Welcome to a Retro-edition of Regular Girl Devos: Gather!
This month marks the 4 year anniversary of Regular Girl Devos. To celebrate, each month I will share one of my favorite past posts, adding thoughts on where my head was then and now.
I hope my recollections bring back memories of your journey over the last 4 years. I pray, as each year passes, you continue to grow more confident in God’s endless love and grace.
When I started, the publication of Regular Girl Devos took place under the banner of haveagather.com. I wanted to be just Gather, but as you might guess, I was a little late to the domain party to get that one.
Talk about being “in the soup!” From late 2018, I began my descent into a very dark rabbit hole. In later posts I will talk about, well, hint at, the emotional issues I kept stuffing into a deep mental closet, never to see the light of day.
The blogging idea came from my husband. The poor guy did not know how to help me, so I think he was just trying to distract me from my ever-deepening depression.
In my first post, Gather, I felt frustrated, sad, and angry. It was the beginning of COVID, and I have to admit, the prospect of sheltering in place for months on end seemed okay to me.
Rather than dealing with true feelings (namely my feelings), I projected these emotions on readers by incorporating an inclusive and generalized terminology:
“What comes to mind when you see the word gather? Most of us think of getting together with family or friends, and especially now, these thoughts can stir up sadness and longing.
Gather can also mean collecting as a harvest or bringing together from scattered places or sources. Gathering can describe a summoning of thoughts or strength for a purpose or activity. To draw and hold together.”
Here I am, still generalizing, but I also had a lot of questions:
“This is life. We gather beliefs, feelings, and experiences from all the places we go and the people we meet. What do we keep and what do we discard? Is there a change in us? Do we carry along negative stuff or leave it behind? Are these conscious decisions or underlying influences from those around us?”
Yeah, I was trying to figure out how to deal mentally. Being challenged, I knew I needed to change. I was reaching out because I was afraid to go on this journey alone:
“What we gather along the path of life will determine how we treat ourselves and others. God challenges you to change. Reach out and gather what you need. God is with us on our journey. Take His hand.”
And that is the beauty of blogging. There is an entire community out there to read my words. I am encouraged by followers and likes, but I keep my focus on what God has for me through this process.
My hope is, for those struggling like I do, to read my words and know they are not alone in the rabbit hole. Believe me, there is still hope. God’s mercies are new every morning!
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:23
And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.
Galatians 6:9
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