Hello again 🙂 It’s been a while.

There have been so many times when I’ve wanted to sit down and bust out a blog post. Something inspiring and thoughtful. But, the truth is, I haven’t felt inspired to write for the past ten months. The stress of work, school, and the changed world we all encountered hindered my creative juices. I pulled through in my writing classes, but I haven’t found the joy that I used to feel when writing for fun. However, since I’ve had some recent changes in my life, and with the new year in full swing, I decided that was going to change. So, let’s start with a brief update:

The last half of 2020 was brutal for me, as I’m sure it was for all of you. It was by far the most stressful semester I’ve had in my academic career, although I will say that it was the most rewarding. I raised my GPA after taking a hit in Fall 2019, receiving nearly all A’s with the exception of one B (Spanish will be the death of me). My English degree is officially in full swing, and even after changing my major 3 times, I am still on track to graduate in May of 2022. Hallelujah! I have decided to try and pursue Masters degrees in both English and Creative Writing at UNCC, so I am praying that this next semester is as successful as the last. The semester is going well so far, but I have had my fair share of struggles, but that comes with any semester. I have high hopes of finishing strong, even though I know these next few months will be very challenging. However, I am confident that I will come out on the other side as an even better student who is prepared to tackle her senior year.

Now, moving on to the main topic of this post, I wanted to talk about faith. I know this is a common theme on here, but sometimes things happen that remind you just how powerful faith is.

For me, having faith is what gets me through the day. Whether that’s faith that I’ll wake up on time for work, get all of my homework done on time, or that I’ll get a decent grade on the paper I just turned in. Whatever it is, I always have faith that the outcome is going to teach me something. There is a lesson in everything, even if it might not seem like it at the time. For instance, this year with the pandemic, I’ve learned the importance of taking care of myself and protecting the well-being of others in doing so.

I have learned a lot about myself in the past year; about who I am and who I want to be. I don’t always make the best decisions in life, but God has a plan for me, and unfortunately those bad decisions are all apart of it. We can’t know the future, and there will never be a time in our lives when we know 100% what the right decision is. But, what we can do is have faith that everything will work out in the end. As I’ve mentioned before probably ten times, I am an extremely firm believer that everything happens for a reason, even the bad things, because they all lead us to our higher purpose in life. You might be stuck in a bad place, maybe because of some decision or choice you made, but there will be something, or perhaps someone, that comes along to show you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Darkness does not last forever. Good things are in place, but sometimes you have to go through the bad to get there. God is faithful, He won’t ever abandon you. Even if your faith is straying or you haven’t been as active in your faith, God is always, always standing right beside you. He wants the best for you, and even when life isn’t looking promising, have faith that you will make it out the other side.

Life is always changing, and so are we. It’s important to remember that change is good, it brings out growth in us. We aren’t meant to stay the same. We are all meant for bigger and better things than we are doing right now. Even if it might not seem like it right now, you are exactly where you are meant to be, I promise you. Life is hard, but God is good. I saw something the other day that said “A busy life makes prayer harder, but prayer makes a busy life easier.” I think it applies here, because the struggles of life will never stop. Even though good things are ahead, there will still be obstacles on your way there. In those times, it’s our faith and prayer that will make it all easier. God is the one friend who you can always count on, no matter what, so turn to Him in those times of struggle and doubt. If you reach your hand out to Him, He will always take it without fail.

Life can be messy and hard, but you are stronger than any obstacle it could throw at you, because you have God on your side. Have faith that you will always make it through any storm that you come across. Even if you fall, God will be there to pick you right back up.

Love Always, Emily

SOTP: “Another in the Fire” by Hillsong United. This song reminds me that even in our darkest, hardest battles, God is standing right next to you, holding your hand.