March 4th, 2024
Welcome back friends! Simas here.
Crazy to say but the end is getting more and more real.
The month of February was honestly such a blur, even with an extra day.
In spite of it being an absolute blur of a month, a greatly apparent theme of Joy has surfaced this month. I have been truly filled with joy and gratefulness for the people that I have come to know so far from this crazy experience of fellows. I’ve had a number of moments where I am just in awe of the kindness and care of God in how he has placed such amazing friends in my life. I think at times I can tend to focus on the negatives, or breeze past blessings, write them off, or even feel guilt for them. This month I think God has been calling me to fully embrace and appreciate the gifts he has brought on me.
I’m now going to list out a couple gifts from God I’ve been relishing in this month.
The gift of work. This is crazy place to start but something we have learned this year is that work is actually a gift from God, and it can actually be fulfilling to treat it that way. Wild, I know. I wish i could say I keep this attitude at all times, but this month I felt I recognized the gift that it is a bit more. I also think that nearing the end of the year, and the reality of working full time, I am looking to shift my view of work to being more appreciative. I have seen God in my work in some weird ways this month, in the woods, in old industrial plants, conversations with workers, and peaceful mornings in excel. I’m still learning to praise God for this one, but He put it on my heart to be more appreciative of it.
The gift of celebration and shared community. This one is a bit more apparent. This month was filled with a lake trip, some birthdays, the Bolash Cafe, many shared meals, and even an unexpected half birthday. I love the way this community celebrates things, big and small. I do think it is in the character of God that he desires for us to be joyful and express our love of the people and things around us. I am thankful that sometimes God wants us to have some fun.
The gifts of silence, solitude, and being unplugged. In contrary to my last point, I think God does love it when we shut up, and leave people alone. I do think He desires to be with us, free of distraction. This has been a massive theme of the month for myself. This lent I gave up Instagram and Tik Tok, the two apps that sucked my time and needlessly stressed me out. Just in the past 3 weeks of lent, I have felt physical relief from removing those distractions, and have felt much more in tune with the Holy Spirt. I feel much more easily pushed to prayer, and thankfulness for God’s provision . Another reason it has been so apparent is because we just got back from our silent retreat. It was so awesome, and I can’t believe I’m saying that. At the beginning of the year many of us joked about how much we were dreading it. Well, it was so so so good. The opportunity to fully unplug, walk around in nature, in silence, and play with God was so soul-filling. I could go on, but I will say, after a full day in silence, it is a miracle that i was craving another one. God has given us a wonderful gift in the opportunity to slow down, shut up, and be with Him. It’s pretty underrated, and I would recommend.
Gonna rapid fire off a few little gifts from the month. The harry potter movies, Chuy’s margritas, Pokemon-Go, Worship, Docksology, tandem bikes, dippin dots, Bunners truck bed, the rain, Laurel Market, Wordle, and Connections. THANKS GOD YOU ROCK.
Until next time.
-Simas