Usually I attempt to come up with cute captions to accompany my posts. Emphasis on the “attempt to.” However, I’ve felt a push to share something more personal in hopes that it’ll radiate to someone in a similar position.

 From experience, I can confirm that dental school is rough. Instagram and social media outlets tend to highlight the brighter parts of our friends’ lives, so it’s hard to imagine what is going on behind the screens – especially during stressful moments. I’m 100% guilty of this lack of transparency.

If y’all are students like me, finals are probably right around the corner, even though motivation for studying is long gone. Other emotions probably accompany the stress of tests (or other challenges), like anxiety or frustration – emotions that don’t come in to play when selecting a picture to post, but bubble up and break the surface in our real lives. I’ve been blessed with great opportunities and a wonderful support system, but sometimes unwelcome feelings can overpower the thankfulness in our lives. That’s when we have a problem.

A verse that has really spoken to me this semester is Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

This verse came to me at a pivotal time. Anxiety was never a struggle for me until this semester (I’m telling you, dental school is rough.) There’s a lot of uncertainty in school and life in general; when we’re faced with challenges, it can be difficult to remember all that we’ve been blessed with. But God is SO good !! By turning our focus to Him and His plan, we can lose the fears we carry with us – about our future, grades, how our peers perceive us, or other things out of our control – and instead gain reassurance that there is a beautiful plan for our lives in the knowledge that we have a heavenly father that will provide for us and truly loves us, more than we could ever fathom.

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
Isaiah 12:2

❤ y’all peeps
-Steph