Losing My Life

     Through this most recent season in life, God has been teaching me what it truly means to follow His plans for my life. Over the last year or so,  I have had to make some of the most ''adult" decisions in my life so far. Through that process, I have had to rely heavily on faith and the leading of the Holy Spirit to discern which is the right way to go. It has been a challenge for me, a planner to the core, to put my trust fully in God's plans and leading even when I am unable to see what's ahead and I am glad to say I have come out having learned a few things.      The main takeaway I would like to share is this: the right way is not the easiest way . That probably sounds very obvious if you have spent any time in church, but I never thought about that principle carrying over into walking out God's plans for my life. You see, there have been decisions that I have made over the last year that I was certain were what God was leading me to do. An...

     It's amazing to me how God so often uses moments in our daily lives to teach us something instead of the moments we might expect (in church, through Christian friends, etc.). I'm a big believer that God can use anything and anyone to teach us something (See Numbers 22:28 where God actually used a donkey to speak to Balaam). This last week, something a coworker said to me in casual conversation really struck my heart and has had me thinking since then. She told me that she quit smoking by buying herself cigarettes and keeping them with her and telling herself, "you can have one if you want. But do you really want it?"      I found this passing statement proved a brilliant point about human nature. I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say that we as humans want what we are told we can't have. Tell a kid he can't have the cookies in the cookie jar and all he's going to want is those cookies. But I believe this concept is particularly...