When I feel like ignoring the pain in the world

Life in this broken world is hard 

There are so many things that are not as they should be, so many sorrows and so much pain

Sometimes the world makes me want to close my eyes and hide pretending that all the horrors will simply go away if I just pretend like they're not there.

 As much as I wish I had the magical power to simply wish all the bad things away and make everything better that's just not how life works. 

Actually it's quite the opposite. 

So yes there may not be a simple solution to a problem 

but when we ignore it and pretend like it's not there we're being selfish. 

We are thinking about ourselves and protecting our own eyes from seeing the pain 

and our hearts from feeling the sorrow of this world. 

We are telling all of those who are hurting, vulnerable and in need that our own safety and comfort are more important that theirs. 

That we would rather ignore the voiceless so that we can have a more blissful life 

one that doesn't include all the real hard parts. 

We are saying that their heartache and pain are not worth my compassion, energy and emotions. 

Is that the message that I want to send? 

Without realizing it when we ignore the social injustices in our world 

and the pain and exploitations of our neighbors we are only perpetuating the problem, 

shoving it under the rug and turning off the light. 

We are giving more power to those injustices because brokenness and sin breads in darkness. 

They need light to shine on them so they can be opened up to what is good and right.

Yes it may be hard like watching a prostitute be grabbed and taken away by a man, 

hard to process, sad to watch and difficult to understand or share 

but it's in acknowledging the problem and being bold and brave enough to allow our hearts to feel their pain and break for them  that we begin to be able to advocate for them. 

To be a voice for the voiceless 

to let these people know that they aren't invisible, 

that we see them and the horrors that they are going through 

and that we are courageous enough to take a stand against the evil 

to talk about the things that are uncomfortable, hard and broken in our world 

in order to take another step towards ending it 

to shine a little more light and bring a little more hope

 to the world, to these people and to these faces. 

That's all I can ask anyone to do. 

Yes, you may not be able to change everything in the world but you can change someone's world by showing them that there is hope and there are people who care and a God who loves them!

Grace is the greatest Brave

 Grace is the greatest brave.

 Everyday we face battles, and for each of us those battles look a little different. But we all live in a  world with broken people and so relationships, friendships, and family are hard. 

 

Sometimes its battles of people persuading us that we’re failing

Tearing down all that we’ve tried to achieve

Or its gossip and rumors

Other times it’s people breaking our trust, lying to us, hurting us

The battle of trying to be good enough, smart enough, pretty enough

The battle of trying to be accepted and loved

But no matter what it is the battle never seems to end

When we’re caught in these battles with people giving grace doesn’t come easily or feel natural at all.

It takes a lot of courage to give grace to the person who hurt you, the one who gossiped and slandered about you or the one who won’t let you live down your past.

But, as hard and difficult as it may seem, it is possible to give grace, and Jesus proved it. He showed us how to give grace even when it is hard

 He gently and lovingly reminds me that

 I was the one who was warring against him

 Living for myself and worshiping the world

 Yet, Jesus gave me grace

 I used to do things to him that people do to me. 

 Promise things to him and then break those promises

 Tell him that I loved him, and then turn my back on him

 And I took from him

 I lied to him and made fun of him

 Yet he was courageous enough to take all of that sin and give us all of his grace

 We didn’t deserve it, but he gave us a second chance.

 So yes, I am weak and unworthy and I don’t want to forgive people who have hurt me, but his grace  is enough for all of me 

 I can be brave, because Jesus Christ was brave

 "We don’t get the luxury of looking like Jesus and holding on to our hurts"

 Grace restores, rebuilds and changes mindsets

 But grace doesn’t just happen, someone has to be brave enough to give it.

 Will you?

Dear Grandma,

I have memories of coming into your house as a little girl with pigtails, running straight into the kitchen, because I knew that’s where you would be and then jumping into your arms for a big hug! Memories of when you would let me make a mess by taking out all of your pots and pans to play with, sometimes I would make musical instruments out of them and other times I would pretend to be cooking like you were. The times where you would let me help you make jello and we’d make it into fun shapes, and then you’d be so patient with me as I would check every 10 minutes to see if it was ready yet. Memories of sitting at the table having life chats with you and the way you always made me laugh and gave such good life advice. And my absolute favorite were the way you would take us all out on dates for our Birthdays, we’d get to have a special grandma lunch and pick out some new outfits and somehow you always knew what clothes I would like and remembered such little details about each one of us grandkids.

 

But time is ticking and with every day I realized how quickly it is slipping away from us, how precious each and every second is, every conversation and every hug. While I may not be able to do all of those things that I used to do with you anymore I’m learning that I don’t need that to feel loved by you. Just holding your hand fills my heart with joy and love, or being able to sit next to you. Seeing a smile on your face or the sparkle in your eye when you see us kids. These little things mean a thousand times more than I ever realized before and I treasure these little moments even more than all those big memories you’ve painted my life with growing up.

Thank you for always being there for me. For being such a fighter and being so strong. For not complaining but instead enjoying life and your family as much as you can. Dearest grandma, I love you more than words can say and while it’s hard to see you hurting and sick, and it breaks my heart to see you losing your independence. I am so grateful that I am still blessed with getting to make these simple little memories with you and treasure these little moments of eating chocolate together, and simply sitting there holding each others hands.

But I would be very grateful if time would slow down just a little bit so I can squeeze in as many of these moments and memories with you into my heart to keepsake forever!

Sweet Grandma I hope you know how much I love you, and how dearly I treasure all of the sweet memories you’ve etched into my heart and the love and care that you’ve brightened my life with! I'm storing up all of these memories with you & I can’t wait to hold your hand again in just a few weeks!  <3