Waking Up.
I feel as though I haven't really "posted" in a while... nothing except for pictures. Which aren't bad- at all. However, I miss just being able to sit, and write. And feel like I have posted something "meaningful" on my little corner of blogger besides photographs. It's been a long, long time. Honestly, most of my recent posts have been scheduled from June- simply because my life has been that unpredictable and crazy. But isn't that what being His servant is all about? Living out His purpose day by day? I was originally going to start out speaking on the courtship process found in Genesis, but right now I'm just feeling the need to change my subject topic suddenly. Here goes a not-very-thought-out post, that I know, since He inspired me right now, G-d will use for His glory.
Yesterday, in the first tjyc session I've been to in a year, we were discussing Leo Tolstoy's novel, War and Peace. {Basically, TJYC stands for Thomas Jefferson Youth Education. Go look it up here to learn more about tjyc and the college it supports.} I was super, super excited, because I absolutely enjoy this group... the "minds" and people in it.
A topic came up about their morals. And then from there we went to purpose. Last month, at Alexandrea's piano camp at Redlands University, we had met a family whom my dad really enjoyed. The dad was intellectual and interesting to speak with, and they lived fairly close to us. It's unusual for my dad to find someone that he immediately clicks with, but, lo and behold, it had happened. On the way up to tjyc yesterday, my daddy called us, and said that the man he had met and was so looking forward to conversing with again, had died. Leaving a ten-year-old daughter and wife. In War and Peace, we had seen the message of this... learning to live one's life, waking up as if each day was our last. Because it is not by our strength, or our will, or even our hope. It is by G-d's grace. I felt prodded to bring up the above story yesterday in class. G-d wakes us up each and every single day with a reason in mind for us. There is a reason, as horrible as it sounds, that the father passed away. There is a reason, perhaps a purpose not yet fulfilled, that my mom's patients, 100 and 99 years old, are still alive and doing well. There is a reason why a fellow 16-year-old Shakespeare-person and tjyc member passed away suddenly, while running a triathlon. G-d said that his purpose, whatever it truly was... was completed. So with that in mind, I ask- am I waking up each morning saying, "L-rd, whatever might go "wrong" today, I know it for Your ultimate purpose?" or am I getting distracted constantly by whatever comes my way that day. Our purposes are getting fulfilled day-by-day, but will we make it take a long time by the little distractions, temptations, and the little and big things of this life? Or will we , by G-d's grace, fulfill it by working towards it every day, even if we don't know what it even is yet?
The idea that I am part of a purpose... is just incredible. I don't know whether or not I am fulfilling my purpose today... or next month... or next year... or in fifteen years. But I know G-d is preparing me for whatever He has planned for me to to. Since G-d "knows the plans" He has for me, and that they are good plans, to give me a future and a hope... I know in my heart, that I am already living Jeremiah 29:11.
And even G-d's influencing others' lives through us- is something that is hard to fathom for me. It was beautiful for me to see, when I was sending out my "verse of the day" that every single day without fail, someone would contact me and say, "that verse was exactly what I needed today." And the verse were not something I just flipped open my Bible to... it was a verse that would come to me, in the middle of the night, sometimes. Let us speak without hesitation, brothers and sisters, when we feel the need, the prod from G-d... you don't know, as Mrs. Ortiz said, just how much your actions, thoughts, words, ideas- are influencing another person.
Life is truly a gift. Find joy. Treasure each moment G-d has given you. And stay ready, and strong. Because we don't know whether this stop light on the corner of the street could mean our last breath. We don't know what the future holds. Imagine knowing that we do know that we're going to leave this life in... five years. How much more would that impact our choosing what to do each day? What legacy would we choose to leave behind? Then let that be the one that you leave, and seek for G-d's glory. Cherish each and every moment that you have... while you have it.
Article and Photography Copyright of Sierra Brewer and Fresh Joys Photography, 2012. If you would like to use any part of this post, please contact me for express permission at hishandmaiden.theblog@gmail.com. Thank you.