Tag: advice

Categories
blog friendships life

That’s a Wrap

That’s a Wrap

It was a blast getting to share these past few weeks with y’all! I hope that this blog gave you a little bit of direction for the road you’re on. Let’s recap this awesome journey.

Sister, Sister

Reagan Walsh joined us on the blog to give an inside look at life as a division 1 college athlete. She spoke wisdom to those transitioning out of High School and searching for the right college to further their education. Reagan’s career has just begun but her success has made a statement. She is a force to be reckoned with as the 2023 softball season approaches. Read Now

Feelin’ Twenty-Two

Lauren Walsh shares her personal story and advice from the roads she has found herself on during her twenty-two years on earth. Through mistakes, breakups, and hardships, Lauren speaks to those needing a bit of direction in their early twenties. “Be kind, invest in valuable relationships, trust in God’s plan, and don’t let time pass you by holding onto grudges.” Read Now

Relationships, Dating, and Breakups

Kristin Strauss joined the blog for this very fun episode of Road I’m On. Kristin shared advice for those entering the dating world, what to look for, red-flags, and her funniest first-date stories. This blog involved a bunch of laughter and memories of the past with lessons learned for the future. Read Now 

Vet On Southwest

Lauren Walsh shared a story of a veteran she met on a Southwest Airlines flight. The veteran named Rich, spoke so much wisdom from his time in the Vietnam war. His story was too good not to be told. This blog was a personal favorite! Read Now 

This Wasn’t in The Play Call

An emotional and personal reflection of a devastating injury faced by Lauren Walsh during a volleyball game. The game that would ultimately be the last of her career. This blog post is real, truthful, and inspirational to those who may be struggling with the road they are on. Read Now

The Road Not Taken

An interpretation of Robert Frost’s world-renowned poem. How embarking on the road less traveled may make all the difference in your life. A change in direction is an opportunity to make your story stand out from the rest. Read Now

Texas to Tuscany

Halee VanPoppel joined the blog to share her story and spark motivation for those wanting to embark on a new adventure. Halee is a former college volleyball player and is currently playing professionally overseas in Rome! She shared what encouraged her to move from Texas to Tuscany. Read Now 

Convo’s and Cracker Barrel

Get an inside look at life on the road with the Belmont Volleyball team. Documented was the last trip of the season, traveling to Indiana. Learn about what goes on before game day and how simple conversations at Cracker Barrel brings the team together. Read Now

She Means Business

Kellie Walsh joins the blog to share how she became successful in her career at such a young age. She speaks valuable advice to those seeking internships and are facing uncertainty with what to do after college. With hard work and perseverance, Kellie climbed the cooperate latter, enabling her to purchase her first home. Read Now

Seeing The Good This Thanksgiving

In honor of Thanksgiving, this blog post was a reflection of the past year and a new perspective for life. Turning a tragic ending into part of one’s story and not the whole story. Even in the midst of trials, there is so much to be grateful for this holiday season. Read Now

Super Woman

To close out this blog, our very special guest Sheri Holmes joined us to share her unique story. How a mother to four, wife, and full-time business woman does it all. How her faith shaped her unprecedented journey through several roads of life and her impact on the roads of others along the way. Read Now

“My hope for you was that along this campaign, you were able to receive advice for the road you’re on. And if not, at least some laughter, relatability, and joy during these guests appearances. Life is gonna have some bumpy moments but regardless of road you find yourself on, TRUST the man with the compass. Keep walking.”

– Your friend, Lauren 🙂

Categories
family life story

Seeing The Good This Thanksgiving

Seeing the good this Thanksgiving

This year has been an awesome road to travel with imperfections, highs mountain tops, lower valleys, and breath taking scenery. This year I was baptized, started a bible study, went on a mission trip to Alaska, explored Catalina Island with my closest friends, went to Texas to see my sisters, finished my volleyball career, landed my first internship and more events to count. While, these past few months have been difficult given my circumstances, I find it important to not let this injury blind me from all the good in my life.

