#WriterWednesday: GRATEFULNESS OPENS THE DOOR TO GOD’S GREATNESS by @ChelseaDeVries

The first day at my new job was the scariest day of my life. I wanted to quit. Yet, after bawling my eyes out and threatening my parents that I was giving up, I realized I was being a child about the whole situation. A little girl who just needed her Daddy to tell her that he believed in her and that she could do it. She could do it because she knew he would be right there with her throughout the whole training process.

Starting a new job for anyone can be scary because no one wants to be the new guy but there is something about knowing you aren’t the only newbie in the group that instantly connects you and calms every fear you are facing head on. See? That first day was just one attack after another from the enemy himself because in case you didn’t know, the enemy of our faith aka the Devil hates progress of any kind. And being that this was my first day in the adult workforce, he wanted to convince me that I could not grow as a person, overcome my fears, and silence the doubters.

Yet, once I focused on God and his grace, I knew I could not fail and even if I did fail, no one would blame me because failing only signifies that I tried a method that did not succeed but in no one does it mean that I do not have the ability through Christ to complete the job and to find a wiser, more efficient method to do the job I’ve been assigned to do.

Another thing I learned in my first four days of work in my new job was that because I was new, I would be given small responsibilities before the major ones. I wouldn’t be asked to drive Big Joe on my first day, my second day, my third day, or my fourth day. I may never have to drive Big Joe only because as long as someone working on our team is certified to drive Big Joe, then we know that specific person can handle it, and do the tasks that come with it with both ease and determination. And if an error occurs or Big Joe decides to have a technical glitch (machines have bad days, too), someone will come assist them in whatever way is necessary.

In the same way, God promises to never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He promises that through our weaknesses his strength will manifest itself (2 Corinthians 12:9). And most importantly, he promises to never leave us with more than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). He wants to see us succeed as much as we want and hope to succeed.

Now I know that my job is something to be incredibly thankful for instead of something to dread or fear. And when I feel as though my abilities are not enough, God will step in and help me with whatever task I need to do by his grace.

All I needed to do that first day was be still and know that he is God (Psalm 46:10), and trust in his grace.

 You can read my newest guest blog on Nick J Roy's site here along with all my other stuff. 

Without further ado, I'm thankful for:
1. My family (even though they can be pains in my rear at times. God knows I can be too).
2. My new job
3. That I made an honest effort toward #NaNoWriMo and started a project I wasn't confident would get off the ground
4. the few friends who always check in with me to make sure that I'm both alive...and well.
5. My dogs (OMG, my dogs are two of the greatest people to ever live...I love them so, so much!)
6. Graduating college and realizing what adulthood really means:

7. Finding a way to get paid to write aka my freelance work

8. Finding a way to keep on living without my best friend and still honor her life and her person

9. Finishing my memoir, and feeling confident with it

10. For God's grace, faithfulness, mercy, and love because I don't know where I would be without Jesus

Until next time, remember:

Love Times Infinity,

Chelsea

xoxo

God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~

#MusicMonday: Building 429's new album Unashamed will leave you encouraged, built up, and faith-filled

Today's artist is Building 429 and their new album Unashamed.  Building 429 gets it's band name from Ephesians 4:29 which reads, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
The bands members are from Snyder Baptist Church, originally from areas of North Carolina and Texas. The band consists of Jason Roy (lead vocalist), Michael Anderson (drummer), Jesse Garcia (Keyboardist and guitarist), and Aaron Branch (bass guitarist). The Christian Rock group released their 9th studio album, Unashamed on September 25, 2015. The group won the GMA Dove Award for New Artist of the year in 2005. 

Song By Song Review

    "Eyes Up":  Sometimes life is hard but when you keep your eyes up, focusing on the author of creation, hope builds and you realize you will be alright.

    "Impossible": The lead track off the album, it's based off Matthew 19:26 that says that with God all things are possible. 

