You Will Find Rest

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." I love this verse and just want to say a few things to go along with it. We all bear burdens but, I'm specifically thinking of retail workers at the moment especially during this time of year. It's no secret that working in retail really, really stinks a lot of the time. I personally have never been in a management position in retail but, I've worked in retail long enough and know people who are in those positions, to know that it is ten times more stressful and hard. I'm sure nothing is more frustrating than having employees under you who have no respect for you whatsoever. And then there are the times when you have so much responsibility that it is just too overwhelming, then to top it all off you have to deal with rude customers with a sense of entitlement. It's too much. But that is the beauty of this verse! God is not telling you to tough it out. He is not saying "Well, it’s part of the job you signed up for it." No, He is saying come. “Come and give me your burdens, give me your weariness. Give them to me and you will find rest.” The kind of rest that is not just sleep, but the feeling of a weight being lifted off of your chest from an issue that was somehow solved. Or the calmness that comes in knowing that in the end it will all be okay, the shift will end, the problem will be solved. God doesn’t have to do any of this, but His love for us is so great and vast that He chooses to. Amen :)

Finding a Healthy Outlet

Let’s be honest: We all get stressed. As much as we may not like to admit, like myself, or whether we readily admit to it, it happens. For college students this time of year is extremely stressful with finals and shtuff. And I guess I will mention the stress that the holiday brings. Personally, being 21 I don’t really feel the stress of the holidays yet, but I recognize that it is there and a real thing. But that’s beside the point! Bottom line: December = STRESSSS. And here it comes, that verse many of us know all too well but are really sick of hearing: “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present you requests to God.” If you don’t know that verse, it’s a good one to memorize. (BTW its Philippians 4:6. Great book, great book.) “Well Marissa, that’s fine and dandy and all but no matter many times I pray that, the stress still doesn’t go away.” You know that’s a fair point because, truthfully, that way doesn’t always work for me either. Why? Because I’m not perfect and I can’t ever seem to let the stress go and I can’t stop thinking about and its hard and scary even though it shouldn’t be and the more I think about the worse it gets then it becomes so overwhelming but I try to keep it in and it just makes it worse *bursts out crying*. Relax, deep breaths, calm. What do I do when I can’t seem to let the stress go? I write. I take out my journal and just start writing. Sometimes it turns into a conversation with God, with me asking lots of questions. Other times it is just a big, fat, huge venting session. I call this my ‘outlet’. Personally, I think everyone should have an ‘outlet’. It doesn’t have to be writing/journaling like me. I have friends who go on long walks, or draw, or play music. Honestly I’m sure there are people out whose outlets are just straight up praying. The point is you are releasing the stress in a healthy way. God doesn’t like seeing his kids being grouchy butts or being emotional wrecks. So my advice: find your ‘outlet’. It may sound hard but you would be surprised. My first journal entry was when I was in Bulgaria March, 2013. Now here I am, 2015, about a quarter of the way through my seventh journal. Do you know how many “diaries” I had when I was little and wrote in them like maybe four times? Let me tell you, I had quite a few. Now, I have one more thing to say on this topic. There is probably a good chance that your ‘outlet’ lines up with some of the gifts and talents God gave you. Because chances are that the gifts and talents He gave you are things that make you really happy and that you enjoy doing. Like for me, I have always loved writing. My grandma has three paged “books” made out of construction paper that I “wrote” when I was four. Now, go find a guitar or an empty journal or a sidewalk or a park bench underneath a tree that a squirrel has called home. There millions of lonely outlets in the world, waiting for a lifelong friend. So be a friend, adopt one today! What will yours be? :)

The Importance of Being Modest

Let’s talk about modesty.

Modesty: the quality or state of being unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one's abilities.

Personally, I consider myself a big advocate for modesty. It is a subject that God has put very close to my heart. I believe He has given me certain experiences and knowledge on the subject.

I feel as though when someone hears “modesty” most of the time they jump to fashion and clothing; which is a huge part of being modest. But, modesty isn’t just about the clothes you wear. It is also about how you present yourself.

