Embracing this Season

A few days ago I asked God - "God, what are you teaching me right now?" And I felt like his response was to embrace this season. And so, I am learning to "fall" in love with this season in life (pun intended, hehe) - the beautiful view, the leaves that are changing colors, the quality time I get to spend at coffee shops with my friends, the classmates I get to meet and get to know, studying, etc. I want to look back at this part of my life and say "I lived this season well." Because no matter what I see in front of me, I know God is orchestrating all the details of my life and all I need to do is fully trust Him. I don't want the hardships to mark this season in my life. When I look back at this season, I want to share the breakthroughs that I experienced that reveal God's character - His goodness, kindness, love, etc.

Recently Chip and Joanna Gaines released their new book "The Magnolia Story". The book begins from how they initially met, to how they landed the "Fixer Upper" on HGTV, and to how God lead them to where they are now.  I love their story. I love the beautiful work that they do. I love their authenticity, integrity, and how they interact with each other.  But what I love the most about their story (and book) is how they continually point others to God. Despite their fame and new platform, they are not afraid to declare God's goodness in their life. There are testimonies after testimonies of breakthroughs they experienced in their journey sprinkled throughout the book.

After I finished reading the book yesterday, one particular part near the end of the book really stuck out to me. Here's the excerpt (sorry for the spoiler!):

“It was in the middle of all that struggle I found my true inspiration as a designer - the very thing that so many people seem to be drawn to now that I’ve received this opportunity to share my work with the world. 

I always thought that the ‘thriving’ would come when everything was perfect, and what I learned is that it’s actually down in the mess that things get good. 

It was such a blessing to find myself thriving in the middle of the pain. Unless you find a way to do that, there’s always going to be this fake illusion that once you get there - wherever ‘there’ is for you — you’ll be happy. But that’s just not life. If you can’t find happiness in the ugliness, you’re not going to find it in the beauty, either.” (Joanna Gaines)

I hope it still makes some sense without all the background information about their lives! But the part that stood out to me was - "I always thought that the ‘thriving’ would come when everything was perfect, and what I learned is that it’s actually down in the mess that things get good." They experienced some crazy financial situations where they could have probably gone bankrupt, but in the midst of it, were able to hope. And then they experienced one of the greatest breakthroughs in their career soon after. In the same way, I want to learn how to thrive in the pain as well in the blessings.

I've been thinking about what really matters in life. Yes, school is important and work is important. But I realized that at the end of the day and at the end of my life, people matter. Relationships matter. People's souls matter. At the end of my life, the question that will matter the most is - did I love well? I'm learning that it's one thing to know and it's another thing to experience. It's one thing to know that we must love one another. It's another thing to go do it. Jesus would go out of his way to meet just one person - to offer them hope, to offer them eternal life. Lately it's been busy and hard and so it's been tempting to shy away from responsibilities. But God has been reminding me that He can still use me in my weakness and in what I feel like are my inadequacies. And He will use me. Right now it feels like my response to Jesus is similar to Peter's in Luke 5:5 - "because you say so, I will let down the nets." Because Jesus says so, I will be diligent and finish my undergrad years strong.