    "Ocean Deep": Based on Romans 8:38-39, this song talks about how nothing can separate us from God's love despite when we think we've messed up enough that God won't love us anymore.

    "Unashamed": A song for anyone who follows the Christian faith, not religion. Anyone who will stand with God no matter how the rest of the world decides to compromise their faith. The title track off the album inspires greatly with the musicality of Simple Minds "Don't Forget About Me" despite the heavily Christian message.

    "Go": Following the Holy Spirit's direction, this song talks about the spirit-led life.

    "Earth Shaker": Similar in sound to their song, "Listen to the Sound," it's about having faith despite trying circumstances, almost the sequel to "Unashamed."

    "Hold Them Close": A song about realizing all God has done for you in this life; a song of worship to the One True King.

    "Be With Us Now (Emmanuel)": An acoustic ballad about the times we live in now; a song that is a cry in faith to God.

   "Hearts Collide": Musically, my favorite off the album because it definitely showcases a lot of alternative rock, echoes the sound of Switchfoot hits. A sequel song to "Earth Shaker."

    "Stronger": The last song on the album finishes the album on a high note. It's about seeing someone who mistreats you the way God sees them through the eyes of mercy and grace. 

Whether you are struggling to find hope or just want some new Jesus music to listen to, Unashamed is everything you need in a Christian music album. The album debuted at #2 on Christian music charts, and #11 on Billboard's Top Rock Chart.

Need more encouragement? Is Life Truly Worth Living?

Love Times Infinity,

Chelsea

xoxo

God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~

#WriterWednesday How I Succeeded at Failing (and what it taught me)

     My girl Geniveve has been gone almost two months and I still haven't finished grieving over her absence. I know she's with me and as close to me as Jesus himself but that still doesn't mean I don't miss her hugs, her smile, or how her hips never lied. Yet, it's like no one at all understands this because it's not socially acceptable to grieve over a dog like this but what people don't realize is that I saw Geniveve as a person and not a dog so I grieve over her how you would another human.

     Yet, I didn't think Geni wanted me to sit around and cry over her without moving on with my life. After all, I feel like death is just the wake-up call we need to fully embrace life.Click To Tweet This!

    So I did attempt to move on by applying for more work and I got a second part-time job with an undisclosed freelance agency. At first, I was excited because I got hired the day before my birthday (Aug. 4) and I would be paid to write just like my other job with Outloud but instead of being paid by the article, I would be paid by the word count, and the pay was very low. Because of this and the people who worked for this agency started to mistreat me and accuse me of blatant plagiarism, I decided to look for another job. I applied for ten to fifteen more freelance postings through the site Elance, and within the same day, I heard back from a guy saying I had to reach him via Skype to see if I fit the job description. I sent him a contact request and waited until 2 p.m. the next day. He finally added me and said he had to make a new job request for me and I had to apply there.

    At first, I was like wow, they are creating a special position just for me to apply to and to work. This must mean I'm really special.

    I accepted the terms of the job which included writing articles for eight hours a day, five days a week, meaning I finally found a freelance job that was full-time. I was working for a pay rate of $13 an hour. I was ecstatic and immediately thanked Jesus and Geniveve for smiling down on me.

    After the first week, the guy didn't answer me when I logged in to let him know why I couldn't work the day before. Something didn't seem right. Plus, why must we always communicate through Skype? I don't even have skype on my work computer. After tossing and turning for a good two hours, I got up and logged my computer on and found that "my boss" was logged on at 2:30 a.m.. He was located in California...this would mean, he was working at 11:30 p.m. I sent him a message that said Hello. He wrote back, "Ready to start?" At 2:30 am?! was this guy real? My intuition was screaming loud and clear, RED FLAG! GET OUT NOW WHILE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR DIGNITY!
  That Sunday (on my day off) I was logged into my work email and found that Elance was advising me to stop working on this project as there were risks with the overall account. I didn't know what they were talking about so I just kept working. I didn't want to give up and risk losing the amount of money I was making.
 
