“Quiet the Noise”

Hey Guys,

How have you been? Fall is finally here! My favorite season! I can not wait to start baking and doing all of my favorite Fall activities. I do apologize for waiting so long to update but please know that while I missed writing to y’all I have been living quite the interesting life. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve written and updated you guys on life and everything that I’ve been up to but I am going to work harder on posting regularly. For those who haven’t followed me yet on my instagram @jannymari, I’ve been posting “5 minutes At A Time” videos. I’m not sure in which direction today’s post will go but I hope it turns out good. SO y’all already know grab your snacks, get comfy, tell everyone to leave you alone and let’s talk for a bit.

I had to go back and read my last post just to see what I needed to update you guys on and honestly I started to tear up. When I last wrote to y’all I was at a Crossroads and as I read the words I wrote I can’t help but praise God and feel a bit overwhelmed. Not in a bad way but in the way that I am so grateful for how much I’ve grown since that last post. I wasn’t in the best season of my life at the moment because I was mentally and physically exhausted but I can 100% say confidently that I did not end my summer the way I started it. I went to Puerto RIco, had quite the adventures, and have grown in ways I’ve always wanted to but wasn’t sure I’d ever get here.

In my last post I spoke about needing to have tough conversations and set my boundaries the way they should be set. For so long I felt like I was fighting an uphill battle that I was always losing. I felt like I was a failure because I felt like I kept failing the same test over and over again.  At some point I felt myself even getting frustrated because I kept wondering why God kept allowing me to go through the same things over and over again. I wondered when I would finally overcome this battle, this trial, this frustration. Have you ever gone through something like this? Where you wondered why you keep failing in a certain area in your life? Whether it be work, school, relationships, spiritually?

It got to the point where I questioned God and asked Him “what do I need to do to pass this?” Before you say “oh my gosh why is she questioning God” let me be the first to say it is okay to ask God for directions. It’s okay to ask Him to show you where you’re failing, where you’re lacking, and how you can overcome it. He is our Guide, our Counselor, our Help in the midst of confusion and trouble. Whenever you’re lost, don’t be afraid to call out to Him and ask Him to help you. Matthew 11:28 NKJV says: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

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That is exactly what I did, I sat down in my room; I put on My Big Girl skirt and was ready to confront myself with Him. This was not and will never be easy.  You have to be ready for the good, the bad, and the ugly. To be shown your flaws, to confront your ego and pride. You have to be ready to keep your mouth shut and humble yourself when God starts to tell you a thing or two about yourself. Trust me I try to have weekly sessions with Him where I do this and some sessions are amazing, empowering, while others leave me feeling raw and completely vulnerable. I want to say it was about a month or two ago where I told God “I’m ready to completely give in and admit that I need help getting to the top of the hill.”

I thought that I had already put everything in God’s hands before but it was in that moment where I truly surrendered and said “Your will be done.” It was in that moment of surrender that I finally felt peace. I acknowledged that no matter how I may want to do things He is the only one who knows my path and the decisions I would need to make. It felt like such a heavy burden was lifted and it was. The burden of feeling like I had to do everything and do things perfectly was gone.  I began to desire to spend more time with God and before you start to think that this happened over night it didn’t. 

I had to give up things that were causing distractions and taking time away from God in my life. I started to realize that for me to be able to hear God’s voice I had to quiet the noise of Life. You may ask “what is the noise of life?” and for me that’s everything that has been hindering God’s voice. There could be problems in your relationships, overwhelming amounts of work to get done at school, work, home, the noise of doubts and worry that the enemy throws at you, anything really that takes up too much of your time and leaves you too tired to even pray.

You see, that was my problem, I became so overwhelmed by what I thought I should do and wondering how to do it that it didn’t cross my mind that all I needed to do was ask God to help me handle it and to take over. To lead me to make the right decisions and to wait on His timing, to come to terms that I don’t have everything together and I don’t need to. It was like I was finally able to take a deep breath and breathe.

It’s funny how things come together the minute you stop trying to control the outcome of everything. God put everything in its place, from my spiritual life to the conversations I needed to have, and decisions I was worried about making.  Y’all I was finally able to set the boundaries I’ve been wanting to. I was finally able to put into words how I was feeling and not back down on those words. I’m not saying everything is perfect but there is such a beautiful peace in my life that I know this will be my best season yet. There comes a certain confidence when you become so sure of yourself, what you want, and what you will allow. As mentioned in one of my posts, “The ball is in your court.” You allow what happens and you have a say on how those boundaries are set.

Speaking of that, I actually saw a post about Boundaries today and it read:

“What is a BOUNDARY”

Be aware

Of what is 

Unacceptable and

Normalize saying no.

Do what is best for you

And know that it’s not your

Responsibility to sacrifice

Yourself for others.

I can not stress how important it is to set this boundaries on what is acceptable and what isn’t. I want to remind you that you do not always need to be IN control to TAKE control of your life. Sometimes the best choice you can make is to literally leave it in God’s hands and have Him guide you on what decisions and choices to make because He will work all things in your favor. Even if it doesn’t seem so at the moment.

Now as much as I would like to talk about so many other things that have happened I realize that they will have to be said in other posts. Just remember the noise will always be in our lives and some days it will be so loud we can barely stand it. But you have to learn how to tune it out, listen to God, and to truly listen to how you’re feeling. Today I challenge you to FIND YOUR VOICE and QUIET THE NOISE.

I leave you with this quote I read;

“He who can listen to the music in the midst of the noise can achieve great things.”

Until our next unpacking, have a great day my lovelies!

Love Always,

Janny Mari