Sweet Sixteen

Dear Readers,

Today I turned sixteen, and I am going to share a lesson God has been teaching me over the past month.   High school is a short period in my life.  Just because things may be going wrong now does not mean they will go wrong forever.  Like when we are in pain.   If we get a scrape the pain from that will go away, but when we have the pain from that all we can think about is the here and the now, "My finger hurts!"  and that sort of thing.  But if we remember that the pain from that scrape will only last a short while, it gives us a new hope and it almost decreases the pain instantly.  Life is the same way...many times we can only think of the here and the now.  Friends may reject us, that does not mean they will forever.  I am only 16,  life is not going to end because I can't walk well for a year.  There are many years to come and one year will seem like a blink of an eye.  So I want to pass this on to you, please remember that a bad day or a bad year is ok.  God has better ones planned.  Trust Him.  He is our Father and He loves us and is our best friend when no one else is there.   Sweet sixteen is not the end.  God has better things ahead that we could never imagine.  Sometimes we need that reminder to carry on.  

God Bless and I love you All!

Megs

Falsehood vs. Truth

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor for we are all members of one body.

Ephesians 4:25

Dear Readers,

Have you ever lied when someone asks you how you are?  You know what I mean.  The old, "Oh I'm doing great! Did you know..."  And we escape the question quickly and efficiently.  How often do we do that?  Do we just answer everyone the same way?  Do we come up with a plan in our heads and act on it?   Really, how much would it hurt to just answer truthfully?   The verse from Ephesians that I posted above clearly states that we are to, 'put off falsehood.'  Why?  Because we are all part of God's body and when one of us mourns all of us are to mourn.  When one of us rejoices all of us are to rejoice.  But how can we do this if we are not truthful?   I know that I am asking a lot of questions, but I know that for myself they are much to often questions that I do not want to answer.  Sooner or later I know that I will have to face these questions and I believe that the longer I hide behind my lies the harder it will be to escape them.   So I am choosing to step out and break this sinful habit.  That does not mean I will start to bawl when someone asks me how I am.  It also does not mean that I will shriek my head off in church if I find out I get to meet BarlowGirl. :) What it means is this: I will share and be truthful, but I will also be aware of my surroundings and choose when to share and when to listen.  I know that God will give me the right opportunities to cry and the right opportunities to laugh.  And so I ask you, please do not wait if you also struggle with this.  The best friendships are always built on honesty and God's love.  So let us work together as a body.  Let us mourn together and rejoice together. 

Love in Christ,

~Megs

The Horse And His Boy

1 John 5:14-15

...If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Dear Readers,

Today I am going to ask you to remember the story of, "The horse and his boy" by C.S. Lewis. The story is about a young boy named Shasta who is escaping his master on a talking horse from Narnia. Together the horse (Bree) and Shasta go through many adventures and trials.  They race through desserts and meet up with two other runaways.  Towards the end of the book Shasta is walking on a path in the mountains talking to himself about how unfortunate he is.  He lists time after time in his life that something went wrong.  Then he realizes that something is walking at his side he asks this 'thing' who it is, 

  "One who has waited long for you to speak." The 'thing' answered him.  After talking with the creature Shasta eventually told 'It' all of his troubles.  The "thing" told Shasta that he had been there for each one of those trials. The "thing" was Aslan.

  God is like that for us.  We go through life looking at all of the "unfortunate" happenings often thinking we're alone.  We grumble and tell ourselves all kinds of lies about how bad our life really is.  We travel along this path until we  make the decision to open our eyes and see fact that someone is walking beside us.  Through each trial and struggle God is always with us.  

  Aslan opened Shasta's eyes when he told him of all the times in his past that he had been there.   The Lion had been there through all of the "unfortunate" things in Shasta's life and some way or another Aslan had made good come from each one.  

  God can do that for us.  He is here walking beside us waiting for us to speak, and when we speak he is there ready to listen.  He can and will make good come from the "unfortunate" things in our lives.  Showing us how he was there for the dark time times, and how he is here now.  

  He is ready and waiting.

  The only question is, are you going to speak?

~Megs

  "Who are you?" he said, scarcely above a whisper.

  "One who has waited long for you to speak," said the Thing.  Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep...."Tell me your sorrows."

~Taken from, "The horse and his boy" by C.S. Lewis~

City of Stars

Dear Readers,

I'm sitting here in St. Paul at my hotel looking out at the St. Paul Cathedral.  The lights are all lit up around it, making it a spectacular view.  The curve of the dome and the point of the very top are all visible with intense clarity.  The city noises surrounding me are a sweet sound like waves upon the sand, rushing up and receding back into the waters from where they came.

  

   

As we were driving through the city traffic on our way to our hotel I thought about the stars. How they are the guiding lights, giving direction to all who look up at them.   I looked up to the sky and I noticed that there were no stars.  Then I remembered the fact that in the city you often cannot see the stars God placed in the heavens, but I realized that God has different stars in the city.  At night you can see airplanes circling the airport waiting for their chance to land.  You can see the silhouette of skyscrapers with blinking lights on top of them.  You can see cars rushing with intensity to go off to an unknown destination.  These are the city stars, the stars that remind me to pray for each one of you.  Each light on a car is another person out there that I can pray for.  A life that God could use, and I can support.   

As I think about the stars I can also find another way to put this: If we are God's lights, His, 'stars' what would happen if we all gathered together to create a city of stars?

~City of Stars~

As I drive through the city I look for the stars,

Remembering there are none, I look back toward the road.

The car lights ahead blinded me for a moment,

But then they opened them wider than before

The stars in the city are you and I.

We make up the body of Christ.

The stars in the city shine with a purpose,

They cause me to pray for the lost.

I am praying for strength, 

For their lives, 

For your own

So we can all join and be a city of stars

Shining for Christ Jesus the Son.

As you drive through the city look for the stars,

remember what each light could be.

Each light in the traffic could be a star.

Each life could be a child of the Son.

~Megs

Her Response

Hey all!

If you are reading this it is most likely that you learned about it from my caring bridge site.    I'm not great at updating that site, so I thought I'd start this blog where I can write not just updates, but pretty much anything.  I will include some pictures and videos along with writing about my response to what God is teaching me.  That is where I got inspiration for this site and the name for this site.  As you read this blog please remember I am new to this and am not a great writer in this sense.  I am used to just jotting down songs that don't need spell check.  :)  I hope you enjoy reading this as I am now just beginning to see how much I will enjoy it.  

Thank you and God Bless!

~Her Response~

She looked out the window,

Wishing her life away.

God called her softly,

She didn't respond.

All she could see were the snowflakes flowing down.

All she could see were the restraints holding her back.

"Don't listen to that,"

God whispered in her ear,

"I've called you to more."

God touched her heart.

She looked up to the sky,

Wishing her life away.

God Called her softly,

She wanted to respond.

All she could see were the raindrops falling down.

All she could see were the chains holding her back.

"I have pulled them away,"

God whispered in her ear,

"I freed you from their grasp."

God touched her heart.

She lifted it towards Him,

Giving her life away.

~Megs