A Boyfriend Won't Make You More Secure.

On March 19, 2014 I pressed published on the first post on this blog. To this day, it is one of my most popular posts.

That post gave you a little glimpse into my life and a struggle that I and countless other women (and men!) across the world deal with daily: insecurity.

In my first post, I detailed my personal struggle with insecurity. I talked about some things I had gone through and how those things affected me. I talked about my worries and my doubts and how all of it ties back to the I-word. I talked about my one saving grace: my hope and trust in Jesus Christ.

But even then, after I had come so far in my walk with God and my struggle with insecurity, I had bought into a HUGE LIE that the media tells women every day.

 Here's a snippet from that post last year:

Life Update: Season of Change!

I'm baaaaaaackkkk!!!!

I've been meaning to write a post for some time now and even though I've had virtually nothing going on the past month (since I'm a teacher and it's SUMMER hallelujah), I was apparently more burned out from my first year teaching than I realized and I've barely been able to pull myself off the couch this summer. But, alas, the blog must be tended to...so here I am!

And boy, do I have a lot to say!

A LOT has happened since I last posted. It's been a crazy 6 months.

First things first, I know you're all wondering if I survived my first year teaching!

Own Your Faith.

Imagine something for me for a minute.

Imagine you just got home from a long day of work. It wasn't a great day. It wasn't a particularly bad day, either. It was just another day. Maybe it was a little frustrating. A little discouraging. Maybe it was just mundane. Whatever it was, it wasn't what you wanted it to be.

You lay down on the couch to recover from the day. You start thinking about your life and where it's headed. Suddenly, you hear a knock on your door. You answer. It's your best friend.

You welcome your friend in. What perfect timing, you think. You have a million and one things on your mind and who better to talk to than the one person who knows your life inside and out?

You sit down and talk. Only you don't have to say much before your friend takes over the conversation. They already know what you're going through. They know your struggles, they know your triumphs, and they know exactly what you need to hear in that moment. And so they say it.

It's amazing to you how well they know your heart. You talk for awhile and then your friend leaves, but the words they said resonate with you for hours. You've never felt so at peace with your life as you do in that moment. Suddenly everything makes sense, and you know everything will be okay.

Have you ever had something like that happen?

I did last week.

Love Never Gives Up.

A few weeks ago as I laid in bed after an extremely long, discouraging week of school, I opened the Facebook app on my phone to write a short, two-sentence status that quickly turned into a novel:

Every word of this is true. Every word. Especially the part at the end about Christmas break, but that's over now. (RIP Christmas break...see you next year).