Looking Back Over 2015

New Years....a time where people reflect on the past year and look forward to the future year by making resolutions on how to be a better person as a whole! (Though people rarely complete them!)

I guess it's my turn!

This year has been one of my craziest years! It's been up and down, side to side, stretched, and pulled! Parts of it have been amazing and other parts have not! I have had spiritual highs and spiritual lows! I have had amazing relationships and I have had terrible ones! I have had expectations met and my expectations destroyed! Believe me, it's been a crazy year!

The things I have learned from this year are, however, the most important.

I have learned that every relationship is either a blessing or a chance to learn. I have had a couple dangerous and bad relationships, mostly at the beginning of the year, and have learned that I tend to settle for relationships too quickly before really thinking them through! But, I have had some AMAZING relationships this year and learned that real love is worth fighting for!

I have learned that even in the rain and storms the sun still shines. Our trials suck, but it is in the valleys that we truly depend on Christ and see him work! It just makes us appreciate how great He is in the good, easy times!

Since I tend to plan my life out, I learned that my plan and way of doing things isn't always the best or smartest! Sometimes people have more wisdom than I do and can point me to where I should be going! God definitely sees the big picture, while we only see the little part we are working on!

Family is the most important thing (after God, obviously...pretty sure it goes without saying). These people are blood....well some of my family is.....anyway.....they will be there for you no matter how much you mess up and how badly you treat them! While boyfriends/girlfriends, friends, and mentors will move in and out of your life, family will always be there! Even if you give up on them, they will NEVER give up on you...even if you beg them to! (Been there done that! Trust me they are in it for the long haul no matter how much you beg!)



Relationships are hard! Whether it be your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, friends, or boyfriend/girlfriends, they are all hard! While they are all extremely important, they require a ton of work and are hard! Two sinners interacting....yep it's hard to think about the other person more than yourself!

Remembering that living for the future is better than just in the present. Present happiness wont be the best, look to further God's kingdom...that is the ultimate goal! Yes, the present if fun and exciting, but the future is even better!!!!

Well...those are the highlights! There are so much more, but I could't possibly fit them all!

Good luck on those New Year's resolutions! I pray that this will be the year that you actually complete them!

With Love,
 From....
~Cait

What is Our Purpose in Life?

What is our purpose in life?



That is the million dollar question...one that people have been asking themselves for centuries! Philosophers and teachers have been arguing and debating this one question coming up with many different answers!



So what is our purpose here? We have to be breathing for a reason...right?? I sure hope so!

Is it to have the coolest job? Have the most money? Have many fans and friends? Have the best kids? Or is it to find true love?

Is our purpose in life to have great success???



Many people believe that success is our sole purpose in life! Wow....I would definitely be failing in life then...just saying!!

But once you get to the end of your life does money, love, jobs, house, etc really matter?

As believers we live for something so, so much more!

We live for Christ!!

Which, can I just say, is the greatest honor given to mankind?!?

God created us in the very beginning of time to glorify and praise Him!

We live for something greater than ourselves! Sure, we think that we are pretty great and that living for ourselves wouldn't be so bad, but it is so pointless!!!

Can you take success, money, fame, friends, and family with you once to die? We would like to think we could...but we can't!

So glorifying God is the number one purpose of life!!

It honestly just makes sense that we should worship and glorify the very being that created and brought us to life!!!!

Spreading the gospel to unbelievers is another one of our purposes in life!!



God commanded us to share the gospel!!! And why wouldn't we want to??

If you know something exciting and it has drastically changed your life don't you want to share it with everyone?? Sure!! It is something exciting and important to you and you just want everyone else to share in the excitement!!
For example...you found your soul-mate...the love of your life!!! You are so excited and happy that you just want everyone else around you happy too... so you try to match up your friends and make them happy!!!

How is that any different than wanting to share God's love and redemption story with everyone around? Except for the fact that a person's eternal salvation is on the line, while match-making friends isn't!!

Our purpose in life is to glorify God and share the gospel!!! Not too hard right?? Hahaha... if only our own selfish desires didn't get in the way... right?

Challenges for Young Adults

I was recently asked...what the hardest thing was about being a young adult.

Oh, boy did I have a list!

I'm 17 years old (almost 18...give me a month!!) and a freshman in college.

One of the hardest things for me is...

the transition period from childhood and adulthood.

For example, in many areas of my life I am treated like an adult, given my age. While I make my own decisions, work, and go to college, etc...I still am under my parent's authority and must listen when they tell me to do something.

That transition time is extremely awkward and very confusing! You are being treated like and adult one minute and then treated like a child the next!



While this transition is necessary, it can be very hard and annoying.

Another challenging thing...

Insecurity...

Insecurity is rampant among children and teens, but I think it is just as bad in young adults because of this awkward crossroads stage. They don't really know what they want to do, where they fit in, etc.




I can totally sympathize and relate to that!

Lastly, balancing all aspect of life....meaning, balancing social, academic, work, hobbies, etc....all those things are important, but trying to balance it all is the real problem. You only have so many hours, minutes, and seconds in a day to fit family, friends, homework, hobbies, and work!! It can be pretty stressful!!!!



Those are just a few things that I personally think are the hardest for young adults!! Of course, those aren't the only hard things that we go through, but they were the first ones to come to mind and I think some of the biggest!!

~Cait