Life as a Gypsy. #YOLO
As you can tell from my previous post, things are changing in my life. I am supposed to be in Africa right now. Instead, I am sitting at a Starbucks in St. Charles County, Missouri. I prefer to be called a "gypsy." I travel from place to place, from home to home. My parent's house in Piedmont, my sister's house in Bonne Terre, my friend Sam's apartment in St. Charles, my friend Emiley's house, my friend Sonya's apartment....you get the idea. Pretty much anyone that will take me that day...I will stay with them. So, I am currently sitting in Starbucks waiting for my friend to get off work, so that I can go over to her place. Being a gypsy is crazy and adventurous! I love driving and not knowing where I may end up that night. I love getting to simply be "on my own." However, there definitely are some challenges...being constantly dependent on other people for a place to lay my head at night is challenging. However, I have seen God provide constantly for me, and that is really awesome to see happen. I literally get to wake up every morning and say "What do you want me to do today, Lord?" I let Him lead, and I get to follow. So thrilling. So exciting.
Today I got to go to six flags with eight of my friends from high school. They told me on Wednesday that they were coming up and I got REAL excited. I have been wanting to go to Six Flags since school got out...or really...since like January. So, I jumped on that band wagon. When I got to the park, I was greeted by my friends with loud screams and bear hugs. Being reunited is so great. Our theme for the day was "YOLO"...or You Only Live Once. We screamed the word on every ride. We reminded ourselves throughout the day to "YOLO"...it became a verb for us. ...."Hey guys...you may as well ride the Superman ride...afterall, YOLO." It was definitely a huge thing for us all day. It was used as a joke and an encouragement...but I couldn't help but think that there was something deeper behind the term "YOLO."
YOLO. You only live once. The concept of living so that you will have no regrets. The concept of not having any fears. The concept of living fully now because we may not have tomorrow. It's really a great term. It's a great encouragement. For example, typically I am FREAKED out by rollar coasters. I hate heights. The Superman ride? Never rode it in the past...didn't plan on riding it today. However, the term YOLO resonated in my heart all day. We said at one point "Guys, life is too short to be fearful. YOLO." So, yep. I rode Superman! And it was SO AWESOME!! I couldn't believe that I had let fear stop me in the past! Today was a beautiful picture of how far God has brought me, even in the small things such as riding the Superman...or no longer being controlled by my fear of heights. I was able to be the one that people could rely on to be the one NOT scared of the coaster! In fact, one of my friends said to me after a rollar coaster, "Hayley, I heard your laughter while we were on the rollar coaster when I was screaming and freaking out...and I thought to myself....Hayley is laughing! That means we are still alive. And everything is still good!" I love seeing how God is changing me from the inside out. I love seeing how when we let God come in and overwhelm us, we can conquer anything. I love that when we ACTUALLY put our trust in the Lord...we have nothing to fear. It's crazy how a day at Six Flags can bring about all these realizations. It's crazy to think that God uses a day at Six Flags to remind us of our freedom. It's crazy that a day at Six Flags can remind us how we are alive. It's crazy that a day at Six Flags can remind us that this life is short, and we can't live in fear. It's crazy that a day at Six Flags can remind us that we only live (on this earth) once.
YOLO. This term came into my life at such a crucial time. There are a lot of things in my life that I regret. Things that I've done, that I wish I hadn't. Things that I've said, that I wish I hadn't. Things that I didn't do, that I wish I had. Things that I didn't say, that I wish I would have. If only I had been "YOLO-ing" my entire life! ....It really stinks that God has to teach us lessons the hard way. It stinks that we have to have things taken from us, in order to realize how many of God's blessings we take for granted. It stinks to look back over your shoulder and wonder, "If only I had...." Praise God that He gives second chances (time and time again). It stinks that we have to feel the pain of a love lost, in order to realize how much we truly did love. And to realize that it is okay to love. To realize that we deserve to be loved and to give love, not because of anything that we have done...but because of everything that He has done for us. We deserve to be free. We deserve to be joyful. We deserve to laugh. We deserve to feel alive. We deserve to have love in our life. We deserve to give love. ....Nothing that we have ever done could disqualify us from these experiences, because Christ took our punishment for us. We can live and live fully. YOLO.
