More Than Enough

I feel like I can speak for most of the class of 2020 right now… 

This coronavirus situation sucks. 

Sorry, there’s just no other way to say it! We had so much to look forward to. Our senior prom, our last day of high school, our graduation ceremonies, our open houses… 

And then, in what seemed like a matter of a week, schools everywhere shut down, senior festivities were canceled, graduation plans were all up in the air, and it seemed like in the event that you could have an open house you would be forced to wear masks and gloves. Goodbyes never got to be said. Prom dresses hung untouched in the closets. And, if you’re anything like me, you were handed what was left in your senior locker in a brown paper bag and sent on your way. Ouch. 

Personally for me, there was a lot of things I felt that I had the right to be angry about. 

If I’m being 100% honest, I complained to God a lot during this season. It seemed like every single day I was upset about something, or confused about something, or angry about something. The day that I found out they had cleaned out my locker and they were giving my stuff back to me in a brown paper bag, I really let Him have it. I mean, come on, I at least wanted a little closure for my senior year. 

Sometimes, especially in times like this, it is REALLY easy to focus on everything that we don’t have. 

I definitely had been, and I know that I’m not the only one. God, I want to see my friends. God, I want to go back to school. God, I hate doing all my assignments online. God, I want to go to church again. On and and on and on. 

Yet God, in all His goodness, sees me in my brokenness and simply says, I know. 

And He does know. He walked this broken world and He knows what it feels like to suffer. But He doesn’t stop there. He also takes my hand and gently whispers, but look at all that I have given you. 

Suddenly, instead of beating my hands into the floor for the tenth time that week, I decided to look up, and I realized He was right. 

God, give me eyes to see. 

The truth is that yes, there are definitely things in this life that suck. Things that totally are worth complaining about. However, it is important for us to look up and to see everything that He has given to us even in the midst of the struggle. 

God has given me an amazing family that is still celebrating my graduation in every way they can. He has given me friends that I can call when I need a good laugh, a community that is still finding ways to support us, and the chance to still have a graduation– even if it’s not how I imagined. He has given me some amazing teachers who have been so supportive through this difficult time… even one that I can message in a panic after I bomb my AP Calculus exam! 😉

I know that sometimes it is hard to find the good in a bad situation. I know that sometimes there are things in this life that are so rotten that it seems like there is simply nothing good to be found. On days like those, I find myself being thankful for even the smallest of things, like sunshine or a coconut scented candle. And yet somehow, even in the form of a coconut scented candle, He makes it enough. Because He is always more than enough. 

And let’s not forget that He has also given us His promises. One day, all the hurting will be over. The suffering will be gone. There will be beauty from these ashes and we will be able to worship Him forever. We will be victorious because Jesus is victorious. End of story. 

So yes, life is hard sometimes. But He is always there and He has already given us so much. Sometimes we just have to be willing to look. 

(I was in the middle of writing this blog when my youth pastor showed up with a graduation gift from him and his wife. Inside was another gear item I will be in need of come September, and I hadn’t even told anyone I was in need of it! Thank you Keith and Emily for being yet another example of His goodness during a time like this! I appreciate the hammock and all the other goodies. I will miss you guys so much!!)