Dear Past; Present; and Future: An Open Letter

Dear Past,

It's been a good run so far. The last few years we've shared have flown by. They've been filled with laughter and joyful moments, even though there have been some difficult ones too. I've met new friends through you and have grown relationships in beautiful ways. But as we both get older, those memories drift farther from me.

Sometimes I don't have the right perspective of you. I don't want to sugarcoat you; but I also don't want to minimize you. God's been good to me and I want to praise Him for that. However, sometimes you take control of me. And I don't want that. I don't want to be stuck re-living you; I want new moments and new memories that I can laugh over and praise God for.

I'm letting go of you. You don't define me.

-M.

********************

Dear Future,

Currently, you terrify me. You're so different from anything I've ever known  and I'm not sure what to expect from you. You're the one that's going to bring those new relationships, new memories, and new adventures. You have the potential to bring utter joy, or absolute heartbreak.

Sometimes you control me too much, like the past does. I'm not okay with that; I want to look forward to your joys but I don't want to miss the joys that God has staring me in the face. You aren't getting a minute more of unnecessary time from me.

I'm done chasing after you. There are more important things I'm looking for.

-M.

********************

Dear Present,

 I'm on God's side. Bring it on.

-M.

Author of My Life

Hi, (E. writing)

I want to start off with a bible verse. 

It's Romans 8:28 'And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.' (ESV)

I know, your thinking- wow, haven't heard that one before! -right?! But hold on! Think about that for a moment. ALL things, not just a few things, not just big things or little things, but ALL things work together for good. For Good. For those who love God. Notice it doesn't say 'For those who are completely perfect and love God', or 'For those who always obey and love God', it simply says 'For those who love God, and are called according to His purpose,' meaning anyone who has received Christ into their heart, as their Lord and savior. If you have given your life to him, then you are called according to his purpose.

Now just because it says -everything will work for good- doesn't mean that nothing bad will ever happen, and your life will be perfect, or that you won't be hurt, it just means that whatever happens, happens for a reason. If you seek God through it, he will always, without fail, turn it for good.

When bad things happen in my life, God always takes them and shows me a lesson to learn from them. Many times its a hard lesson that I honestly don't want to learn. Sometimes it's even something that I think I already knew. Recently He's been showing me just how far He will let me mess up, just to learn a lesson, and to remind me that no matter what I do He still loves me. Yes, there are always consequences for doing something I shouldn't have, but that is to be expected. In the end I'm always glad to know that I can still learn from mistakes and not repeat them.

Another important point is that God is in control. Completely and totally. Because of this we should always give him full control of our lives. (fyi: very very very hard to do)

An important reminder of how much He is really in control is this: He wrote the story. He is the author. I am a character. He wrote my story. I am a piece of art, subject only to how I am made. He knows what happens at the end. Every detail. He knows my likes and dislikes, what makes me happy and what makes me upset. He watched me grow up even as I rejected Him. He has never stopped loving me. Not for one second. He is with me even when I sin. And he has forgiven me for every sin hundreds of years before they even happen. And through all of this I ask myself daily: Why can't I be in control? 

I 

Am 

Not 

Without

Sin

And that is why Jesus laid down his own life for me. 

~E

  

New Project: 10,000 Reasons

Hi readers! M. here :D

I was going about my day today and decided I needed some encouragement or motivation (or something of that sort). I have a lovely little jar from my graduation last year containing notes of encouragement (AND PAPER CLIPS!!! --Ahem. Sorry.) from E. and L. (Aren't they just aa-mazing?? Yeah, I know.)

Anyway.

I pulled this one out today:

 

 

It was a very timely encouragement for me. I  recalled a project I'd dreamed of doing, but never made any progress on, that I like to call "10,000 Reasons." The idea is to write out literally 10,000 reasons that God is worthy to be praised.

So I took some time tonight to do that!! I got out some small canvases that I'd been saving for some art project that I'd never do and this resulted: 

This is only 50 different words/praises/reasons so I'm really looking forward to what this looks like at the end!! (To put it in perspective, I'm half of 1% of the way done with the project. I need to do this again 199 times before I reach 10,000 reasons...) I'm planning to keep you all updated every hundred words/praises/reasons.

