This month, we reached 6 months of blogging! I can't thank each and every one of you enough for reading these posts, for offering encouragement, for editing my writing, for praying for me, and for helping this blog make it. Thank you for joining me on this adventure. A DEEPEST WORD OF THANKSThank you to my wonderful family - Dad who taught me how this whole blogging thing works; Mom who carefully edited my work; my dear brother who constantly reminds me of His grace; my sweet sister who reminds me to pursue joy. To Nana & Papa and all of my biological and spiritual family, thank you for your grace and love. Thank you Jaquelle Crowe, Brett Harris and all of you lovely people in the Young Writer's Workshop. Thank you for helping me keep my dream alive and encouraging me through this wild journey. Thank you to all my dear penpals, all 12 of you, your letters from both near and far, across the country or from next door are so beautiful and hopeful; so uplifting and joyous; I treasure each and every one of them. Thank you to all of you girls at Youth, my sisters-in-Christ, I am grateful for our friendship; the tears we shed together, the joys we share together, the experiences we share; thank you for praying for me and living life with me. Thank you to you amazing readers who read this blog, encourage me to keep writing, and keep my eyes on Him. To any of you who scrolled through this wee blog, encouraged me to keep writing, lifted my arms when they were heavy, reminded me to keep my eyes on Him, answered a question, offered advice, edited an article, shared an idea with me, read my writing and helped make this dream a reality; thank from the very bottom of my heart for joining me on this adventure. Above all, I thank my Creator, my Saviour, my King, my Heavenly Daddy. This blog was created out of a desire to honour and glorify You. Thank you for your indescribable grace; giving me this opportunity to use the gifts and passions you gave my wee self to light a fire for You. I love You. Soli Deo Gloria. If you haven't, make sure to join my email list here!Photo Credit: by Morgan Sessions on UnsplashRain tumbles from the cloudy, overcast sky and washes down onto the dark earth. The petals of honeysuckle flourish with life. The welkin of grey sits above you in despair. But there's that twinge of hope. New life springs up all around you as you skip through the mess of puddles beneath your toes.
Rain. What an enigma of a paradox. One moment you feel clouded with fear, no sunshine fills the atmosphere and ominous fog lurks and looms ahead. But at the same time, beauty is brought forth. Joy springs up from the ashes and life flowers in the midst of darkness. Whatever your storm in life might be, whatever hurricane towers above you, whatever despair clouds your hope, lay it at His feet. He brings forth your brokenness, that fear and He buds new life. He is the sunshine in your sorrow, He is the beauty in the rain. So cling to Him. Give Him all of you, your messiness, fears, dreams, joys and life. Lay it at His feet. Because He springs up hope in suffering. Spend a day here on this world, wandering the beautifully broken wanderings, you'll notice a few things. Take a look around, spend a few hours around town, you'll see a world of people, their faces glued to their screens, so immersed in a digital world. You'll notice how every moment must be captured with the click of a phone. You'll notice relationships being teared apart by the one thing we thought would help us; the Phone.
I'm guilty of this. I'm guilty of locking myself indoors, in my little corner of the world, and staring at a screen all day long until the next day arrives and I think, What did I even do yesterday? Because the best days are always the days I spend with my family, my friends, outdoors, in His presence. It's those days when I am living alive and not just breathing. Today, turn off your screen. Close your device and run outside. Spend hours in His presence, in awe of His creation, serving others, and bringing hope. Today, i'm not discouraing you to ever set foot in the digital world, but simply to consider, is this really necessary? Is what i'm doing right now, staring at my screen, glorifying God? Should I be doing something else - mending a broken relationship, spending time with Him, breathing fresh air? Is what i'm doing right now something I will regret? Is this how I should be spending my time? Let's unplug and live alive. The tinkle of the warm glow of Christmas lights illuminate the room. My hands clutch the brown package. I've been waiting too long. More ready than ever I rip the wrapping paper to reveal a small book. Soon, I am leaping around the room in joy exclaiming, "It's here! It's here!" That Christmas morning was spent devouring over this beautifully rich book as I cried, laughed and everything in between with Katie. Nearly a month later, these once crisp and clean pages have become worn and tattered - because I just can't get enough out of this book.
Katie Davis Majors first travelled to Uganda as an 18-year-old, but even as she returned to her home in the United States her heart was captured and she has called Uganda home since. Today, she is the founder of Amazima Ministries, mother to 14 and wife to Benji. I absolutely can't recommend this book any more. Her story is simply beautiful and her words changed the way I saw brokenness and helped me recognized the overwhelming beauty of His grace in my own life. No matter who you are, please pick up this book and give it a read (or two!). Make sure you give this amazing book a read! |
JOIN US!Feel free to join us sometime at our new site (as of Spring 2018) @ lightletters.org!
MEET HANNAHWelcome to this wee corner of the internet! I'm Hannah; snail mail aficionado, paper enthusiast and child of God. Join me on this adventure! ARCHIVES
April 2018
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