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Top 5 Books of the Year (FFF Day 6)

Aaaahh!!! The very last of the Five Fall Favorites posts for this year…

Today we’re doing my five favorite books I’ve read this year. This was…definitely pretty hard to come up with and narrow it down for, but I decided to (try) not to overthink it and just go with the first ones that came to mind. Here you are, in no particular order.

1. Lighten Our Darkness by Sarah Brazytis

This one…this one. I thought I loved Dunstan by Sarah Brazytis, but this was entirely different. I don’t know if I knew entirely what I was getting into, besides, I knew multiple friends who really loved it and had said I needed to read it and when it went on sale I knew I was ready to snatch it up and read it.

I loved the look at everyday life in Britain during WWII. I thought the perspective on the Polish pilots was super interesting and unique. I liked that the characters were vivid and that the book was well-written and well-done. But mostly I loved it because it was soo sweet and beautiful and priceless and unique.

2. Dewdrops and Butterflies by Libby May

I love this one. I originally read this one when I had a KU trial, but…well, it may sound weird, but I missed it so I went ahead and bought it because I wanted to read it again. Originally, the first time I read this, I had no idea what it was about. I was nearing the end of my KU trial and had just started reading it since and figured if it hooked me in a few minutes I’d keep reading, if not I’d find something else.

But it seriously didn’t just hook me…I love this book so much. It blew me out of the water from the beginning, and now it just has its own special hold on my heart. It’s just so raw and…utterly beautiful.

3. KEY by Madisyn Carlin

I read a lot of Madisyn Carlin’s book this year, so I had a lot of trouble narrowing it down to this one. I think a lot of the themes and the struggles of the characters hit home, and this was just a very well-written beautiful, real-feeling story. It’s saying something that I didn’t even like one of the main characters all that much (and most people would, I just didn’t), and it still makes it onto my top five books of this entire year that I’ve read. I love this book. These characters, this series…it’s where it’s at. You gotta read it.

4. Wherever He Leads by Rebekah Morris

This is another one of my favorites I’ve read so far. It was a relatable, sweet story and while I can’t quite put my finger on why I feel like it needs to be up here in the top 5 favorites, it…does. It was a very Rebekah Morris story. A little slow, filled with truth, wrapped up well. One of my favorite Rebekah Morris stories, too, I think.

5. This Life of Mine by Victoria Lynn

When I read the first book in this series, Once I Knew, I liked it fine but it wasn’t so much my thing, and the parts where the plot was mostly romance I was mostly bored. This one was a little different. It was more raw, more tangible, more subtly beautiful. I liked the real, mostly relatable characters in Once I Knew, but for the characters in this book…I needed to know their story, not just from the beginning but for the whole book. The emotions, the stories each character wove into the book weren’t just relatable, but they felt real and completely authentic and raw, in all their brokenness and hurt and doubts, but also in their joy and healing. My heart hurt and then healed with the characters for this one. It was good. (Even if I thought the wolf was weird at first.)

And there we have it…my last post for Five Fall Favorites this year! Make sure to check out the host blog @onceuponanordinary.wordpress.com/blog/ to read about Kate’s favorite books of this year! 😁

What’ve been your favorite books this year? Did you have a favorite category of fall favorites you enjoyed the most?

When Strangers Smile Back

It’s been a good day.

Not that I haven’t had good days, or that most days haven’t been good days lately. But today just kind of struck me…today’s been a good day, and not even because of any particularly optimistic circumstances.

In fact, a lot of today hasn’t been 100% great.

I almost (but didn’t quite fully) burnt my quesadilla for lunch. Before that I couldn’t find a snack in the house I wasn’t allergic to.

Broke my phone a few weeks ago and got the final verdict from the repair shop today that it’s for sure beyond repair.

Rain came, which is technically good news this time of year with droughts and wildfires, but all in all the weather has been a bit gloomy today, and the sun just feels relatively dim and distant.

But today I woke up, and I felt like smiling.

Nothing particularly different from yesterday, really.

But I felt like smiling.

And when I went to the doctor’s office to get my weekly allergy injection and was waiting in the waiting area for a decent chunk of time, I smiled at a stranger and they smiled back.

