Tag Archives: joy

27

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I’m exceedingly psyched because I’m turning 27 today on 02•22•20… and if you know me, then you know that the number symmetry, along with turning one of my favorite numbers, makes me feel absolutely delighted.

But really, it’s always a blessing to me to see another year. The song going through my thoughts these past few days was You Keep On Getting Better sung by Maverick City Music, especially the refrain that says, “Every day gets sweeter, every day gets better.” It speaks to the fact that every day lived in relationship with our awesome God gets better for us as His children – He never changes in His perfection, but for us He gets better as we discover more and more of Him with each passing experience, good or bad. I’ve found this to especially be true these past few years, and it’s a concept I’ve been pondering these past few days as I walk into 27 with that same mindset. There’s another part of the song that says over and over – after declaring how good God is – “You keep on getting better, You keep on getting better.” I couldn’t listen to that part without joyfully singing along and expressing thanks to the Lord for who He is and all He’s done. I asked myself in what specific ways the Lord’s kept getting better to me, and what I loved was that many of the ways seemed like such simple things, but their impact on my life was anything but. He gets better and better to me every time I get the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the clouds above me, or the serenity of a Poznan sunset at the end of the day. I mean, at times (at least in my view), the sky looks so intricately painted with a range of pastels, and I just can’t help looking up in awe at God’s creativity. And then it’ll be a whole different range of colours the next day, harboring a completely different vibe and bringing a new sense of wonder to my heart – something new, yet at its core, still the same. God gets better and better to me with each day, as I literally experience His strength in me on days when Tuesdays feel like Thursdays and I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to study. I notice how He listens to me and encourages me exactly as I need, and how He draws me closer to Him, motivating me to be a better child of God, refining me day by day and removing all that isn’t like Him. All these things and more make me emphatically say: Yes, Lord – You keep getting better! And I love that as I discover more of Him with each passing year, I’m consistently reminded of how He is good. There’s a part of You Keep On Getting Better that says, “You are good; In the morning I’ll sing ‘You are good.’ In the evening I’ll sing ‘You are good,’ You are good to me.” It’s a sentiment often said about God without much thought – Oh, God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. But the reality of taking a moment and realizing that He truly is… means so much. The way He works and helps me when maybe I’ve slacked a bit on my to-do list – He’s good. The way He warms my heart through interactions with my family and friends during long rotation days – He is good. The many, many ways He shows me His character through specific verses in His word and strengthens my faith daily in such thoughtful and personal ways – He is so, so good.

Turning 27 today is a gift. There’s so much peace, joy, and excitement surrounding me, not only due to anticipation of the year ahead, but because I know that no matter what, He keeps on getting better.

Hope in Christ

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Happy Palm Sunday! This week leading up to Easter is my favorite time of the year (even more so than my birthday, which is a lot). I’ve been asked: is it because of the bunnies? Or the Easter eggs? Or the chocolate?

Well, not quite.

Easter is my favorite time of the year because of one main reason: the sheer hope that it represents for us all. Maybe it seems trivial, but hope? That’s a priceless gift that’s worth getting excited about, and it’s one I’ve come to treasure greatly over the past couple of years. If anyone’s ever thought about life and what it is we are all here for on this Earth, without hope of any kind, there is literally no reason for life. I mean, if we have nothing to put our hope in, and nothing to hope for, what’s the point? Is the point to just go through the daily metro, boulot, dodo routine of life, die, and be done? Even if we want to be noble and say, “Well, I want to leave a legacy behind” or “I want to make an impact on this world through some good deeds,” what is the point if there is no hope of that legacy or those deeds meaning something beyond this finite world? In my eyes, there would be no point.

We’re all searching for something to inject meaning into our lives. Different people seem to find that meaning through various avenues, but for me, the absolute best way I’ve found purpose for my life is through the unending hope that comes from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Because of my salvation through Christ, I have hope of an eternal life beyond my present one, and all the Earthly work for Christ and His kingdom are building blocks for those glorious future days. That’s what Easter’s about, which is why I love it: it’s about remembering and being thankful for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and celebrating His resurrection, which brought the free gift of salvation – and consequentially, hope – into the world. Continue reading →

Gentle Like a Lamb

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It’s a virtue.