  I worked until Thursday of the next week when I received yet another email from Elance letting me know that my invoice I submitted to receive my first paycheck as a full-time writer was still unpaid and they advised that I stop working. I sent "my boss" the link to the unpaid invoice and surprisingly he ignored all messages I sent him that day. On Friday September 4, I not only quit working for the second part-time freelance job who jibbed me of pay they claimed they would pay me but I found out the full-time job I was doing wasn't even real. Even the contact information the guy provided Elance was all false and made up.

This left me feeling defeated, broken, and absolutely worthless as a writer.

     On September 1, 2015, I had set out to write a 50,000 word in 30 days. I know what your thinking: Have you lost all sense of reality? Well, of course otherwise I wouldn't consider myself a writer at all. I decided to do it both to prove to myself I could, to help myself write more freely without self-consciousness or awareness of audience, and to prep for November's NaNoWriMonth. The first four days went by with great progress and then after I lost two jobs on the same day (both of which weren't worthy of my time) and was left, once again with one job and little money from it. I just didn't know how to keep going.

    Sure, I could blame my family for not being supportive. My sisters who are overly needy but only need me for help with their homework but never for any other reason. My mom who wanted me to watch our usual shows together so the DVR didn't get too full. My dad who always needs me to do something for him or with him, who expects everyone in my family to drop everything they have planned on the days he's home so that we can hang out with him on his days off. They, have well meaning intentions of at least wanting me around, but at this time, I just wanted to accomplish something for myself because I wanted to prove that I could move on from Geniveve's death and life could go on.

Yet, once again, I failed. And this time, Geniveve wasn't here to dance for me to cheer me up or give me a hug while I cried silently in her arms. Instead, I had to find a way to pick myself up from this and go on.

I did find a way but I still can admit that I'm not fully healed from this.
Nothing bad in life has good timing and this situation was no exception. Click To Tweet This!

I had to remember that even when things in life don't make sense, God has a plan. Recently, I went applying for freelance writing jobs via other sites and I happened upon a site called guru.com. I found the guy who scammed me and his real name is Falcie B and he was from Kenya. That explains why he always sent me messages in broken English.

So I've not found more work as a freelance writer yet but I did receive plenty of opportunities in my field of public relations. I am now an intern for two separate PR firms both of which are located in Florida. I'm really excited for this opportunity to further my expertise so that I can eventually be hired for a public relations job which require 3 plus years experience in the field.

I'll save you from hearing my list of complaints about how my life isn't what I thought it would be at 24. I envisioned a whole different existence for myself. I saw myself with a husband and plenty of furry children living in California working and being successful living in a big house complete with a dance studio, a music room, and plenty of bedrooms so we always could have guests stay over. I would be driving a Purple porsche and being able to travel the world and see it.

I still have dreams of driving a car of my own but I would start with a Mazda 3. I still have dreams of seeing the world and I want to start by seeing the entire United States before I go overseas. I'm even considering making these dreams real by making GoFundMe pages for each of them so that generous strangers can consider helping me make them real. Comment below if you think I should.

I'm not someone who compares myself to other people because there is no win in comparison but I do see that most other people got a lot of help from relatives and friends of the family after graduating college. They got new cars and vacations as their grad gifts. Yet, this isn't my reality. I've always been forced to be financially independent (for the most part) and find a way to buy myself the future I desire. And of course, I know I can when I remember that my heavenly Father is the source of all provision.

These failings taught me that despite having to wait for the life I want, I should instead embrace the life I have now. After all, God's word says in 1 Cor. 2:5: So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men (human philosophy), but in the power of God.

 In October, I'm going to attempt again at writing my 50,000 novel in 30 days. Please stand with me by sharing this post with anyone you can think of.

