Feeling Blessed

God is good.

He has blessed me beyond comprehension.

I have been feeling pretty thankful and decided to make a list of blessings.

(It won't be complete because He is never finished and because there are too many blessings for my human mind to fathom.)

• Life
• The ability to love
• His love
• The love of others
• Family - my mommy, daddy, brudder, and seester(aka my fiffie or baby fra)
• My second family - Becky, Jesús, Amy, Tony, Val, Zach, Hayden, Seth, and Lacey - You guys... I don't even have words to explain how much I love you guys. You all are so wonderful and accepting of me and my eccentricities and I appreciate that so much :)
• My church families - Lakepoint, Countryside, and Emmanuel - (Even though I do not attend Countryside Christian or Emmanuel Bible Church regularly, I would like to thank each and every person I have met for accepting me wholeheartedly when I do come.)
• My friends - I would list you all, but that would be a bit time-consuming ;)
• My choir family - I love you guys, you're the best. Thank you for your help and respect.
• Shelter, Food, and Water

Image found on google images. No copyright intended.

Breathe

Hi, my name is Jennifer Lewis, and I have issues with motivation, time management, and simply being kind and respectful after a long day.

Sometimes, I feel like the world is crumbling beneath me and the sky is falling on top of me until I am crushed and pummeled. This is a completely unrealistic image, though, because I have a pretty darn good life.

When I have those days (or weeks or months) of stress that builds and packs in and takes over my life, what I really need to do is take a step back and breathe.

Over the past six weeks, I have dropped my boyfriend off in Washington at Pacific Lutheran University with his mom and sister (two of the most amazing ladies in my life whom I adore), began my senior year in high school, quit my job of a year and a half, and gotten behind in all aspects of my life.

When I started to feel the stress building from the essays and reading and math homework that was actually due on top of coordinating choir events as one of the choir co-presidents and working at the golf course, I forgot one major thing: God is there to take my burdens away, not to add to them.

When my entire being wanted to forfeit all of my previous or set engagements for the entire year and just drive up to Washington (which would never happen because, knowing me, I wouldn't be able to get to Portland without having an anxiety attack), someone asked me a simple question that altered the way I look at my life, "Have you done your Jesus time today?"

Rather than seeing my life as a bedraggled mess full of stressful requirements for colleges, school, choir, work, and home, I began to untangle everything. Each night since that simple question, I have taken a few minutes to at least read a passage from the Bible, reflect, and pray on what I read (or simply on my feelings about the day or moment).

At first, it took significant motivation- I am not saying that I don't continue to struggle with motivating myself to have daily Jesus time, just that it has gotten easier- Jesús, my boyfriend, would ask each night if I had had my Jesus time and I would sigh or "harumph" and pull out my Bible. Now, even if he hasn't asked yet, I will start to open up my Bible and dive into His Word out of routine.

Why complain, argue, and cry after a long day rather than opening up your Bible to seek His advice? <- That is a question I have asked myself over and over again.

When I find myself struggling with motivation to do assignments for school or work related to other aspects of my life, what helps the most is to take a step back and breathe. 

Oh, and smile.

Images found on google images. No copyright intended.