The One Year Anniversary of Compassion Inspires 🦋
One year ago on October 8th, God helped this vision of ours come to life. I honestly cannot fathom how this has been public for 365 days. Although, I did notice a grey hair (might I add, a VERY long- curly-grey hair) yesterday morning. Am I suggesting that this has caused me stress? Maybe. But in the best possible way. Being able to share the word of God, vulnerable parts of my story, and hear from some of you how this has served you with encouragement– brings joy into my life. one year anniversary
I want to say thank you to every single one of you who have read, invested in, encouraged, or shared this blog with your friends and family. I always pray that each post gets into the hands of those that need it. Some of you may not know the reason why I started this, or my reason to keep it going. SO- let’s talk about it! one year anniversary one year anniversary one year anniversary.
Senior year of College (Almost)
It all started when I had a dream that I dropped out of college my senior year. There was only one problem. It was not a dream, far from it. This was my new reality. I am not fond of the phrase “college dropout”. It doesn’t really have a nice ring to it, unless you’re Mark Zuckerberg. Instead, I prefer to say, “I fashionably exited the school premises to pursue my real purpose in life.” At least that was the pitch I would give to my family.
I mean come on I am in a dream city, attending my dream school, gaining a marketing degree, what in the world was I thinking? Well, friends, this would be the second lesson the Lord would be teaching me to trust him and have faith in who he is and the promises that he has given me.
Feeling LOst + Telling God the truth
Once I graduated high school I attended community college for two years with big dreams to one day end up in Chicago to finish my education, land a job for a marketing firm and you guessed it- stay in the city. Well, I did not enjoy college at all. The more classes I took, the more I would listen to my professors speak of internships or people would come to our class and speak to us about how they climbed the corporate ladder and so on, I was left asking myself, “What are you doing?” one year anniversary
I was attending Loyola in Chicago. I admired my professors and there was nothing wrong with the curriculum. It was just one of those things you feel in your spirit. Feeling like I was on the wrong path, I just opened up to God about my real dreams and desires that I had. The dreams and desires I would pursue if money wasn’t a mandatory factor to living😅. I laid it all out and at the end of it, I said let your will be done and I continued on with homework, studying for finals, and searching for internships.
two paths, one choice
Obviously in my prayers I let God know he could help me achieve all my dreams after college (as if he needs my advice on how we do things 😅). So after praying that in the middle of my junior year, I really didn’t think much about it. Until, it came time to figure out my living situation for my senior year. Like I said, I was attending Loyola in Chicago, but my junior year was during COVID, So- I was home taking my classes online.
I was beyond excited for my senior year for many reasons: I could finally leave a small town, I would be in the city, and all the possibilities that would come with it. The only problem was, the campus and dorm building I was supposed to be staying at were going to be occupied by the underclassmen. That produced a minor problem for me, I would have to find off campus housing. Long story short, that lead me to making a specific prayer at the beginning of summer. I said,
Lord, if I am meant to finish my degree and be in Chicago, please open the doors for that to happen and help me find housing. And if not, I pray you would close the doors, and I’ll begin working on the dreams I gave to you months ago.” Either way, Lord I trust you and pray for peace no matter the outcome. Let your will be done. In Jesus name, amen. “
I guess we’re really doing this, God
If you know me personally, you know how this story turned out. I prayed, I waited, I tried to reach out to the few classmates I “knew” to live together (all who already had roommates), I kept speaking to my school counselor to help with housing. Let’s just say doors were closing, but as the summer went on, the idea of building my dreams with God became a comforting thought. Now, I love my mom and know she wants what’s best, but she was not having the whole “Hey, mom I’m leaving college pitch.”
So, one of the last things we tried was her talking on the phone with the housing department. She had a notebook of stuff written down to present to them, and while she was on the phone, a part of me was hoping it wouldn’t work out. Can you guess how this story ends? I never found housing, the doors never opened, I left university, and I began working on those dreams, one of which was this blog.
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GOD sees the whole picture
A common phrase I use in my life is “everything happens for a reason” and while I may not understand it there is still a purpose to what is going on. God knew I needed a break, a saving grace period. I had several other big changes going on in my life at the time and moving into the heart of Chicago to attend a new school would have most definitely distracted me from God and overwhelmed me. I think too often we pitch our ideas to God as if He is a genie.
Now, God certainly has the power to do anything, but He is not genie. His purpose is not to give us everything we desire, especially all at once. No, God protects and wants us to have an abundant life. He loves us far too much to give us everything, or anything too early. By staying home, I really leaned on him and rebuilt who I was on the foundation of his word. Who knows what my life would look like today if I would of forced my way into Chicago. I love reflecting back to that time and just looking at the fruit from what one small step of faith produced.
it’s time
I had been writing in a google document for quite some time before this blog launched last year. I would say for about 2 years. There are notebooks full of my design ideas and plans for how the website would look. The creation process was actually my favorite part. To see something in your mind and beginning the process to bring it to life, is now something I crave. Sometimes I still can’t believe this website is real and I get to this? But, God knew what he was doing when he planted this dream in my heart.
“Each One, Teach one”
When reading the “about” me section of this blog you will see where I referenced Denzel Washington. I was listening to a motivational speech of his where he said, “With each lesson you learn in life, you should teach it to someone else.” It was inspiring enough for me to say okay and utilize this blog as a way to do that.
Life can be heavy, but the most important thing to remember is we are not alone. Not only is God always with us, but he has posited people for us to connect with as we journey through life. People that have walked through some of the hard things we are currently facing. Perhaps, when we reflect on the pain and joys we have experienced and tap into vulnerability, we can see a small piece as to why some things happen. It connects us. As Lysa TerKeurst says,
Perfection Intimidates, and Compassion Inspires.”
Lysa Terkeurst
We will talk more about patience and trusting God next Monday (11/06).