It’s a weapon.

It requires true patience and compassion.

What is this “it”? Gentleness.

During the month of November, I’ve been studying gentleness as a fruit of the Spirit. The first thing I thought when the month began was that gentleness was a bit like patience: it’s a well-lauded virtue, yet still slightly overshadowed by “more prominent” virtues like love, joy, or peace. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After a few weeks’ study, I’ve grown to realize that gentleness is actually one of the most powerful virtues out of the nine fruits of the Spirit. And, in light of recent events surrounding Ferguson, Missouri, gentleness is a virtue that we could certainly stand to use more of in our society. Oftentimes, gentleness is put on the back-burner. On the virtuous extreme, everyone wants to exhibit grand gestures of love, kindness, or faithfulness; on the worldly extreme, the world screams, “Be loud! Be assertive! Stand your ground! Fight!” Meanwhile, gentleness is in the background, quietly waiting to be put into action, whispering, “Listen. Be gentle. Be calm. Be patient.” It’s not easily understood, but truthfully, gentleness is an important component of what makes a society – and an individual – truly great. Not “great,” as in a great, or fantastic, person to be around. But great – as in someone who is an influential warrior who wins in life for Christ and His kingdom. Continue reading →

European Med Life

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It’s Labor Day for all my American friends and family, and usually I join in enjoying the day off with copious amounts of food, sleep, and HGTV. But today’s the first time I’ve actually put “laboring” into Labor Day, because it was the first day of classes over here at the University of Pécs Faculty of Medicine.

Yes, that’s right – I’ve officially began my journey as a European med student!

I know, I’ve been MIA from writing these past two weeks as I’ve gotten settled in (shout out to those whom I promised pictures and updates…they will come gradually). But bear with me; I’m a med student now (eek! I get to say that!).

Recently – as in, about two weeks ago – my Dad and I took all my packed bags (which was only 2 suitcases, surprisingly) and headed off on the long journey from Dallas to Pécs (rhymes with “h”), in beautiful southwestern Hungary. Med school is already a crazy ordeal; but to embark on that life change in a new country? Where I don’t speak the official language? Does that sound crazy? Yes? Well, sign me up! I’ve loved travelling since…forever. I’ve also loved medicine (and music and writing, but that’s a different story for another time) for practically my whole life, so in thinking of med schools, I wanted to go to an international school that would seamlessly blend these two passions of mine. And wow, the UP delivered. In my class group (about 15-20 of us), there are students from Jordan, Iran, Israel, Spain, Germany, Norway, Cyprus, Nepal, India, Canada, Argentina, and Nigeria. It’s the norm for students here to be multilingual; if you want motivation to learn a new language, just come here and make some friends. On my first Monday at the school, I met a 3rd year student who spoke nine languages. NINE. And he wasn’t kidding, because he broke out speaking those languages with various other students and patrons who passed by. I was, and am, in heaven just listening to the massive accomplishments of the other students in my med school class. Continue reading →

Happy July!

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Happy July!

Today officially marks the second half of the year…and it came so quickly (in my opinion) that I’m still a little shocked I was flipping my calendar over to this month last night. Well, with this new month come new things: namely, my new website!
I have finally moved over from my original simplechara.wordpress.com site to my own, self-hosted site: thecharalife.com!
Over the past few months, I’ve wanted my blog to be an avenue for joyous encouragement for anyone who might come across it – hence the name “the chara life”. As I talked about in this previous post, chara is the Greek word for “joy,” a virtue that is unfortunately seen less and less in our chaotic society today. I had the wonderful opportunity to study joy in my personal devotions in May, and from that study I’ve found that joy isn’t only a virtue – it’s truly a lifestyle that one pursues. And so, thecharalife.com was born, as a space that aspires to be chock-full of as much inspiration – whether it be hilarious, thought-provoking, smile-inducing, or calming – as possible.
Each week, I’ll be posting new content (I’ll explain more on the different features as they come), hoping that they’ll offer as much joy and inspiration to you as they have to me.
I hope you’ll join me on what’s sure to be a wonderful and lovely journey! I’ll be living and learning along the way, so it’s sure to be an exciting ride.