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Proverbs 31:11-12 says:

“Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. ¹²She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.”

I really love that last part. One of my super awesome friends from Ministry talked about Proverbs 31 during one of our Valentine’s Day meetings. She and I were reading When God Writes Your Love Story at the time. Whenever I think of and apply modest dress to myself, this verse always pops into my mind. I try really hard to dress in a way that would honor my future husband. Let’s say for instance it is the future and I am married and everything. I would not wear a super low-cut, tight shirt. That would draw unnecessary and unwanted attention to me. If I’m being honest, I don’t want a bunch of random men hitting on me because of what I am wearing. I know my husband would definitely not appreciate it. Just like I would not appreciate him wearing pants that droop down too low and reveal more than what I would want any other girls to see. So that is the rule I typically follow for modest dress. I know that most all of my friends and my momma dress this way too. I typically don’t go for knit tops, cut-off shorts, those knit skirts that hug your butt, crop tops, super short skirts and dresses and “v” neck or low cut shirts. I also do not own any bikinis; I don’t like showing too much skin. I am perfectly happy and comfortable wearing a one piece and so are a few of my friends. Now, I’m not saying that if you wear any clothes like that you are wrong and should change. No, all I’m trying to do here is to share how God has taught me to be modest and in passing on this information, maybe help someone who is trying to learn more ways to be modest.

Another aspect of modesty, as I mentioned above, is how you present yourself. If I think back to when I first heard the term “modest” it was in a scenario similar to this:

Johnny’s basketball team is in the final quarter of the championship game. Right before the buzzer, Johnny scores the winning basket. As everyone afterwards starts telling Johnny how amazing that was and how he is just one of the best, Johnny say “Oh thanks. But, I could not have done it without my teammates. Without them I would not have been able to.” “Oh Johnny, you are always so modest and humble.”

Presenting yourself in a modest way is hard. We all have moments where we crave attention, especially if the same person is getting attention consistently. But, live in such a way that others can see Jesus through you. If Johnny were to have bragged about how awesome the winning shot was, people would only see a bragger. To me, modest living is also about not doing things on your own to draw attention to yourself. For example, if you want someone to know how awesome and huge your grandma’s house is, t you start talking in such a way that prompts someone to ask about it. I used to be very guilty of this; I still have my moments too. Again, people aren’t going to see how awesome and big your grandma’s house is, even if she hosts a weekly bible study there. All they are going to see is someone who wants attention.

The ultimate goal is to show people how amazing Jesus is, how much his love for us burns. If we live in such a way that people don’t see that, then we need to figure out how to do just that. Being modest is just one way that we can.

1 Peter 3:3-4:

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

A Focus on Jesus

I'm so EXCITED! Why? Well, let me tell you... Only four more days until camp!!!! Other members of my church and I will be gone for one whole week! My co-counselor and I are going to decorate our cabin with an “Under the Sea” theme! Oh it’s going to be so great! I've had some people ask though if I'm worried about missing one whole week of work. I have a lot of “bills”, for lack of a better term, that need to be paid. School payments, car insurance, cell phone bill… With my job cutting hours over half, money has been tight. Not to mention the summer semester just started yesterday. So, before I leave I have two weeks of assignments to get done since everything is due on a Sunday. And to add even more pressure to that since I am a Health Care student, the grading scale is much more severe. The lowest “A” is a 92% while an “F” is 75%. But, in my mind, I constantly think about money. I constantly am thinking about work. I’m consistently thinking about food and school and other things that honestly shouldn’t be taking up as much space in my mind as they do. Not mention all of the time I spend actually at work or sitting down and doing schoolwork. I’m not saying that those things are wrong, they certainly very important, if not necessary. But, Jesus is the most important thing in the whole universe. So, for me to take one week out of my entire summer, out of my entire year to just solely focus on Him, to focus on teaching kids about Him, I don’t think that is too much to ask. I give so much of my time to things that are very earthly and, in the end, don’t matter. (Again not saying work or school isn’t important.) Why can’t I spend a week focused on Jesus? So, am I worried about missing a whole week of work? No. No I am not.