The Lily Letters

Confession: I made a huge mistake during my time as an active sister in SAO. During my senior year, I was so hyper focused on the picture perfect life: meet my boyfriend, get engaged prior to graduation, graduate, and get married. However, that was not the case. I remembered going to our formal during fall semester without a date. I could have made a choice of savoring the moment and dancing with my friends, however, I just sat there pouting because it felt like everyone else had a date. I made the mistake of being hyper focused on this perfect picture life. I definitely broke one of the teachings Jesus taught. “ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”- Matthew 6:33 Instead, I was seeking first the kingdom of me and all the things that I really needed such as friendship, and a community was being taken away. A couple of years after I had graduated, my hyperfixation was hurting the ones I love and I felt so far away from G...

Matthew 6:25-30 paraphrased (NIV):  "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.... Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  ... God clothes the grass of the field, will he not clothe you - you of little faith?"   Who among us doesn't struggle with anxiety?  Compare worry with trying to tuck an octopus into bed.  One tentacle or another keeps popping out from under the covers.  If we're not worried about one thing, it's the other.  If we're not worried about our kids, it's our aging parents.  Or the medical bills.  Or the funny sound under the hood of our car.   In the Bible, Jesus spoke much about worry.  In a nutshell, He told us not to!  Jesus never dismissed the untidy realities of daily life - He knew those troubles first hand, having spent years as a carpenter in Nazareth, probably living hand-to-mouth as He helped to support His family...