God has a way of giving us wake-up calls. It's like the annoying telephone that always goes off in the hotel room. It's needed...but it's not always wanted. The past two weeks have been a huge wake up call for me. I've been able to look back at my life and say, "What was I doing?" I've been able to look forward in my life and say, "Where am I going?" I've been able to look at my present life and say, "What now, Lord?" I've been able to feel things that I haven't felt in a long time. I've been able to grow in huge ways. I've been able to look back on the last few months and say, "Lord, forgive me." I've been able to give myself permission to love with my entire heart, even if it breaks me. Because loving something with our entire hearts, even with knowing that our hearts could possibly break (or already have)... is more important than never letting love break through. Fear cannot stop me from living fully. Satan's lies will not stop me from experiencing the blessings of this life. I'm so glad that God was able to wake me up from my slumber and show me the bright future that He has in store for me. God always gets the last word.
YOLO. I want to dance in the rain. I want to sing at the top of my lungs. I want to ride rollar coasters all day, every day. I want to drive with no where to go. I want to hold orphan's hands. I want to feed the mouths of the hungry. I want to kiss passionately. I want to jump in rivers. I want to splash around in puddles. I want to ride my bike in the wilderness. I want to play jump rope. I want to go line dancing. I want to watch the sunrise. I want to stargaze. I want to run around in fields of flowers and take millons of pictures. I want to listens to birds chirp and frogs croak. I want to learn how to rollar-blade. I want to learn guitar. I want to learn how to bake. I want to love Jesus with my entire heart, mind and soul. I want to eat things that I never have before. I want to worship Jesus without holding back. I want to go swimming in a lake, or a pond, or a pool! I want to go sledding down a hill. I want to ski down a mountain in Colorado. I want to love passionately. I want to be overflowing with hope. I want to live completely free. I want to live an abundant life beacuse that is what Jesus has promised. Too long have I thought that my past disqualified me from experiencing such a life...but I was believing a lie. God says, "Go! Live abundantely! You have been set free! You are new! Go laugh! Go live! Go play! Go sing!"
YOLO.
So....where will I be tomorrow? Who knows! As I said, I'm a gypsy!! ...I'm letting God direct my path. I'm putting my life in His hands and telling Him to "take the wheel." As for right now, I'm perfectly content with drinking my starbucks drink, thanking God for His blessings, and continuing to pray for another chance with things that I have lost because I was living in fear.
P.S. Starbucks always plays great music. The lyric that just came on the song..."Life's too short to play it safe." God's timing is so great.
In His grip,
HG
Don't forget to YOLO!
Today I got to go to six flags with eight of my friends from high school. They told me on Wednesday that they were coming up and I got REAL excited. I have been wanting to go to Six Flags since school got out...or really...since like January. So, I jumped on that band wagon. When I got to the park, I was greeted by my friends with loud screams and bear hugs. Being reunited is so great. Our theme for the day was "YOLO"...or You Only Live Once. We screamed the word on every ride. We reminded ourselves throughout the day to "YOLO"...it became a verb for us. ...."Hey guys...you may as well ride the Superman ride...afterall, YOLO." It was definitely a huge thing for us all day. It was used as a joke and an encouragement...but I couldn't help but think that there was something deeper behind the term "YOLO."
YOLO. You only live once. The concept of living so that you will have no regrets. The concept of not having any fears. The concept of living fully now because we may not have tomorrow. It's really a great term. It's a great encouragement. For example, typically I am FREAKED out by rollar coasters. I hate heights. The Superman ride? Never rode it in the past...didn't plan on riding it today. However, the term YOLO resonated in my heart all day. We said at one point "Guys, life is too short to be fearful. YOLO." So, yep. I rode Superman! And it was SO AWESOME!! I couldn't believe that I had let fear stop me in the past! Today was a beautiful picture of how far God has brought me, even in the small things such as riding the Superman...or no longer being controlled by my fear of heights. I was able to be the one that people could rely on to be the one NOT scared of the coaster! In fact, one of my friends said to me after a rollar coaster, "Hayley, I heard your laughter while we were on the rollar coaster when I was screaming and freaking out...and I thought to myself....Hayley is laughing! That means we are still alive. And everything is still good!" I love seeing how God is changing me from the inside out. I love seeing how when we let God come in and overwhelm us, we can conquer anything. I love that when we ACTUALLY put our trust in the Lord...we have nothing to fear. It's crazy how a day at Six Flags can bring about all these realizations. It's crazy to think that God uses a day at Six Flags to remind us of our freedom. It's crazy that a day at Six Flags can remind us how we are alive. It's crazy that a day at Six Flags can remind us that this life is short, and we can't live in fear. It's crazy that a day at Six Flags can remind us that we only live (on this earth) once.