 

This is my new project, guys! I don't know if it'll just take the summer or the whole school year or multiple school years!! I do know this, though: Christ is worthy to be praised over 10,000 times and I owe Him praise every day in every way!

What else should I add on to this project? Comment below and I'll write it in! :D

As always, thanks for reading!

-M.

Random Vent on Purpose

Hello, readers! M. here.

I was inspired the other day by this quote I saw on Pinterest:

(credit goes to the original author, it is not my property)

I wanted to love it so much. It sounds like the quaintest little description of people I've ever read. But at the same time; this view of us is really so wrong.

Why? I think that whoever wrote this missed an important part of the picture. Yes, humans are cute. We have our weird quirks and habits, we are living and loving under the countless stars. But we're not just animals, we don't just do this stuff for no reason. We're more than bodies, we are souls. And we were created by a loving God to have breakfast beneath billions of stars. And we were created to do that for His glory. 

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

I like thinking about the beauty of the story that God is writing into each life on earth.

If I rewrote this little passage, it would look like this:

"Humans are so cute; when we say goodbye we put our arms around each other and to show we love someone we bring them flowers. We say hello by holding each others hand, and sometimes tiny little dewdrops form in our eyes. But the simple things like that can't even begin to describe how much greater our purpose in life really is. We are God's precious creations, and he loves us so much he'd die to have time with us in eternity. And we bring God our tiny little efforts to be like him because it makes him smile when we want to please Him. We're just His children learning to fall in love with Him and having breakfast beneath billions of stars; stars that He made to give us just a glimpse of His magnificence." 

There's my random vent on purpose for you all today! Talk to you later!

Who I am

Hello dearest readers!

M. here. It really has been over a month since I last shared with you guys... and I have officially run out of excuses. Sorry. :/

I've been in my head too much lately, and I've been aware of it. So I started trying something new where I write out stuff that's going on, in my head and in the world.

"I need to get out of my head."

"It's too quick, too random, too MUCH in general. I just can't think a thought because all of the sub-thoughts that follow drown it out."

I made a list of the main thoughts and sub-thoughts (and random connections) that had been floating around that day and drew arrows that connected different points. Off to the side, I wrote, "But in the end, your grace covers it all?"

I ended that last sentence with a question mark, because sometimes I don't feel worthy of God's grace. Okay, I almost ALWAYS feel unworthy of God's grace. My levels of self-confidence and self-worth are fairly connected, so when I feel good, I get prideful (bad) but when I am humble, I'm also usually feeling worthless (also bad!). So I made three more lists...

List 1. I am:

• Busy
• Stressed
• Tired
• Sore
• Distracted
• Selfish
• Prideful
• Uncaring
• Alone

Without Christ

So this list was a description of how my day-to-day living feels when I don't let Christ in.

List 2. I am NOT:

• Worthless
• Hopeless
• Too far gone
• Identified by my past
• Broken beyond repair
• Defeated
• Ugly
• Stupid
• Who I make myself
• Just a story
• A failure
• A waste of God's time
• What others think of me
• My makeup, clothes, or hairstyle

Because Christ says these are lies.

This list was just a needed reminder of the countless things the devil is trying to get me to believe that simply aren't true.

And finally... List 3. CHRIST calls me:

• Redeemed
• Treasured
• Faithful
• Loving
• Caring (This and the last two are struggles for me; Christ's GRACE alone makes me able)
• To die for!
• A masterpiece
• Beautiful
• "The resurrection with skin" (We have the power that made Christ rise from the dead inside of us!!)
• Part of the best Story
• Victorious
• A child of His
• A co-heir with Christ
• Identified by His grace
• Selfless (along with faith, love, and caring)
• At peace (stress doesn't need to control me)
• Renewed
• His delight

And I am worth it ALL to Him!

So, yeah. Basically Christ's claims are more important to me than the craziness going on in my brain. I think I might do this writing thing more often... :D What would you add to these lists?

I'll close with a quote of L.'s from a recent Bible study: "It must be insane to be God!" :D
See you next time! (Hopefully it won't be another month... I'll try, friends! I'll try.)
-M.