Picture of His promises

Ever go through those moments where it feels like life is this deep dark tunnel, and the light is so far away that you almost can’t see your way out? Like you know the light is at the end, and you can see a little glimpse of it, but between the hurt, stress, emotions and overwhelming weight-of- the-world-when-it-rains-it-pours feeling of your situation - reaching that light seems nearly impossible? Ever been there? Are you there right now?

I heard in a sermon recently that life is made up of storms; you’re either in one, you just got out of one, or you’re about to head into one. I think we can all agree that its kind of true.  That’s where God’s promises step in.

This morning I experienced something I have never experienced before… I read about them, I talk about them, and I know they are true. If we can all be honest with ourselves, being a believer doesn’t necessarily mean that you never question God. Should we trust?  Yes. Is he faithful? YES. I wish I could be 100% trusting 100% of the time, but depending on the size of my storm, sometimes It’s just hard.

This morning I literally saw God’s promises painted across the sky with the progression of the sunrise. Maybe I’m the only one that needed this drawn out for me in the beautiful way that God did, but I feel like someone else might need it too.

Life is hard. We lose loved ones. Friendships fall apart. Work gets crazy. The government shuts down. We lose our jobs. We have more month than money. Relationships crumble. People hurt our feelings. We get stressed out.

The list goes on.

It’s hard. And when it’s hard, it’s really easy to feel like the walls of that tunnel are crumbling in and the light at the end is getting further and further away. This morning God showed me that life with Him is the exact opposite. That if I rely on myself or the world to get me through my own hard times, that my tunnel will forever feel like it’s crumbling in, and my light will always feel lightyears away. But the sunrise I drove into this morning spoke nothing but promise.

God’s timing is perfect.

This morning I went in to work an hour early. Normally I get to catch the sunrise out my window while I’m getting ready, but this morning I was driving while it was rising. I got in my car, got on 288, and kind of in my selfish little funk thought to myself “the way it looks outside sure does match my mood.” It was dark and gloomy. I had my Christian music on but wasn’t really paying attention to it and was totally having a pity party (for no good reason).

Que the “picture” I keep referring to.

I merged off my exit, which kind of resembled that tunnel I keep describing, and I could just barely see a hint of pink between the gloominess of the clouds. I felt in that moment that God was trying to tell me that when I focus on my problems, or whatever I might be going through, all I will ever see is a dark, gloomy sky. But that even in the midst of whatever it is that I’m going through, God is still God. He’s still good. And he’s still faithful… the light in the darkness… the hint of pink between the ugly clouds.

Still driving.

The further I drove the more convicted I felt. The sunrise kept getting more and more beautiful and I almost felt bad for pointing out how ugly the sky was when I first got on the road. The clouds never went away, but the sunrise kept progressing. The more I focused on the beauty of the sunrise, the less I paid attention to the clouds. Music had been playing in my car this whole time, but in that moment it was like it had just started. The first words I heard were 

“I look to you, I see the scars upon your hands and hold the truth that when I can’t you always can. And standing here beneath the shadow of the cross I’m overwhelmed that I keep finding open arms.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3bo7TUMsck – (click to hear the song)

I learned a lot in my 30 minute drive to work this morning.

Sometimes I look a lot like Peter did in Matthew chapter 14.

In verses 16-21, Jesus used 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to feed 5,000 men, women and children and had 12 baskets of food leftover…

Miracle worker, faithful provider…

Then just a few verses later in Matthew 14:26-31 Peter was on a boat with the disciples, caught in the middle of a storm. He got out to walk to Jesus (who had JUST promised Him “do not be afraid, take courage, I am here”)… began to doubt and took His eyes off of the promise, paying attention more to the wind and the waves and began to sink…

God has proven himself faithful over and over again, and I look back on my 22 years and can see His hand in so many aspects of my life. Even times when I felt like I was in a crumbling tunnel, God used them for good. It was in some of my darkest moments when God showed Himself the most faithful. And still, I sometimes have trouble trusting. This morning was a beautiful reminder that with Him, not matter what my situation around me looks like, I’m always taken care of. If I focus on the clouds or the strong winds and waves around me, I will sink in them. But if I pay attention to the sunrise and the Promise, the clouds and the waves and the wind start to fade into the background.

 I think we often rely too much on our own efforts to help us get through this crazy journey of life. There is a God who loves us more than we could ever fathom. He cares for us so deeply and just wants the opportunity to show himself faithful. If we’re always focusing on our own effort, we’re robbing Him of the opportunity to provide. Rest in His arms… focus on the sunrise… Hang on to the promises. You’ll get through this :)

Xoxo, Meg

 

Be the change

This world is going straight to hell in a hand basket.

Sure are some scary times we live in.

Things weren't this bad back in my day.

This world is so hateful, hopeless, etc.

This world needs Jesus (truth, we all do)

How many times have you heard a statement like that? How many times have you said a statement like that?

