Independence in God

Lately I am learning that the most beautiful person I can be is myself. The woman who God created me to be. In a society that encourages anything but independence, I constantly feel the pressure to have a million friends or be the most popular woman out there. Although these things may be tempting, the only place I can find true beauty and freedom is within. Read this verse slowly, thats right you read me correctly, SLOWLY. Soak up every word.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Psalm 139:14

Wow. The picture below is a photo I took at the beach this weekend with my family for 4th of July weekend. Absolutely stunning, don't you all agree? This picture is from my instagram account, click here to follow me on instagram! I love taking pictures, especially ones like these of God's pretty creation :) God is a magnicient artist!

In the past, I have searched for freedom in many things besides Jesus. I searched for freedom in boys, money, vacations, shopping, whatever you can think of. Now that I know Jesus and I am able to understand that the spirit of freedom is living inside of me, I desire to know Him more and more intimately. Jesus reminded me of my passions that I had long forgotten about. He is teaching me who I really am, through Him. He has given me the freedom to just be myself.

I am learning that each person must maintain a sense of independence from others if they really desire to understand who they are. By independence I don't mean only with just themselves, I mean independent with God. Spending time alone is okay, especially for those out there who are more of the introverts. I believe that by spending more alone time with God every day, we are able to understand our value in Him more. We are able to reflect more on how fearfully and wonderfully made we are. 

As a vey social person, in the past I was rarely alone. I constantly wanted to be surrounded by my friends, because they were my life. Once I learned the hard way that there must always be a spot in my heart set apart only for God to fill instead of my friends, I was able to understand more clearly how precious and valuable it is to spend time alone with God.  I'm not saying that each of you should become a hermit crab and never see the light of day, I am just saying that it is important to find your independence in God and maintain that independence. 

My goal this summer is to dig deeper into the heart of God, and discover more of who I really am. Besides my public relations internship, I do not have a whole lot going on. I have been searching for a summer job, but so far I have only been offered a real-life job that required me to work full time throughout the school year. I had to turn down that job down because of graduate school.  I am thankful for this God-given opportunity this summer, to discover more of who I really am. I am going to make the most of these next 2 months, and partake in as many volunteer opportunities as possible. Thanks Jesus!