Before I leave you with a final thought, I promise I will try to blog more because I appreciate all of you that read my posts and share words of encouragement. Also you can now follow my Blog on BlogLovin' through your email so you never miss a post. See the sidebar or go here to follow: https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/welcome-to-my-life-14441135

     Until next time, remember: God not only sees where you are, He sees where you can be. -Joyce Meyer. Click To Tweet!

     When nothing in your life makes sense, trust God anyway. -Joyce Meyer Click To Tweet!

Love Times Infinity,

Chelsea

xoxo

God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~

#WriterWednesday: Amazing News To Share; I Got a Job

To read my article, please Click here!

I'm honored that my first ever freelance article was a review of Tori Kelly's debut album. She's one of my faves right now. I love everything she writes about and stands for. She's an inspiration of mine.

All the glory be to God in this moment. I am so thankful I get to do what I love to do for a living now. I'm still working on getting a public relations job or internship in the meantime. Lord, thank you for loving me!

If you need a job, say this out loud right now:

Lord, according to your Word, those who trust you lack no good. A job is good. So I am not going to worry about it, I know that you have the perfect job for me. I believe I receive my perfect job right now in the Name of Jesus. 

Love Times Infinity,

Chelsea

xoxo

God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~

#WriterWednesday: God's grace is Enough

I have to be honest here and say I thought about this blog as I went to sleep last night and now that I've slept on the idea, I know you need this message as much as I do. 

I'm sure if you read my blogs that means that you either are interested in what's going on in my life or you have some type of faith in God. Beyond that, I'm sure you've heard it said in church that God's grace is sufficient. I know I've really been studying grace more lately, and sometimes I still don't understand how God's going to turn my situation around. Let me explain.

Recently, I finally got my degree from Saint Leo (don't worry, I'm working on a video for you) so I'm officially qualified for my field or so I thought. Yet, the problem I'm facing is that no one is hiring me because I only have a year's worth of Public Relations experience. Yesterday, I got two rejection emails:

Normally, I wouldn't even sweat it but there are many reasons why those two emails caused me to feel a lot of discouragement fairly quickly:

1. I've been unemployed for over a year and don't want to do free work anymore...

2. I want to move out of my parent's house and out of state. (The better PR work states are NY and CA, and TX is a runner up).

3. I really wanted either of those positions because you can work from home (I am without proper transportation so working from home suits me best).

Yet, it's apparent that I'm going to have to keep doing internships in order to build up my resume and years of experience in order to have job. It's just hard to find an internship that pays.

Last night, I realized something profound. God may not have given me these jobs to protect me, and because he has something better. I also have to remember that Plan A of my life plan is to be a writer, and I do need to work on my proposal for my memoir. Being a publicist is my Plan B.  Last night, I went to sleep knowing God's grace is enough in this situation. 

So whatever need you are facing today, whether it be employment, a good break, health restored, a relationship restored, finances, or even just the strength to make it through the season you are in, please hear me when I say, God wants to hear from you about that need, and he wants you to leave it at his feet. After all the battle is not yours, but God's. Do not be afraid. (2 Chronicles 20:15)

I have faith that my time is coming and someone will take a chance on me. 

Until next time, remember: Now I’m turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends. -Acts 20:32

Love Times Infinity,

Chelsea

xoxo

God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~

#WriterWednesday: One Year Ago Today

According to Facebook, one year ago today I had just returned from my beach vacation with my sisters and Mom.... On this blog, http://chellyzlife.blogspot.com/2014/05/living-that-beach-bum-life-my.html the pictures tell a story of love and friendship between my sisters and I.

One year ago, I was in the same boat. Living at home, looking for just the right job but willing to do just about anything to have a job in general, and working on my book. Today, I'm still in the same boat but now I've finished school and no longer owe Saint Leo anything, not a dime or ounce more of my time. Yesterday, I finished my novel after 3 years of strenuous work and self-doubt. Lately, I've been a little down at the fact that I've realized so many girls I know now are married and have started families of their own (including girls from high school who mocked me when I told them that I believed true love is real).

