October 30, 2022
It is almost here! Can you believe tomorrow is Halloween? That seems so weird to me, I don’t feel like it is time to be preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year has flown by and I feel like time is only going to go by faster and faster. I remember my mom telling me when I was really young that the older I get the faster time goes by, but I didn’t really believe her until now. I mean it honestly scares me when I really think about it. I am not ready for a new year escpecially when I consider the fact that my best friend will be leaving me. Someone I don’t know life without, someone I can tell anything too, someone who understands me no matter what, and someone who would do anything to protect me. My practical twin taken we are only ten months apart will be leaving for college come the summer of next year. Now I don’t know exactly what this means but I do know life is going to be so different. I know that God has a amazing plan for Owen just as he does for me and my future, but I am not prepared for it to actually happen. I cannot bring myself to think about going weeks without seeing him but I do know that this is part of life and something I will have to get used too.
As the time has been getting closer and closer I have found myself trying to mentally prepare for it. Your probably thinking, Gracie its college everyone does it. But really he is my only older sibling and the first time I have ever had a sibling move out. We are really really close and I have accepted the fact that I am going to have to learn how to live life without him here everyday. However, I know this big change that will be happening is going to be something I am prepared for because I know that the devil has unique ways of making my eating disorder creep back up on me and I have already made the decision that this will not be one of those times. Anorexia tends to poke its head out when times are stressful, uncertain, or uncomfortable but I know who I am and I know what I stand for. I will not ever let that foolish voice in my mind take hold of my life ever again. I pray this only a daily basis and I ask God to continue to use me in ways I never imagined. I pray each night while I am in the shower and I simply ask Him to open up new opportunities for me to share my story because I have learned being vulnerable and open with my trials is my way of coping. Now I say all of this not to tell you that you need to stand in front of a crowd and share your story in order to achieve recovery because that is not the case. Everyone is different and everyone’s path of healing is different. Where mine may be speaking and being an advocate, yours may be reading or confiding in a loved one. God built each of us in a unique way and trust me when I say you are perfect just as you are. I really hope that this weeks update will bring you a bit of insight and I also hope it helps you to see that I am by no means perfect. I don’t have my life altogether and I do still struggle on a daily basis. I tell people all the time each morning I have to make the decision to be Gracie or anorexia but, because of what Christ has brought me through, I am confident in choosing to be Me, to be Gracie.
I love you all so much and I challenge you this week to work on yourself. Don’t try to “be/act” like someone your not. Be authentic and don’t let anyone take that authenticity away from you. Just as Genesis 1:27 proclaims, “I am made in the image of GOD.” ! Have a great week and a happy Halloween!
October 23, 2022!
Hey everyone! I want to start by apologizing for not making a post last week. I had complete intentions too and then I just got so overwhelmed with things to do, I totally forgot. So much has happened this week but I have to say it has been pretty good. First off, last weekend marked our officially start to swim season and I don’t know if I have said this but I love it so much. Now let me be honest for a second, I am terrible at it. I literally look like a second grader in that water but I could care less. It is truly the funnest sport I have ever been a part of. I mean who doesn’t want to be a mermaid for practice? Not only do I love just being in the water but the team is like a family. We are all pretty close and I have a feeling by the end of the season we will be even more connected. You hear it so often that sports and jobs are not about the achievements but what really matters is if you are having fun or like doing it. I believe this to be true because if you are putting a ton of work into something, you most definitely need to be sure it is something you enjoy. This is so important to consider when your signing up for new things because if you don’t really like doing it, it may not be a match for you. Now I am NOT saying if you don’t like school not to go, or if you mom said to clean your room not too. This is more related to jobs or activities. Try not to commit to a lifetime, season, or a career that you don’t feel is fit for you. I promise you that there is something out there made just for you, you just have to be willing to find it.
This brings me to my next point which is how important it is to be involved. You may be thinking well, I go to school/work about every day, that’s enough right? The reality however, is that yes those things are important but you should also try to find something outside of the necessary tasks of life that you enjoy. This could be exercise, bible study groups, clubs, sports, band, etc. All of these things are great for us to get a chance to free our minds. We cannot be expected to be 100% all the time when we don’t allow time for our minds to relax which is exactly why finding hobbies is so important. I really encourage you to find something besides school or work that you enjoy and make it become something you do at least once a week. Trust me, after doing it for some time you will never want to miss it. I want to leave today by sharing a quote with you that I found on Pinterest. It says, “Fall in love with taking care of yourself, Fall in love with the path of deep healing. Fall in love with becoming the best version of yourself but with patience, with compassion, and with respect to your own journey. S. McNutt”
October 9, 2022
Good afternoon everyone! I pray that you have all had a good weekend and been able to get into the feel of Fall. I absolutely love this time of year it makes me feel so good. Today, me and my sister went to the first fall related event of the year. It was so much fun to see all the pumpkins, get lost in the corn maze, and just enjoy the cooler weather. Being able to experience this and another thing I witnessed this weekend made me know exactly what to talk about when I was planning todays update. I want to share something that I feel like as humans we tend to overlook on a daily basis. Or at least I know I do. First let me ask you a question, do you ever feel like surviving is a challenge? I do, whether you are fighting an illness or simply just exhausted, I believe that we all feel this way at some point in our lives. I know when I feel this way, just worn out wanting to crash in bed sometimes I feel disappointed in myself. Like I will just sit and list things I could be doing that would be so much more productive than taking a nap. I will tire myself even more reminding myself of tasks I could be doing or other parts of life I could be focusing on. But the truth is, we need this rest. Rest is so important but so often looked over.