Seems simple, but sometimes it feels so rare.

And when I walked out into the overcast and gloomy outdoors, I looked around, and another stranger stood waiting and looked up as I walked past. They smiled back at me, too.

Don’t know why it seems like such a big deal, but it’s so, so easy to get down sometimes. So easy to look around, try a smile, get nothing back, then just sit down and conclude the world is a gloomy place.

I mean, with how many pieces of technology and appointments and complicated logistics we all have to figure out and weave together on a daily basis, it’s no wonder things go wrong so often. It can be hard to see above the continual frustrating grind when it all seems to add up, and we’re tempted to just decide not a whole lot in this world works itself out in any kind of orderly fashion.

My chest swelling with the simple joy of exchanging a brief smile, I proceeded briskly to my car and encountered yet another stranger in the busy parking lot. They met my eyes as well, and I smiled. And what do you know? They smiled back.

Perhaps people smile back at me all the time, most days, even. But today, for some reason, it felt special.

Maybe it was just all the small joys adding up throughout the day. Maybe it was because I woke up early today. Maybe it was because I ate breakfast. Maybe it was because I opened my Bible earlier in the day than usual. Or maybe it was because I knew with all the building frustrations of the day and my typical incapability to handle even ordinary frustrations, this sudden joy couldn’t be from me.

After all, strangers do smile back from time to time. I notice it pretty frequently, too. Even muse on the interaction later, and smile to myself.

But today…it really did feel like a gift. Like there was something bright and beautiful that was hidden all along in the gloomy day, and this was my Savior’s reminder that all the painstaking frustrations and mismatching logistics in the world can’t dim that light.

God is good. So good. And just you wait, because He shows it.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

-John 1:5 (ESV)

He Gives Strength

I’ve been reflecting on strength a lot lately. How far away it feels, how vital it seems, what a blessing it is, and how everyone seems to aspire to it in some way or form.

But God truly does give us what we need…abundantly, graciously, more than we could ask or think, yet sometimes not how we expect.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…”

-Ephesians 3:20 (ESV)

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

-Isaiah 55:9 (ESV)

Sometimes we ask for rest…and instead, we are simply given the grace and strength to take one more step forward. Sometimes we would push forward on our own, in our own strength, and He asks us to wait and rest in His promise to give us what we need for what He calls us to.

It’s funny how we all have this idea of what it’s like to be strong…and what kind we want, what way is best, what’s really strength. We think of athletes, winning the competition. We think of soldiers and captains pressing on, leaning on their training, and winning the battle, the war, the victory.

I’ve been contemplating a different idea of strength. What if…what if strength can sometimes be the losing soldier? Not the one that won the first round, effortless because of their strength, but the one that lost…over and over and over, but keeps fighting because no matter how ill-equipped they feel, they have to keep fighting? In other words…perhaps the soldier who can endure loss after loss and keep fighting, weak or not, is just as much an example of strength as the soldier who won effortlessly.

The soldier who wins effortlessly may be the stronger soldier in all appearances, but what if the soldier who’s barely holding on is fighting the harder battle? What if it takes more strength to be the underdog? Isn’t that why we cheer when the underdog does win?

I think internal or spiritual or mental strength can be hard to conceptualize…physical strength is easier to measure. It gets more complicated when you add God in the equation. Because then…everything’s turned on its head. Because those of us with absolutely no strength by any standard, those of us trapped in our weakness, outward or inward, are suddenly entrusted by God to display His glory, strength in our weakness.

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

–1 Corinthians 1:25 (ESV)

“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

– 2 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV)

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.“

-2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

“And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith…were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

-Hebrews 11:32, 33a, 34 (ESV)

So then…it starts to not to matter who wins in this world since our weakness is the perfect ground for His strength to show up and be displayed through us or despite us.

