Hello ladies & gents, I know I'm a day late with this post... And I have a few writings on my mind so who knows where this will end up. I was only home for 2 hours all day yesterday and when that is getting ready/eating time there is just no possibility of writing :( Excuse shared, let's get on with a Friday Fun Day post!
It's so awesome how things can happen... Not that my days have been sunshine and rainbows lately, because they haven't literally or figuratively but still, somehow through the clouds peak glimmers of hope. I guess I'm not going to give you many fabulous metaphors for you to glean from today or anything like that, but let me just encourage you to accept this feeble post as a word for your life, a message of hope and promise. I know I've been on this promise kick lately, I suppose because I am in the waiting right along with you and I am trying to encourage myself just as much as I'd like to help you.
I had a friend come up to me Sunday night after watching me sing and just let me know she was thinking about me... Now, first let me say that although last week wasn't what I would call a "great week" it wasn't all together bad and I thought I was doing pretty good all things considered... At least until after just a few words from a caring heart had me reduced to a teary mess. I kept insisting, I had been fine up until that moment and that I didn't even realize I was stressed or effected by the goings on around me... But maybe I just didn't allow myself to process anything? Either way, clearly circumstance can effect your mind, your hopes, your beliefs... Sometimes I suppose it would be good, if everything is going right I'm sure it's a good thing to gain confidence, but we must recognize when things aren't good so that we can fight off the negative effects on our thoughts and prayers. Let the good in and out, keep that flow going but do whatever we have to and get the "negative pipe" clogged up! I remind myself frequently of things I hear said to diminish negative impact, words like "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming" - Finding Nemo (yes, I'm that deep! ha!) "If people are talking behind your back, it' only means you are ahead of them" or " I may walk slowly but I never walk backward" - Abraham Lincoln, or even "he who trims himself away to suit every one will soon whittle himself away." Still, it can be difficult to stay true to who we are and to keep walking toward a promised land we have never seen only trusted in. And I'm not speaking about heaven although I hope we are walking toward that destination too, I'm talking about those future places of progress and destiny where we fulfill our life callings. Those places we have no GPS for or map to, not even a gas station along the way to stop at and ask directions... How do we get there? How do we stay on course? How do we know which way to go?
Maybe we can't know the way, maybe we will never get to where we thought we would... Maybe we won't always know what direction to go even after praying for direction. But maybe that's a good thing. In my devotional this morning there was a section that read "I designed time to be a protection for you. You couldn't bear to see all your life at once. Though I am unlimited by time, it is in the present moment that I meet you. Refresh yourself in my company, breathing deep draughts of My Presence. The highest level of trust is to enjoy Me moment by moment. I am with you, watching over you wherever you go." - God (via Jesus Calling App.) So maybe the point is to be less like Joseph who knew where he would end up and more like Abraham walking toward a goal we've not seen but been promised we would know when we got there. Maybe as long as we direct our attention to God and do our best to stay close to him when we have lack of direction we will just end up where we are supposed to be... And maybe, He's been giving direction all along. Maybe direction comes in the form of friends stopping you to give you a shoulder to cry on, to encourage you to keep going, to let you know you're not alone... Maybe it's not really your friend speaking at all but a loving God speaking through that friend.
I received another piece of welcomed encouragement from my cousin as well... I haven't even written to thank her yet but I've turned to that note almost every day since it came in the mail. It wasn't even a long note, just on a homemade card... But the words were as impacting as a novel of pages. I read the story of Hansel and Gretel when I was young and now that I'm grown I've realized that sometimes along life's path all it takes is a breadcrumb to remind you of your way...
I suppose I'm only writing you today to leave a breadcrumb in your path... To encourage you that wherever you are right now in life, just keep walking toward your goals and promises. Walk slowly if you must but refuse to go back. Fight the strong arm of negative people and thoughts that may press in and take time to recognize all of the little clues of direction and encouragement along the journey. Never whittle away at yourself to make other's more comfortable or worry about what everyone is saying, just trust and follow God.
And one last word... Not from me...
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