Hello, beautiful souls! Happy summer! I can't believe we're only a couple of days away from the beginning of July! How did time seem to go so fast??
It seems like right now, at this very moment, a lot of people are stuck and rather confused about this time and season. I know it hasn't been very easy for me. A lot has happened these past few months. I started my spring semester at university, was sent home because of COVID-19, transitioned to online learning mid-semester, finished my first year of university as a transfer student, and now I'm here, sitting in my room typing this article while still unsure of what the future holds within these next couple of months. Let me tell you, it's been a wild ride. I've been so up and down emotionally. But that's okay! Why? Because these are the days the Lord has made!!!
I've been going through a season of healing and growing and abiding. There have been good days in this season and some not-so-good days. But that's the beauty of transformation!
There's something no one really tells you about the growing and healing process: It hurts. They call it growing pains for a reason. But there's a difference between physical growing pains and mental/emotional/spiritual growing pains. We know that with physical growing pains, it lasts for a short period of time (most of the time), but with mental/emotional/spiritual growing pains, we're not sure when they will end. There's also the fact that you no longer have growing pains after you're finished growing physically. That's not really the case for the other growing pains. Those will always be constant, as we are always changing, we are always learning, we are always recovering.
Here's something God has been teaching me recently: He has a plan. I know, that's obvious and basic, but there's so much more to it than just acknowledging He has a plan. He has been teaching me so much more than just the idea that He is a Jeremiah 29:11 God.
I was given a word for this year to study all of 2020 (which I could be focusing more on, honestly, but I'm trying ☺) and that word is *abide*. I love this word so much. If I see it in scripture or in a book or hear it in a message, I am just so overcome with joy. I'm also an English major and a huge word nerd, so there's that, but honestly, I love seeing and hearing that word. And I have learned so much about abiding and what it truly means. So, I am about to share my journey with you. I'm not finished, I obviously have six months left to actually dwell in this word, but I want to share what I have experienced thus far.
ABIDE - (v): to remain in, to walk beside, to follow; to look up to, honor, obey; to put trust in, to put hope in, to delight in; to be rooted in, to flourish in, have a relationship; to rely on. That is my personal definition of what it means to abide. And while I know there is so much more to it, I think that's a good start to truly understand what it means to abide in Christ.
When I look back at this year, I notice a lot. Like the fact that if I wasn't going through as many changes as I am, I don't think I would be focusing much on growing and abiding in Christ. And realizing that is so beautiful because it means I am heading in the right direction. I mean, praise God!
I've learned the importance of taking root in Christ, which will help me abide in Him. In my searching and diving and learning, I found some pretty awesome verses that I think represent perfectly how important taking root in Christ is:
For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love, and to know Christ's love that surpasses all knowledge, so that you may be filled with the fullness of God. *Ephesians 3:14-19*Being rooted is the center of it all. Without good roots, when the waves hit hard or the wind blows, we will quickly see ourselves start to fall, start to slide, and even start to feel the ground crumble beneath us. When we are spiritually, mentally, and emotionally rooted in Christ, we will start to see His goodness in everything because we will start to realize how amazing He actually is! When we let those roots grow, we are proclaiming that we are putting our trust in God. And once we do that, He is going to reveal His plans for us step by step. He won't leave us, He won't lead us astray, He won't lie to us, He will only be faithful. But we can't and won't realize that until we plant those roots and begin to create a firm foundation.
I have so much more I want to share with you guys about this topic! If you would like to join me on this journey of answering the question what does it mean to abide, join me in my next article (which will hopefully be published by Tuesday) about growing in Christ and what that looks like.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, friends. And it's so exciting, but confusing and terrifying, too. But, overall, I can't wait to see where this season takes me and to see what God has in store for me.
I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your day and week. Remember to keep smiling! You never know who will need it. :)
XO,
Kaylee
If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the western horizon, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. Psalm 139:9-10
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