His strength through us really does look different. It’s when no one sees that His strength in us really matters. It’s in the dark, quiet moments when you whisper the only truths you can think to think and hold on with every ounce of strength He provides. It’s one more step when one tiny step seems too pathetic of a thing to call strength. It’s calling out when there’s nothing left, and it’s only His might holding you together.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

-Ephesians 6:10-12 (ESV)

So yes, beloved of God, He gives us strength. What we need, beyond what we know we need, not always as we think we want or in our own timing, but to whosoever cries out for it, this Almighty God, The Lord of Hosts, He indeed gives us strength.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.”

-Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV)

It’s Weird Being Here

If I’m completely honest, it feels kind of weird being here.

I’m holding a lot of emotions about this whole year. I don’t know how to really put them in words, apart from distant descriptions and explanations and summaries, but I will try.

I keep finding myself looking back over my old blog posts and journal entries and all the relics and representations of myself in the near past that I can find. I’m not exactly trying to figure out who I am and I’m not really trying to figure out who I was. It’s almost more like I have this strange need to reach out and flesh out just what the difference is between the two.

And I can’t really figure it out. All I can figure out is like I said: it’s weird being here, wherever here is.

There’s only a few things I feel completely sure about from the past few years and how I look back on and think about how my story has played out in those years. I think as the years go by it will all be clearer, as the Lord continues to weave together my life, and as my life’s surrender to Him becomes more and more complete.

Somehow even what I know is hard to put into words that don’t feel either too vague or too repeated and meaningless.

I know this last year was hard.

I know there were many moments where I’ve felt lost in the fog and struggled to keep my chin up. Or even where I let my chin go down.

I know not many things make sense still.

I know on any average day I feel mostly apprehensive and bewildered, and usually stuck.

I think I know those things.

But the one thing I know with every fiber of my being, with the kind of knowledge that reaches into every part of me and emanates from my very core, is this:

God has gone before me and behind me. I know that.

He’s held me, he’s strengthened me, he’s comforted me. He’s been here through every moment I can’t make heads or tails of. He’s brought his presence and joy and peace into every curve and plot twist of my story, even when I couldn’t feel it.

That’s not just something I choose to believe.

That’s not something that could be true apart from a God who cares, who is righteous, who is real.

It’s not just something that can be true today and stop being true tomorrow or any other day.

It’s not something I can deny.

So, yeah. It’s weird being here, not really knowing where I am, not knowing really where all my plans will end up, not knowing how any of this will be resolved, not knowing if much of anything is really anything.

It’s weird being here and knowing that despite all my filthy rags and prideful attempts at righteousness, He sees through it all and still just wants me.

It’s weird being here and knowing that every single strand of my life, visible and invisible, is being woven into a masterpiece, simply because I have trusted and returned the love of a God who is so infinitely great and glorious and yet pours His grace into my life.

It’s weird…sitting here, thinking and preparing and worrying a bit, but knowing that whatever lies ahead in the next year…. if it’s lived for Christ, it will all be worth it.

Running the Race

I’ve been really liking the picture of running, striving, pressing on towards the goal, full of the joy of Christ Jesus. I’ve also been really liking The Gray Havens music lately. And Mike Winger videos.

One particular song from The Gray Havens fills my imagination with swirling scenes. I think of the bursts of light, the tiny glimpses through the darkness of a beauty yet to come. I think of throwing off my burdens, running with all my might. I think of longing, deep longing, to know the Light, and to see what is to come. Amidst so much darkness, and I mean so much darkness, every glimmer of light matters. Oh with what joy do I await the dawn!

Now I’m just waiting for the day // In the shadows of the dawn

But I won’t wait resting my bones // I’ll take these foolishness roads of grace // And run toward the dawn

And when I rise// And dawn turns to day // I’ll shine out as bright as the sun // And these roads that I’ve run will be wise.

-“Shadows of the Dawn” by The Gray Havens

I’ve always loved Psalm 19 and its story of God’s word shown throughout creation, echoing in truth, pure and beautiful in everything. I also love the picture of the strength contained in their beauty, when the psalmist describes the voice of the heavens going “out into all the earth” and God pitching “a tent for the sun,” with the sun “like a champion rejoicing to run his course.”

“The heavens declare the glory of God…they use no words, yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.”

