simply homemaker

Hello there! Another week, another blog 🙂

Today is Wednesday, and we had a product testing day at work this morning, so I woke up at 5 and was at the office by 7AM. I came home at 3 and took a 2-hour nap because that was very long. And then I woke up and Ken had made steak for dinner, so we had that. And then mama and I brought our iced tea to grandma’s house just next door (Betty’s house) and we played Rummikub with Betty and Katie. Betty gave me a homemade cookie and told me about how her mom bought this house in the 1950s!

And I had such a sweet night because I went ahead and did 5 homework assignments in a row on Monday afternoon so I no longer have homework due for tomorrow night. You know, balance.

On the weekends, I hop on the plane and get minimal sleep trying to get out of cities first thing in the morning. During the week, I take afternoon naps, have dinner, play games, call my friends, and pack for my trip to Switzerland. I spent last weekend visiting my brother and we went to Disneyland! It was such a sweet time spent together and I truly am so thankful to have my family.

Today I got my Swiss visa and bought new suitcases for my trip, which made the reality of coming to Switzerland suddenly very real. Looking at everything right now, I will be very broke in Switzerland and when I get home, but I am excited to be experiencing Europe in my 20s and have an amazing educational experience. And I do really enjoy having to be creative with making food at home so I can eat nutritiously on a budget. And if anything this teaches me to rely on the Lord for all things and be thankful for the little I have.

Today, I would like to write about making decisions that glorify the Lord and the daily rhythm of walking with Him.

By writing this, I’m by no means saying I’m an expert at hearing His voice and living according to His Word. I’m a student and learner in this lifelong journey, and I still have a long way to go. But as I am practicing these things in my own life, I want to share with you so we can find peace and confidence in Him who alone gives peace and is the reason for true confidence.

1. Quiet the outside voices so you can hear Him clearly

I cannot tell you the number of times I thought I was listening to wise voices and then found out that I wasn’t. This alone has become something I truly examined over the past 2 years and wanted to make major changes to.

I told you a couple months ago that I went ahead and deleted my Instagram. Well, this past week, I deleted my Facebook too, and that was a bigger deal because I have a lot of family and church family connections. However, I’m trusting that the Lord will make a way for me to know the things I need to know and teach me to be intentional about connecting with others. Like today my mom learned how to send an iMessage for the first time and I never thought she’d know how to do that. For many years, social media has been a great way for me to share my life and connect with others, and I’ve truly learned a lot and gained much inspiration from the content I chose to consume with intention. However, I’m at a place in my life where social media is not serving me anymore, and it’s making more noise than meaningful contributions to my quality of life. So I decided that I don’t need it. Not just a break, but truly not needing it and freeing more space for other things. For God.

You might call it extreme or whatever you want to, but when things get between me and the Lord, I think I simply just need to cut it out and be obedient in that way. And I know this will do more good than bad.

2. Find good sources of input

I have always been a reader, but this summer has presented even more opportunities to read, and I’m surrounded by good readers (who choose good books and actually read them all). So as a result I am replacing the content I’m no longer consuming by cutting out social media with content that is good, recommended, meaningful, and rich. I also enjoyed going back to the workplace this summer and being around people much older. Somehow I always feel more mature when I’m with people older; I think they just bring out the best in me. Or the fact that I’m 33 at heart, there’s that too. The point is you have to remove the junk to make space for the better. Having a sound and pure mind creates a clean slate for the Lord to work with, a simplified heart that is ready to hear Him. Removing clutter and replacing it with good organization and rhythms are the first step of moving toward something better, something you actually want.

3. Pray

This summer I am also reminded to pray bold prayers, and believe God is behind it all. There is beauty in the waiting, stacking stones so that He can build a palace with what you are placing down. And those stones are the prayers you utter with a sincere heart when you are going about your life seeking to glorify Him in all you do. And one thing I’m reminded of in this season is to always seek the prayers of the righteous, for these are effective prayers. I have always been a not very private person, and am just very naturally open about my life, but I realized that the prayers of the unrighteous are not effective. Yes, there are friends and family to share things with, but it’s different to seek prayers from those you truly trust to have a relationship with the Lord. If anything, God calls us to pray in the secret room, calling on Him and speaking with Him in private. That has been a huge learning curve for me this year as well.

4. Do not be anxious

This is the last and truly the hardest item. To follow Him you cannot be anxious, otherwise you’re paralyzed. It is a direct command from Jesus to not be anxious about anything, and Jesus has been so firm in the Scriptures that His followers are to not be afraid. I think society has implicitly taught us that anxiety is good because it gets stuff done and because by controlling everything you’ll get what you want. But what if you don’t know what you truly want? What if God has better things than you can ever ask for or imagine?

I’m learning that, today. To live with joy and faith. To truly know that He has been there, my past, present, and future, and He knows. God knows. My fears, my worries, what makes me happy, what I need or do not need.

Of course it is really easy to be anxious. If it was not such a temptation Jesus would not have commanded against it so many times. But I think because it’s so important it’s something Christians ought to pursue more seriously, a life of surrendering all worries and fears at the cross.

For perfect love casts out fear.

It’s getting late here (9:28), and I need to go to bed. Only three weeks left of this internship, and then I spend a couple weeks in Fort Worth before flying to Switzerland. It will still be a busy time, but I have made up my mind to make it one to glorify the Lord.

Thank you for being here, as always! This coming weekend, I’m taking an adventure out to Oahu, Hawaii, and I’m really excited to see some (little) friends and explore the island! Please pray I get on my flights and the Lord goes before me on this trip!

Love,

Tram