Guest Post Week-Day 7

   It's the last day of Guest Post Week! I have been so blessed through this series and I hope you have been, too. For our last and final guest post, we have a touching story and lesson from my older sister, Kaitlyn. Being content is so key in having joy, and being content and having joy in Jesus is the best! Enjoy this post and thank you all for reading! I'll be posting soon this week, so stay tuned! I love you all!


   One lesson that can be hard to learn is contentedness. There’s a story I’d like to tell of a girl I know named Izzie. Over the last few years, she’s felt really stuck. When she was twelve, her best friend moved across the country, her family left their homeschool group of six years, and about half of her church left to plant a new church.

      Izzie had been best friends with this girl for maybe five years, so when she moved to the east coast, a part of her heart moved, too. They were like peas in a pod. They had a lot of the same co-op classes together. They always ate lunch together. They hung out after co-op. At every school event, there they were, together. They took gymnastics together. They had the same beliefs and passions. They shared secrets with each other.
   That new homeschool group her parents started? It was very, very small. There weren’t like-minded girls, not to mention girls her age – or really, many girls at all. She was starting to get tired of being the oldest at the events. Even the guys her age barely talked to her.
    Soon, her church was sliced in half and some of her friends moved with that church plant. A few years later, the church split because of an issue and even more people left, including her closest girlfriend at the time.
   Everywhere she looked, she saw empty spaces. Church. Gymnastics. Co-op. Field trips. It wasn’t so terrible at first, until year after year, she realized things were not getting much better. Five years later, she still doesn’t feel like she has a best friend.      She still feels a brutal blow every time someone mentions their best friend. It’s not necessarily the label that gets her, but the trust, commitment and support they
have in that friend. And it’s not to say that Izzie and her best friend didn’t communicate; they did, but long distance friendships can only do so much and it’s definitely not the same as having someone physically by your side. You’d think that after five years, some girl would wander into her life and be that close girlfriend she needed. But no. Everywhere she went, it was Izzie, the oldest among all these little
kids who would rather play lava monster than sit down and talk about life. She yearned for that friendship. She needed it so badly. Soon, she started making bad choices, but she didn’t feel like she had anyone to talk to. Today, she struggles with taking captive of negative thoughts and reminding herself that she is not truly alone. She’s tired of feeling alone. She’s tired of lying to herself. She’s tired of feeling sorry for herself.
   What can she do? She can keep feeling bad for herself or she can conquer those starts and start feeling better.

​    I am Izzie.
​
   I am the girl who feels alone even when there are girls around me. The girl who is frantically trying to find a best friend. The girl who is tired of feeling down all the time and being able to cry whenever she’s alone thinking about her pitiful situation. I’m sick of this. I’m so ready to move on. The real question is “am I ready to actually take steps to change?” In the last few months, I’ve realized that God has been trying to teach me contentedness these last few years. It is not, by any means, a fun journey at all. Loss and separation are never fun. But through this, I’ve started to realize that God has been whispering to me, asking me, “Kaitlyn, am I enough?” He’s asking me, “Kaitlyn, am I enough, or do you need friends to satisfy you?” This is a continuous learning process that I’m going through, but I’ve been really thinking and trying to be content in every situation. Philippians 4:12-13 says,

​                   "In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing                                                         plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
                           I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

   See, the secret to being content is not through friends. It’s with Christ’s strength. I can’t tell you how relieved that makes me. Thank the Lord it’s not by my strength; I am so weak. The struggle is real, but so are the breakthroughs that God provides for us! You are not alone. There is always someone who shares the same struggle as you. I promise.
   Last year, we joined a sports organization and I have been SO blessed by the new friendships I’ve made. Although those friendships are still in the blooming stages, I’m excited to see what God has in store. Sometimes the best things take the longest to come around.
   What do you do when you’re feeling stuck? Do you let it drag you down or are you content with whatever God’s trying to teach you?
   I let my problems drag me down for years and let me tell you. It is so not worth it. Feeling alone? Write a list of people you’re thankful for and thank God for them. Feeling down all the time? Read God’s Word.
    It always comforts me somehow.
   Contentedness is not something that is taught in this world. It can be real difficult in this age of social media and all that FOMO. Take the time to just pause. Pause and thank God for the situation you’re in and ask Him to show you what He’s trying to teach you. Praying for you, dear friends.

About the Author
Kaitlyn is a teen SoCal gal who has a passion for Jesus, writing, photography, music and SoCal. A lifestyle blogger since 2014, she is the author of The SoCal Gal. Kaitlyn’s blog is her outlet for her love of both words and teaching, and she is inspired to use it as a way to pour into others’ lives and point them towards Christ. When not blogging, she is found immersed in a new photography project, playing volleyball with her family or checking out new music. You can follow her on Instagram or Facebook at @thesocalgalblog.