrics I listen to.

I need to carve out more quiet spaces devoid of technology,
media and other people to really hear Him.

I'm not there yet, but I'm on my way. And in case you were wondering, or maybe in the midst of it all you've found you've forgotten: Hey, God has you.

What about you?

What do you do to unplug from the craziness and spend quiet time with God?
Any tips for taking time away from technology (it's such a distraction)!
Hope you all are having a wonderful April.

Miss last week's VOICE post? Check it out here.
Or click here to read all of the posts in the VOICE series.
Talk to you soon!

VOICE | Hello, April: Introducing a New Theme

If March was a month of taking a step back from writing to focus on the ESSENTIALS of life, then I want April to be filled with words.

Words, loads of them, rough draft sentences or polished phrases, I want them all. This month, I don't want to let my focus shift to perfectionism and hold me back from actually Writing the Things. My words may not be perfect every time, or even some of the time, but they're still my words, and I'd rather write them and express them then keep them neatly folded into unread pages and unpublished drafts.

So: I am hitting publish on this post in hopes that declaring April as a writing month will inspire me to follow through and make it work!

The theme for this month is VOICE. With my April posts, I want to celebrate everything expression, whether that takes the form of music or writing or speaking words of encouragement into someone's life. More to come soon, but for now, enjoy your April, hug a friend, and remember to go outside and sit in the sunshine for a bit, because that can do wonders for the soul.

What about you?

What are you looking forward to in April - any special goals? The picture up above was from the Hozier concert, by the way, which was EPIC, my word! P.S. If you have any post ideas you'd like me to write up this month, I'd love to hear them. Until next time, friends!

ESSENTIALS | Resting & Re-Centering Myself in March

This month has been a lesson in focusing only on
what is absolutely necessary.

A few weeks ago, I was all geared up to launch March's theme, ESSENTIALS, to better explore the things that are vital in my life. The things that are there when all of the frivolities get stripped away. What I hope to build my life on: God, family, nature, creativity, music, rest. My own personal ESSENTIALS.

Interestingly enough, I never got to draft that full first post,
because March had other plans.

This month has tested my limits with stress and made me essentially (pun wholly intended) have to start practicing what I wanted to preach: When stress starts to rage, how can I dial back, take a breather, and build my life around what is absolutely necessary?

This is something my sister likes to remind me of when I get overwhelmed.
Only do what you have to. Go to work, come home, and sleep.
Don't do more than you have to do during difficult seasons.

As a person who wants to constantly push myself to work harder, create more, run faster, this is welcome advice. Dialing it back to only what is essential in my life means protecting my time, putting the pause on creativity in favor of a full night of sleep (still not the best at that one), and setting boundaries so that I don't push myself too hard and burn out.

Oh, March. I wanted this month to be full of so much blogging.

But instead I tried to focus on Jesus, my tribe of loved ones, and allowing my spirit to rest (via nature walks, chai tea lattes, and reading books in the backyard). Unfortunately, I realized this blog was not one of my ESSENTIALS. It is an outlet that I adore but I can only pour into it when I have the time, energy and creativity to write something I resonate with. And if that means fewer posts and more resting, that's a trade-off I have to be willing to make.

I am curious to know what falls into the ESSENTIALS category for all of you.

What are the things that, even at your lowest and weakest, you know you need in your life to thrive and bring yourself back to a normal state? This could take any form, really. I know personally that a morning run and a cup of tea with some good reads will recharge me. Throw some vinyl in there and a vanilla bean candle and we're all set.

What about you?

How do you go about taking things off of the table (RIP my novel) when life gets too stressful? What kind of ESSENTIALS help recharge you? Oh, and how was your March? Mine has been a doozy, but I've learned so much. Looking forward to hearing from you in the comments!

I hope to be back in April with a new theme. We'll see!
Until then, I wrote a thing for Burning Youth and if you'd like,
you can read that here.