a beautiful mess

Life is messy. There is nothing to do but live life and not become consumed with the mess. I am the mess but through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, I am also clean. I sometimes forget that. I let myself get distracted by the mess, and instead of focusing on the qualities of Christ that bring me freedom and truth, I focus on my brokenness. Yes. I am broken...but Christ has redeemed me and put me back together in a better, more complete way. Being broken and healed by Jesus has made me stronger than I ever was before. I thank God every day that he has brought the healing power of Christ into my life...that he has offered me grace and mercy...that he loves me.

true fiction

For the past several years, I've had this idea for a book, but I haven't had the courage to really start it. While it's not strictly a true story, it's based on something very real. I imagine this girl (currently named Parker), a teen who has burned every bridge and damaged herself along the way. It details her road to healing, health, and happiness.

I imagine it as a first person narrative, but I kind of get stuck there. I have a harder time with first person, because it's harder to set plot up.

I had thought about switching between two different characters, each on her way to healing. The other is named Emily (so far), and she is an adult who is struggling with her own demons as she tries to come alongside Parker and guide her.

It'll probably stay in the cooker a bit longer, but hopefully I'll be able to get the story out there sometime.

Digging Deep

I was working in my garden today preparing the ground for all the plants I bought all in the hopes of having some yummy veggies this summer. It was hard work. Really hard work. I had to soak the ground with water and use a large forked hoe thingie (I'm not up on the latest gardening tool terminology, sorry.). But, no matter how hard I yielded that forked hoe and beat the ground, I couldn't pull up every weed that had decided to make my garden area its home. So, I got down in the dirt with my spade and mini-rake to dig deep and find the roots. It was hard work! Every time I thought I had cleared the area, I found another root, buried deep in the soil.

It made me think about how no matter how much we think we pulled up the roots of our former lives, casting aside the root of sin, there is always more work to do. We can't do it all. I try to root out the sin in my life. I scrape at it and pull it and beat it, mostly to no avail. It's not within my power to destroy it all. Only the greatest gardener of all can empty this soil of the sins that take root.

I also noticed that there were a lot of works making their homes in my garden. Worms, as opposed to the weeds, are wanted and needed in the garden to keep it healthy. So too is there many things in our lives that are good and needed for us to be healthy and productive. However, the stems of the weeds often looked like the worms themselves. I had to be careful not to mistake the bad for the good or to destroy the good as I killed the bad. Our lives are the same. There are many good things in our lives that we should be protecting and using for the Lord's purpose; however, there are also many bad things that are masquerading as good things. These bad things, while on the surface don't seem so bad, eventually they will crowd out the truly good things and destroy them, leaving the garden barren and useless.

This was a good reminder for me to remember that all the good things in the world can't compare to the great thing that is the salvation that comes from my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.