Anxiety during Senior Year

Two months into my senior year of college, I am having some serious flashbacks to how

I felt my senior year of high school. The future seems so demanding and I can’t even

think about what I am going to eat for lunch tomorrow without getting stressed. I

immediately turn to calendars and planning out each day down to the minute to try and

find some sort of stability in a phase of such uncertainty.

In some of the more anxiety-filled moments, I love listening to the song “Captain” by

Hillsong United. Part of the chorus says:

“Like the stars Your Word will align my voyage,

And remind me where I’ve been and where I am going

Lost in the shallows amidst fear and fog,

Your truth is the compass that points me back north”

These lyrics remind us that the Lord has a plan for our future even when all we see in

front of us is fog and confusion. The song echos Proverbs 3:5-6 promising that God can

be trusted even when we can’t make sense of the situation. As an added bonus, He directs

us through the future as we remain focused on Him.

I wish I could tell you exactly what next year holds for you and what your life will look

like in 5 years, but there is so much beauty found in taking each day boldly, trusting that

your future will work out just fine- not because of incessant planning, but because you

are the daughter of a Father who delights in laying the path before you.
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This post was originally written by Jordan and published in 2015 and remains one of our highest read posts. Today we wanted to re-post this for all of our senior ladies who may be struggling with anxiety during this time of the year. We love you and are praying for you!

Renewing Hope Conference (Georgia)

The Renewing Hope Conference will take place Saturday, October 22nd, 2016 at Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell from 8-5pm. The cost is $25 per person. We invite middle/high school aged girls and their care takers to join us for the fun event meant to equip everyone with tools and resources. We will be addressing eating disorders, sexual addiction, pornography addiction, self-harm, depression, coping as a non-Christian/Christian girl with these issues, merging back into life after inpatient care, internet safety, making healthy friend choices, making peace with food, and as well as many other topics. Both the girl and adult chat groups will be led by licensed Christian therapists from our local area who specialize in these topics so you are free to say and ask what you want! This is a one of a kind girl event so bring your friends and get empowered!

Want to find out more information? Check out the Facebook page for Renewing Hope Conference by clicking HERE.

Grace Engaged loves to encourage opportunities for high school women to gather locally. Please note that we are not endorsing these events in anyway but are simply bringing them to the attention of our community. Grace Engaged will only list events that share our statement of belief. For a complete listing of all local events please click HERE.

Asking "Why Me?" and Finding Hope

Hey friends, Have you guys even been through a hard trial in your life and think, "why me?" There is always the BIG "why me?" after anything goes wrong in your life. What we don't know is that while we are engaging in our pity party, God has a bigger plan. God teaches in mysterious ways and He gets us prepared to teach and shine His light by having us going through trials. 

Let's face it, who is going to want to listen to a Christian evangelize that has never had a single bad thing happen to them. You won't be able to be relate or even be able to sympathize. People listen to people who they can relate to and they can share how they overcame their struggles. They want to know how we are still positive after we have gone through such hard times, and that is when you can share the love of Jesus Christ! 

All my life I have been down on my learning disability and I have felt so alone as a child because no one else I knew had dyslexia. I would always ask God, "why me?" I absolutely hated the fact I had it. I still have times when I get really down on myself, but, for the most part, I am extremely thankful to God for allowing me to have it. Instead of looking at it as a bad thing I look at it with a positive mindset! I am the person I am today because of it and I have been able to encourage many people who struggle with school as well. Satan wants me to be down on myself but God wants me to be victorious, be a fighter, and an evangelist. When I was younger I would never think I would be saying I am thankful for God giving me dyslexia, but as I have grown up and have had more experiences I would not trade it for the world. Next time you get down on yourself or go through a tough time in your life, try to have a positive mindset about it and think of all the people who have also gone through the same thing. You can shine God's light too and show them how much God loves them!  Till next time 

Prayer for a New School Year

Happy Tuesday friends! We hope that you had a wonderful long weekend! At the start of a new school year we wanted to share a prayer that is the heartbeat of our community and that we pray for each of you. We pray that this reminds you that as you embark on this new school year and season that you are not alone. God is with you in each and every class, every hallway, and every situation that you encounter this year. May you fall more in love with Him and who He is in the days, weeks, and months to come. You can do this!! Let us make this year the best one yet!

God, we ask for your help as we start this new school year. Give us grace for the days before us and strength for the school year as we take one day at at time. In the midst of the schoolwork, the requirements, the after-school activities, the work that is before us we ask that you show yourself in new and mighty ways this year. Show us the purpose that you have for us this year. Show us how we can have an impact on our worlds for you. Let us see the joys and challenges that we will experience as unique opportunities to fall more in love with you and to have an opportunity to share your love with others. Give us strength for our studies and the wisdom on how to do our best. Give us an open heart to see those who are broken and hurting around us so that we may show your grace and love to each person. Give us your eyes and a vision for this year that goes above and beyond anything we can think or imagine. We love you our precious Savior. Thank you that you promise to go before us, never leave us, and strengthen and equip us for the journey before us this year. Amen.

A New School Year Begins (and Scripture Memory Verse for September)

Welcome Back!! We hope you had a wonderful summer and we are so excited to connect here together in this upcoming year! We have been praying for you as some of you have started and been in school for a couple of weeks, for those who just started this week, and for those that have yet to begin. What an amazing year the Lord has in store for us coming up!

As we shared last year, one of the heartbeats of Grace Engaged is the scripture memory program that we hope y'all will join in with each month! Each school year we will be picking one "theme" to look at in scripture. Last year our theme was "grace" and this year we have chosen "purpose". For the month of September we will be memorizing a portion of one of my favorite verses- Psalm 138:8 which states, "The Lord will fulfill His purpose for you."

What a beautiful verse to ponder and think about as we start this new school year. A year filled with unknowns and unexpected things ahead. A year that will be filled with highs and some lows and a year that we have an opportunity to fall more in love with the Lord and to share that love and grace to each person we encounter.

This verse is such a beautiful verse to memorize as we embark on this new adventure of this year. God has amazing things in store for you and you have a unique purpose that He has created you for. 

Throughout this month of September, let us memorize this verse and imprint it on our hearts. Let's pray for the Lord's guidance to show us what purpose He has in store for this year and in each of our lives. We are so excited to connect here with you and jump into this new school year! We are cheering you!