No one is perfect, and no one’s life will be either. Have you ever been in an argument with a longtime colleague/friend/boyfriend/etc. and the argument seems to overpower all the good memories you had together? Like somehow a 20-minute disagreement diminishes a lifetime of laughs, joy, and happiness. Psychologically that’s part of our human nature, we tend to hold on to the bad more than the good. Leaving our brains to let a small bump in the road overpower and become a mountain. Life is too short to hang onto the bad. With this recent injury, I am reminded that simply because something tragic happened to me in my life does not mean my life is tragic. That is, unless I give it the power to do so. Rather I will choose to see that I woke up this morning, I am healthy, I have a family that loves me, friends who support me, a roof over my head, and a God that is fulfilling a greater purpose in my life.

John 16:33

I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

When I was in Alaska, I witnessed an overwhelming feeling of joy for the life we live on earth. Like Carrie Underwood said, “this is our temporary home,” just a stepping stone to where we belong within the gates of heaven. But how great is it, that along our journey we get to experience love, heartbreak, joy, hardship and peace. This life could be boring and bland but God gave us a beautiful world. The freedom to choose, make mistakes, explore His creation, and a chance to believe. If life on earth was always good, would we need a God to lean on? Would we need faith? And would we be able to see the value in good things without experiencing some bad?

This thanksgiving I am reminded of how lucky I am regardless of recent heartache; I encourage you to do the same. Your path might be rough terrain, dark, and muddy right not and I know it is tough. But with time a new course my show its face, with sunshine the rain will dry, and with help, the potholes in the road you’re on will be repaired to make your journey a little easier. God never promised us that this life would be easy, but He did promise we would never be alone.

This thanksgiving I am grateful for….

  1. My family
  2. My friends
  3. Belmont
  4. Home
  5. My second home in Nashville

Join me in reflecting on what your grateful for this thanksgiving

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

Follow the Blog

Check Out Our Photo Gallery

Categories
career life travel

She Means Business

She Means Business

Kellie Walsh speaks of the road that led her to a successful career at the age of 25. Through internships, networking, and hard work, Kellie defied the odds to accomplish her goals as a business woman.

Kellie had a hard driven mind from a very young age. Possibly stemming from her time as soccer player, she has that natural instinct to be the best at her craft. After finishing high school, Kellie went on to further her education at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. While there, Kellie became a member of PiPhi sorority and graduated with a degree in Business/Cooperate communications.

Her time at Arizona State flew by but her journey had just begun. Kellie found a balance between working towards her future and enjoying the college life in Arizona. The turning point for her path was near her senior year as she anxiously awaited what would be next. Kellie did self-research, personal vetting, networking, and interviewing to put her name out there in the cooperate world. And she was a hit.

Soon after graduation, Kellie took a full-time position with Oracle, an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. Kellie packed her bags and headed to Austin for this new road she was embarking on.

While at Oracle, Kellie began as a business development representative, a position she held for one year and was then promoted to Account Executive. Kellie is motivated and driven, this is not where the road ends for her. She continues to make strides, climbing the latter of cooperate America as a female, twenty-five-year-old. A task very few have taken on.
Kellie’s story embodies the power in hard work and that truly, all things are possible. For the college student stressed about finding that job, internship, or post-college plan. Take a deep breath and be patient. Refrain from wondering too far off the path during your college years. Work hard and build your resume, the right spot will come at the right time. And until then, keep walking on the road you’re on with purpose, confidence, and love!

Listen to Part I NOW!

 

Follow Me!

Read Last Weeks Blog Post

 

Categories
friendships life sports travel

Texas to Tuscany Part II

halee and lauren
friends

Texas to Tuscany Part II

Halee VanPoppel and Lauren Walsh reminisce of their time together on the volleyball court. The two touch on some of their hardest seasons and how they navigated these challenges together.

