Memories: Take Two

Once upon a time, I wrote a short bit about memories.  I find myself taken back to similar thoughts once again.  This time around, however, the thoughts and questions are much more vital.  What are we supposed to do with memories? Mine seem to keep playing before me in slow motion, as though on an old video reel.  It's as though they keep being dropped into my arms and I don't know where to put them.  I certainly do not want to let go of them.  But, if I don't let go of them, my hands will not be free to do other things. Where do we put memories?  Where do we store them? How can we keep them safe but still let ourselves move on in order to make new ones?  Where can we put them to let them rest aside until we are ready to fondly go back and look upon them once more?
I really don't know the answers to any of these questions.  All I know is that it can be a very big struggle to not desire to go back to the memories when the present is so hard.

Pockets of Joy

I am so thankful for the pockets of joy God gives us every day.  I believe these come every day, but it is our choice whether or not we take them and let ourselves enjoy them.  These pockets aren't always easy to spot.  Some days, simply the fact that the Lord made the day is the only pocket that seems visible.  I've had a few of those days recently. This past week has been one of the hardest that I have been through in a very long time.  And today, I was taken back to Psalm 118:

1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

² Let Israel say:
    “His love endures forever.”
³ Let the house of Aaron say:
    “His love endures forever.”
⁴ Let those who fear the Lord say:
    “His love endures forever.”

⁵ When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
    he brought me into a spacious place.
⁶ The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?
⁷ The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
    I look in triumph on my enemies.

⁸ It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in humans.
⁹ It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.
¹⁰ All the nations surrounded me,
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
¹¹ They surrounded me on every side,
    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
¹² They swarmed around me like bees,
    but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;
    in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
¹³ I was pushed back and about to fall,
    but the Lord helped me.
¹⁴ The Lord is my strength and my defense^[a];
    he has become my salvation.

¹⁵ Shouts of joy and victory
    resound in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!
¹⁶     The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;
    the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”
¹⁷ I will not die but live,
    and will proclaim what the Lord has done.
¹⁸ The Lord has chastened me severely,
    but he has not given me over to death.
¹⁹ Open for me the gates of the righteous;
    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
²⁰ This is the gate of the Lord
    through which the righteous may enter.
²¹ I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
    you have become my salvation.

²² The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
²³ the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.

²⁵ Lord, save us!
    Lord, grant us success!

²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
    From the house of the Lord we bless you.^[b]
27 The Lord is God,
    and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
    up^[c] to the horns of the altar.

²⁸ You are my God, and I will praise you;
    you are my God, and I will exalt you.

²⁹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

The verse that sticks out to me right now is 24, "let us rejoice today and be glad." So, friends, no matter what burdens are bearing down on you today, let's rebuke them and rejoice! For we serve a God who is so much stronger and bigger than those burdens and all of our tomorrows, no matter how daunting they seem.

Happiness

 

I have found that I am letting myself do this in far too many ways.  It's our natural instinct to do so, isn't it?  But, then, those things inevitably are taken from us.  I know it has certainly seemed to happen to me as of late.  And, nothing major, either. I have not lost anyone to death to never be seen again on this side of heaven.  Nonetheless, I have lost in a different way.  And, I'm beginning to see that I am letting my happiness depend on that.  While so many who I am closest to are far from me in mind and body, I have been brought back to the Lord on my knees with my face to the ground.  I forget that I am never alone, no matter how lonely I feel.

A Cheerful Heart

Proverbs 15:15 says, "All the days of afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast."

I don't know if I have explained where the title for this blog came from, so I would like to do that now.  Simply by reading that verse in Proverbs, I'm sure you have figured it out.  It really isn't complicated: the day I decided to make a blog I read that verse, and it resonated with me.  I love the image of a continual feast.  To have a continual feast is to always be satisfied and full for the rest of time.  Even if you do not share in my ridiculous love of food, we can all agree that hunger or no satisfaction are unpleasant feelings.  So, to have a cheerful heart and, therefore, always be deeply satisfied in joy is a wonderful image.  That is what my prayer is for in my own life.  And, that is what I want this blog to reflect.

We can?!

I would like to apologize for my last blog post. It was in the heat of some pretty intense moments that I spewed forth all of the thoughts combined to make such a post.  That being said, I have some pretty incredible people in my life who help me through such rough times when I have them.  Today is far from rough, however (with the exception of homework of course..). I had a wonderful thought today.

We GET to bless the Lord.  I was listening to 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman, and the phrase, "Bless the Lord, Oh my soul," struck me.  At first, I thought that it was incorrect. Who are we to sing of blessing the Lord? It is only He who blesses us, no? But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it's true! By loving Him back and following Him to the absolute best of our abilities, we have the unbelievable opportunity to bless the LORD, the Maker of the heavens and the earth! How amazing and incredible and beyond-words-awesome is that?!

sick and tired of it all.

