Where God's Word Meets Our Mess
We’ve seen God work in our lives, yet we don’t really think He will work in this particular situation or that particular circumstance. We’ve read God’s promises countless times, but we don’t know if they apply to us. We don’t always try to doubt Him or obsess about our issues. However, the presence of worry simply points to the truths buried in our hearts: we are self-centered and cynical human beings.
To be brutally honest, this summer wasn’t easy for me. It was a rollercoaster of anxiety, happiness, fear, discouragement, excitement, frustration, eagerness, and doubt. But I’m still here. I survived Summer 2018. And I learned a few life-changing lessons along the way:
I felt a twinge of jealousy crawling up my spine as I stared at the words on my computer screen. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. A friend of mine had just received her very first book contract. Why hadn’t I received a book contract? I just couldn’t figure out what I was missing. Was I not doing enough? Was it simply not the right time for me to be a published author? Would it ever be the right time? How many articles and blog posts did I have to write until it was the right time? And then I began to realize the truth of the matter.
Courage is more common than we think. Every single day, we are faced with opportunities to be strong and courageous…or to fearfully back down. I often choose to fearfully back down. I could try to complicate the reasons why I do this, or I could admit that I’m simply terrified and unwilling to trust my Savior.
There’s one giant fear that all these little fears revolve around. It plagues me constantly, especially while I’m writing. I often wonder…
All I know is that life is perfect in Disney…but it isn’t in reality. In movies and TV shows, life is exciting and full of adventure. It includes trips to Paris and falling in love and getting paid to write poetry. So little boys and girls, like myself, create expectations that lead to disappointment and failure. We discover that traveling to Paris is incredibly expensive, falling in love also includes heartbreak, and getting paid to write poetry rarely happens. Unlike what Disney has told us in fairytale movies, our dreams don’t always come true in reality.
No matter how weary we are and no matter how difficult the circumstances we face, we must be steadfast in our faith. We must make the most of the here and now! So how can we become patient in the present and stay steadfast?
I drove away from our church pondering the reality that I may never see my youth pastor or his family again. I can’t remember specific events that impacted me so much, but I do know that he and his family impacted my church and desired to draw us toward Christ. Are goodbyes supposed to be this hard?
I’ve known several homeschoolers who feared that public-schoolers thought they were weird or awkward. I’ve even experienced that fear, and you might, too! I want to address the fears of typical homeschoolers so that we can own up to our homeschooled-ness and not be ashamed of it!
Tizzie's Tidbits of Truth 