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This is awesome. 😊 I’ll be sure to share something later.
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
I love this topic!
Something God has really been opening my eyes to these past few days is keeping an eternal view. I worry and focus so much on what is temporary, treating it as if it matters the most. A few nights ago I read 2 Corinthians 4, and it really resonated with me. Paul and the other apostles went through so much: scoffing, ridiculing, beatings, and some of them were even martyred; but they never gave up their faith. They knew what was the most important. Paul even said in Philippians 1 that to live is Christ and to die is gain. He counted everything else a loss for the sake of Jesus! (Phil. 3) He looked through an eternal lens, a lens that focuses on Jesus and the eternal life He’s given to us who believe. I want to do the same. I’ve been reminding myself to look at the big picture these past few days, and it’s eased some of my anxiety, and put certain things in my life that aren’t eternal in their place. (Also it’s pretty humbling to remember who we are in the grand scheme of things, and it’s amazing to realize what God has done for us out of love, even though he doesn’t need us ❤️)
I’m also looking at writing on an eternal scale. While my stories might not become the next C.S. Lewis and go down in history, their impact is still eternal in some ways. The connections I form while writing, the message that reaches people—those things will last. I’m taking my role as a writer for God’s Kingdom more seriously (or at least I’m just beginning too 😊).
Hope this encourages someone else!
(Sorry I kinda rambled hehe)“Squidward that wasn’t the peace treaty that was a copy of the peace treaty” -SpongeBob
Great idea!
That’s basically what I’ve been thinking about too…like asking myself “will this matter in 50 years”? A lot of times the answer is no, so I can breathe and let it go.
This lady thrives on the divine grace of Faith and the rich embrace of caffeine.
That’s good! That’s definitely something I don’t think about very often, either.
I think one thing God’s been continually trying to teach me lately is that He is the one who can satisfy every desire.
Two and a half years ago, I was finally starting to see some friendships blooming that I had been longing for since middle school. I was really excited, but also terrified that it wouldn’t last, and it started to consume all my attention. I remember coming back from hanging out with them one evening and telling myself, “You finally have what you wanted. Are you happy now?” And when I answered my question honestly, the answer was no. I felt God nudging me to surrender these friendships, but I was clinging to them tightly because I’d desired them for so long and it finally seemed like I had them.
The timing was such that this was all happening right before my family was to leave for a long trip throughout the West/Midwest. We would be gone for almost a month, and I was afraid that being gone so long would cause me to lose those friendships, but there wasn’t much I could do about that. I also knew God was asking me to surrender those friendships, and in a way, I was almost relieved to be leaving, because I really needed some time to pray through this and get clarity about it, without all the distractions.
That whole trip was so deeply impactful to me spiritually. (Maybe sometime I’ll share some more stories, but it would take too much time to detail them all here) But the most impactful moment for me occurred in the North Cascade mountains of Washington.
During our stay there, the weather wasn’t the greatest. The one day we hiked, there was a lot of fog, and we couldn’t see very much beyond the valley we were in. I sort of liked the fog; it gave off vibes from a mystery novel or something. But I had no idea what was on the other side of all that fog, so I didn’t know what I was missing. The next day was raining early in the day, so we couldn’t go out for a hike, but it tapered off in the afternoon, so we decided to drive up the mountain we’d been on the day before, to a viewpoint, and see if the clouds would clear off to give us a bit of a view. My dad had his heart set on seeing Mt. Baker, so we sat in the parking lot at the top of this other mountain, waiting as the clouds blew past, hoping for a break in the clouds long enough to give us a view.
Amazingly enough, the clouds did clear off partially- not enough to see more than a brief glimpse of the tip of Baker, but they cleared almost completely from another nearby mountain, Mt. Shuksan. At this point, the sun was moving towards the western horizon, causing a beautiful glow on the glacier-pocked peak. It was absolutely gorgeous!
But the best part came as we started driving down the mountain. My dad pulled off, and we walked back a short trail to a lake. The view took my breath away- Mt. Shuksan, against the blue sky, with the sun illuminating it, reflected in the lake! In that moment, I felt the pure love of the Father rush into my heart, and it was like everything else I had desired fell away instantly. The friendships I’d wanted looked so pale and unappealing in comparison. I was so in awe that I could hardly even speak, all that bubbled up out of me was worship for Jesus. That moment marked me, and allowed me to surrender those friendships, believing that Jesus had something better in store for me.