-Psalm 19:1,3-6 (NIV)

As painful as I often find running in reality, I’ve never thought of running as drudgery. I think of freedom, joy, and peace; not in desperately running away, but in joyfully running towards the end, the result, the upward call. More like the final race of an athlete than the painstaking training it takes to become one.

I don’t know where that picture fits in with my everyday life. Like pretty much everything in life, I’m still figuring it out. But I do know I want to run.

Maybe it’s a reckless desire for a meaning. Maybe it’s a passion to devote everything. Maybe it’s a longing for freedom from the entanglements that drag me down. Maybe it’s because in peaceful moments like this, when I’m waiting on the Lord, strength I never knew fills my heart. Maybe it’s because I am still growing in patience and often fail to see the meaning in day-by-day toil.

But day-by-day toil is running. It’s all about where my eyes are—set on the course in front of me, set on Jesus the founder and perfecter of my faith.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

-Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

Frustration: both an emotion I feel at the entanglements that surround me and an entanglement in of itself. So many things cling to me, and oh how closely they cling!

Shame, frustration, distractions, irritations: they are everywhere. But I am not alone, for Jesus himself endured the cross and “despised the shame”.

And there’s the joy again. It is interesting to me that it says for us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” and that Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before him.” There’s that joy, that freedom, of not just letting go, but “laying aside” the weights and sins that cling so closely, and running.

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

-Hebrews 12:11-14 (NASB1995)

I want to run, but I feel I have not been fully trained. Without strengthening my hands and my feet I am indeed in danger of putting it all out of joint. Discipline is painful. If I am honest I would rather not pursue peace with everyone. I want perfection, but I do not want to be sanctified, because it is painful.

But to run, I must train.

I must strengthen what is weak if I am to yield the fruit of righteousness. Laying aside my entanglements is not just a reckless letting go of everything. It is a day-by-day submission to God’s sanctification, it is seeking out the straight paths, walking in the pattern of the founder and perfecter of our faith: Jesus.

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 3:12-14 (NASB1995)

I lay aside my entanglements and lay hold of the joy set before me. I want to press on, I want to run.

Sometimes I wonder if I really understand what “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” means. Still, it inspires a deep desire to keep going, to breath in deeply and run towards the dawn.

In a recent Mike Winger Q &A video I watched, someone asked how to gain a godlier perspective in a very blessed life (here). In other words, how to not complain in a 1st world country. I was very convicted.

I get so stuck on every little inconvenience and annoyance. I am so bad at forgetting what lies behind and am often guilty of “keeping a record of wrongs” (1 Cor 13:5). I need Paul’s exhortation to press on and reach forward to what lies ahead.

I don’t know much about running. I’ve never done track, cross-country or anything like that. I haven’t the slightest clue how fast I can run a mile.

But when it comes to my spiritual walk with God, I want to press on and lay aside with joy everything that keeps me back. I truly want to run.

Finding your identity

Dancing for the Holy One

Finding your own identity can be hard. Sometimes we try to find it in objects, how much money we have, material things. And it’s so hard that it can feel impossible. Well, that’s because it is.

If you try to put your value and identity in material things, it will just leave you unsatisfied, and wondering if you’re even worth anything. That’s bad. That’s so bad, in fact, that I am now sitting here at 11:30pm writing to tell you that there’s something better. Something so much better, that it’s hard to describe.

In Ephesians, chapters 1 & 2 Paul writes to the church in Ephesus. He tells them so many things about who they are in Christ.

To start off, who am I in Christ?

I am blessed

I am chosen, which means that I am wanted

I am adopted into Christ’s family

I am redeemed by the…

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The Avid Readers Award Tag

Hello everyone!

My friend Martha, from Beyond the Literary Horizon nominated me for the Avid Readers Award Tag! It looks super fun and I’m really excited to jump in!

Here are the rules:

1. Display the blog award logo on your blog.

2. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you.

3. Do not forget to link to their blogging website.

4. List your 5 favorite books.

5. Answer all the questions they have given you.

6. Nominate 4 bloggers of your choice.

7. Ask them 10 questions.

Thank you so much, Martha! Here is the link to Beyond the Literary Horizon (her blog).

