My Account
$0.00 Cart
  • About
    • Meet the Team
  • Resources
    • Learn
    • Get Help
    • Podcasts
  • For Parents
    • Crisis Toolkits
  • Stories
Menu
  • About
    • Meet the Team
  • Resources
    • Learn
    • Get Help
    • Podcasts
  • For Parents
    • Crisis Toolkits
  • Stories
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Connect
  • Donate
Menu
  • Blog
  • Media
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the Team
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Crisis Toolkits
  • Events
  • Stories
  • Blog
  • Connect
  • Media
  • Donate
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the Team
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Crisis Toolkits
  • Events
  • Stories
  • Blog
  • Connect
  • Media
  • Donate
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the Team
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Crisis Toolkits
  • Events
  • Stories
  • Blog
  • Connect
  • Media
  • Donate
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the Team
  • Resources
    • Podcasts
    • Crisis Toolkits
  • Events
  • Stories
  • Blog
  • Connect
  • Media
  • Donate

Why I Needed Quarantine

  • By Girl Above
Share on facebook
Share on google
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

When you first see this title, it might seem insensitive to say that I needed quarantine. This time of isolation was caused by a global health crisis and response that is definitely on a much grander scale than my needs. However, I think this title accurately represents how God can use an international problem to meet us right where we are and hold our hearts at that moment. 

I just finished my senior year and graduation is coming up in two weeks instead of almost a month ago. Our prom was canceled, and the last two months of classes shifted online rather than in-person to make memories and gain closure for the high school experience. My mission trip to Africa was canceled, trips I had planned over the summer can’t happen, and the reality is that the beginning of my college experience is still unknown. So how can I say that I needed quarantine when it was the cause of so many losses?

I needed unique circumstances to realize that my heart is held and healed by the God who remains in control of it all, even though that lesson may have come at a hefty price. 

Let me share some background info. At the beginning of the year, I packed my schedule to the brim and pushed myself to exhaustion every day with no real sense of refueling. Even though I was spending time on “good” things (school, spending time with friends, staying active, working hard on homework, going to school sporting events, and attempting to fit in family time), all of it combined was no longer “good.” A couple of weeks before quarantine hit my area, I found myself being pushed to tears every day from complete emotional or physical exhaustion. I remember, at one point, telling my mom, “I need it all to stop. Everything has to stop, but I know that could never happen.” 

It’s crazy how God turns “that could never happen” to “this is reality.” I also realize that looking back at this time in my life. I had a lot of unprocessed events and burdens that I was carrying. Some I knew I hadn’t come to terms with, and others were under the surface, beyond what I could see in myself. Those burdens included a chronic health condition, scars from toxic relationships, and loss of dreams and goals. 

 As you read this, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on where your heart was before quarantine began. If it was great, that’s awesome! God still had and has a purpose for this season. If it was a struggle, maybe you found some of the peace at this time as I did. I also encourage you to reflect on what burdens you carry or unprocessed events that can take up physical and emotional energy. You might be surprised at what you find.

As the first weeks of quarantine began, I was at a loss for what my senior year was becoming. A lot of tears and loneliness and asking the question of “why?” filled those days. But there is something powerful in being forced to face struggles within your headspace: Just you and God. Quarantine was an unprecedented time with very few ways to distract yourself from your emotions. There were some tough things about this season. After my Africa trip was canceled and learned we would not be returning to school, I was devastated. I wasn’t thanking God for his goodness at the moment. But over time, God grew a new attitude in my heart. 

