Water's edge

The water’s edge is a strange place to be in the midst of the storm. I can feel the wind rising, but its call is but an echo in my ears. The rain has been battering against the window panes, but even that is only the sound of chimes in the air. My thoughts are louder, now, than all that is around me. I do not wish to go back. There is an escape within these waves. The storm is brewing, but I am still here. It cannot move me.

My eyes are closed, but my other senses tell me all that happens around me. The chill of the rain as it caresses my skin, the cold water that hugs my feet, the wind that bites the warmth out of me with a brutality that seeks to cause pain. The ebb, the flow, the howl, it is all but music, orchestrated like chaos. The scent and taste of salt in my hair and on my lips, draw memories into my vision. I can’t tell which ones I’d want to let go of, even if I could.

There is nowhere I have felt safer, and yet, there is nowhere more dangerous that I have been to as yet. My strength fades. I fall to the ground. There is no part of me that is not soaked to the bone, as the sea smiles in victory.  And yet, it is in the darkness of the storm, that I feel the most empowered. It is in the riot of the wind that the calm surrounds me.  

And it is amidst this assault on my senses that I feel his arms around me. I do not need to be in control. Relief washes over me as I realize that he’s found me. The storm rages ever more so, but it cannot tell whether my tears are my own or that of the rain. But I am safe as I hear him whispering in my ear, ‘I’ll always be here.’

Twenty Tomorrow

So, well, nothing surprising here :) Twenty tomorrow is obvious enough :")
But this post is about much much more.
I'm just really really happy right now. And Oh SO Thankful to God for His brilliance. I mean, like, I can't even put it into words. I'm just sitting here thinking of my life and how it's been so far. Yeah, I can see all those tears and stupidity and blah stuff. But then that's like just one miniscule part of my being. There are so many memories and people that come flooding in and it amazes me how I've met so many of them. So many stories and I'm telling you, He's planned it SO perfectly. I wouldn't change a thing! And He's taken me through so much and changed me so much. I just want to sit and smile and be like, I wish my smile could speak and it would just be telling the world that HE MADE ME. HE KNOWS MY NAME. HE CHOSE ME. HE LOVES ME. And this smile, is HIS. I am HIS.

I'm looking around and all I'm seeing is beauty. I mean seriously, this world is so beautiful. VERY MUCH! And to think, that Someone, who made ALL that, made me too and cares about me.
Jesus Loves Me. And He Loves you! *mindblown*

So this one's for you Lord, as is everything else I do, I hope. But I don't want to ever go into a year without You. I want You in my every moment. I want to reflect You in my every breathe. I'm looking forward to spending all that time by Your side, like never EVER before!

I know "Thank You" will never be enough but still, "Thank YOU!"
I'm singing out to You. Singing "Hallelujah" :)
Daddy God, You're the best. <3

Even when the Clouds Clear

We’ve all had those days where we just drop everything and want to do nothing but give up. We’ve been pushing on so far that life feels like a brick wall that refuses to budge. We’re tired and scared and upset and every thought that rises is one that pulls us down further; and everything within you cries for you to stop trying, begs you to take the first way out of or around it that you can find; any way.

Well, almost everything. If we listen carefully enough, through the despair that thunders through our ears; through the beating of our anguished hearts, we listen. And we hear it, faint and distant. Our voice of hope.

 Psalm 23 is but one example:

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in the paths of righteousness 

For His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil.

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

All the days of my life 

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord 

Forever.”

Words we are all well acquainted with. And many more that we can recall to encourage ourselves and anyone else who feels as low. But to see them proven, time and again is the beauty of it.

The harder we listen, the louder the words ring; until the ‘whisper through the rain, “I’m with you.”’ echoes around us. The longer we listen, the more our spirits rise. ‘Praising Him in the storm’ becomes not only a joy but the source of our strength to carry on, because our eyes slowly focus on the way He’s made for us and though we thought we’d never find it, He leads us through it.

We’ve all had days where we’ve broken down crying, “I don’t know what to do anymore.” There’s really only one thing to do. Trust that He’s right there, holding on so tightly that no matter how hard things seem, the storm will pass; the clouds will clear. And even when they do, He’s always near. 

In His Arms

When all the world looks down on you

And you see yourself shining.

All you need to do is hold on to the Truth

And nothing can cause you to fade.

Everything said, everything done.

Not one distraction standing.

You smile, satisfied, because you know.

God is always watching.

And it’s not judgement you see in His eyes.

But love abundant and growing

You wonder why, for you, He cries.

And you go on never knowing

But to you he calls out.

By name he chose.

He wants you right beside him.

To show the world that hope isn’t lost.

It’s in His arms residing.