Playing a college sport is hard. Often times, the perception of college athletics is glamorized by public perception. With the lack of candidness as to what being a student athlete really looks like, many miss just how much work goes into the job. It takes a lot of practice, perseverance, time, and energy. In that process, the road can get bumpy. In many ways this season of Halee and Lauren’s life tested their faith, character, and strength. And with these lessons learned, the two have gotten way more out of the sport than simply the sport alone.

For Halee, volleyball has given her the opportunity to play another season in Rome, Italy and see the world! For Lauren, the sport gave her the opportunity to travel 2,000+ miles from home and experience a whole new life in the south. Mutually, the two are thankful that the sport gave them each other:)

Listen to their stories and advice during the road of college sports now.

 

Read Part I

Subscribe

Categories
blog lauren life thought leadership

The Road Not Taken

Road not taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

We were all forced to read this poem in High School and give our best interpretation. Though, at that point in our lives the road we were on had been practically paved for most of us. We lived under mom and dad’s roof, the crosswalk kept us in between the narrow lines, and the world did not yet get a hold of our innocence and temptation. We hadn’t experienced the freedom to choose a different path or face a major trial in our lives that consequently chose a path for us. Now however, I think I can finally relate to the words of Robert Frost. I am embarking on the Road less traveled, the road not as appealing at first glance, but the road that will make all the difference. 

There were two roads presented before me. One that I could see by, “looking down one as far as I could, to where it bent in the undergrowth.” This was the road I thought I was traveling, the road I had mapped my next 5 years on. But to my surprise, life chose, “the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear.” There is no telling which road is “best.” In fact, Robert Frost was not favoring one over the other. Rather he argues that, no matter which path you take, be committed to follow it wherever it may lead for, “you could not travel both.” 

And so, I’ll save the first for another day, the plans I made for myself, and the expectations I set. Because it is time to embark on the road less traveled, the road that “wanted wear,” because this road has a plan for me. A plan I may not yet see but, will soon make all the difference. 

Our choices, both big and small, shape the journey we find ourselves on in this life. In some instances, like mine, life may have made the decision for you. But maybe that was God pushing me out of my comfort zone knowing I would have remained on the paved road if it were up to me, never seeing what the road less traveled had to offer. Whatever road you may be traveling, walk it with purpose, pride, and strength. And know that the decisions we make and trails we face sets us upon a path specifically designed for us. So, if you find yourself on the road less traveled, refrain from turning around. We may not understand the importance of this change in direction until we walk this path a little further.

 

 

Share the Road You’re On

Subscribe

 

Categories
blog lauren life thought leadership

Feelin’ Twenty-Two

I’m Feelin’ Twenty-Two

Well, you heard it here first, I am a whole year older. 22 feels a lot different than 21. 21 was exciting because it meant so long kids table at family dinners, so long life without happy hours, and so long to… well ya know, that thing that used to get you into bars. It seems like every year after 21, society chases you with questions like, “what do you want to do after college?” “Do you have a job lined up,” or “are you seeing anyone?” and “are they the one?” If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t have those answers lined up. And hey, that’s okay sister!

This blog is for people like me and you, if you can relate even in the slightest to not having it all figured out. Sometimes we need people in our lives who have walked the road we’re on before us, to lend a flashlight to what seems like a dark and undiscovered path. My hope is to bring you these people to help you keep walking. Whether you’re 22 or 72, we all can use a friend to walk with us through life with a Christian perspective.

Here’s what I can offer you today, the things I have learned in my 22 years. First, your hardest days will supply you with armor for the best days. What do I mean?  Well, have you ever known what it feels like at your lowest? Schools not going well. Your boyfriend dumps you, you lose a friend, tough practice, injured, and the list goes on. Well, in these moments you’re gaining custom armor. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”- James 1:2-4. The key part of this verse is this, “let perseverance finish its work.” That’s the tough part. In your lowest moment, darkest hour, and worst day God is working. Trust in this truth and let Him finish the work. Don’t give up on yourself, your job, your life, school, sports, that relationships, or your faith. I promise you; a brighter day is coming. It may not come as soon as you’d like but it will. You have to believe it and work to find the light at the end of the tunnel. You are gaining your armor. The next obstacle that comes your way will have no chance against you, take it from me.

