Finding Strength in the Midst of Struggle and Weakness

        Hey! Thank you for checking out my first blog post! To start I will share a little bit about myself and then I will move into a few thoughts I had throughout the day.

        My name is Aaron. I'm 25 years old and Love living life with my amazing wife Alexandria in Ohio. I am a follower of Christ and I have a deep passion to care for people. I went to college for a few years but decided to pursue a career early before I finished. I left school and was hired on at Pepsi. I've been at Pepsi four years now and am currently a semi truck driver. I love to live life one day at a time and learn from its experiences.

Now that I have told you a little about myself let me share some thoughts I had today at work.

 Struggle.

Pain.

Hopelessness.

        What odd topics to start off a blog with right? Chances are we have all experienced these feelings though. It is very common to hold on to your struggle or pain and claim it as being your own. In the world today that is actually the "default" way to live. One of the reminders to combat this is that your struggle does not define who you are. You are more than your struggle no matter what people say.

            As a young boy I grew up believing that men should always look strong. I believed that they needed to act as if they had no weakness. After some painful life lessons and experiences I learned that I was not as strong as I thought. Hiding my weakness just left me feeling broken and hopeless inside. The truth is we are all weak. What I have found that matters is where we find our strength. I often felt like there was a hole in my heart and I tried to fill it with anything I could to feel some sort of strength again. Some examples included popularity, pornography, money, and acting like someone I wasn't just to fit in. I could not fill this hole in my heart no matter what I tried to fill it with.

           Throughout the years I have found that when I give up my struggles and weaknesses to God he fills me with a strength that I cannot describe with words. His love for me has transformed me into a completely different person. He is with me providing peace throughout tragedy. He reminds me of my identity when others try to tell me who I need to be. When the world tells me that I am not good enough I'm constantly reminded that I'm everything I need to be and more in Gods eyes. 

            With all of this being said I must remind you that struggles and hard times will not go away completely while we are on earth. The most refreshing thought to remember though is that we are meant to live for more than struggles and hard times. We were created with a far bigger purpose than to wallow in our pains.

          

            Thank you so much for reading! It is not a perfect entry and I am not the best writer. I wanted to share how God has changed my life in hopes that it may help someone else or ever spark conversation about struggles. If you have any questions or want to talk about anything feel free to reach out!