Surprises

Life is incredible.

One of the most fun things in the world are surprises. They show love and thoughfulness more than anything. Surprises from people let you know they care. Life's little surprises let you know God cares.

People continue to surprise me. First impressions are proved wrong, good and bad. Sometimes though, they again prove to be right. Some people impress you on the inside. They could be the greatest people, but just don't know how to show it.

I wish that peer pressure didn't exist. They way that it gets to people and changes how they are on the outside has always bothered me. Luckily, the outside doesn't always show everything. Everyone has a story; everyone has been hurt. Everyone has reasons they are who they are on the outside, and not everyone is able to show who they are on the inside.

I'm so thankful for the surprises and the views into people's hearts. Even if it's just a peek, it's great to see how people are on the inside.

The world isn't going to hell. People are still in love with the Savior and Giver of life. We might just have to look further into their hearts to see it.

Consistency

This week I've been learning that life is completely inconsistent. Yes, there are things that happen consistently every day, such as the sun rising and setting, school being in session, church happening, everyday miracles. But people are inconsistent. Ideas are inconsistent. Life is inconsistent. It's hard for me to accept this- I get an idea of how people are in my head, and when they don't end up like that in real life I get disappointed. Daydreaming is a bad thing for me to do. I mix the reality with the dream, and when reality isn't as good as the dream, things get ugly.
I'm not really sure what to do about it. Do I just stop having expectations? But then again, expectations are what push people, and myself, to get better. So maybe I'll just lower them. But some of them are already too low. I'm not sure what to make of things. But hopefully with some prayer, I can get through this time of disappointment brought on by inconsistency.

Oh How He Loves Us

The night sky is one of the things that shows God's unbeatable power and unrelenting love the most to me. As a friend so eloquently put it in a song she wrote, "how can you look at the sky and say that there is no God?". The beauty of the night never ceases to amaze me. The fact that the same God that created me created something that beautiful is unbelievable. But if it didn't all come from Him, where could it have come from? There's no other explanation.
Tonight I was able to sit under the stars with my guitar and worship the God of the universe. What a gift. God loves us. Just step outside and look at what He gave us to live in. This earth, this night, is all a gift from God. It magnifies His beauty and power, and lets us know He's there. Even if you don't feel him, He's in the earth. He's in the stars. He's everywhere.
A good friend asked if I would sing the song "He Loves Us" by John Mark McMillan. It goes like this:

"He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of the sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me."

If the night sky doesn't make you feel His love, I'm not sure what will. His glory shines, literally, with the stars. Praise God.

Change

The word on my mind today is change. There's so many changes that happen in life: changes in circumstances, changes in feelings, changes in beliefs, changes in everything. If I've learned anything in the past few years, it's been that people change. Whether we choose to accept it or not, no man is perfect. From the beginning, man chose sin. Yes, times have changed, but man is the same. God has been trying to teach me that we can't control other people's actions. So we have a choice: we can choose to forgive, or we can choose to live in pain. It should be easy, right? Just forgive. Well, easier said than done. We think that if we just pray hard enough and talk long enough, people will change again. I have long struggled with this idea, only to find out that people are going to make their own decisions, whether I agree with them or not. So what are we to do? Accept bad choices? Shrug the pain off? I, for one, have no idea. All I know is that change happens, and it can hurt. But people will make their own decisions. We just have to sit back and trust that God knows what He is doing with those changed souls. We can pray, ask for change, and ask for peace. Change is a hard thing sometimes. Luckily God is there to lead us through it every step of the way.

Blogging

I've always thought a blog would be fun. For someone who loves to write, and loves to share my beliefs and thoughts, it's perfect. So here goes nothing. While this might be neglected and may not be read by anyone but me, it's a way to get my thoughts out. So enjoy, and here's to new beginnings.