California Dreamin'

​It’s funny. All the Minnesotans always say, “It must be amazing to live in California. I’m so jealous.”

Yet, all my Californian friends always go, “Wow, it’s so pretty in Minnesota and you have seasons. I wish I lived there.”

It seems that you always want what you can’t have.
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I get to live the dream. Every. Single. Day. But not because I live in California. I have a secret to share with all of you: California is not the utopia everyone thinks it is. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the palm trees, sun rays, and warmth every day, but I've learned that if those things are my life support for happiness, it will quickly die. Palm trees don't fill desire for purpose, Sun rays won't make wrongs right, and warm days won't melt loneliness away. This is what I've learned: Take it from the girl who now lives in the dream state. Where you are doesn't make life any more worth living. Jesus does. Someday I think we'll look back and realize that where we are right now is a blessing, no matter where we are at. There is beauty all around. God has gifted us life and we get to live it. We have a purpose worth everything, a Father that is inflexibly holy and relationally loving and it is because of his presence with me that I love where I am right now. This is the dream that we can live. Every. Single. Day.

I’m not a Macklemore fan, but I think there is some truth to his latest song.

“I wish somebody would have told me then that someday these would be the good old days.”

I don’t know about you, but I am very strategic and futuristic. I’m especially strategic about the future. However, something I’m learning is that amidst visioneering, there is so much joy found in praising God for the present moment. Sometimes I think so much about what I envisioned. I only see the gap between where I am and where I want to be rather than the journey I get to take with God.

Sometimes all I see is what I don’t know, not what I do. Sometimes all I see is where they are, not how far I’ve come.

I think that the true tell of character is not where you end up, but how you take the journey to get there.

I want to take mine with joy.

Everyone always says that college is the best time of your life.
Well I hope not. In fact, it would be quite sad if the best time of my life passed with 65+ years left to live on this planet. Instead, I want every day to be the best time of my life.
I want to savor every moment of the crazy, wild, amazing journey I get to have with God. Wherever I go and wherever I am, I get to live the dream. Because wherever I go and wherever I am, I’m with him. Every. Single. Day.
 

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