Stay Positive. No Really, Stay Positive

Hey guys! Life is crazy isn’t it? My favorite saying is “Jesus take the wheel”. In the last year and a half I have lost everything that I held dear to me. Then I got in a car accident and lost some more things, along with temporary loss  to my right leg (my driving leg) and had to be in the hospital for a month.

Let me tell you, my name isn’t Grace for a reason. I don’t do life gracefully… Okay, shake your head now, that was lame. But in all seriousness, I don’t. I completely fell apart two different times between 2014 and 2015. I could not handle the loss that I was going through, or the life changes those brought. I know I’m not alone here. Millions of people, maybe even billions, have gone through things in their life… and they don’t handle it the best way. Well, hello, I’m Marissa Hall-Burkhart, and I do not handle life well. Correction, did not, learning how to. And I want to share with you. Because overcoming anything is 90% attitude.

I have very few people I consider family, and my pastors and their family is part of that. I’ve spent lots of time talking with them and seeking their council. One thing I would ask Pastor Dave always “How do you stay so positive when things get messy and out of control” and his answer never changed, it just took my mind wanting to hear it. He told me that he controlled what he could, and he left the rest to God. He said that stressing is pointless, it doesn’t change anything. And it takes a lot more energy to be negative than to just BE POSTIVE.

So….. fast forward to Marissa in the hospital. I was miserable. I wouldn’t work with therapy, and I just wanted to sleep. Then one day I tried and it wasn’t so bad. I tried because a physical therapist walked in my room and told me “you cannot say ‘no’ only that you will try”. So naturally, sassy me said “I probably can’t do this but ‘I will try'” with the nasty facial expressions and everything. (I’m a hot mess some days) But I actually tried. It was victorious to move my leg for the first time in two weeks. From that moment on I decided that I was going to try, and I was going to be more positive. It didn’t mean I was going to be happy about my bad situations; it meant that I was going to find joy in the pain. It meant that I was going to hold God on his promise of making all things for the good for those that love Him (Romans 8:28).

Guys, I’m not saying life is going to be exponentially perfect with a better attitude, I’m saying you will be exponentially better with a good attitude. Life is so beautiful even in the mess. Sometimes you just have to laugh. Sometimes you’ll need to cry. But either way, there is going to be a way to get through the season you’re in.

I’m praying for you today. I’m praying for those battling things. Joy comes in the morning.

<3be blessed

“Sometimes even the mightiest of us need help”

Hey guys! Wow, it has been some time since I have blogged. I got in a car accident a month ago, and I’ve been in the hospital ever since. I’m doing well though! I have had surgery to correct everything that was broken, I’m healing great from that, and kicking butt in therapy. I’ve been off of work for the month that I’ve been injured and I’ll be off until I get cleared to work again.

Through this whole month, I’ve been watching ‘Grey’s Anatomy” and I can really relate to that show (minus the part of being a kick butt surgeon.) Meredith always has her own plans. And in the beginning she is dead set on not being married, just being a surgeon. But what she realizes slowly, is that people need other people. And even the people who may be the mightiest, they need help. And it’s okay to need help. It really got me thinking….

 

I’m very independent. But this year I NEEDED my friends, my pastors, my mentors, my family to help me carry on. Since I’ve been injured I’ve needed help doing the most basic of self care.  They both have made me humble. And through both of these seasons I have realized I can make all the plans I want, but if it’s not God’s plan, it won’t be working. And even though I’m very strong and independent, I have to rely and trust in God, or else I will get confused and depressed.

Proverbs 19:21 really spoke to me. Basically, it says you can make the plans you want to, but God’s will is always going to prevail. I was making all of these plans, but it wasn’t what God wanted. I’m determined to hear Him and figure out what He wants for my life.

 

Putting my faith aside, you don’t have to believe in God to understand my post. You can not know God, and understand you can’t do this life on your own. You need your friends and family.

I have become extremely humbled. And I appreciate who I have now. I don’t want to direct God on my life, because He has more for me than I could ever ask for..

 

Before I got hurt, I was going to write about how YOU decide what your life is like by your attitude, but this hit me more. I’ll go back to that topic a different time.

 

If you feel alone, or you don’t think you need other people, or you’re down; I am praying for you. Your story can continue. You can start a new chapter.

 

<3be blessed