Second, invest in friendships. Losing a friend stinks and having that large group of semi-close friends won’t fulfill our human desire for connection. “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother”- Proverbs 18:24. Find your people and invest in those relationships. Loads of people will come and go in our lives. Don’t let those that mean the most to you slip away simply because you forget to text or call. Send that birthday message, book that flight, wish a happy anniversary, and congratulate that person on their big accomplishment. These small actions will go a long way. When life gets tough, you’ll need those friends. When life is so good, you’ll wish you had them by your side to share the moment.

Third, be kind. Yeah, I know, your mom has been telling you this since birth. But really, be kind to people. You don’t want to look back on your time here and think, ‘man I could have been a lot nicer to Susie, and Charlotte, and maybe Nicole.’ You don’t get those moments back with the people you cross paths with in life. So even if it means taking the high road, just be nice my friend. You’ll be happy with the person in the mirror when our time on earth runs out. And if it’s not too late, say you’re sorry. I know for some that is a big pill to swallow but soon it will feel like taking Advil for a massive headache, the pain of pride will go away. “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High”- Luke 6:35.

Lastly, time goes by fast, so don’t waste it. Let the petty stuff go and enjoy this beautiful life God has given you. I am not perfect and many days I find myself selfishly ignoring all that He has blessed me with. So much that I do not deserve, so much I could never have obtained on my own, and so much good that often goes unseen to the naked eye. We don’t get a second chance on this earth, so as I like to say, “full send.” Buy those concert tickets you’ve been saving for. Dance in the rain on a Saturday night with your bestie. Go on the date you’ve been putting off. Laugh at your own jokes, cry with a friend, and don’t forget to call mom. Wherever life takes you, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go”- Joshua 1:9. We’ve got the best compass on our side, start the adventure!

I may not be the smartest tool in the shed but I hope these few things that I have learned during the roads I’ve been on will help you in your path. Here’s to feelin’ twenty-two!

#keepwalking

Love

-Lauren

 

 

Read Last Weeks Blog 

Categories
blog thought leadership

Welcome to the Blog

Hey Friends! Welcome to my blog.

Road I’m On– Walking through life with a Christian perspective.

Your destination for a friendly lifestyle blog with the values of Christianity at the core of discussions. The blog will consist of guest appearances from individuals in all phases of life such as: dating, motherhood, career, college, etc. These discussions will be relatable, vulnerable, humorous and helpful to readers who may be experiencing these same life milestones. Our intention is not to put a scripture band-aid on a battle wound. Rather, it is an invitation for a virtual friendship as we experience the ups and downs of life together while holding tight to faith.

Behind The Creation

As a young Christian trying to figure out the world around me, I find myself at times lacking mentorship when life throws me a curve ball. Society tends to separate religion from lifestyle, but I believe faith should be at the core of all that we tackle. The inspiration of this blog is to welcome a wide variety of readers at any stage of life to listen, learn, laugh, and grow together.

Branding Significance

I am in my early twenties and have already experienced so much in my life. I’ve faced loss, battled mental health, tough breakups and much more. I have questions about the future of politics, career, finances, relationships, and much more. I have struggled with my faith during tough stages in my life, when it seems almost impossible to understand what God is doing. A pastor once said, “a life without faith, is no life at all.” I strongly believe that each road we are on will fulfill a purpose. This platform will allow me to bring in individuals who have traveled on these bumpy roads, to humbly discuss the best ways to conquer the road you’re on with a Christian view.

Leave you with this 🙂

The trials we face shape who we become, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4).

Keep walking my friend 🙂

 

Follow Me!