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A Life Well Lived

My Grandad was an amazing man.

He was very close to God. He went through many hard times in his lifetime yet he decided to uplift others.  He was my father’s father and he never failed to show me that he loved me.  He was faithful to God even when he wasn’t feeling well at the end. He was a genius because he was an entrepreneur.  He was Polish and came from a strong Catholic family.  He served his country and became a banker then later founded Healing Rooms in his state.

I admire my grandfather because he loved my grandmother well.

He had a great sense of humor and had a quiet and gentle spirit.  He made me smile and he loved desserts.  I was sad to see my grandad die in 2019 but what a beautiful life he lived.  I sometimes see my dad in my grandad because of genetics.  And I smile because he never gave up.

We can learn so much from this man.

Number one to stay faithful to what God has given us to do.  He was faithful to his jobs and providing for his family. He was faithful to his friends and to his church that he faithfully served.  He and my grandmother always sent cards for Christmas and birthdays without fail.  And number three, he put God as a priority in his life always.  He pursued the things he felt God calling him to do.  He continued to help others and really got to know people.

A life well lived.

I love looking back at the lives others have lived.  Our lives are like big books and matter so much to God and to others.

Never forget that your life matters.

Enjoy life and live your purpose. What is your purpose? For starters it’s staying faithful to the responsibilities God has given you to do. I love how St. Therese tells us to live simply and follow the little path to holiness.  She is one of the holiest saints because she was faithful to what God had for her.

I love how my Grandad served his family, friends, and church well.  See these things are not so small in the eyes of God. God gave us our lives.

We do not need to do big things, rather small things with great love.

And never forget your worth. See you are worth so much because God made you in his image and you were worth dying for.  My Grandad made others feel loved by his service and kind words.  Sometimes we need to reflect on the life we are living.  Every now and then we need to look to our Heavenly Father and say “How am I doing God?”  See it is good to examine our conscience and let others know we love them.

In short, let’s live our lives keeping the end of our lives in mind and at the same time, you are doing a great job! God sees how hard you work, how many times you have shown kindness, how you put others before yourself.  Yes, my Grandad was amazing man but you are too!

I hope to graduate from Liberty University soon with a Commercial Music degree.  My dream has always been to use my art and voice to bring others close to God.

I hope I can do the little things with great love as well as some of the bigger things God put on my heart.

Sadie Robertson says in her book “Who Are You Following” that it is the private moments that prepares us for the public moments. My grandfather privately prayed and served others daily.  It is in these moments that we prepare for what God is calling us to do.

Who are you when no one else is around, when no one else is watching?

Maybe we need to spend more time with God, talk to Him.  We need prayer like we need air. Praying isn’t for God, it’s for you!  For real, sometimes we may be tempted to procrastinate and do other things other than spending time with God.  But the more time you spend with Him, the more you crave the Lord, and the closer you become to Him.  God deserves all praise.  It is like a relationship. People who are in love spend time with each other, long to be with one another. Be sure you are spending time with Him.

 

I hope you enjoyed learning from my Grandad.  Pursue those dreams in your heart.  Spend time with God.  Fall in love with Him each and every day.  Love the people you are around every day.  And take the time to get to know people.

I learned from Terri Savelle this simple thing:

What do you want to be remembered for?

Again, no pressure you don’t need to do huge things.  Maybe it’s the little things that will matter most of all.  How well you loved, how were you faithful to the small things, how you followed the path God called you to.

 

I encourage you! Spend time thinking over this question!

 

I am cheering for you!  I really am in your corner! You are in my prayers!

 

Grace

I Will Trust in Your Love

I Will Trust in Your Love

God I can’t make it through another night.

Will everything be okay?

These are the thoughts that trickled into my mind as I tried to fall asleep.

I was worrying about this or that, stuck in the past, but actually terrified to take any steps forward.

Should I get up?  What am I avoiding?

Sometimes, I would feel anxiety at night. It would come and try to make itself home in my head, plant lies like weeds in my heart.

But then morning would come, and everything would feel fresh.

“What was I so worried about?” I wondered.

See my perspective had shifted while I was sleeping.  The daunting night had actually given light to a new day.  Sunlight streamed into my heart.

A popular Christian song sometimes plays in my mind.  I hum the lyrics,

When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You

God doesn’t always answer my prayers the way I want Him to.

It’s tragic, sometimes I just don’t know what to think about the things that hurt. That sting.  How did those situations help me again God?

But it is in those beautiful places that flowers blossom.

Blossoms of change, of purpose, of compassion.

I grow and seasons change.

In fact, I have grown so much from having depression.  From feeling comparison.  From feeling hopelessness.

God had a plan for me all along.

But in those hard moments, I couldn’t see it.  I didn’t understand it.  That is what is so beautiful and mysterious about God.  He uses the good and the bad times to teach us, to produce fruit in our lives.

If you are in a rock and a hard place, turn to God.  Ask Him in and

Don’t worry.

Beautiful things happen when we trust Him and His love.

Remember, He loves you.

“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14

 

 

 

So, I Have to Love Everybody?

“Love everybody, always.”

These words are the theme to Bob Goff’s newest book, appropriately titled Everybody Always.

Bob Goff is quite the interesting guy.  He sky dives with his son on weekends.  He pretends to be a wax figure at Madame Tussauds wax museum.  He even toilet papers a neighbors house with a woman dying of cancer. (true story).

I found myself laughing out loud as I turned the pages of this wonderful book.

In fact, it’s wonderfully, life changing.

See, as I found myself amused with the stories he shares, I am also challenged by his words to love always.

I always knew kindness was the key, the gateway to God’s love and a human heart.  I usually make it a point to be kind to people I come across.  Yet, sometimes I am faced with the challenge of loving others I don’t agree with.  Or of holding a grudge against someone who hurt me long ago.

But God loves me every second of every day.

He picks me up when I am down.  And he welcomes me in His arms every day.  He lovingly gives me second chances and people.

He gives me these people to love.

To many of us, love comes easy.  Love others, be loved.  Easy as breathing.

But if we were completely honest with ourselves, we also see that we don’t love 100 percent of the time.  I’m not really an expert, just a novice that understands,

“Wow.  Everyone needs love.”

Everyone.  The person at the grocery store.  The person who annoys you at work.  The person who just cut you off in traffic.  The ex boyfriend and ex girlfriend.  The person who you need to forgive.

Even that random person on social media.  See I am a firm believer that God puts people in our paths for a reason.  Maybe you could be that person’s healing, that person who brightens their day.

So now that we know we need to love, what is love exactly?

 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor  others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

 

This is so key to living a victorious life in Christ.  Christ said “Love your neighbor as yourself.” and this was considered one of the Greatest Commandments.

It is our highest calling to love others who are different than us.

Don’t be afraid to love.  Reach out right now, touch someone you know.

Love protects the innocent.  Love heals the blind.

Love is  a beautiful thing.