Hello, and welcome to my world. My name is Kaitlyn, and I'm fifteen years old. Simply put, I'm a writer. Words surge through me with every beat of my heart. Writing is like oxygen to me, because without it, I cannot exist. Though I'm only a sophomore in high school and many would say I've still got my whole life before me, I've faced my share of trials. Yet with every issue I've endured, writing has been my outlet, the one tool that allows me to disconnect from the world for a short time and plug in to myself and my relationship with the Lord. Writing has been my constant confidant, a place where I can release a whirlwind of emotions and, at the same time, receive healing and progress into the next stage of life that my Heavenly Father has planned for me. I've created this blog more as a journal for myself, to straighten out my thoughts, document some "crazy exciting" milestones, and express the ups and downs of life. But ultimately, I hope that writing this blog will allow me to become more in-tuned with the thoughts of my Savior, Jesus Christ. With all of that said, I hope that God can somehow use me through this blog to express His unconditional love to someone else. I give Him the glory for all that I am and all that I will be.



"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of POWER, LOVE, and SELF-DISIPLINE. So you must never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord." (2 Timothy 1:7,8 New Century Version)

"God comforts us not to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters." -John Henry Jowett

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

My Top 5 Most Treasured Values

Love:

Definition—a feeling generated from acceptance by others; the action of caring intimately for another person; at its purest form: selfless, genuine, sacrificial, flowing from the depths of the soul

Governing Value Statement—the motivation behind much of what I do is either in pursuit of someone’s love/acceptance/approval, or an effort to display love to someone in the most effective way possible. One of my passions is discovering how each person uniquely accepts love and finding creative ways to actively love them. On the other hand, I am crushed if I feel as though I have “lost” the love of someone I care about by disappointing them or failing them in some way.

Friendships/Relationships:

Definition—the intimate bonds of trust between people, built through purposefully invested time and energy; codependent upon both parties to initiate and receive love and respect; healthy bonds result in a stable, fulfilling life while unhealthy or inexistent bonds result in a chaotic, dysfunctional, empty life.

Governing Value Statement—my identity is largely based on my connections with other people; when I feel closely connected with other people, I am confident, content, and assured. However, when I feel distant from people or when a relationship is broken, I feel incredibly insecure, lost, confused, and even useless; therefore, when I make decisions, I highly prioritize the opinions and desires of people I care about in order to maintain close relationships with them.

Safety/Security/Stability:

Definition—the position of comfort and ease when firmly rooted in a familiar place or a trusted relationship; the ultimate security can only be found in the Rock of God, Who never changes; it is established over time and through defining moments that anchor an individual in a place or to a person; mental and emotional security is of much greater importance than physical security to me personally, though all can be interrelated

Governing Value Statement—As a result of tragic circumstances in my past that shook my security, I am in an endless pursuit of stability and a constant state of fear that I will lose it again. I tend to equate stability and security with peace and contentment. When I find stability in a person or place, I can relax and grow from where I am “rooted.” When circumstances, locations, or relationships change and I am left feeling insecure, I frantically search for security until it is reestablished. I know that Christ is the only assured source of stability, and I constantly battle with the temptation to grasp for security in other places or people.



Fulfillment:

Definition—wholeness and satisfaction resulting from following your passion, pursuing your calling, and living daily in fellowship with Christ; ideal fulfillment is reaching heaven and spending eternity in the presence of God; yet, earthly fulfillment is allowing the Holy Spirit to govern the heart and fill emptiness in the soul; fulfillment is attained through daily acts of selfless service—completely independent of personal gain, focused only on bettering the lives of others

Governing Value Statement—I often equate fulfillment with fulfilling my purpose; as I progressively gain a clearer picture of God’s purpose for my life, I long for the fulfillment of accomplishing that purpose and hearing the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Unfortunately, when I feel as though I am failing to fulfill my purpose, I seek fulfillment in other material sources—people’s approval, physical beauty, academic accomplishments, food, entertainment, etc. I must remember that I cannot fulfill my purpose or achieve fulfillment without the constant help of the Holy Spirit. My own strength will fail me, but I must abandon myself to God and rely on Him to work through me to accomplish His purposes.

Faith/Spirituality:

Definition—the acknowledgement of a higher power (God—Yahweh) and conscious act of trusting in Him, despite physical/visible/verbal evidence of His existence; when we acknowledge the existence of God, we are dually admitting that we are not god over our own lives

Governing Value Statement—As a professing Christian, I declare that God exists, that He created me, and that He has a divine purpose for my life. I believe that the Bible is His guiding Word to His people and that its promises are true. I believe that God never changes and that His love for me remains the same, despite outside circumstances or my own emotions which may tempt me to believe otherwise. I believe that my entire purpose for existing is to live a life that glorifies God in every way. Therefore, my faith should be (but is not always) the driving motivation behind everything I do and say.


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