Some days I just want to quit.  I mean that I simply want to quit everything and everyone in my life. I want to run away and stop caring about all of the thoughts bouncing around in my head. I want to get my memory wiped and simply lie uncaring on a deserted beach somewhere. I'm sick of responsibilities and the pain that inevitably comes. I'm frustrated with all of the problems that I see in the world. When people say ignorance is bliss, they are completely correct. I want to go back to such sheltered ignorance. I miss childhood. Growing up is no fun. I don't want to keep digging up strength. I don't want to keep up. I just want to give up. I need to find a healthy way to let out my anger. It is such a new thing to me. And, it comes strong and crazy hot. It seems like all of my other emotions: it is magnified for some strange reason. I know that I am an emotional person, but I've never been an angry person. I've been weepy, happy, joyful, happy-go-lucky, depressed, exuberant, excited, crazy giggly, but never angry. I am now angry.

What's the Point?

I think that the human race tends to get to stuck on themselves and the little details and problems of their own lives. By no means is that all bad.  How often, though, do we take time to step back and ask what the point of our life is? And I don't mean the age-old question of "What is the meaning of life?" There are plenty of wonderful answers to that question.  I think finding the POINT to your life is different. 

I think we each need to find what that one source of true Life is for each of us.  That one reason we pull ourselves out of bed each day, even when we know we will be facing indifference, pain, boredom, apathy, challenge, distress, or something else throughout the day. It's a hard thing to find. It's hard to keep hold of in the middle of this messy, mean, depressing world.

Some days, I struggle to find this.  I know the One who is my life.  But, some days I don't feel Him.  It's those days that I struggle. I struggle and stumble and fail. I give in to the apathy and bleak outlook.  It feels like I am slowly being sucked into a muck.  It is a muck full of sadness and apathy, lacking all laughter and smiles. 

It's then that my head needs to step in and remind my heart that life is full of pretty things.  It is those pretty things that we need to grab and hold on to for dear Life.  Things like a hug that is given when nothing else will help, a moment of complete surrender, a pretty dress, an old, worn Bible, or a Savior who gave it all up for each of us.

Sometimes, the mundane reaches out and grabs us, refusing to let go. It is then that we need to look harder and find the beauty amongst the bleak. It's there, He promises so.

Blessings In Disguise

My life is far from anything to brag about.  In fact, one could accurately say that I have one of the most normal lives of small town America at the very least. Many days, I try to sit down at my blog and write something deep and inspiring and profound and incredible. And every time, I fail.  I end up staring at a blank type box with no profound thoughts.  The backspace key and I exemplify friendship. I do think there is something special in the ordinary, however. It is up to us to find the extra-ordinary amongst the simple moments in life. The beauty in life lies in those around us. The people in our lives are the true blessings in disguise. Let's not forget that as we go throughout our days.

sometimes

memories

            What are we to do with memories? They are there in the back of our mind, always popping up at the most random times.  A simple smell, a melody, a scene brings them back with such clarity that it takes our breath away.  They haunt us, make us laugh, make us cry, stay with us.  It seems like the memories you wish you could get rid of never seem to leave, yet the ones you strive to recall in perfect detail vanish before you can get them securely in your grasp. 

Why do our minds remember certain times and not others? And why do things always have to change? Memories are never anything like what you’re going through at the present.  People come and they go.  Time never sits still.  So, how do we grasp the time we do have? How do we grab ahold of those moments that make life wonderful and make them stay awhile?  I feel like so many people have tried so hard to solve this problem by coming up with simple phrases and ideas of living life to its fullest and taking pictures in our minds at those fleetingly beautiful moments of true life.

Some people thrive on change. I do not.  I don’t think that I have completely figured out how to deal with it to this day.  So much has changed for me in the past couple years.  It kills me that it has been a couple years since my favorite summer and start of senior year.  I truly am happy right now, at least in every sense, I should be.  I heard recently that happiness isn’t a destination, but rather a sense of being.  You shouldn’t be striving for happiness, but let yourself simply be happy where you are.  That is, if you can be.  And if you are just not in a happy time in your life, that’s okay.  Everyone goes through emotions, and you don’t have to be defined by one.

inadequacy

The feeling of inadequacy is

real

and hard

and undeniable

and heavy

and shameful

and real.

But, it is true

and shows us how we are.

s.storrer

Good Thoughts

Just a Haiku

Oh, so much beauty

and wonder is nothing but

a brief glimpse of Him.

S.Storrer

Psalm 90

Some days we just need a little encouragement, something to pick us up out of the gloom that threatens to choke us.  Today is one of those days for me.  I've noticed that the points in my life when I tend to be the most sad or depressed are the points at which I am most focused on myself.  This is not always true, but I am an expert in throwing myself pity-parties.  So, this morning, when I started thinking those thoughts that seem to love to run around in my head, I turned to the Word instead.  I found myself in Psalm 90 as I flipped it open.  It was one of those times where I found just what I needed.

"Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, 

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

for as many years as we have seen trouble.

May your deeds be shown to your servants,

your splendor to their children.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;

establish the work of our hands for us-

yes, establish the work of our hands."

Psalm 90:14-17

Tomorrow

Why must we forget
that tomorrow is a hope,
never a promise?

Tyler Knott Gregson

Hello!

Woah!! It's my first blog post! Hooray-Hooray!! Not only is it my first blog post, but it is on my first ever blog! I'm not really sure what I am going to do with this blog, yet.  It's mainly just a place to put down some of my rambling thoughts. or cool things I find. or sweet pictures. or bits of encouragement. or really anything. So, let's see what happens!