It is Good

“The will of God is always a bigger thing than we bargain for,
but we must believe that whatever it involves,
 it is good, acceptable and perfect.” 
-Jim Elliot

The will of God! What a deep subject, almost “taboo” in the church. People freak out trying to determine the will of God. For some the idea can cause great anxiety or even stress; your mind can wonder if you are inside or outside of Gods will… even so far as falling out at any minute. Each decision causes more stress than the last.

Once someone told me to think of the most perfect beautiful dream, I did, and then they said Gods will for you is better than that. Well my dream was filled with sun drops and rainbows and maybe even traveling the whole world. Now if that happened that would be great but in the church we have to be careful of setting expectations of perfect lives when you know God. Christianity does not fix your life; the Christian life is not easier by praying a prayer. The will of God is that we would return to Him, that He would be our joy, our strength, and our reason for living.

Gods will is better and MUCH bigger than I bargained for. But also bigger than we can imagine, our imagining is often our fleshly desires but it’s flawed in that it’s limited. God is limitless and perfect in His desires. As I learn little pieces of it I can almost become fearful at what it truly is, but there is a perfect love that casts out fear. Trusting God is one of the most valuable lessons a person can learn. You don’t learn to trust a chair by standing, you must sit. You can’t learn to trust God with your life by praying a prayer or by doing what’s comfortable for you; you learn to trust God by walking in faith. You learn to trust by making decisions that may not make a lot of sense but they line up with scripture and even with those little pieces you've seen of His will for your life.

Maybe you, like me, have trouble trusting but deep in my heart there is a truth that comes from knowing. God is good, God makes the best decisions, God is never wrong. I trust in his perfection. His perfection brings my soul comfort that’s deeper than physical comfort. Some people have asked me how I know that God is constant and that I can trust Him. Besides wanting to quote scriptures like crazy, all I can say is I know He is. The sun rises and sets without fail. His consistency is like the sunrise in the morning and the sun setting at night… it happens no matter what they day holds. Trusting God is trusting in the most sure and true thing that there ever was or will be.

Romans 8:28, Psalms 37:4-6, Hebrews 13:8, Matthew 6:25, Proverbs 3:5, Psalms 46:10, Malachi 3:6, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalms 91:1-16, Isaiah 26:3, John 10:10.

Created to Share Beauty

I have started a little shop, not really to make money (at this point in life) but to create something. I love pretty things, I am a treasure collector. I have no need for keys, elephant pendants, mini birdcages…. But I thought they were pretty. So I started making the pretty findings into something that caught the eyes of other people.

I like when people have unique things that have meaning behind them. I am a deep thinker and a simple liver… so everything has meaning. I will be sharing some of the meanings here, because to me it’s why I paired things together.

www.etsy.com/shop/charmingtraveler
instagram @charmingtraveler

Coming soon: cards decorated either handwritten or with pictures I have taken.

a lesson from the seasons.

One thing I have noticed about the seasons is that they are constant in their changing. It is never ALWAYS hot or cold. As humans we often error on the side of dramatics; our life is hard and it it always be this way. We think that our current circumstances and feelings are eternal and that they they are far more extreme than in reality. 

Some people enjoy the hot; the swimsuits, cut off shorts, and the water. I have always been more of a fall girl. I love the hot drinks, the blankets and scarves, high boots, and campfires. 

I like the change that happens in fall. You know, when the trees are preparing for a dormant season without growth, but it's beautiful. The air gets crisp, the trees turn vibrate shades of yellows and reds, and everything seems to slow down. This time is important for not only the circle of life but for me as a woman to learn from. I go through seasons where I am preparing for a "dormant" season where I am shedding off a old season and getting ready for a new. This season normally prepares you for a harder one like winter. It's hard to welcome a new season after you have enjoyed the last. The key is trusting the consistency of their changing. Fall prepares you for winter, knowing that soon spring will come.

There is always a new season, there is always a new day. The most beautiful thing is when you can look at the season.. this current one you are in and say, "I welcome it." Knowing that is brings with it refinement, challenge, and new growth; that will soon enough bring forth fruit.

 

Adventure, my own definition.

“The word adventure had gotten overused, for me adventure starts when everything has gone wrong… that’s when adventure begins.” -Doug Tompkins (108 degrees South)

If you have EVER been on pintrest you see the word, adventure, and the label adventurer. I know as I look through pictures I have a deep and earnest desire to back a backpack, buy a van, and go where the wind blows. Very few people actually live that lifestyle for many reasons; you have low resources, inconsistency in places and people, and our culture has taught us that going to college and getting a job is the next step in life. We get used to "the way things should be." 

We often describe travel as adventure, and maybe that's as adventurous as some people get. Going from one place to another isn't adventure.... it's stopping, going off the map, into the unknown, and taking risks. 
When was the last time you took a risk? 

I was talking to my aunt 2 weeks ago and she said she went on an adventure to Mexico... sortly followed by, "but i will never stay there again, they didn't have room service." I laughed cordially and smiled while thinking, "that's not adventure!" 

I have never climbed a mountain and slept on a cot suspended by ropes, I have never just been in the wilderness alone, or hiked the grand canyon. But when I hear friends or people that have, a spark in my soul ignites. Going to tourist sites is fun for a moment but the crowds are rarely worth it, tour guides make me want to run away and hide, and if their is a road where I don't know where it takes me to I tend to be pulled towards the nothingness that could turn to greatness.

 I have been places and seen things that aren't sanitary and relaxing, but it's real and exciting. My adventures are normally to see people; people I have never seen, languages I don't understand, and cultures far from my own. I love to learn from people, to hear their stories and learn from our differences. These kinds of adventures have taken me to Africa, central america, and Europe. I have killed a chicken with my hands, I had picked through trash to find a families next meal, I have swept a dirt floor, planted a garden with my feet, walked through the jungle with a water jug on my head, and I have been laughed at or trying to speak a language that's not my own.

In my free time I try and find treasures in the midst of junk, I write & read, you can often find me by the lake, or on country roads covered by trees (that's where the best blackberries are), my daily adventures are little, but they are perfect in their own way.

Adventure is far from safe, but it's living fully. Someone once said, "to live or love is a risk." which is true, but it's a risk worth taking.