These are some of the ways I felt God develop strength in my heart:

  • Taking joy in the little victories. There are times that the circumstances of life bring us to our knees. Most of us have probably experienced this in the past few months. And when it feels like you have hit rock bottom, you get a better view of what it means to be higher on the mountains, and those are things to celebrate. For example, there were days when eating lunch was the highlight of the day! Or getting through a school day without crying. And finding someone to celebrate those victories with you makes it even better. 
  • Letting go of things one cry at a time. There are many different kinds of people, and some may not relate to this as much. But for me, at this time, I found strength each time I cried about something. I held it in for so long and held back tears for so long that finally letting them out became recognition of what’s in my heart and the acknowledgment that those emotions are worth being felt. And by finally expressing what I had been carrying, I finally let them go. 
  • Realizing processing is worth it. There are some things that crying can help but other things that require more in-depth “soul work” to address and find healing. A girl with a busy schedule places to be and goals to achieve can convince herself that doing this type of work isn’t worth it. I came to that conclusion before the quarantine. But the reality is that I needed healing more than I ever realized. We are more equipped to pursue our passions and attend to others when we have addressed whatever is burdening our hearts. And no matter how long you distract yourself or hide, the reality is, there is no lasting replacement for healing. And no true healing can come other than from the Great Physician. 
  • Finally taking the time to read the Bible and spend time in His Word. I have been a Christian my whole life, but I never found time to spend time in the Word until quarantine happened. It is no coincidence that it was also the time that I felt more peace and healing than I had in a long time. So find a bible reading plan, pick a time of day, get a devotional, team up with a friend, find whatever helps you commit to reading the Bible, and making it a source of rest.

Quarantine was undoubtedly a gift, but why should it take a global pandemic to tend to my emotional needs? To whoever needs to hear this today, it is OK to find healing. It is OK to need healing. It’s an authentic and human quality. Society has been very successful in creating a standard that you must keep going full throttle, 24/7, 365. And if you feel emotions, you can be strong and keep going and add more to your schedule. “Just do more.” And if you’re like me and have bought into that theory long enough, you’ve realized your tank can’t run on empty forever.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea: learning to tend to your soul. It’s essential to see yourself as God’s creation and to respect yourself as such. From a place that recognizes our worth as a daughter of God, we can overflow God’s love to others. Self-care is a thing, and if done with the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, it can renew your peace. One of the most critical steps to self-care that I’ve realized is acceptance. Acknowledge where you are and accept it without judgment, and then you can work to enter that headspace and speak God’s truth into it. But until you face and accept what’s on your heart, you’ll never process it and move forward. 

These invaluable life lessons are why I needed to experience quarantine. They’ve been waiting for me all along, but it took something pretty drastic for me to acknowledge them and realize my limitations finally. I hope that in your own life, you can find peace, healing, and rest.  

Written By: Meghan Otte

Related Posts

I Wanted to Be Beautiful but Didn’t Believe I Was

2 Ways to Deal With Comparison

Expecting the Unexpected: How My Faith Was Tested in College

Why I Needed Quarantine

Build a Strong Relationship With Your Teen: Respond, Don’t React

Parenting Through Adolescent Emotions

PrevPreviousBuild a Strong Relationship With Your Teen: Respond, Don’t React
NextExpecting the Unexpected: How My Faith Was Tested in CollegeNext

Girl Above is a non-profit created to inspire young women to live counter-culturally, authentically, and confidently through finding their identity in Christ.

Colossians 3:2

Join Our Community of Young Women like You!

