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 

Hold on to hope...

                                                                                                     
 Dear friend,

Are you overwhelmed?
Overwhelmed by the struggles of life
The pain that feels so strong that you can't breathe
The sin and brokenness that's so prevalent in this world
The to-do-list that seems to never end
The uncertainty that looms over the future
The burdens that seem too heavy to bear...



I have talked to quite a few people in the past week, and although the causes, circumstances and reasons are all very different the theme of feeling overwhelmed seemed pervasive. It's a feeling that comes all too frequently and one that everyone can understand because let's face it life is hard, it's full of curve balls and all too often it's painful and breaks your heart.

But today I want to fill your heart with hope and truth. To remind you that with every reminder of the pain that is in your heart there is a reminder of the hope and comfort that we have in Christ. That we don't have to listen to those ugly lies that try to overpower the voice of truth. The lies that tell us that it will always be this hard, or this painful, or this overwhleming. The ones that tell us that things can never change, that there will never be true joy or peace again.

My dear friend don't listen to those lies, because no matter how hard the day is, no matter what is bringing you so much heartbreak and no matter what makes today feel like it is the hardest day of your life...here's the truth

You're going to be okay.

Your heart will find healing, peace and joy again. This is not the end of your story, and you are SO deeply loved.

Your pain is not worthless, it may be hard to see right now, but God is creating beauty out of the ashes.
Yes, it's okay for you to feel sad and hurt, but remember that it is not the end, hold on to hope. Hang on to the promises of God.

So instead of letting your heart become overwhelmed with pain and the struggles of life in this broken world, allow your heart to become overwhelmed by Jesus. To be overwhelmed by his amazing, boundless unending love, his peace that surpasses all understanding and the beautiful joy that only he can fill your heart with!

One of those days

Have you ever had one of those days? We all have them from time to time
The one where maybe your alarm doesn't go off on time
or you don't get to shower in the morning
where you drop your whole bowl of cereal
You get stuck in traffic on your way to work
find out your shift is 2 hours longer than you thought, so you can't go on your lunch date
The one where you double book meetings
spend all afternoon running around campus
When you realize that you have a paper due at midnight that you forgot about
Your coffee order gets messed up, but then you end up spilling it on down your legs anyways
You leave your planner at home and completely forget about one of your appointments
The day where it's 9:00pm you haven't gotten a chance to eat any real meals yet and this is the first time all day that I've gotten to just sit down for half a second. & you finally feel like you can breathe.

But also the one where God reminds you that he's there in the midst of all the craziness and the whirlwind of life. Where he uses the smiles and hugs of friends and tangibles encouragements of others to keep you going and the one where he reminds you that no matter what kind of day you're having, how hard or crappy it may seem it is still a blessing and it is a still a beautiful day full of the grace of God. A day where I have my heavenly father there to carry me through the storms. A day where he reminds me of his faithfulness and love even when it's hard to see. And the one where he reminds me of how crazy blessed my life is, even when I'm stressed.
Yes there are those days that don't seem to go as planned and there may have been a lot of bumps in the road, but God is still faithful and there is beauty even in the midst of the chaos and storms, and God's grace, goodness and peace always prevails! Take time in the midst of your overwhelming life to look up and look to God and I promise he'll provide you with the strength you need!

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:29-30

When you become overwhelmed with your failings...

Some days I look in the mirror and stare at myself.

I sit there and see the person that I am 

I think about the deepest darkest parts of my heart 

the thoughts and feelings that no one knows, except for me

& sometimes when I stop and look at myself if I'm completely honest

my heart sinks a little and I hate the person that I see 

sometimes I'm so overwhelmed with all of my failings 

all the ways I mess up and all of the ugly thoughts that roll

through my head throughout the day. 

"I wanted to love people better this week, yet I didn't

I wanted to be more intentional with my time, yet I failed to plan well

I wanted to be more prayerful, yet I spent the week depending on my own strength"

How can I be so sinful, how can I fail so many times?

I know that God loves me and is gracious with me, 

but sometimes I think that he has to get tired of me continuing to sin 

over and over and over again.

I mean I even still struggle with some of the same things that I did when I first came to Christ 

Why haven't I grown? Why am I such a failure? 