More importantly, have you tried to change it as many times as you've allowed those thoughts to cross your mind, or come out of your mouth?

For several months now I've had this burning desire in my heart to "change the world." When you think of a statement like that, it sounds so broad. Overwhelmingly broad. You immediately start to picture the round blue and green earth as it is pictured in a textbook, and then picture yourself and the first thought is "impossible." 

I think that's why so many people have just given up, and marked it off as a hopeless too-far-gone world because their vision of changing it is too big of a mountain to climb. 

I say otherwise.

A fire starts with a simple spark.

How many times have you been approaching a door with someone in front of you, they walk through It and just let it go... Almost shutting in your face? Leaves you with kind of a bitter taste in your mouth doesn't it? 

How many times has someone's hateful, opinionated post offended you?

How many times has someone hurt you because they went and talked about you behind your back? 

How many times have you been in heavy traffic, needed to merge over and no one will let you?

Lets talk about the other side of things.

How many times has someone's encouraging message or phone call completely turned your day around?

How many times has someone's little Facebook post encouraged you or given you a more positive perspective on things?

How many times has a simple unexpected random act of kindness made your heart so overwhelmingly full that you wanted to pass it on?

When I was 15 years old working at good ol Chick fil a something really awesome happened and I've never since forgotten it. I was working the drive thru window and a little old lady came through and paid for her order. Before leaving she said how much is the person's behind me? And before I could answer the question she said "you know what, it doesn't matter, here." She handed me her card, paid for their order, and drove off. She didn't wait to get credit or even a thank you, she just went out of her way to make someone else's day. 

What that lady doesn't know is that she sparked a chain reaction of love. Her spark lit a fire and it carried on 8 cars back. Seeing how something so simple made people's faces light up so bright was an experience ill never forget. So I started doing it. I didn't even get my food paid for, but just witnessing it happen and seeing the reactions was amazing enough to light a fire in me. Makes you wonder How many of those people who got their food paid for have continued to do it too. 

On my way to work in the mornings I take the toll road because It gets me there faster. I try to pay for the car behind me every time I have the extra change with me. I love looking in my rear view and seeing it start a chain reaction. I've been that person many times who thought I had the $ and had to pay an 11 dollar fine for a $0.70 cent toll because I really had forgotten my wallet when going through the full service line... Or having a panic attack scrounging for extra change when there's people laying on the horn behind you. Worse case scenario the person behind you really didn't need it... Well, maybe the person behind them did. Or maybe they didn't need the $0.70 but they had a crazy bad morning and your act of kindness was enough to tell them without saying it that everything is going to be alright. Nothing negative could come from it. What are you going to do with $0.70 extra cents? Try it. 

I'm not telling you all of that to pat myself on the back or receive any kind of credit. I'm saying it because its SO simple. Don't have $10 extra dollars to pay for someone's food? Pay their $0.70 toll. 

Make a phone call or send a text message and encourage someone today. It will cost you nothing but it will mean everything to the person on the other end. Pastor Josh spoke this last Sunday on the importance of words: how they can break someone or make someone. He challenged our church to pick 1 person a day for 1 week and speak life to them. When I heard him say that I thought "this is awesome." Awesome is an understatement. I can't even begin to describe how overwhelmed with love I've felt this week from the encouragement I've received. Do it. Once a day. Every day. 

Never miss an opportunity to hold the door. It takes 2 extra seconds of your time. It may not "make their day" but it will certainly not hurt it (Like the alternative would do)

Let people over in front of you. Lets be real, if traffic is heavy they're not going to get anywhere any faster than you are by just being 1 car in front of you. What happens when you don't anyway? They're probably going to cut you off because they're bitter that you didn't let them over... Which then is going to make you bitter too. Sounds kinda ridiculous when you think about it doesn't it? Do it. All the time. Save the bitterness. It's not worth it.

Your acts of kindness may not come with a thank you, and it certainly probably wont come with a guarantee that it'll be returned back to you. But that's alright, it doesn't need to be. 

The world isn't going to change by a bunch of humans sitting around talking about how bad it is. It's going to change when we start creating sparks and lighting fires. Start somewhere. 

Be the change you want to see.

Xoxo

Meg

The last 24 hours of your life

Time is of the essence. 

Life is too short.

Today is a day you will never get back.

Tomorrow is never promised...

All familiar sayings, and great tweetable one-liners, but do we really live like they are true? I heard a captivating thought one morning on my way to work and it has never left me since. Ill ask you the very same question.

If you found out you only had 24 hours left to live, how would you live it?

I heard it worded another thought-provoking way when watching Zack Sobiech's video "My Last Days" and again, I'll make the same statement to you. 

You don't have to find out you're dying to start living. 

On November 11, 2008 the world lost one of the most amazing women who, in my opinion, has ever lived. And I had the honor of calling her my Memaw. To sum her up, read Proverbs 31:10-31. She was exactly that. One of the most remarkable things about my Memaw, aside from how she lived her life, was how she left it. 

