Two weeks ago, I decided to change my Instagram bio. Take a moment to process that information if you need to—it’s truly shocking, world changing news. (I say this, of course, with as much sarcasm as possible.) There was nothing wrong with my old bio: “A proud Christian with a love of words and a passion for mental health advocacy.” All those things are still true, but I’ve had the same bio for years, and I wanted to alter it.
First, I thought of quotes. Let me tell you, it’s a struggle to find a quote that represents all your components and harder still to find one you feel comfortable sharing with the world. There’s always the words I used for my senior quote, which are, “Be who you needed when you were younger.” After all, that’s my why for most of my personal writing. Then there’s one of Morgan Harper Nichol’s beautiful quotes which shares a similar sentiment: “Tell the stories of the mountains you climbed. Your words could become a page in someone else’s survival guide.” And then there’s, “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible,” which really sums up the whole English major and Christ-follower vibe.
Bible verses fall along the same lines as quotes, and it would be easy to choose one of the verses I center my life around, like Galatians 6:2 (“Carry one another’s burdens; in this way, you fulfill the law of Christ”). 1 Corinthians 16:14, which says, “Let all that you do be done in love,” is also so simple but far-reaching.
And then there were the words I tried to write about myself. I started with “Hi! I love Jesus and words,” because both of those things are true and fundamental to who I am as a human being. Then I changed it to, “Hi! I love Jesus, words, and my dog,” because as I always say, Ms. Cas is the love of my life. But I realized that word—love—is what I wanted my bio to portray. I wanted it to show some small part of what I love, because I think life is about love. We live because Christ loved us, and we’re tasked with loving Him and one another. Everything else is secondary; nothing is more important than love, and I want people to know what I love, because I think it shows my heart.
Of course, there are better ways and places for vulnerability. How I interact with people on a daily basis is more important than what I say about myself in 150 characters. During the past year-and-a-half of quarantine and social distancing, though, I’ve used social media more than ever to interact with others. I can’t include everything I love in an Instagram bio or a very short, very hastily written blog post, but I wanted to share some of the things I love. If you want to share the same with me, please leave me a comment or send me a message on Instagram! I’d love to get to know you better.
So, hi! My name is Sara. I really love Jesus, words, and my dog. I love books and audiobooks. When I was younger, I would carry books with me everywhere I went, even when I knew I wouldn’t be able to read them, because their presence brought comfort. I adore music, especially the kind where I can clearly hear acoustic guitar (I’m looking at you, Ben Howard). I love fine-tipped pens and yoga and embroidery. I love dresses (especially the ones with pockets!) and cardigans. I adore swimming and miss the water every day I’m away from it. My mind clears when I’m underwater, and the only other times I feel such calm are while praying or when I’m with certain people I love.
I love when the leaves turn colors in fall and when the air is just chill enough that I can wear my aforementioned cardigans in comfort. One of my favorite days of the year is the first day you need to run back inside for a light jacket, and I wish the weather would stay that way all year. I love puns and when my friends send me memes. Fun fact: if you can make me laugh hard enough, I’ll cry so much that I’ll actually need tissues. I get giddy when people write me notes or buy me flowers. If you’ve written me a note or sent me a letter since I was in middle school, chances are I still have it. I love fuzzy socks, even in the summer, because my feet and hands always get cold. I love chocolate as much as I despise grocery shopping, so I buy some every time I shop to ease the terribleness. I will fawn over pretty much any animal, especially if it’s one I can cuddle with.
I won’t even really get into people, but I’ll briefly mention how much I love my family; I love how my dad used to read me Nancy Drew books before bed, and how my brother can make me laugh even when I’m upset, and how my mom loves better than anyone I know. I love my friends and my classmates, because I know what it’s like to have neither, and that absence will always make the current love that much brighter. And I know I started this whole list with the Lord, but I have to end it with Him, too, because goodness do I love Him. I love Him when the vine flourishes, and I love Him when the fig tree does not bud, and I’ll never get over how crazy it is that He is with me in both places and loves me back. I’ll forever live in awe that the Creator of the universe looked at this world and its deep history and infinite future and decided it needed me. And I’ll never deserve how He knows me—truly, deeply, entirely knows me—and loves every part of me. It’s a love I don’t deserve, and my greatest hope in life is to show others glimpses of God’s love through my actions.