by Maddie

A lot’s happened in the past week. I finished my finals, which also means I’ve completed my last full semester of college. I also went on a date... …and came back with an amazing BOYFRIEND! Yes, that’s right folks, Maddie Miller is now “in a relationship”. I better change my Facebook status. So, like I said, a lot’s been happening. A lot of good things . But that can mean changes. I don’t like change. I know most of us don’t, but I really despise it. I know part of it’s my O

Sometimes I don’t know what to write about. I really don’t. All I can do is look outside, searching for inspiration in the creation outside my window. And I find it. Or, more accurately, God gives it to me. He breathes creative life into my lungs, His Spirit whirling in the wind. Speaking of the wind… today’s post is a bit different– it’s a poem... Blooms in the Wind I lay upon a grassy knoll and gaze. I behold youthful blooms, so fresh, so new. Like rainbows, blossoms sway

I’ve never been good at waiting. Maybe I should blame my parents, spoiling me like the only-child princess that I was (and am). Or maybe I should blame my anxiety– taking away my self-control in a fight-or-flight induced angst. Or maybe I should just blame myself. Because really, I don’t like to wait. I want what I want when I want it (aka now! ) It’s how I am, in all my sinfulness and imperfection. And let’s be honest, it’s how you are too. Waiting is not something any of us

I don’t have classes today. Praise the Lord. The semester is winding down, I know that, but it feels like every day is such a chore. I’ve been counting down the weeks for, well, weeks, and now I’m down to days. I’m so ready. For my fellow collegiates, I sense you feel my pain. But really, I think we can all relate to this count-down mentality. I certainly do it all the time; what about you? On Monday, we count the days till the weekend. Or, we countdown for the next holiday,

I was going to write about depression, then I realized that this post is technically my Easter post. And Easter, I hope we can all agree, is not supposed to be depressing. Good Friday, yes, that is sad, but the story doesn’t end with suffering. Nope, definitely not. The cross becomes a Heavenly crown, the grave becomes a garden of love, death becomes life. And we, friends, go from sinners with no hope to saved saints with no fear. Our God is good. (Understatement of the centu

I wish I was a hero. You know, like in the stories—a brave protagonist who saves the day. Not a knight in shining armor, though, because I’m a girl. And while I would love to be a Disney princess, I’d be a heroine version. A brave princess. I’d traverse the lands, battling evil with a pen instead of a sword. Because that’s the thing; I don’t want to be this vengeful warrior who slaughters any and all things that cross her path. I’m much more of a gentle soul than that. I’d ra

It’s been a crazy week… in the best possible way. I met a guy. A really good, Godly guy. Today is technically our one week-iverasry since meeting. (Yes I told him– I don’t care if it's cheesy– and yes he texted me “happy anniversary” this morning. Told you he’s awesome.) I did not expect this to happen. We met on a Christian dating app– one that I had been on before and did not want to go back on. But a friend convinced me to try one more time… Wow, am I glad that I did. He

What’s your favorite song? Do you have an all-time favorite, or are you like me, whose favorites shift as regularly as the seasons? I’m going between a few right now. Sean Curran’s 1000 Names is currently tied with Katie Nicole’s In Jesus Name . You should seriously consider listening to them because they’re AMAZING. They are my fear fighting songs right now, and I'm pretty sure I’d be a mess without them. If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know that fear is something

There are many things I could write about today. I’ve been racking my brain trying to decide. I’ve been so distracted this morning that I put my pants on backwards and I was this close to putting salt in my tea instead of my oatmeal. You’ll be happy to know that I’ve decided; I’m going to write about what everyone else is– Will Smith. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know exactly what I’m referring to here: Smith and Rock and a certain physical altercation

Spiritual warfare is no joke. Okay, so I knew it wasn’t a joke, but until yesterday, I’d forgotten just how potent it is. Since Friday, I’d been feeling… off . I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it knew my mood shift occurred after a lovely chat with my favorite professor. I was updating her on all of my business endeavors, sharing my excitement and joy. After that call, I felt deflated– and I didn’t know why. My weekend was spent trying to simultaneously ignore and fix my a

