JANUARY 2014.

I like to view life as a story, because no one ever said they enjoy reading boring books. Everyday is a page that starts off completely new and you have the opportunity to start fresh. There are days when I feel like I’m on top of the world, but there are also days when I might as well be as small as a pebble. Nonetheless writing my story has helped me reflect on my day to day actions. Learning more about myself helps me create even better adventures. So when it all ends, my hope is to have had a pretty amazing story.

It’s 2014 and my story includes God, college, and everything as a result of the two. I’ve experienced traveling the world and also sitting still long enough to enjoy the sunset in front of me. My goals are endless, and I’m always shooting for the stars. I don’t know where life will take me, but I’ve loved the ride thus far.

FEBRUARY 2015.

At first I started this blog as a way to document my many adventures while traveling around the world. Then my traveling came to a pause, and I returned to reality. For a while I’ve struggled with being excited about reality, but now I know that it’s what I make of my day not where I spend my day.

This blog has become more than just a place for me to post pictures and say what I did, but it’s a place where I can express the emotions I’m too afraid to say out loud. It continues to be a journal of God, life, and everything as a result of the two.

AUGUST 2017.

Somewhere along the way I forgot how much this means to me. I forgot what great peace it brought to my soul and how God really did gift me with a passion for writing. I feel awful and there are so many regrets, but this time I’m serious. I love writing- I know I do. It’s just going to take some time for that love to regain control in my life and for the laziness or the busyness to step aside. It’s going to take being intentional and not leaving the job half finished.

My story has always been about me and God and everything in between, but for the past couple years the everything in between has been a whole lot of being busy. So busy that I couldn’t stop and pause. So busy that writing got booted to the backseat. So busy that, I, myself didn’t know when the chaos was ever going to end, so I kept going and kept pushing. I kept filling my schedule, leaving just enough time to rest, until every couple months I would breakdown. But not anymore- not this time. I can’t keep being busy; I don’t think that’s what God has in store for me. So right now my story is going to be me figuring it out day by day: how not to be busy.

MARCH 2022.

Eight years later, and I’m still doing it. But not because I have to. Not to document each moment of what is happening in my day or what life is like studying abroad. That’s not what this is about anymore. It’s no longer a summary of fun moments. More often than not, it’s a journal of all the heartbreaking, confusing, details. Through a pandemic, this has been my source of making sense of the world- more specifically my world- and the things that sometimes go wrong within it. Writing has allowed me to process some of my most abstract feelings and concrete sadnesses. But no matter what unfavorable thing I may be writing about, it always ends up with God making it ok again- or at least on the path to ok. So now this space has been dedicated to following God through all the ups and downs and somewhere in betweens.