Don't put your hope in the boat.

I have learned a little lesson and wanted to share it with you.

 [please refer to what happened with Paul in Acts 27--- go read it. it's good.]

We all have put our hope in something at one point or another. An acceptance letter. A job. A man. A vacation. It's something we want to happen. Something that we desire. Something that we expect. However, back to Paul [here's another chance...go and read Acts 27]. God spoke to him and told him to pass on the message to the whole boat that they would not die in the storm. They would land safely but, their boat would be destroyed. 

I think a lot of time we put our hope in the boat. The thing that we truly desire becomes our boat. We use it to carry us through things. To bring us from one part of our life to another. To get us safely from Monday to Friday. However, when God decides to send a storm our way, our boat doesn't hold against the storm. If our hope is in that boat, we are crushed. Bring on the froyo because life as we know it seems to be over. Our hope should be in God not the boat. 

Now that your focus is off the "boat," learn to take your focus off the storms that God brings your boat through. Know that God still has his hand of protection on you in the middle of the storm. Begin to focus on the future that God has promised you. Just like Paul told the prisoners, "keep your courage." Take your courage and separate it from your conditions. Your courage is under your control. Feed your courage instead of your fears. Understand that God knows your hopes [he actually gave you them] and will align them with His hopes for you when the time comes. Your dream job may not be His dream job for you. Don't make it your boat, because we all know what happened to the boat. 

44 "... everyone reached land safely."

It's okay to get mad.

Emotions are a part of life. Happy. Sad. Mad. Each one is bound to show up at some point in your day, week, month. You get it. Dealing with emotions is tricky, I think it's especially harder for girls to deal with their emotions. Girls are so emotional!

Bottom line, we shouldn't be ruled by our emotions and being a girl doesn't give us a free pass to be a roller coaster of emotions. Emotions need to be controlled.

You can control your emotions in different ways

eating froyo 

singing 

running 

removing yourself from the situation that is making you upset 

smiling (whether you're happy or not) 

crying 

laughing 

most important: (i think) PRAYER

This past weekend has been an emotional one. I'm not perfect, I still get upset and overcome by my emotions. I sometimes need to slam a medicine ball on the ground at the gym to let off some steam. I will admit to emotional trips to get froyo by myself. (maybe more than one?) 

Dealing with emotions is always going to be a learning process but God has got my back and only wants the best for me.

He allows opportunities for me to be tested and allows me to grow from each test. 

Praise God for that!