Once upon a time, little me wrote a book. At 5 years old, I narrated the stories to Mama and colored pictures with crayons. Small hands scribbled a tale of people who got married and had babies and become happy families. Boom - King and Queen and Mom and Dad was born. Two years later, I grabbed more crayons and wrote Life.
How picturesque; I think back to those simple days, the tiny dreams, and I see the colors sneaking outside the lines with vivid hues.
Truth be told, life doesn't feel that simple. I forget to dream; I live mundane. Sometimes I forget that the world has color. Sometimes, I honestly struggle to remember to smile.
But these little books are reminders:
To dream, to hope
- Anticipate -Because it's the way to look forward
To a future Glory
Dream, Friend, hope.
Because this world we live in wants to choke and mix those aspirations until they dissolve like salt in water. Its lies are everywhere - the lies of "you're not loved" and "not good enough" and "a failure". Lies of who Jesus is, who God is, and who you are in Him.
If you feel like you're too busy or not happy or distant from God, fight, Friend.
I wondered why I was drawn to the little books I wrote with child fingers, but now I realize. The simplistic beauty and hope was a tiny shard of mirror that reflected a bigger beauty, a bigger hope.
The hope, truths, that feel so celestial that I can't seem to fully grasp. The childlike wonder of Him: it's Truth.
Those truths: I have peace with God. His love has been poured out into my heart. The Holy Spirit, God Himself, is literally in me. I'm made perfectly righteous in Him.
I used to dream of a bigger beauty, and I still do. I hope for that prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Any discouragements, any mundane-ness of this life is scribbled away in Jesus' crayons of purpose, love:
Because Jesus is coming back
Returning
And He's the story's Hero - a Lover, a King
Who'll right all wrongs
If life consists of little moments, I want to live them fully, me in Him, abiding in those truths He whispers in His Word.
I am with you. I love you. You have treasure in Heaven.
If life grows into bigger trials or adventures, I want to live them the same, to be based on something grander, beyond our imagination.
You are never alone. I wipe away every tear. These trials will produce a crown of life.
What if every little beauty we saw was a mirror reflection of the New Earth, futuristic glimpses of glory we can't even imagine?
That's why I started writing as a little 5 year old and why I still make stories today. Maybe it's one of the truest callings I can live out: to display tiny pieces of His beauty and hope in this broken world.
Hope littered throughout Scripture, promises of who He is and who we are in Him.
Focus:
Not on the struggles or fears or pains
The "not good enoughs", my weaknesses
Focus:
- breath release -
For Jesus writes my story
And completes the work.
Friend, no matter what, dare to dream! Dare to hope! Dare to grab crayons and color life and smile 'cause you mean it!
Be a dreaming hope-seeker, someone brave enough to look this world in the eye and say, "I'm living in Jesus' love, and nothing you do can stop me."
I could sooner count the stars,
Than number all Your ways.
Though I only know in part,
That part exceeds all praise.
As sunlight fills the skies
Your goodness fills my life -
For all your precious gifts
Receive my gratefulness.
- Sooner Count the Stars
...who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Thanks for this post, Hosanna! ♥
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