I love a lot of books. So it’s super hard to choose just five. But I will do my best.

Annnd…I might stretch the rules a bit and include two series’ rather than books.

My five “favorite” books:

  • The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson
  • The Green Ember Series by S. D. Smith
  • Romanov by Nadine Brandes
  • God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew
  • Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis Majors
  • + a ton of other books 🙂

Here are my answers to Martha’s questions (and they were really good questions):

1. What is the weirdest book you’ve ever read?

Ummm…probably like this old-time travel book I started reading once (I think it might have possibly been H. G. Well’s The Time Machine). Also, I thought the second book of The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis was pretty weird (I didn’t finish it either) but maybe I need to reread it sometime.

2. Who would you say is your #1 favorite character of all time, and who is your #1 least favorite character?

My #1 least favorite character (to answer out of order) is currently Mrs. Bennett (in Pride and Prejudice). Or maybe Diana (or whatever her name is in White Christmas). 🙂 As for my #1 favorite character of all time…ugh I don’t even know. I’m really liking Parvin Blackwater (from the Out of Time series by Nadine Brandes) but there are far too many other competitors and I haven’t even finished the series so I couldn’t really say. 😁

3. What is at least one book which you wish you could change the ending of?

There are lots of books I’ve thought that of, but I can’t recall most of them at the moment. One book where I struggled with the ending was “When Tomorrow Comes” by Janette Oke. This is what I wrote in my review:

When Tomorrow Comes (Canadian West #6)When Tomorrow Comes by Janette Oke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was not expecting this book to end the way it did. At first, I was almost disappointed. But when I thought it over it seemed…right somehow. It was how it should have ended and after struggling through it (like few other books I’ve read) I finally agreed with Christina. As a Christian, life’s not about following your heart, even in romance and dreams. Sometimes we have to give up what we think is most important and walk in God’s will.

You’ll probably want to read #5 in the series, but you don’t need to read 1-4 to enjoy this, even if it makes you appreciate why Christina loves the North so much. Highly recommend this book. Probably more like a 4.5 rather than a 4 star, but I couldn’t bring myself to put a 5 star simply because I don’t like to give too many 5 stars. 🙂

View all my reviews

So while I wanted it to end one way, after mulling over it for a while, I decided it was best the way it was.

4. Have you ever cried over a book? If so, which one(s) was it?

Haha, yes I have definitely cried over a book. Some books that come to mind are The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson, A Time to Die and A Time to Speak by Nadine Brandes (also Romanov by Nadine Brandes), and the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers, and the If I Run series by Terri Blackstock. And a bunch of others.

5. What is your favorite book that has been made into a motion picture? If you can’t think of any, give your favorite motion picture which you know was made off a book, even if you’ve never read it.

I love the Narnia series by C. S. Lewis and This Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, and I know both of them have been made into a motion picture.

6. If you could travel into a story, which character(s) would you want to meet the most?

Hmm…maybe Nia Wingfeather from the Wingfeather Saga, but I’m really not sure.

7. Have you ever read a book which has a character strangely similar to you? If so, which character and book was it?

I mean there is Jo from Little Women. There are parts of Janner from the Wingfeather Saga that I relate to. And then Parvin Blackwater from the Out of Time series felt strangely similar to me.

8. Who is your favorite bad-guy-turned-good-guy character?

Well, there is Will Reynolds from the Beyond the Mask movie, but someone already mentioned that and it’s a movie after all. Then there is Ky from the Unblemished series, but I don’t really think he’s my favorite. So maybe Kaphtor from the Out of Time Series?

9. What is your favorite genre?

Generally historical fiction, but I also like contemporary, fantasy, and an occasional extremely well-done romance, and a very occasional exceptional dystopian (like The Out of Time* series).

10. What are some books that have covers you really like?

Hmm…let’s see…some of the ones that come to mind are A Time to Die, Never Say Goodbye, Unblemished, Dandelion Dust, Ivy Introspective, Untitled (which I haven’t read yet), and The Girl Who Could See (which I also haven’t read).

And I think that wraps up the questions!

