March Throwback

Hello Friend!  ♥

This March has been crazy unique. I mean, with so many changes in our world, it's caught a lot of us off guard and shaken a foundation we thought was secure. For me, it's given me the chance to slow down and ask hard questions. Who am I? What's my purpose? What is life? What's my value? Who am I to God, and Who is He?

Finding the answers is hard. But it can be so freeing.

Today, on the last day of March, I'm looking back. I'm rejoicing in where God worked last March, the year before and so many years back. And here's a peek into His goodness + some fun things on the blog from years before.

A timely reminder for all of us with spare time on our hands, in 2016 I scribbled down a list of 75 random acts of kindness. Yes, it took a while to come up with that many ideas. *covers face* But seriously, spend today blessing someone!

2017 had so much learning and growth, like wisdom in decision making.

In 2018, our family had a crazy intro to spring with two dozen animals born all at once. Fun learning times.  *grins*  And then later that month, there was a new vlog post AND my baby sister was born! She's now 2 years old and crazy loved. ♥ And I am officially dubbed me "Neena."

Last year, 2019, was The Torch Keepers' cover reveal!

And God has worked so much through this March too. As today closes and the month slips away, I'm rejoicing in how good, how faithful, how true He is.

I'm savoring new songs He has put into my heart, passages that He used to inspire me, people He brought into my life.

And even old lessons that He is reteaching me, like the blog post below that continues to be my challenge: am I living a life solely for Jesus?

Friend, whatever happened this March or the ones already past, you are so loved. And Jesus has a purpose.

So let's share: how has God been working? If your month was described in a word, what would it be? How is quarantine going for you? Did any of these old blog posts encourage you? What songs have been on your heart?

God's got April and May and June and this whole world, just like He had March. You're never alone. ♥

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

- Romans 5:1

~♥~

This is Our Purpose || guest post

I love seeing how God works through and inspires my younger siblings! This post was written by my thirteen-year-old sister, and the truth in it is something I continually need to be reminded of. This is what true productivity is; this is what is truly important.

Enjoy!


♥   Hosanna Emily

 


Dear Friends,

Last week was a very stressful time for me as I’m sure it was for everybody (I mean, when do we not have a stressful week?). I was diving into some online college classes, which is still very new to me and letting them get between me and God. Instead of spending time with Him, I would study. Instead of talking to Him about my struggles, I would ignore them and keep studying, kind of ignoring my spiritual life altogether. Then He began to nudge me.

When was the last time that I was your actual priority?

Um…oops. That was my reply! I couldn’t remember the last time I had set aside myself and my grades to draw closer to Him and give Him my life. I thought about that for a few days but never actually did anything about it. He kept nudging me.

What does it even mean for you to be a Christian?

Well…a Christian is a Christ-follower, right?

Yes, are you following Me?

Well, no. Not all the way. But you see, God, I have some studying that I really need to do…

No. You don’t. What’s really important for you right now?

To serve you.

Are you serving Me, or serving yourself when you spend hours studying without even thinking about Me?

It hit me, and I had no way of turning back. I had let the devil change my life and slowly lead me away from God so much that He wasn’t my priority anymore. To tell the truth, I kept thinking about it without actually doing anything. (I’m guilty of that a lot!)

That was Sunday, and that night as we gathered with a few other large families, they talked about that very subject and how Christ ought to be first in our life. I kind of stayed silent the whole time and felt pretty guilty, so the next morning, as soon as I woke up, I went outside to a quiet place with my coffee and Bible and praised God (for me, praising God means telling Him how good He is and thanking Him for some things). I felt this huge burden lift off of my shoulders, and all the stress totally disappeared.

I counted, and at least 4 different types of birds were chirping in the trees; I realized that we are supposed to be like those birds. Our job is to forget all of the stress and let God do the stressing for us. Our job is to hop from tree to tree just singing away with all that we are and with all the voice we have.

I find it’s a common trend in the Bible… all the people that were really close to God spent A LOT of time doing nothing but praising Him! Some examples are Matthew 11:25, Exodus 15, Joshua 5:14, and almost the whole book of Psalms!

So I encourage you to choose a time, any time of the day, and every day during that time be like those little birds and push aside all of your distractions and praise God for Who He is.

I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

- Psalm 145:1-3

(psst!) How are you going to rest in God and simply praise Him today? Let's share below! 

~♥~

The Secret to a Beautiful Life

   
How are you and Jesus doing?

I'm standing in this field. It's big, almost endless, and full of ten thousand flowers. I'm right among them, the tender sprigs of grass around my feet, curling between my toes. Colors shine in every flowery face, soft pinks, pure whites, pointed scarlets. When the sun comes out, it nearly blinds me with light.

Every flower represents a different person in my life, someone I met, someone I touched, someone's name I remember or forget. Other flowers are tasks, hobbies, jobs, that I call mine.

My family's there. My friends. Faces I've seen but once. Then there's my writing, my blog, my photography, my piano, my sign language, my job giving the cows water every night. And hundreds and hundreds of others.

The flowers make up my life, everything I do. Everyone I meet.

And I'm running through the fragrant bouquets with a tiny water bucket. With the sun beating down, I try to make sure every flower has enough water to stay alive. I spend a little time caring for one blossom then run to the next. All day, all my days, every moment. I'm filling the bucket, emptying it, trying again.

 But when I stop and look at my field, I see the truth: the flowers are dying.

There's the petunia in the corner of my field that I can't reach. Its leaves are drooping.

The sunflower that I keep watering and watering is dropping seeds like tears, its face falling away from the sun.

There are friends I can't seem to love. Hobbies that I abandon. Jobs I do half-way.

I can't keep up with life. The smell of fresh wind and flower perfume fades to hard ground and arid heat.

So I try to run faster.

And all the while, everyone else has their own fields. They look at mine and smile. They say I'm doing a wonderful job. I'm a great Christian and writer and sister and worker. They say they wish they were like me.

I could laugh. I'm panting and tired, and my field is slowly drooping, kissing the soil.

I can't run anymore. So finally, I'm stopping.

I'm dropping my water bucket. I'm lifting my head. I'm raising my hands.

Because I can't make life work. I can't fix relationships. I can't do anything.

Jesus can.

He is the rain cloud that billows over the flowers He planted in my life. Big, fat drops of rain pour out. They wash the dust off my face. They moisten my hair.

I could dance here, Him doing the work I cannot. When I rest in Jesus, He brings completion, victory, blossoms to dying plants. I'm not abandoning the field; I'm letting Him make it thrive.

Because somehow, it becomes our field.

My work, my friends, all these flowers, they don't define me; Jesus does. They become His and mine, us together. Our work. Our friends. Our flowers.

I do everything for Him, not to merely keep seeds from dying. I let Him water our flowers, and I just raise my hands in surrender, in rest, in praise.

I find shalom in Him. Total completeness in Him. The way things were intended to be. It's a relationship.

So how are me and Jesus doing?

Maybe it's called abiding. I'm not sure. I don't know how to "do this" at all.

I'm just tired of trying. And when we rest, there's this sweet dance we enter in. It makes the flowers bloom the way He intended them to. It makes the air swirl with His laughter, His fragrance.

So put down your water bucket. Go find Jesus, and love Him.

This transforms ordinary life into something beautiful.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

- Romans 5:1-2

~♥~