Fireflies

I saw fireflies the other night for the first time this summer. They were so beautiful. I love how they seem to fill the cool night air with magic and wonder. And they got me thinking. You only see fireflies when it is dark... When we were kids we were often scared of the night. It always seemed that when the evening shadows began to darken the ordinary turned scary. What once was sunshiny and beautiful was all of a sudden dark and unknown. But then, just when we start to get scared and wonder where the beauty of the day went, a single firefly begins to dance and soon he is followed by hundreds more. And they turn what was scary and unknown into something magical. Sometimes life is like this. We are going along and suddenly things go dark and we become afraid. We feel all alone and fear what lies around every dark corner. And then, just when we are completely at a loss, a firefly begins to dance. These fireflies of life come in many different shapes and forms, but they always come when we need them the most. And the really cool thing about these little bits of magic is that if life was always sunny and good we would most likely miss them. Sometimes it takes the dark times in life to really see something beautiful. So I encourage you, don't be afraid of the dark times, you are never alone... Just look for the fireflies.

"...I enter the battle, and I am not afraid. For I am not alone." Wayne Batson

Stuck

Sometimes life is funny. Have you ever had one of those moments when it just seems so absolutely ridiculous and yet all you can do is laugh about it. Today was one of those moments. I was babysitting my younger siblings this weekend and one of them managed to get wedged under the bed. He crawled under there, put his feet up and managed to get good and stuck. It took a bit of calming down and maneuvering before we managed to get him out of there, and hopefully he has learned the valuable lesson of not crawling into tight spaces. I think that life is like that sometimes. We occasionally find ourselves wedged into a tough spot and we wonder how in the world we will ever get out. And often during those times we start to panic because we are afraid that we won't be able to get out. And yet, God is always there ready to pull us out of whatever mess we have gotten ourselves into. What we need to realize, is that we need to calm down and relax and allow God to help us through. Because when we start to panic we simply get ourselves wedged in tighter. So, take a deep breath, calm down and let God pull you through. And if you can, laugh and laugh hard about it. Because laughter is truly the best medicine of all.

"When you come to the end of your rope, make a knot and hang on." --Unknown

The Flower

There is a girl sitting in the middle of a vast field and in her hands she holds a flower. One by one she pulls the petals of... He loves me, He loves me not. As she does this she is filled with a dread that maybe she will end up with one petal and the words "He loves me not." As she gets towards the end of the petals a single tear begins to roll down her cheek as she thinks, "What if?" And then, out of no where He appears. He is beautiful, and powerful and oh so gentle. He sits beside her without a word, and for a minute there is silence. Then He speaks, "Beloved, there is no 'what if' with Me. My love is unconditional and never failing. You never have to fear that the last petal will seal your fate, because that is not how I work. Do not doubt the love I have for you, for you are mine and I have called your name." Then with strong hands that bear a scar, he takes the sad, ruined flower and hands her a beautiful rose without a single blemish.
          Never forget the unfailing love of the One who is the lover of your soul.

"Grace is more beautiful than beauty." --Emerson

Psalm 42:8
"But each day the Lord pours His unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing His songs, praying to the God who gives me life."

Butterlifes

Next to the window sits a old jar and inside the jar is a beautiful butterfly. It is a  amazing, delicate, creature. And ever so gracefully it flutters about. It is so delightful to see butterflies floating on the breeze. And chasing after them through the fields is one of those simple joys of childhood. And as I sit and watch the butterfly in the jar, I realize something. Butterflies are like dreams, they are meant to be chased. When we put them into a jar all we can do is look at them. They are not going anywhere and they are not being all that they could be. Butterflies and dreams were not meant to be stuffed in a jar and put on a shelf. They were meant to be chased. Sometimes we get scared that if we pursue our dreams they will get lost or we will be hurt. Just like we are afraid of letting the butterfly out of the jar for fear of loosing it, we often are afraid to truly chase our dreams. We say to ourselves that it is just better if we put them up in a jar where they will be safe. But that is not what dreams are for. Dreams are meant to be chased, for the fun is in the chase. You just never know what you might encounter as you run through the fields of life. Don't ever stop dreaming! Don't stop believing! Don't stop delighting! Don't stop chasing! So what is your dream?

"When you cease to dream, you cease to live." --Malcolm Forbes

Summer

I love summer. And you know what I think is the best part about it... All the little random things. Like having the truck break down at work and finding it so funny you can't do anything but laugh on the side of the road. Jumping into the swimming pool in your jeans at the end of a long hot day. Ice cream with your best friend. Funny tan lines that make you look ridiculous. Fireflies filling the fields with electricity. Sidewalk chalk. Ice cold lemonade. The list could go on and on. And you know what, I think that is the amazing thing about life. It is the little things that make us smile and that often leave the biggest marks in our hearts. So, I challenge you this summer to stop waiting for the big events, and to discover the joys of everyday life. You just never know what you might discover.

"Sometimes," said Pooh, "The smallest things take up the most room in your heart." --A.A Milne

Gifts

Have you ever thought about the beautiful gifts that have been given to you? Life is full of them and so often we don't see them, or we take them for granted, or saddest of all, we don't accept them. I think that sometimes we get it into our heads that we don't deserve the gifts. And yet, that is why it is called a gift. Sometimes we are handed something beautiful and we get scared. We are afraid that it might get taken back or perhaps we aren't worthy of something so precious. And yet, God is sitting there saying, "Beloved, the gift is for you, accept it. I delight in blessing you." God loves you, do you realize that? He has given us the gift of joy, and the ability to see the beauty all around us. A lazy summer day, the joy of being in love, a gentle rain that refreshes the earth and bull frogs singing at night; there is a gift in each of these, and it is your choice whether to accept it or not. You can choose to say, "No, I don't deserve it." Or, "No, I'm just not good enough." But that is not how gifts work, they are simply free. God's waiting for you to take the gift. So let go, take a leap of faith and discover the joy that is waiting for you.                            


"There are two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." --Albert Einstein

The Promise

A few days ago I received an amazing gift, a ring from the love of my life. When he slipped it on my finger it became a promise of something beautiful. A promise to love me forever. I naturally was very excited and have not stopped staring at my finger since. And then I realized something, I've also received a promise from the One who created the universe. God saw me before I took my first breath and said, "She's mine and I'm going to love her forever." And though I don't wear a ring from God, He reminds every day of the love He has for me. Whether it's in the beauty of a sunrise, a gentle rain, a birds song or a child's laugh, I am constantly reminded that I am loved by the One who made me. And I wonder, why do I ever doubt this? Why do I sometimes wake up and fear that just maybe God's not going to love me today? That is the craziest thing in the world because If I know that a mere human being could love me so much and want to spend the rest of his life with me, how could I ever doubt the love of One who is so much greater. So I wear this ring, as a reminder that I am loved.



"How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered. I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me." --Psalm 139:17-18

"How do you spell love?" asked Piglet. "You don't spell love," said Pooh, "You feel it."