Unapologetically You.

"Wisdom in wise counsel"

That's a phrase that has given me more gray hairs then any almost 21-year-old should have. For me, that phrase says, "Ask every single person that you respect what you should do and then take all the advice they give you and merge it somehow so that no one gets upset that you didn't take their advice". 

I realize now that I sound clinical and should probably get some help....

anyways....this is a battle that I have had to fight for a very long time. A battle that has warred in my mind for so long that any decision I have to make outside of dinner plans has me turned into a vibrating ball of anxiety. So naturally, I've been handling decisions in college super well....Coming home to finish school has brought on a whole new onslaught of decisions and a new group of people who love me far more than I deserve who have so much wisdom that I honestly get overwhelmed. 

I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted and my own mind has drowned out the still, small voice that has guided me this far. The one person that has been constant in all the chaos. The unifier of my passions and my calling. The creator and lover of my soul. The knower of my future. The giver of wisdom. The Prince of Peace. My eternal love. My Savior. 

Today, He shouted a little bit louder and I heard Him. I heard Him ask me to be unapologetically me. To take what He has given me and what He has blessed me with and where He has led me and live it unapologetically. The wise counsel He has surrounded me with is just that, counsel. Which by definition means, "advice, especially given formally". And just to break that down a little further, Advice means, "guidance or recommendations concerning prudent future action. typically given by someone considered knowledgable and authoritative". 

I have been surrounded by some great advice and counsel by wise people who have guided me with grace and humility and love. However, as much as I love those people and how much I value them and will continue to seek their advice, they are not God. The large unknown that is my future is just as unknown to them. They have the same facts I do. They face the same sin I do. They face the same weakness I do. They are fallen people. Just. Like. Me.

The people pleasing part of me struggles with making decisions because I've had different advice from different people and I want them all to be proud of me. This battle, is all in my mind. They are proud of me for following Christ and their only mission is to guide those efforts. Friends, know this, wise counsel is good, but it is not wise and it is not counsel if those people make you feel like less of a person or not as valuable to them if you don't take every piece of advice they offer you. If that is what they are doing they stop becoming sources of wise counsel and become "me-monsters" with a "god complex" who want to place their brand of success on you. 

You can be loving and unapologetic. You can listen to wise counsel and value the people around you and be bold in your calling. You are built to please an audience of one, and that's already done. You are beloved. You are cherished. You are powerful. You matter. 

Boldly. Passionately. Lovingly. Unapologetically. 

Follow Christ.