five words of encouragement

I know I'm not the only one who is drowning in waves of homework from every period out of the school day. I feel like I never have time to come up for air but somehow I found time to type out this post, sooo clearly I have more time on my hands than I think I do lolz. Anyway, I've been in need of some encouragement lately, so I thought I would give wordpress.com a visit and type up some sweetness for my favorite people...

First off, BREATHE. Relax, everything is going to be fine. You just gotta take one day at a time. Don't look at next Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and flip out over the tests you have in every class, focus on what needs to be done today, not 6 days from now. Tomorrow already has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34).

Second, PRAY. Close your eyes and pray. You don't need to go through the next week alone. In fact, you aren't supposed to. Jesus is guiding you, holding you up by the palm of His hand, walking you through the next step you're going to take. You don't have to do life alone, Jesus is our rock and our mighty fortress (Psalm 18:2).

Third, DANCE AND SING. Turn up your bluetooth speaker and jam out to your favorite tunes. Music is the key to the soul. Take a break from studying and math and dance and sing till you can't dance and sing anymore. I promise you you'll feel better and refreshed after you give this dancing and singing thing a try. And of course, The Lord will sustain you no matter what, allowing you to get back on track with your studies after your jam session ends ;) (Psalm 54:4).

Four, EMBRACE THE MISTAKES. Trust me, writing a perfect paper isn't gonna happen on the first try. Memorizing 20 vocab words isn't gonna happen in 10 minutes (unless you're just a speed learner and if that's the case, luuucckkkyyyy). Making mistakes or forgetting the definition is okay! Instead of getting angry and having a mental breakdown, pick up your pencil, cross through the sentence, and keep going. All will be well in the end, your essay will pick up and become a whole better than you thought in the beginning and you'll memorize the words you need to know for that test or quiz sooner or later. Embrace your mistakes, I promise you you'll learn from them. Just be patient and remember that with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

Five, YOU'VE GOT THIS! You can do this. You can make it through the rest of this week and next week. Don't look back. Keep your head up and keep walking. Winter Break will be here before you know it, you've just gotta remember to do your best in everything and all things will fall into place. Most importantly, do NOT fear, Jesus loves you, strengthens you, and is always with you no matter what (Isaiah 41:10).

Smile, YOU | CAN | DO | THIS, I believe in you.

I love love love you all, and I am here for each of you always!

In Christ,

Elizabeth