Join Our resource Community for Parents

If you have ever been bullied, you know how absolu If you have ever been bullied, you know how absolutely devastating it can be. Comment a piece of advice that you have for someone struggling to see past what other people say about them. You never know who it might help! 
.
.
.
.
#bully #bullied #mean #recovery #advice #wisdom #depressionhelp #anxietyrelief #anxiety #depressedlife
Today is National make a friend day! Get out there Today is National make a friend day! Get out there and meet someone awesome!
Word on the street is that skinny jeans are "out?" Word on the street is that skinny jeans are "out?" True or false? How do we feel about this?
What have YOU learned from forgiving someone? . . What have YOU learned from forgiving someone? 
.
.
.
.
.
#forgiveness #anxietyadvice #depressionhelp #anxietyquotes #mentalhealth #wisdom #suicideawareness #friendship
Running from our pain or problems might seem like Running from our pain or problems might seem like the easiest route, but more times than not,  this is an illusion. Genuine and lasting healing is often found along the path with no shortcuts but rather  through dealing with a situation directly or enduring the season of hardship. Eventually you will come through to the other side 🖤
In a world where EVERYTHING is tempting to define In a world where EVERYTHING is tempting to define you, label you, gain your loyalty and inform your worldview.. seek the truth. The actual truth. Not just opinions or feelings or secondhand gossip. This will require you to take pause when people say mean things to you, or when you think deplorable things about yourself.. stop and ask “is that true?” And then ask God to help you see what is true about you. Ask God to show you where you have bought into lies about yourself and others. The truth is knowable and we do not have to simply sit back and receive everything we are given. 💙
Hey girl, idk about you but i’ve spent the past Hey girl,  idk about you but i’ve spent the past year comparing every inch of myself to others. whether be on the internet or real life. and i just go over and over all the things about my body that i wish i could change. i’m not here to tell you i’ve figured it out, or that i have a new found perspective and that i all the sudden love me for me. bc honestly i’m far from that. this also isn’t a pitty party, it’s just me being open and vulnerable for a moment.  i saw this video (swipe) the other day and it shocked me. i know this isn’t something new, we all know how photoshop works. but seeing all these iconic women get their bodies transformed to some unattainable level is so disheartening. but on the plus side, i saw beyoncé have a slight double chin and it made me feel a little bit better about mine. even the perfect aren’t perfect. also, who the heck defined perfect?  i so badly want my confidence back. i so badly don’t want to worry about my appearance any more or the weight i’ve gained, all my clothes that don’t fit, or my crooked teeth or my really unfortunate haircut.  so i took a selfie. for the first time in i don’t know how many years. i intentionally sat down and took a selfie....to find some positives about myself again. to love myself again. to take one step towards building back my confidence. i’ve gotten so concerned with the outside that i have completely crumpled on the inside.  this is the only piece of advice i have right now, and you don’t have to even say it out loud, find one thing you like about yourself. start there. tell your closest confidant. tell yourself. tell God. and ask him to help replace the intrusive thoughts with kind ones.  yes i’m a mess. but i’m still here and God still sees me. the only flaws i want to be concerned about are in my character.  and as for me...i love my skin. 🖤
- @wowcharlottereally 
.
.  video credit: @gisele.ayora & @misspersephone (writing and voicing)
I’ve been reflecting on something over the past I’ve been reflecting on something over the past few weeks and I would like to share it. •  After I heard the Gospel for the first time when I was in 8th grade, I decided to invite Jesus into my heart. I was so excited about this Good News that I couldn’t not accept it. There was something different about the faith I was living out in 8th grade compared the to faith I’m living out now. 5 years ago, I loved Jesus, but I wasn’t living my life for Him. When we say “I dedicated my life to Jesus”, a lot of people don’t know exactly what that means and how to do that. A lot of people invite Jesus into their heart without living their life for Him. •  LIVING for Jesus is pursuing Him every single day. LIVING for Jesus is not just being a fan of His, but a follower of Him. LIVING for Jesus is much more than just loving Him, it’s constantly making decisions for Him and based on what His word says. •  Do you think that you’ve truly dedicated your life to Jesus to follow Him and live for Him everyday, or do you think you’ve just accepted Him into your heart? What would it look like for you to live everyday for Him?  -@torijankowski
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
#girlabove #mentalhealth #jesus #faith #wisdom #ccu
"I found myself continually going onto other girls "I found myself continually going onto other girls’ social media accounts and comparing myself to the way they portray themselves online. This was so unfair to do to myself. First of all, the things that I see on their pages aren’t even close to real life. Social media is a highlight reel of what happens in our life. We only post the good stuff and typically don’t want to post what we’re struggling with. If I am struggling behind the cover of my social media, what makes me think that the other girls on Instagram aren’t struggling?  I decided it was time to unfollow all of the accounts that I noticed I was comparing myself to. This meant some of my friends, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. This got me out of the habit of randomly going on to their pages when I felt I wasn’t good enough."  Challenge: Is there a change YOU could make to your social media use that would help your mental health?
.
.
.
.
.
#2021 #newyear #resolutions #reslolution #comparison #comparisonisthethiefofjoy #healthysocialmedia
Load More... Follow on Instagram

© 2021 Girl Above

Designed by Frassati Designs