After we returned from our trip, I went from homeschooling to public school (that’s a story for another time, too) and a couple things happened throughout that year that were really difficult for me. As a result, it felt like some lies started creeping in about God, and it’s been a process of God highlighting those lies and revealing to me where I’ve been believing that He won’t fulfill His promises and that He can’t fully satisfy my heart. In hindsight, I’m so glad I didn’t keep the friendships I wanted, but God has started bringing better friends into my life since then. It didn’t happen in the timing I thought or wanted, but He’s been showing me that He really knows what’s best for me.
So anyway… there’s my long speech for the day lol.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
That’s inspiring! Awh, God is so good. Good seems like such a little common word for His grandeur and kindness.
Stories coming soon!
I’m gonna try not to go TOO deep here…
About a year ago, or a little longer, I was hanging out with the wrong people. My friends (or more accurately, there was one specific friend I will not name) mocked religion. I used to deny that I was “too religious” or that I actively practised Christianity. There were a lot of negative things I associated with religion in general, and I thought of it as like being a prisoner. However, my family began to go to a church, and I slowly rebuilt my relationship with God. I decided to get baptised (my parents had left that decision up to me, instead of baptising me as a baby) around this time last year. I wanted to know the truth, so I prayed that He would reveal it. And He did. Gradually and painfully. (Thank God for gradually, ’cause otherwise it would’ve hurt more).
Here’s how I like to explain it: it’s like when somebody turns on the light, and your eyes are used to the dark. It hurts. But after my eyes got used to the light, I realised that it was WAY better than the dark was, and that it made things a lot less confusing. Hope that makes sense 🙂
Before, I had some mental health issues (none of which were too bad, but still). Now, they’ve been slowly disappearing as I’ve learned to care less about what people think about me, and more about how to follow God and please Him. I’m still trying to improve upon the not–caring–about–what–others–think thing though, because it’s HARD.
The really scary thing about the whole experience is that I realised how fragile the human mind is. The fact that I was convinced of such wild things and that I was prepared to fight for harmful doctrines actually terrifies me. However, in the long run I think maybe God is preparing me for life, and helping me develop critical thinking skills which will serve me–and others–later on.
So there we have it. God’s worked miracles in my life!
Pray, thou shalt simply add ketchup unto the mac'n'cheese.
That’s amazing! I’m sure all you’ve faced is only making you stronger and giving you the tools you need to bring that light to other people!
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
Oh girl, I can completely relate to this, and that’s kind of how my journey’s been over the past couple years/months for me too! <3
This lady thrives on the divine grace of Faith and the rich embrace of caffeine.
This isn’t a huge thing, and God has certainly done huge things for me, but this happened recently.
A while ago I asked God to see something powerful. David praises God for the mighty breakers that God is above, Miriam breaks forth in song as the horse and rider are no match for the control of the Lord, and Mary extols in the magnificat of being a virgin with the Christ conceived within her. All these and more see something powerful and vivid in their life and it brings out praise for the glorious Lord. I wanted something vivid and powerful to do that to me too.
Then I just realized. He has shown me something powerful.
He’s shown me His love.
That’s so good! I think it’s so easy to forget the simple things that are really the most powerful!
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
@janellebelovedpig @stephie @savannah-grace2009 @walkbyfaith @esther-c @anyone-else
I’m reviving this topic again because there is something powerful about sharing testimonies of what God is doing!
My mom was telling me today about a family from our church, and their youngest daughter had a severe food allergy. The mother was sharing that her son (he’s like six I think) had a dream that Jesus healed his sister, so she told him to pray over his sister, and now his sister has been able to eat the foods she was previously allergic to! It always inspires me to see God speaking to children and using them to bring about His purposes!
This second thing I wanted to share is more just something God was speaking to me last week as an encouragement, and I thought maybe some of you need to hear it, too. I was hiking with my family, and we were up on a mountain with some rock slabs, and it wasn’t always easy to distinguish where the trail was. My brothers ran on ahead out of sight, and usually I just follow them, but in this case I was forced to rely on looking for the trail markings myself. Several times I would find one marking, but I couldn’t see the next one, so I would hesitate. But as soon as I started taking a few steps forward in the direction the previous marker indicated, I would find the next one. God started showing me how this is often what we do in life- He gives us a piece of direction, and we hesitate or stall because we can’t immediately see the next step. But as we trust that His directions are accurate and take a step of faith in the direction He gave, He will make the next one clear and confirm that you’re still on the trail.
