This time in your life may be the most hectic, hair pulling, just making you want to scream kind of season. Enjoy it.
You may be having the best days of your life right now. Blessings pouring from His gracious hand. Enjoy it.
You may be wondering what is making this time of your life different from the previous season. Everything is so constant and never changing. Enjoy it.
Life can change in a heartbeat. Do you ever catch a nostalgic smell in the air? One that races you back through time to your childhood? Remember that. And think of all that you have gone through to get to this moment you’re in right now.
Remember also that if you are a parent of young children we are helping making memories for our little ones. Now. Right now. Through your own actions and words teach them how to appreciate the moments we are given.
Count all of it. Every. Single. Moment. As His amazing grace.
I saw this post over at Simply Vintage Girl and absolutely fell in love with the idea of visibly counting our blessings for a month. And what a beautiful way to include the entire family. So I set out to create a Thankful Tree. Gathered branches from our yard. Removed all leaves and placed the bare branches into a ceramic pitcher to hold our many Thanks as we count down to Thanksgiving. Next I had to prepare scraps of paper for each member of the family {sans baby} to hang on our Thankful Tree.
When Thanksgiving Day arrives and we each place our last thankful notes upon the tree the branches will be weighed down with at least one hundred forty four scraps of gratitude. Only a taste of how full our hearts will are with thankfulness for all He has blessed us with.
There is one lone branch that is set aside within our pitcher as the ‘hard eucharisteo’ branch. That branch will hold our thanks for the blessings that are difficult for us to be thankful for but because we follow Him we know to give thanks in all things because He works them all to His good.
Each day we all take a new circle and write our thanks. The children are absolutely giddy to write a new eucharisteo each day. We ask the ones who don’t know yet how to write what they are thankful for. My toddler has sweetly replied ‘apples’ for one day and ‘bananas’ for another. So innocent and makes my heart joyful to hear her. She truly knows how to be thankful for everything.
It’s never too late to be thankful. Count your blessings and encourage your family members to join in. Even those who join you around the Thanksgiving table this year. When a friend stops by ask them if they would like to participate in this new tradition. Be thankful in ALL things.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
{1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV}
Have you ever had times when others snuffed out your dreams to serve?
“It’s too dangerous,” they say.
“You don’t have the money or resources,” they object.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” they dampen.
“It’s just not going to happen,” they proclaim defeated.
Trust Him. Trust that He is in control and can work all things for His good. His ways are beyond understanding. What some think is impossible becomes a missed opportunity. God loves to use the impossible. He excels in using the weak.
Don’t be the discourager. Don’t be the cynicist. Let go and walk the narrow road. Encourage the young. But realize you are never too old either. Let go and let God do what He does best. Become a part of His story.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
{1 John 4:7-12 ESV}
A dear group of friends and I are going to start getting together and sharing our God Stories. You know, the story of how you came to Christ. Your life story, up until now, of how you’ve been drawn to Him and walked with Him. And it’s reminded me of something.
Don’t ever belittle somebodies past.
We all walk different paths. Some of us have known God from the very beginning. Having never missed a Sunday church service. Some of us were Christmas and Easter church goers. And there are some of us who never even heard the story of God until recently.
You are no better because you’ve been a Christian your entire life.
You are no better because you had a life changing moment in your teenage years.
You are no better because you are so fresh to salvation.
We all struggle. We all have a past that was hard and has drawn us closer to our Savior. Or maybe your past/current situation has pulled you away from Christ. Don’t listen to others when they begin to dissect what you’ve gone through. God chose you for this moment. To live this life. He knows that we’re going to struggle in our faith. Every step of faith just adds to our story. The joyful steps and the painful steps.
On the other hand, don’t let your past be all that defines you. Your God Story is special, but it’s not over. Continue to grow and to stretch. Allowing your story to encourage others. Who doesn’t want to read a story full of risk and adventure and love? Step out on faith and allow Him to add a chapter to your life that you didn’t think possible. And share your story.
As of yesterday I began reading a book that has been a huge blessing! Kisses from Katie
Her past seems very normal. Typical American growing up in the church. But then she gave the pen over to the Lord and had Him finish writing her story. And He still is!
I imagine writing my God Story is going to take a bit of time. But I want to encourage you to write yours out as well. And share it with others. Encouragement is strongly lacking in our society. I can never stress enough how important it is to help lift others up. Maybe hearing your God Story will make others see His grace. His amazing, amazing grace.
There are so many people in our lives nowadays that greatly influence our daily decisions. Maybe it’s your favorite character in a movie. A friend you’re trying to make. A spouse you’re trying to draw closer to. A parental figure you’re seeking approval from. Years and years of trying to please others can leave you lost and unknown in this world.
I was like that. But I remember the night I watched the following clip from Joan of Arcadia and realized I was Dylan {Hilary Duff}.
How humbling. To not even know what kind of food is your favorite. It was then that I realized that I had been living for everybody else and did not know who I was. And so the process began. I slowly began trying different things {and yes, dessert was one of the first} to find out what it truly was that made me happy. I was discovering who it was that God had created. Not this edited version that I had created to look appealing to others.
Let me give you an analogy. My kids love to draw. They take a piece of paper and scribble. Some are just that, scribbles. The older girls draw elaborate scenes. But no matter whose drawing it is, if one of the children leans over and begins to draw on the original artwork of her sister – oh boy do we hear it! Screams of injustice! From a young age we recognize the wrongs of changing what somebody else has created. So why do we accept it as adults? Why is it ok to let others scribble and change God’s workmanship? Are we not thankful for how He has made us?
All it takes from your past is one disapproving comment. One childish joke. Even just a raise of an eyebrow to doubt who you are. But when you start to discover your true desires you need to back that up with confidence. Even as an adult you’ll still receive sideways comments from people who are not walking with the Lord. Remember that those people did not create you. They don’t care about the plans He has for you. Trust in the One who loves you and who wants the best for you. Pray for strength to stand up for yourself. Encourage the weaker ones.
Start today. What is your favorite dessert? What is your favorite scripture verse? How do you like your eggs? What is your favorite color?
Simple? Maybe. But I know I personally struggled with the last question for, literally, years. So much so that I would answer ‘rainbow’ because I didn’t want to be judged for my favorite. Take your time but enjoy the process of meeting yourself. You’ve got a lot to learn!
