FOMO

Have you heard of FOMO?  Do you suffer from it?  I don't.  I'm one of those people that frequently regrets making plans because it means that I have to go out.  You know. OUT THERE.  Which is, by definition - not HERE.  Here is where I am comfortable and would prefer to be.

In case you aren't up on the lingo - FOMO is "Fear Of Missing Out".  Where you have anxiety that something exciting or interesting is happening in a place other than where you are.

This is definitely not me.  I'm fine.  I enjoy spending time with my friends - don't get me wrong.  But I definitely don't have any anxiety that if I am staying in for the night I may be missing something wonderful.  

But some people do have that urge to find out what they are missing out on, because they are sure that there is SOMETHING they are missing out on.  Something is missing, and even if they don't know what it is, they know that they are missing out on it and they want it.

That got DH and I to thinkin' the other day.  Isn't that a pretty constant state for people?  No matter who you are, or where you are from - what culture, what language, what color, what religion, etc. It doesn't matter.  People - and I mean "humans" - are always searching for something more.  There is some void in our lives that needs to be filled.  We fill it with different things - education, hobbies, family, vacations, work, and on and on and on.  But we are always trying to fill it with something.  

He and I had a conversation the other day where I was explaining to him that I felt a little empty lately.  We have so many things going on in our lives right now, that it is hard to imagine feeling anything other than FULL.  Our kids are in elementary school, we have all these animals and things to take care of around our house.  DH left his job, so he is home and working on the woodworking business (check out our projects here) and getting started with going back to school.  I'm also looking at finishing my degree, I work part time doing childcare, I work my Rodan + Fields business (for product information click here), and working on the new home decor projects (stop by our Etsy shop), and that is all on top of the regular responsibilities of being a homemaker.  How on earth could I be feeling empty?

source

We started thinking about it and praying over it, and that's when I discovered what was going on.  I have been trying to fill my life up with STUFF.  How can I help support my family?  How can I be a better wife and mother?  How can I make this time together more special?  How can I balance all of these responsibilities?  Why wasn't this enough?  What else was it that I was chasing?

And then, because God is good and because He loves us - He answered that question in the sweet, calm way that He tends to do.  During our Bible study the other day, one of the verses tucked away in a passage I was reading - which had NOTHING to do with this question - hit the nail right on the head.  

Psalm 27:8

"My heart says of you, "Seek His face!".  Your face, LORD, I will seek."

God created us because He wants to have a relationship with us.  And He created us to want that relationship with Him.  That is the thing that we are craving - even if we don't know it.  That is the hole we are trying to fill in our lives.  That is what we are searching for when we can't seem to find what we are missing.  Our hearts are longing for a relationship with Him.  In this verse in Psalms, God is literally impressing it on our hearts to come and talk with Him.  Come and visit with Him. 

So this week, I am making a more conscious effort to say "LORD, I am on my way".

A little challenge for you: do you feel like you are missing something in your life?  Do you feel like you are constantly chasing after something and never reaching it, or never being satisfied?  Well... why don't you come and talk to Him about it?  See what He says.

Leap of Faith

I know we've all heard that saying so many times.  "You just have to have faith", "step out in faith", "keep the faith", "take a leap of faith".  For me, so many of this cliche phrases lose their meaning from overuse.  Sure, it's easy to know that I should have faith.  It is far more involved to actually HAVE faith.

How do I know that I have faith?  Or enough faith?  Even the apostles struggled with this question.  In Luke 17:5 they cried out "Increase our faith!"  How do I have faith?  I get to know Christ.  I spend time in the Word, with the Word.  I read and listen and ponder in my heart and trust and acknowledge the quiet presence of the Lord in my life.

Easier said than done.  I know.

Trust me.  I know. 

We are in a season right now where we as a family need tremendous faith.  Just in the past three weeks our lives seem to have taken a sharp left turn from the direction that we thought we were going.  We've gone from DH working full time, and me working my DS business and being a SAHM full-time and added in: blogging, our Etsy shop (check us out Lone Star By Lee), a custom woodworking business, and DH having to walk away from his current position.  We have prayed, cried, agonized over these decisions for the last several days, and although we are scared to death - we are stepping out in faith.  We are claiming the promise of Christ in Matthew 21:21-22 “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

This evening as I am writing this, I feel a bit like Noah.  How crazy did he sound to his family and friends?  I mean think about it, the man was building a MASSIVE boat becuase God told him that there was going to be water falling from the sky.  So much water that it would cover the earth and kill every living thing not on that boat.  Guys, it had NEVER. RAINED. BEFORE.  The plants were watered by a mist that rose up from the ground.  But water falling from the sky was unheard of.  Tht would be like me telling you that tomorrow I can go out and eat the clouds for breakfast.  That makes zero sense.  And yet, there was Noah, for YEARS being faithful and and following God's directions.  And now here I am.  Moving forward with a plan that doesn't make much sense to myself or to those around, trusting completely that God has a plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11), and that God has set these events in motion as part of His plan.  I just have to keep moving forward on the path He has already laid out.

So tonight, I will rest in the comfort and peace of Matthew 6:26 which says "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

If you do not have a Bible that you are in love with, or you are looking for another one (I counted... I have 7 Bibles on my bookshelf.  Maybe this is my favorite thing to collect?) please consider this one - it is my favorite, and has side notes and annotations that have really spoken to me.

source