"Sundays"

Echos

Tonight, I am realizing the depth of grace. It echos in eternity, the eternity that was set in the hearts of men, before we were born. I am seeing how our lives were destined to be a mess from the very beginning. Because if it wasn't, grace would't be quite as beautiful.
Today, listen for the echo in your heart because I don't want you to miss eternity.

 I simply had to share this picture.
It echos. 

Don't miss [the Echo in You Heart]

Grace

Sometimes life, in its entirety, feels like such a mess. It's like a thousand puzzle pieces all trying to fit together at once with little success, except for the couple of pieces falling into place here and there. And yet you have to wonder what those pairs and trios have to do with the rest of the puzzle.

Until someday, someone comes along and reminds you of something. And the answer that they give isn't what you expect. It's not a great revelation to the end of your story, or the greatness of your calling. But it is a bud that, when well tended, will bloom and blossom beyond your greatest imagination. It is a tiny truth, but it is colossal. It is the truth that life is a mess, and that it will always tend to be. But what you do with the mess that you have been given is what makes a difference.

 Then you take a moment to see yourself for who you are, and your life for what it really is, it is overwhelming at first, but you wait just a little longer to see what will happen. And in that last breath you breathe in before giving up, you see grace. It flutters with wings of the homiest sparrow, and yet the most prestigious eagle. And in that moment; life and yourself, and a thousand puzzle pieces all collide, and it doesn't make complete sense, but somehow it's okay, and your free, and your alive, and you have the ability to embrace what you have been given.

So very many times have we been told that our lives must be perfect, that we must be flawless; and so many times, as I have attempted to build my own white picket fence, I have learned the very opposite from what I have been taught.

"But He said to me,'My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"-2 Corinthians 12:9

Birthplace Of Art

Brave Enough

We were outside in the dark; innocent smiles, under the stars. The summer night air never grew old to our young hearts, just like how the stars felt like meeting a million new faces every time. It was always the same, yet we never lost that feeling of wonder. We were laughing and free, and singing the songs of crickets with the roofs of our mouths.

 It was hide-and-seek-in-the-dark, while the grown ups settled in around a bonfire. And then it was daring each other to stand in the field behind my house, which, in order to get there, you had to traverse the scariest path; but once there, it was the most beautiful place in the world because of how the stars shined so brightly. Only the bravest of us saw that view. And those were the days where we learned that bravery was running the right direction when you were afraid.

And now I go inside and I turn on the lights, and I stare at my computer screen. I read a book. Maybe I do some writing. No blanket tints, or flashlights in the dark, or sneaking out to catch a glimpse of the stars. I realize that I can't hear the crickets from my bedroom window. And I never turn off the lights unless I'm going to bed. 

Have I grown afraid? Where is the girl who takes the time to run through the woods at night just so she can see the stars? Where is the girl who dims the lights and listens to the world fall asleep? 

Sometimes, I forget to let things be what they were meant to be, even the stars. I've realized that it is bravery to be able to accept who you are. It's bravery to turn out the lights and just sit there with yourself and your own thoughts, and your own feelings. Something about the darkness makes a person vulnerable in more than one way. And perhaps if we can learn to be authentic in the mirror of the night, then we will have more strength to be when we step through the door of a new day. 

I know that I am brave enough to see the stars. 

Wild Heart

Freedom stance,
Taking chance;
And the thrill of something wild.

In my heart,
Blooming art;
Nothing here is mild.

Breaking glass,
Days that pass;
Chiding the heart of child.

But freedom now,
Things in tow;
In the heart of the wild.