Isn't it funny how things change but things also still appear to look the same?

Yet, things have changed.

I got smarter.
My heart grew a bit harder and eventually stronger.
I finally let go and walked away.
I accomplished one of my life goals of graduating from college.
I accomplished another by writing a book that will speak to millions.
I may not have a job but I put positive efforts toward my future every day.
I've become more merciful toward others because I've gone through similar things.
And in the midst of all these things, I've learned that trusting God is the only real thing I can do.

Until next time, remember: I'm living proof that grace always wins. -Matthew West

I'd love to hear how you've grown as a person in the comments below. Any change big or small is proof of growth. Celebrate it.

Love Times Infinity,

Chelsea

xoxo

God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~

#WriterWednesday: What My College Experience Taught Me

In case you haven't heard, I finally did it. I graduated from college. My overall experience taught me a lot and today I'd like to share those lessons with you.

With God, Nothing is Impossible

I struggled in every way a person can struggle through my five years in college. I first struggled with living away from home. Then, I struggled with making friends, struggled with finding a job, struggled with balancing work and school, struggled wth figuring out that I didn't want to be an accountant, struggled with my health, struggled with the finances to pay for school, and lastly, I struggled with not giving up and quitting. Without God, I don't think I ever would have made it through. Now, I truly believe that nothing is impossible with God.

Friends Come and Go

Sadly, I feel that most of the friends I ended up making during my college years were fickle and didn't end up becoming life-long friends. Yet, I've found peace about this because I've started praying for divine connections which are friends that God gives you that understand and support the person God is making you to be. Thankfully, when you trust God in all areas of your life, he always comes through at the right time and never lets you down.

Money is important but never meant to take the place of God

Money was something I went to college with and ended up watching it get vacuumed out from under me until I was left in the quicksand that is debt. And being in debt before you even graduate college is not fun at all nor is it something I recommend. 

Some suggestions I have for young people going off to college: 

1. Get a job while you are in high school so you always have a job when you come home on breaks and for the summer, or at least experience to build a resume and a reference.

2. Sow some, spend some, save most.

One principal I live by is giving God 10% of all income I get, and spending what is necessary to spend in order to treat myself, and saving the rest in order to build interest. I won't bore you with a post about the different forms of money-saving options but I will say to do your own research. It will be worth it in the long run.

3. Use your college fund solely for college

4. Talk to your roommates. See what they have before purchasing stuff for on or off campus housing.

Despite money being a necessary form of transaction between you and your college education; don't ever serve money. Always be a giver in order to take away from being a slave of money. If you believe in God and have Jesus as your savior, God redeemed us from the curse of poverty and lack.

Trust me, God can provide wherever there is a need and even if it looks like there is no way.

Stressed? Talk to Somebody or go workout at the gym

My college experience was uber stressful. I coped by praying and spending time in God's word. There were some things I didn't take lightly in college: my near-death experience, a fallout with one of my best friends and one of the first guys I fell in love with. These things required me to go see a counselor, and after I did, I was able to slowly rise above those traumatic experiences and also find the good in them. One thing I did when I was having roommate problems was always going to the gym instead of lashing out at my roommates. Trust me, putting all that negative energy into a workout is an instant stress reliever.

My college experience taught me not only a lot about my career field but about people, about living on my own, about how strong I can be when it seems everything is against me, and how unforgiveness and bitterness left to fester will make you sick.

Until next time, remember: The things that set you apart from the pack, the things that you once thought were your weaknesses, will someday become your strengths. -Taylor Swift

The criticism born of other's insecurities? Ignore that. You don't need anyone telling you what your style, substance, or happiness should look like. You can be the judge of that. - Lena Dunham

Love Times Infinity,

Chelsea

xoxo

God Bless!

~Just Keep Swimming~