Maddy Barr on Ecclesiastes 3
She Speaks is a conversation series that launches with each Ruah book.
For each She Speaks, we ask five women to answer the same three reflective questions about one meaningful theme. It's an honor for us to share the heartfelt words of these women.
You will see several videos in the blog post below. Following each video, there is a short transcription of what Maddy says, so you can either watch the video OR read her wise words.
Grab a cup of coffee or tea, cozy up, and enjoy!
Wisdom from Maddy Barr
on Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Can you share a little about yourself?
Hey friends! My name is Maddy Barr and I am the writer behind the No Greater Love Blog and Instagram account. I started No Greater almost two years ago now; it will be two years in February. I started it in the hope of just spreading my faith through more than just my immediate friends and family. I saw this online community as a way to connect with other young people in a way that I hadn’t been able to be do before and it worked. I love blogging and I love sharing about the faith and meeting other people in life. It’s really been a complete blessing in my life.
On another note, I just started college! I’m going to Oakland University in Michigan and studying communications. My experience with blogging and media has really led me to be interested in working in media someday. I’m really excited! I love learning and reading and writing, and I’m so excited to dive into this Ruah book with you guys!
Which verse from the Ecclesiastes passage best describes your current season of life? Why?
For my verse, I think verse six applies the most to my life right now - that would be “a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep, and a time to throw away.” I think this really applies to anyone who is dealing with a lot of change in their life because when we deal with change, we are having to choose what things are really important. We’re having to go back and look at the things we’ve learned and what we’ve held onto before and decide, “What really matters anymore? What things are important to me? What friendships are important to me?”
Especially as I go off to college and meet tons of new people and experience new things and learn new things, it’s important for me to realize “What are my morals truly? What friendships are the most important to me? Are these new people I’m meeting really as important as the friendships that I have from before I started college?”
I personally know that I want to hold onto those friendships from before really really hard, because I have some amazing friends from high school and some wonderful girls that I want to hold onto, even if they don’t go to the same school as me. That’s deciding to keep something and not throw it away, and it’s deciding to seek out those same types of people as you go out.
How do you strive to embrace each season of your life? Can you share an example from this season or a previous season?
When it comes to embracing the season that God has put us in at the moment, I find it so reassuring to know that God knows every little intricacy of our life. He understands what we’re going through and he understands where we are coming from. But he also knows what is best for us. He knows that maybe now is not the right time to be in a relationship or maybe now isn’t the right time to get that job that you want.
As someone who is right now in a state of singleness and really happy with it, it’s beautiful to know that God isn’t wasting our time by showing us who isn’t the right man for us. He’s just preparing us and allowing us to grow as individuals. He wants us to be content as we wait because He is preparing this person for us and us for this person, and really he’s making his plan known to us before we even know what the plan is. Knowing that God has this foresight and knows what He is doing is such a beautiful thing to rest in and it really should give us all this beautiful inner peace.
If you could offer yourself wisdom on this subject what would it be? What does your heart need to hear today?
Reading this last question honestly made me chuckle to myself a little bit because it’s so easy to know the truth, to know that God has this plan that He’s creating for you, that He’s perfecting for you, and just knowing it.. you know it in your heart, but on the surface level of life, it’s so easy to forget. It is so easy to get caught up in the he said, she said stuff and just not really take to heart that God has this plan that He’s working on.
So my wisdom, my advice to myself, would be just to take a step back, to be patient, and to really just trust that our God is an all knowing God and He is working on this. He is making it perfect. He’s not holding out on us, He’s just waiting for this perfect moment to make His plan known to you. And you’re not going to know it in full, but He is working on it and He’s perfecting it and he’s always going to keep your life and your plan in mind, and that’s a really really beautiful thing to believe in.
About Maddy Barr
Maddy is a college freshman at Oakland University and a lover of all things Catholic! In her spare time, she is usually writing, reading, or sipping on a hot drink. For the past two years, she has also run the No Greater Love Blog and Instagram.
INSTAGRAM: @nogreaterloveblog