Honestly I think our world today has started to look at rest as a sign of weakness which is so wrong. I want you to think about it for a second, how are you supposed to give 100% to God and to others when you don’t have 100% left? It is as easy as a car, how are you supposed to get somewhere with no gas in the tank? It is impossible to give it your all when you have nothing to give. However, when we allow our minds and bodies to rest, we will be so much more prepared and ready to face whatever trials lay ahead. A perfect example of this is God Himself, in Genesis 2:3 it states, “And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.” Just of God rested, we are called to do the same. God has gifted each of us the gift of rest. In Matthew 11:28 He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He wants us to give our bodies time to recover so that we can give our all to Him.
Now to get to the real part, if you know me, you know this is an almost impossible task for me to complete. Or at least I thought. I am constantly trying to be productive, it may be helping someone else, signing up for some committee, cleaning, school work, honestly anything. I am always doing something so rest for me seemed impossible until I realized something. Rest is different for everyone. For me rest may not look the same. I have found that for me rest looks like any activity that clears my mind. Which in my life looks like running, painting, reading, or shopping! My parents would argue that shopping is not rest hahahaha but for me it is. The key takeaway I want you to keep is that rest looks different for all. Reading, sleeping, pedicures, hunting, golfing, all of these things can be your way of rest as long as it gives you a change to recoup and get your mind free of the stresses of life. So, I come to you all today expressing the fact that REST IS OKAY! I don’t know who needs to hear it but trust me, we are called to rest so do just that. Rest and self indulgence are two completely different things and you should never feel guilty for doing what is best for you.
I pray that this week would being you all a since of peace in knowing that it is okay to be tired. We all are at some point. But, that means you need rest, so take a few minutes, hours, or possibly even a day to shut out the worldly stresses of life and check in with yourself. I am here for all of you and would love to help you discover what exactly your rest is. Reach out to me if you have any questions or even if you just need someone to talk too. I love you all so much and have a great week!
October 1, 2022
Happy first day of the month! I pray that you have all had a good week and a great start to the weekend. Let me just say this colder weather has been amazing! I saw this really funny facebook post the other day that was talking about Georgia weather and it said something like “Here in GA our day looks something like, 10pm-7am Winter, 7-11 Spring, 11-6 Fall, and 6-8 Fall! It sounds messed up but it is so true and it leaves me really struggling when it comes to picking out an outfit. I want to wear my fleece pants and fluffy socks when I wake up because it is freezing but but noon I’m ready to strip down into a tank top and shorts. But honestly it is so nice waking up and it being cool outside. It is a daily reminder of Fall which is my absolute favorite season. I just love the idea of fires in the fireplace, fall smelling candles, Thanksgiving, and I have a slight obsession with pumpkins. (Side note : don’t ever leave a pumpkin in your car overnight when you live in GA IT WILL ROT) I did this last year, it was so cute because I had one of those mini pumpkins sitting on my dash and I thought it was the best fall decoration until I got in my car to drive to school and smelled something disgusting. Come to find out it was my adorable little pumpkin. Anyways I am kind of off topic if you can’t tell. It has been a crazy week. I feel like school is flying by and on top of that between extracurriculars, home life, and speaking events I kind of feel like one of those blow up tube men that blow all over the place. I say all of this to say, I am so grateful for all of the doors God has opened up for me and my drive to help ushers is stronger than ever before.
This weekend, I want to share something that an experience led me to really focus on and consider in my life. I think it will be important to you as well because the truth is, we have absolutely no idea what lies ahead in our lives. One second we may be in perfectly healthy, making good grades, holding a steady job, finding happy relationships, and truly just enjoying life. The next however can be something we had no intentions of facing, injury, sickness, breakups, death. While all of these things may seem out of proportion, the reality is that nobody knows our future except the Father. I want to share something that I witnessed this weekend that made me come to this realization. I was at a 5K and after I finished my run, I realized a bunch of first responders rushing into the trail. I had no idea what was going on until a lady came and told me someone has fallen and hit their head. She went on to tell me this was a experienced runner with great health. She said she had just hugged him minutes before and now this person was unresponsive and being loaded into an ambulance. After standing there for a couple of minutes and trying to grasp what I had just saw, I could feel God reminding me that even if we feel like we have everything under control and our life is going great. We have no idea what lies ahead and therefore we need to use experiences like to encourage us to stop taking our time. Don’t tell yourself “Ill do it tomorrow” no do it now because the truth is there may not be a tomorrow.
I don’t want to say all of this and you be thinking well gosh Gracie way to bring us down. I just want to be honest and challenge you to be more persistent when it comes to helping others and being an example. I love you all so much and I hope this will encourage you today! Have a great week and let me know if you need anything.