Impacting. 

Inspiring.

Motivating.

Loving.

Encouraging.

Thought-provoking.

Heart-changing.

If you had 24 hours left to live, could you say that the way you lived your life inspired someone to be happier? To love harder? To care more? To make a better decision? To make a difference? 

Could you say that after your time on earth is done that your legacy will still be inspiring others to live a better life? A life lived like they only had 24 hours left? 

Last night I took a lady named Gladys out to dinner. If you are reading this blog you probably already know all about her, because you got here from clicking a link on another social media page- and Lord knows I've posted something about Gladys every time I spend time with her. Why? Because she inspires me. And even more awesome than that, my posts about her I've been told have inspired others. She inspires people who have never even met her. I want to live like that.

She will be 96 on July 10 so she's got a lot of life in her rear view. She lives in a nursing home and is legally blind. She has no real freedom because she can't drive. She can't write, she can't dial numbers on the phone, she cant stand for long because her back hurts, she can't walk long distances without oxygen and taking breaks because her ankle bothers her. She relies on nurses (whoaren't  nice) for most every thing. She lost her husband of 49 years and 5 months in 1986 (and says she misses him like it happened yesterday). One of her daughters has taken pretty much everything she had and doesn't ever call or visit, the other comes and sees her once a week. She has a total of 13 grand/great/great-great grandkids but doesn't know the last time she saw or heard from any of them, except through a thank you card (that she can't read without waiting on someone to read it to her) from HER sending something to THEM (despite their lack of thoughtfulness). She has a sister and a brother that she can't see because they're all pretty much in the same situation. She can't get to church (which she said is the thing she wishes she could do most) and she's stuck in a nursing home every single day with just windows to see the outside world... Ok, You get the point. But the awesome thing about Gladys is you would never know any of those things unless she tells you (never complaining, just talking) Because she's so humble and happy... always. She will say when things have hurt her feelings, or if she misses her husband, freedom, etc. but never complains. She always makes it clear that she's lived a great life and has no regrets. Key word: no regrets. In 96 years of life... No regrets?! That's admirable. I want to be able to say when I'm at the end of my rope, that I've made the most of every opportunity, loved as best as I could, encouraged as much as I could, been as thoughtful as I possibly could and been the best me that I could... To the point where I have no regrets.

Stop living like you have forever, and start  living like you only have 24 hours left. Don't put off for tomorrow what you could get done today. Don't put off right now what should have been done yesterday. 

Make the phone call

Send the text message

Say the apology 

End the argument

Stop the bitterness

Do something nice for someone

Make a change

Be an encourager

Be happy 

Seize the moment 

Do your best

BE your best 

Live like you're in the last 24 hours of your life. 

Live like Memaw. 

Live like Gladys. 

Xoxo,

Meg

Show love, be love.

When a thought is taking over my brain, my Facebook statuses have a tendency to turn into novels and Twitter's 140 character max always goes into the un-tweetable negatives - causing me to abbeviate so much that it hardly makes sense, or having to use #LT 50 times over to get my full thought out. So here I am... creating a blog.

Welcome to my very first one!

When blogging first came around I thought it was stupid. Who wants to read a diary? That's kind of how I looked at it. But then I started reading some, and found them to be super inspirational (depending on who's blog you read, haha). 

I don't consider myself to live an extremely exciting, adventurous life... But I have made it my mission to show love and be love to anyone around me every chance I can. In a world that seriously lacks that very thing, in my opinion, that could make the biggest change... It has had some pretty cool outcomes. 

A few months ago I heard something in a sermon that has forever changed my way of thinking when it comes to loving the person in front of me. It was an equation, using Vertical Church as the example, and this is how it went: we reach 10,000 people a month that never new God before, they give their hearts to Christ and never leave the faith. If no one else was ever born in the world and we were reaching 10,000 people a month it would take roughly 58,600 years to change the world for Christ. BUT if just 1 person caught a fire to reach someone in 1 year, taking 6 months to build a strong relationship with them. They start coming to church and building a relationship with God, and the next 6 months you disciple them to go out with you the next year... and that year each of you reach one person, and then the next year you have 4 people each reaching 1 person and so on... It would take only 40 years to reach the entire world. 

58,600 vs 40.

In one lifetime you could see the entire world changed just by one person making such a lasting impact on one person that it creates a chain reaction. 

Every one is so quick to talk about how awful the world is now a days, but  Imagine the impact we could have if just 1 person showed 1 person genuine love and kindness in such a way that It sparks a chain reaction... 

Show love, be love. You never know who needs it, and your love could change their life... Or be the spark that initiates a changed world. 

Some people may think my blog posts are boring, others may find them stupid... and maybe, just maybe they might inspire someone to make a change. 

If 500 people read my blog, 499 people thought it was dumb and 1 person was inspired to make a change... It's 100% worth it. 

Be the change you want to see in the world. Start with loving the person In front of you. 

Xoxo

Meg