Life Chats
Welcome to my life chats page! This is going to be a place for life themed blog posts that don't really fit into my normal style blogs. I won't necessarily be posting Life Chats every week, more whenever I have something worthy of sharing. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me!
​
Note: These blog posts go in order from least recent to most recent.
Long Shifts and No Sleep
August 21st/17
I understand the concept of working hard and making money to build yourself a life. I understand why we need to 'get ahead'. But it's harder than it seems. It's hard when you don't have a career currently in place. It's hard when you just have a job. Just a job.
It's times like these though, that show you who you really are. That prove how strong you are and how much you can truly handle.
I had absolutely no idea I'd be able to survive an 8+ hour shift. I had no idea what it felt like to have to work until 2 am. And I had no idea how much my feet and head would hurt after such time. I don't particularly enjoy it, but that's life. That's my life right now. I want to embrace it and I already know that I will be so much more grateful for my next job!
Nobody ever said life would be easy. The thing is, no matter how much anger, self-pity, and exhaustion lies in my heart, I just need to trust God. Trust that He'll bring glory from this hard period and that He'll be there for me to lean on and to be a source of rest. I can find comfort in the fact that this is just a phase of my life, just one chapter and it won't last. I'd like to be able to say that I walked through this with joy and a good attitude.
I'll survive, and so will you.
~Nicole
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30
Worst Case Scenario
August 23rd/17
I get so frustrated when everything seems to be going wrong. When so many things start piling on; it makes me feel scared, overwhelmed, like I can't move forward! I panic. It makes me realize how much I need a Saviour, how vulnerable I am, and how weak I am. I'm okay with being weak, if I have Jesus to be my strength.
It's like I can only handle so many issues before I crash. I seem to be okay, holding them all and then I get the news. It's like the feather on top of a huge pile and it's enough for me to drop.
The thing is though, when I'm in this type of situation, I am concerned for and focusing on myself. I don't immediately look to God. I wish I would. It's difficult though because we are self-centered human beings. We care about serving ourselves first before anyone else. But the thing is, I don't want to be like that! I want to be Christ-centered. I want to serve Him above all else and turn my attention and main focus to Him.
When I'm in a worst case scenario, what good does it do me to worry? To be anxious? To give in to doubts and guilt? I have no control over these events and situations. But God does! And God is for us, not against us, so we can be at peace with the knowledge that He will provide, He will protect, and He will always be faithful! Trust Jesus, He is all you need.
​
~Nicole
​
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." -Proverbs 3:5-6
​
Forgot My Shoes
September 24th/17
Sometimes we face some unfortunate situations in life. Some things we'd rather not have happen to us, but they happen anyways. Yesterday marks the day I forgot my shoes. I was in quite a happy mood, walking to work on a beautiful Saturday morning. The sun was shining, and the birds singing as I peacefully walked along. As I approached my workplace, I happened to look down and notice that I was wearing my school shoes, not my work shoes. I subconsciously put them on before I left the house. I walked into the store and asked if there was an extra pair I could borrow for the day. There wasn't.
​
I then proceeded to run home. That beautiful sun shine turned into evil rays of heat that I didn't want shining on me. I couldn't believe I had forgotten my shoes! I was so out of breath when I got home, but I still had to hurry! I ran back to work and when I arrived, I was dripping sweat, smelt like a dozen pigs covered in mud, and looked like my face was melting off. No exaggeration! ;)
​
It was quite the experience. I ended up being 15 minutes late for my shift (yikes!) but there are valuable lessons in this. I don't think I'll ever forget my shoes again (because I did NOT enjoy running back and forth!) and that even though bad things happen, we still have to look on the bright side and not let these things bring us down. I was thankful that it wasn't raining that day, that my boss was so kind to me and not mad about it, and that I live so close, (so thank goodness I didn't have to run any further!). We can give thanks and praise God in all circumstances!
​
~Nicole
​
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." -1 Thessalonians 5:18
Bounce Back
November 5th/17
Yesterday was a hard day! I worked a long shift and I took a lot of grief from my co-workers. I was yelled at, picked on, humiliated, and had every tiny mistake I made pointed out and blown out of proportion. I cried through my break, and then it all continued. It didn't stop the whole time! When I was finally done my shift, the moment I walked out those doors the flood came. I bawled the whole way home and then some. It's draining and so hurtful to have to deal with such people.
​
However, like all hard situations in life, there's a bright side, a positive way to look at it, and a Jesus-centered attitude to take on. Although many unpleasant things occurred yesterday, I can thank God that I have a job and that my performance doesn't influence my pay. I can also thank God for giving me the ability to bounce back and be resilient when things like this happen. After I vented about my day to my family and friends, I had to take a step back and realize that everyday is not going to be like this one. I had to pick myself up and not dwell on the difficulties of life.
​
God reminded me that nothing is going to happen that He and I together cannot handle. Our God is so encouraging, so comforting in times of trouble, and He protects us from harm! That is our God and I'm so blessed to be able to say that!
​
Life is full of ups and downs, we need to embrace our loving Saviour through it all, because He is not only our ever-present help in times of trouble, He is also our companion in the joyous times of our life!
​
~Nicole
​
"Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." -Nehemiah 8:10
Taken Care Of
November 11th/17
Today was an interesting day! I tried to quit my job. I had my mind completely set that this was the end of a chapter. I wrote my letter of resignation and I brought it to my boss. She basically begged me to stay. I told her the reason I want to quit is because I need to focus on school. She made me the offer of going on leave until the summer. It's crazy how God works! He was totally looking out for me because I didn't know what I was going to do for a summer job.
​
Even though sometimes I think I know what's best for me, I don't. God does. He had my best interest in mind and allowed me to get both things I wanted: a break from work during school, and a summer job.
​
This situation just proved and confirmed that we are fully taken care of by God. And on top of all that, I got a raise! He truly is so good to us. Don't worry about anything, for you are loved, supported, and taken care of.
​
~Nicole
​
"Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall." -Psalm 55:22.
Fish Out of Water
January 30th/18
A couple days ago, we had quite an interesting Sunday morning! I woke up to my Mom saying, "I don't see Fin anywhere!" (Fin is my brother's fish). My sister and I got out of bed and surely enough Fin was not in his tank. Weird. So we started looking around the dresser that holds the tank. With the help of a flashlight, we saw Fin's little, gold body laying on the ground behind the dresser. With a hundred questions in our minds, we scrambled to get him out of there. Poor thing. Somehow, after being out of water for about an hour, that little guy survived this traumatic experience is alive and well today! We think he jumped out because of his playmate (and bully) Gilbert. So we took Gilbert out of the big tank and he slept in a little container for the night. This reminded me of us, in comparison to God. He makes decisions for the good of His children (or pets ;) hehe), and although we don't know why it's happening, although it may cause anger or frustration, it's for the best.
​
Gilbert had no idea why he was in this other container or how long he's be in there for. Similar to us... We don't know why we are in the season of life we're in, or how long it's going to last. God sees our life from beginning to end, He knows our story, He wrote our story! We are also like Fin, poor Fin, in the way that we go through "fish out of water" experiences and God works those together to create a beautiful story, even if they're scary, dark, and life-threatening. Sometimes our life situations are not even about us, but about the safety, well-being, and good of other people in our lives.
​
Today I just want to challenge you, as well as myself, to not focus only on what we can see, but also what God can see, as well as rest assured that God's got your life in His hand and all we have to do is trust Him.
​
~Nicole
​
"LORD Almighty, blessed is the one who trusts in you." -Psalm 84:12