Who Invited Sarah?

Well it’s almost the end of the first month of the year and I won’t lie, it definitely has not kicked in that it is 2025. 2024 taught me a lot about what I deserve and desire in my life & 2025 has so far shown me that I am capable of getting those things, but I need to be patient and focus on things I have control of that will allow me to grow within.

I have been struggling slightly with what I wanted to talk about in my first post and since most of you who will be reading this already know me or at least about me. I want to make this a place where I can share more of my creative side that I tend to keep slightly behind closed doors. I am hoping that this will help me to focus on myself more in this new year and cultivate the interesting, creative, full of love life that I am constantly thanking God for and of course asking for more of. With that being said, Welcome to “Who Invited Sarah?”. I hope this is as fun for all of you as it is for me!

A little disclaimer: This post will probably be a bit sappy since I tend to get sentimental when reflecting. My normal posts will definitely be a bit more upbeat :).

Reflecting on 2024

I have always been the kind of person who pours out all their love and energy into others. I longed for that external validation when people thanked me for doing kind things for them, writing kind words about them, or setting aside my time to help them. It has been a struggle to realize that not everyone will give you the same energy back. I find this especially hard because I like to be that person. I find joy in making my friends feel loved and heard. The look on people’s faces when they receive a gift that has been thought about so deeply based on things they love and care about is so wonderful to me. I was always under the impression that I didn’t fit into big groups of friends, that I was too different (sounds cliché right?) for anyone to truly accept me for all of me. My social battery was rarely full and I was sad to be quite honest. It’s such a blessing to reflect on these emotions I felt for almost 23 years and realize that I have found my people.

Technically I found my people towards the end of 2023, but I think it took experiencing 2024 for me to truly appreciate them. They have welcomed me and loved me in ways I didn’t know were possible. They listen to my crazy ideas, my weird jokes, and my obsession with Spider-Man. They love my intense Halloween costumes, my style, the way I say “shut up”, and the fact that I read cheesy books about love. I have jammed out in the car with them to Charli XCX and cried with them when my grandfather died. We go to church together, we have Petty Coffee House on Saturdays, and we travel to Europe, we make fabulous videos talking in weird voices, we pray for each other, and we have so much love for one another.

I get this recurring wave of amazement that normally happens when I am blabbing on FaceTime with my mom after boxing class on Saturdays. I am truly blown away at how blessed I am. Two & a half years ago I graduated college, moved to a completely new state, not knowing anyone and for a whole year I was basically alone. I mean I had long-distance friends, shout out to y’all, I love you, but I was working 7 days a week, in the 4th biggest city in America and I had no community.

The weird thing is, that I am not upset that it happened this way. I definitely used to be. I was angry at God for not allowing me to have good things, I was sad that I was insecure and in a toxic relationship for a big part of high school and college and God didn’t give me the strength to recognize that I deserved better sooner. I was sad that people I viewed as friends kept hurting me and I wasn’t being given people who loved me. I didn’t like myself all that much either. This turned into a big ball of depression, which is not a fun time if you know what I am saying.

I am no longer upset about these things, for the most part of course (everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days). When I get these waves of amazement, I am so grateful for the things that made life hard, because, even though life is not perfect now, I am the happiest I have ever been. It makes the fact that I am surrounded by love that much better. Of course, God is still teaching me lessons (@ me two Fridays ago who cried till 4 am) and will continue to, but I am trying to view these lessons as God teaching me to put my trust in him and be patient. I feel like this is the only way I will never feel like I am settling, it is just not God’s timing yet. So to my friends, I am so very grateful for you and will continue to cherish the love we have. Y’all are my family and I love you guys to bits!

So many other awesome things happened in 2024, so come back soon for my next post: 2024 Highlights!

Hopes for 2025

My hopes for this year are pretty simple at the moment. Be happy, grow my relationship with God as much as possible, be more graceful, snuggle with Mia more (Mia is my cat for anyone who doesn’t know), be able to do a pull-up, make some happy songs my favorites for once, eat!, and work on placing all of my trust in God.

Thank you all for reading my first post!