So anyway… I could share a couple more things, but that’s all I’ll leave here for now. I’d love to hear from some of you what God is showing you or doing in your life, whether that’s big or small!
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
Oops, got your tag wrong somehow! (See above post)
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
Oh wow! That’s so cool!!!!
For me, God’s been teaching me a lot about trusting Him.
I’ve had some people hurt me in the past, and betray me, and it’s just been really hard for me to make friends and fully trust someone.
I went to an amazing Bible camp that I go to every year, and at camp, I always feel sooo close to God! I was super excited coming into it, and I prayed really hard that God would bring me closer to Him.
But this year, I felt distant from Him, and I couldn’t understand why.
Then one night in chapel, I realized that it was because I was pushing God away, like I wasn’t trusting Him completely, because I was too afraid. I started kind of panicking, because I didn’t know how to start trusting Him! Me and a close friend walked up to the cross on top of the hill (we have a cross on top of the tallest hill, kind of as a marker for where camp is) after the service and we cried and prayed together and I started to realize that I don’t have to have everything perfect now. I was putting too much pressure on myself that once I realized something was wrong, I had to automatically fix the entire problem.
But that’s not really how God works. I realized that you have to let Him draw you closer, every day. It’s not a “oh, I have to trust God for the rest of my life” mentality, it’s “Lord, I trust You right now. I trust You in this moment, I trust You today.” And every day, you just renew that. It’s like taking little baby steps, and the more you spend time with Him, the more he pulls you in. Sometimes it’s so gradual you don’t even notice. But when you look back, you can see the change in yourself, and you can see everything God has done in your life!!!
I hope that makes sense…
This lady thrives on the divine grace of Faith and the rich embrace of caffeine.
Oh yeah that makes sense! The first step to freedom is recognizing the problem, but it’s not always an immediate fix. God is so patient with us, too. Sometimes it blows me away that He is still there waiting to pick me up again after I’ve fallen for the hundredth time. I think a majority of the things we struggle with ultimately stem from believing lies about who God is.
I have so many good camp memories, too! (Well, there were a few years where there was a bit of a clique that I was left out of, but aside from that…)
Overall I’ve learned that even while the spiritual highs from camp are awesome, they can’t sustain me throughout the rest of the year. I have to be intentional in creating space and time for God daily, and cultivating that relationship even in the mundane, because ultimately that’s what is going to sustain.
I’m not the most emotional person in the world, and especially when I was in middle school, I’d be at summer camp and see everyone around me crying and having these emotional encounters with God, and I would wonder what was wrong with me that I wasn’t “feeling” God like everyone else was. Then a counselor was talking to me one evening, and she said that she had to learn the hard way that you don’t have to be emotional to encounter God. (That’s not to discount any emotional experiences, because emotions do help us connect in a deeper way, but if you’re always looking for emotions, that’s also not healthy- it’s like a married couple saying they’re only in love when they feel it. Love is a choice, not just an emotion, and the same goes for our relationship with God) But anyway, that shifted my whole perspective, and once I stopped looking for the emotional encounters, I started to get so much more out of my camp experiences and I learned how to value just spending time with God and seek Him regardless of whether I felt Him or not. (And I have since then had emotional encounters, but ultimately that’s not an everyday thing and I don’t rely on them to fuel my faith)
Haha sorry this is getting so long, but as soon as you mentioned camp, it brought back a whole bunch of memories, lol.
I’ll add one more thing and then I’ll be done (for now). Probably one of the most impactful moments I had at summer camp was one evening after chapel (I think it was my sophomore year?). The room looked like it usually did after the message, with kids up front crying, encountering God, and others sitting with friends and having deep conversations. I didn’t have any close friends there that year, and I was sitting alone in one of the chairs, watching everyone else and wishing I had someone to talk to. Then all of a sudden, I felt an arm around my shoulders and turned to see who had sat down, but the chair next to me was empty. Whether it was Jesus Himself or an angel, I don’t know, but I do know that I felt an arm over my shoulders, and Jesus was communicating that He was there with me and I could talk to Him even if I didn’t have any close friends there.
Anywhoooo… that’s all for now lol.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
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