When you wake up in the morning, how long do you stay happy? Maybe I should ask it this way– how long before the stressors of the day start bombarding your mind? I last a good two minutes. Maybe three, if it's a good day. My anxiety is always bad in the mornings. Not a fun way to start the day, right? Although, I’ve realized that once I get working, I’m fine. It keeps my mind occupied and I feel all nice and productive. The issue is before , before I start working, that is. M

You know that saying, Rome wasn’t built in a day ? I don’t know if it’s because I’m reading Percy Jackson (or rereading , for the third time, to be precise), but Greco-Roman history has been on my mind. Don’t worry though; this is not a history lesson. All I’m going to say is this: Rome was not built in a day. Understatement of the year, right? I think we expect this, though; we want things to happen instantly. I’m learning this the hard way. As many of you know, I’ve recent

Resilience: (noun), an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change ( Merriam Webster ) . This is what I want for myself– to be as resilient as the crocuses sprinkling my backyard. If you don’t know, crocuses are these cute little flowers, and for me, they represent the birth of spring. They come up ‘wild’ in our yard, probably planted long ago, not restrained to flower beds but popping up wherever they please. I always look for them, come springtime. I s

I was out late last night. I’m feeling it today. It’s probably not what you think. Let me clarify: By “out,” I mean at my grandpa’s birthday party. “Late,” is 8:30. And “feeling it” refers to introvert burnout. Have you heard of that? How introverts get drained by socialization? Probably. Let’s take it one step further then. Have you heard of HSP? I’m an HSP– highly sensitive person. If this is a new term for you, and if you get easily anxious like me, it might be worth some

I didn’t forget about you, don’t worry. Maybe you didn’t even notice (but I hope you did) that there was no blog post yesterday… or Tuesday. I’ve decided to quit Tuesdays and Thursdays. Well, not quit, per say, but not blog on those days. In fact, I’m doing the opposite of quitting– I’m devoting those days fully to my copywriting business. I’m glad I took this week to figure things out. Spring break has been good time. No, I may not have vacationed or partied, but I did send

I’m going to try to write faster. Or, type faster, if I’m being exact. Remember those typing classes we used to have in school? If you’re my age, you were probably practicing on a computer. If you’re my mom’s age, it was a typewriter. Do they still teach typing today? I remember playing those typing games, where you’d have to type the ‘q’ if you wanted to defeat the aliens or swim away from the big fish. It’s kind of odd that those games were always based on fear. Don’t be i

Do you ever just want to tell yourself to shut up? Me too. It’s been one of those days. Anxiety can be brutal. And to be honest with you, I don’t really feel like writing right now. What I want to do is curl up in a ball on my bed. I want to lie there, staring out into space, until I fix all of my fearful thoughts. All the things that are bothering me. Because I think that’ll do it– just sit down for a few minutes and my thoughts will untangle themselves from the giant knot

Remember One Direction? (If not, please google! They’re gonna be important today.) Their songs have been stuck in my head all day. Yep, that’s right; back in the day, I was a secret One Direction fan. Niall was my favorite, in case you were wondering. Every so often, I guess my pre-teen self wants to resurface and does so by planting oh-so-swoon-worthy lyrics in my head. Today, I woke up with ‘She’s Not Afraid’ playing on a continuous loop. So… Get ready to Jesus-ify this b

I have a Hebrew exam today. Forgive me if this post is a bit short. Or abnormal. Or if I randomly start typing Hebrew characters instead of English. I’m particularly concerned about this exam because our study guide alone has 538 words. God help me. During our review, even my professor was forgetting words. Again– God. Help. Me. And He will. It may not be in the way you’d think; I may not ace this exam. But God has already helped me with something more important than a grade:

I cut my head while brushing my hair this morning. Wonders never cease. I have no idea how I did it, and I had no idea hair maintenance could be so dangerous. As I was tending to my wound (okay, that may be dramatic, but stay with me…), it made me think of something: Weird things happen all the time. I’ll give you another example. Last night, I was perusing Facebook, looking for groups that related to businesses, marketing, and copywriting. I may have gone a little overboard,