YOLO. This term came into my life at such a crucial time. There are a lot of things in my life that I regret. Things that I've done, that I wish I hadn't. Things that I've said, that I wish I hadn't. Things that I didn't do, that I wish I had. Things that I didn't say, that I wish I would have. If only I had been "YOLO-ing" my entire life! ....It really stinks that God has to teach us lessons the hard way. It stinks that we have to have things taken from us, in order to realize how many of God's blessings we take for granted. It stinks to look back over your shoulder and wonder, "If only I had...." Praise God that He gives second chances (time and time again). It stinks that we have to feel the pain of a love lost, in order to realize how much we truly did love. And to realize that it is okay to love. To realize that we deserve to be loved and to give love, not because of anything that we have done...but because of everything that He has done for us. We deserve to be free. We deserve to be joyful. We deserve to laugh. We deserve to feel alive. We deserve to have love in our life. We deserve to give love. ....Nothing that we have ever done could disqualify us from these experiences, because Christ took our punishment for us. We can live and live fully. YOLO.
God has a way of giving us wake-up calls. It's like the annoying telephone that always goes off in the hotel room. It's needed...but it's not always wanted. The past two weeks have been a huge wake up call for me. I've been able to look back at my life and say, "What was I doing?" I've been able to look forward in my life and say, "Where am I going?" I've been able to look at my present life and say, "What now, Lord?" I've been able to feel things that I haven't felt in a long time. I've been able to grow in huge ways. I've been able to look back on the last few months and say, "Lord, forgive me." I've been able to give myself permission to love with my entire heart, even if it breaks me. Because loving something with our entire hearts, even with knowing that our hearts could possibly break (or already have)... is more important than never letting love break through. Fear cannot stop me from living fully. Satan's lies will not stop me from experiencing the blessings of this life. I'm so glad that God was able to wake me up from my slumber and show me the bright future that He has in store for me. God always gets the last word.
YOLO. I want to dance in the rain. I want to sing at the top of my lungs. I want to ride rollar coasters all day, every day. I want to drive with no where to go. I want to hold orphan's hands. I want to feed the mouths of the hungry. I want to kiss passionately. I want to jump in rivers. I want to splash around in puddles. I want to ride my bike in the wilderness. I want to play jump rope. I want to go line dancing. I want to watch the sunrise. I want to stargaze. I want to run around in fields of flowers and take millons of pictures. I want to listens to birds chirp and frogs croak. I want to learn how to rollar-blade. I want to learn guitar. I want to learn how to bake. I want to love Jesus with my entire heart, mind and soul. I want to eat things that I never have before. I want to worship Jesus without holding back. I want to go swimming in a lake, or a pond, or a pool! I want to go sledding down a hill. I want to ski down a mountain in Colorado. I want to love passionately. I want to be overflowing with hope. I want to live completely free. I want to live an abundant life beacuse that is what Jesus has promised. Too long have I thought that my past disqualified me from experiencing such a life...but I was believing a lie. God says, "Go! Live abundantely! You have been set free! You are new! Go laugh! Go live! Go play! Go sing!"
YOLO.
So....where will I be tomorrow? Who knows! As I said, I'm a gypsy!! ...I'm letting God direct my path. I'm putting my life in His hands and telling Him to "take the wheel." As for right now, I'm perfectly content with drinking my starbucks drink, thanking God for His blessings, and continuing to pray for another chance with things that I have lost because I was living in fear.
P.S. Starbucks always plays great music. The lyric that just came on the song..."Life's too short to play it safe." God's timing is so great.
In His grip,
HG
Don't forget to YOLO!
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