These thoughts constantly flow through my mind 

And when I let myself dwell on these thoughts I fall into despair

I don't think I'll ever arrive and I wonder what others would say 

if they saw what a horrible Christian I really am. 

I become defeated, weary and burdened down by the weight of my own sinfulness, insufficiency and failings 

It is in these moments that God tenderly whispers to me and simply says "Look Up"

He gently reminds me of how self-focused and self-centered I'm being 

That instead of being consumed with God I am being consumed with myself

That my eyes are only looking inward and I've failed to look outside of myself 

and see who God truly is. 

And when this happens I become so focused on who I am that I forget who God is.

I forget that God wants to take my mess and turn it into a masterpiece.

That his power is greater than ALL of my weaknesses

That his grace and love for me are so deep and wide that I cannot fully comprehend the depths of them. 

That he knows EVERY sinful thought and deed, all of my failures past present and future and yet he still chose me to be his beloved daughter. 

That it is through my weaknesses and inadequacies that God gets to show off and display his transforming grace, unending love and his ability and power to change hearts and lives!

So yes, I still mess up a ton and yes I still sin and fail 

But now my reactions to this knowledge changes 

instead of falling into despair and condemnation I get to run to my savior! 

I get to come to him in my weakness and learn how to depend on him in greater ways 

to learn to trust him when he tells me that HE is the one who began the good work in my heart 

 and HE promises that HE will finish it (Phil 1:6)! 

I get the opportunity to realize that I am empty and nothing without my savior 

and that makes his love and grace so much sweeter, it and makes me want to 

run to him and grow in depending on his power and strength instead of trying to do life on my own. 

And this, is such a better, sweeter place to be than in than depths of despair.

So friends take your eyes off of yourself and your shortcomings and place your gaze upon

Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of your faith. The one whose grace is sufficient for us and whose power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-12). 

"True sanctification is all about growing in humility, dependence and gratitude. Joy blossoms in our hearts not as we try harder and harder to grow, but as we see more clearly the depths of our sin and understand more fully our utter helplessness. Only then will we take our eyes off ourselves and look to Christ for all that we need in life and death. Only then will we truly cherish our savior and believe that we need him every minute of every day, and that without him we can do nothing (John 15:5)."

Why I Switched my Major....

Once you enter college the one question that everyone always asks you when they meet you is
"What is your major?"
Next to your name, your major is the next thing that everyone wants to know about you. It almost becomes a part of your identity and a part of who you are. It effects who you interact with, what professors you'll have and what types of groups you'll be involved in.

So after going through the majority of college as a science major with the intention of becoming an Occupational Therapist, that's what everyone knew me as. I was a science girl and I was going to be an OT. And that was that. People thought it was an awesome career choice and I was often applauded for it, & told how smart I was. I was going to go to graduate school and get to help people and join a rising, stable, good, paying career; and people were proud of me for it.

However, I was creating a whole life plan based on my own comfort and wants. What I neglected to do was to seek God to ask him what his plan for my life was. & then he came in and wrecked my heart.

This summer as I spent time in a different culture, saw brokenness and pain up close in a real tangible way and dug into God's word and really sought him and his guidance for my life he directed my path to the field of social work. I wrestled with changing my major, but he continued to keep opening up doors and directing my path. I realized that I wanted to help people. To be able to bring hope and light and joy to those who have none and are in some of the darkest situations. I want to use my life to love and serve others, to do all that I can to make a difference in the world. & for me that means working in the non-profit sector and seeking to work with exploited children and human trafficking.

So yes, maybe I will be taking a big salary cut with my new choice of major, and joining a career that has a lot less prestige attached to it and yes maybe I will have to change everything that I have worked so hard on and start from scratch this year as I enter into the social work program. However, God is so faithful and he has led me this far and opened up the door for me to be accepted into this program and I may not know exactly what lays in store for me 2 years from now, but I know where God has led me to for this moment and I am simply taking it step by step and following his leading.

I cannot wait to grow in this new field of social work and learn what it looks like to enter into this helping profession, and I am so excited to see how I will be able to use my skills to help people and spread God's love.

So here's to this new major, new adventure and new future!

Hi my name's Becca and I'm a social work major.