Now for nominations. I nominate:

Here are my questions for you!

  • What is the #1 worst beginning to a book you have ever read?
  • What is a book you read almost every year (except for the Bible)?
  • Which do you tend to enjoy most: Prologues or Epilogues?
  • How many books do you tend to average every month (or year)?
  • What book do you first remember reading (all by yourself)?
  • What is the most boring book you’ve ever read?
  • What was the last book that made you laugh out loud?
  • What is a book that you are constantly referencing?
  • What’s your favorite quote from a book published before you were born (again…with the exception of the Bible)?

Have fun! Hope you enjoyed this post.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

-John 5:24 (NASB)

20 Things I’m Thankful for in 2020

Here’s what came to mind as I reflected on all that I’m thankful for today:

  • Integrity
  • Books
  • Good Internet
  • Homemade applesauce
  • Dogs
  • Rhythm
  • Dew on a spider’s web early in the morning
  • Rest
  • Exercise
  • Hugs
  • Fresh-laid eggs
  • Faithful believers
  • Imagination
  • Reading aloud
  • Vivid stars
  • Chickens
  • Cozy blankets
  • Grandmas
  • Bright moonlight late at night
  • Family and Friends

Have an awesome Thanksgiving!

“For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.”

-Psalm 100:5 (NASB)

To Every Person Who Reads This…

Dear faithful blog followers and every random person reading this post:

In the past few months I have practically forsaken you.

At first my excuse was that I was outlining a book I wanted to write. But then I got discouraged with that. And then I got stuck. And then I got busy. Really busy.

But staring into the night sky giving all my troubles to the Lord and asking him what to do, I felt a pull on my heart. In the one quiet moment throughout my busy day I felt God pulling me to write. I asked him why I felt so discouraged, why even when everything looks right nothing feels right. I asked him what kind of purpose I could possibly have.

In a way he didn’t really answer.

He just asked me to write.

Over the past months I have almost begun to convince myself that I’m not good enough to write anything worthwhile, that I’ll never be good enough, that every word I put on the page is just time wasted.

What can I do to heal the brokenness all around me?

How can I do anything?

I don’t know. I don’t have any answers. None at all.

Nothing is “crystal clear,” nothing makes any sense.

But from deep inside of me this truth yearns to be shared, to be expressed.

You have purpose. You are worth more than you could ever know. Our purpose has nothing to do with whether we will ever be good enough, with whether even our words are good enough. And I’m beginning to think that that’s not what writing is about.

Writing is about taking the pain, the hurt, the confusion and letting God make something beautiful out of it. We can labor over our words, our stories, criticize grammar, critique plot elements, and those might have worth. But they’re not the point.

When God asks you to write, you don’t need perfect grammar and structure. Perhaps, you’ll need something close to get published, but that’s not the point either. Because when God asks you to write he wants your heart complete with all your wounds and scars. ‘Cause he’s the one who’s going to make something beautiful and it’s not up to you.

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

-Psalm 138:8 (ESV)

“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
    the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.”

-Isaiah 58:8 (ESV)

“He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.”

-Psalm 147:3 (ESV)

Help Undying Joy reach 100 followers! (Giveaway involved!)

With a September filled with busy Saturdays, I’ve been gone longer than I thought I would be. And, with another busy Saturday ahead of me, and not enough time to craft an actual full post of my own, I thought I’d reblog this post from Erin @ Undying Joy. She’s one of my favorite bloggers to follow, and even if she wasn’t hosting a giveaway of a book by one of my top favorite authors (C. S. Lewis), you should seriously consider following her. Please go support her if you can, and if you want, check out her awesome giveaway as well.

Have a wonderful and fruitful week!

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

-John 15:5 (NASB)

 

Undying Joy

GUYS!!! I have 78 followers on my blog! My goal is 100 and that’s why I’m running a giveaway!!! 🙂 The more friends you share my giveaway with, the more entries you get. So click the photo or link below to enter the giveaway and then…share away! (Please note: family members are not allowed to enter at this time. Thank you!)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e405e0c67

The giveaway will start on September 20th and ends October 1st.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!

~Erin H.

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