Beautiful in its Time

I've always envied other parents whose children held their hands.  Whenever I try to hold William's hand, he refuses with a loud "No!"  Even when we are about to cross the street, I tell William that he needs to hold my hand so that I can make sure he is safe, but he still refuses.  In those instances, I just grab his hand anyways and he ends up walking next to me kicking and screaming.  This always made me so sad because I started to believe that William would never want to hold my hand. 

Well, a couple of weeks ago, something wonderful happened.  One afternoon, William and I were walking across a parking lot, and when I told him to hold my hand, he simply reached up and grabbed my hand without any protest at all.  He held my hand and walked peacefully across the parking lot with me.  It was an awesome moment!

Ever since that day, William is much more willing to hold my hand, whether we're crossing the street, going down a flight of stairs or just walking in the grocery store.  The desire that I always had for William to hold my hand is now a reality, and I thank God for it.       

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "Has has made everything beautiful in its time."  Having William hold my hand without protesting was one of those things that God made beautiful in His own time.  In His perfect time.  Sure, I would have liked for it to happen a lot sooner, but maybe William wasn't ready yet.  Maybe William needed more time to excercise his independence.  Or, maybe God was teaching me a lesson to be patient and to wait for Him and His timing.

There may be something that you are wanting and waiting for in your life.  A business you are trying to start.  A book you are trying to write.  A song you are trying to sing.  Your dream and vision may not look as beautiful and lovely as you would like it to be, but I encourage you to keep pressing on, through the "ugliness" of it all, and trust that God will make everything beautiful in its time.     

Have a blessed week,
Lori

The Winning Side

Last Tuesday night, I had the incredible opportunity to witness the Baylor University women's basketball team defeat Notre Dame to become the NCAA National Champions.  Although I was only watching the game from the couch in my living room, as a graduate of Baylor University, I felt like I was right there on the court celebrating with them.  I even felt like I was a part of the team - the national championship team.   

This reminded me a lot of my relationship with God. 

Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, we celebrated Jesus Christ being risen from the dead.  You see, when Christ rose from the dead, he conquered the grave and proved victory over death.  Jesus was and is victorious!  And since I am in relationship with Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:28-29, The Message), then I believe that means that I, too, am victorious.

For so many years, I told myself this story about how I wasn't good enough, how my voice wasn't good enough, and how my songs weren't good enough.  Well, today, I have a new story. 

My new story is that I am good enough!  I am good enough not because of anything that I have done, or anything that I ever will do, but because of what Jesus did when he died on the cross and then rose from the grave three days later.  That alone makes me good enough.  That alone makes me victorious.  That alone makes me know that I'm on the winning side.   

My Blessing Has Come

Two weekends ago, we celebrated our son's 3rd birthday.  The entire week leading up to his party, I kept telling him that his birthday was coming.  When we sent out the party invites, I told him it was because his birthday was coming.  When we picked out the decorations, I told him it was because his birthday was coming.  When we baked cupcakes, I told him it was because his birthday was coming.

With every chance that I got, I wanted William to know that his birthday was coming. 

On the day of the party, William was so excited.  Even though I had been preparing him for this moment, I still wondered if he fully understood that we were all there to celebrate him and his birthday. 

Well, while William was eating his birthday cake, he turned around and quietly said to me, “My birthday has come!”  I responded back with a big smile, “Yes, buddy, that's right.  Your birthday has come.”

That was such a special moment because it helped me to see that William had recognized his blessing.

There are so many times when God blesses me with something awesome, but unlike William, I fail to see it as a blessing.  Like with this blog, for example.  God has given me the desire to create and maintain this blog.  He also gave me the courage to share two of my original songs on here.  Up until now though, I haven't recognized those things as blessings. 

Instead, I’ve been wondering about all of the other things that I still want to accomplish, such as what is my next song going to be, or will I ever have enough songs to make an album?  I've spent so much time focusing on all of the things that I have not accomplished that I've forgotten to celebrate the things that I have accomplished. 

Everything that God has allowed me to do with the blog, so far, has been an incredible blessing.  And, thanks to my three-year-old son, I am learning to say, "My blessing has come!"

Don't Quit

I recently read this poem, Don't Quit, and I was so encouraged by it that I just had to share it with you all.  Enjoy, and have a great week!

Don't Quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

- Author unknown

Encouraged to be an Encourager

As I was going through my emails last week, I noticed one from my high school that was titled, "Blessed to be a Blessing."  I don't usually read the emails that my high school sends out, but the subject of this particular email caught my eye.  We are blessed to be a blessing.  God blesses us, not just so that we can keep it for ourselves, but so that we can turn around and be a blessing to someone else.

This got me thinking about something else...I am encouraged to be an encourager.

Let me explain.

One morning last week, I stood in front of the mirror for about twenty minutes trying to fix my hair, but no matter what I did to it, I felt that it looked like a big, frizzy mess.  I left the house feeling really horrible about myself.  I was prepared to go about my day with that miserable feeling following me around, but all of that changed very quickly. 

When I arrived at work, I was greeted by a smiling young lady who said to me, "Your hair is so cute."  I smiled really big back at her and said, “Thank you so much!"  I walked away just as happy as could be.  Her words changed my day...for the better.

There have been many times in the past where I have wanted to compliment someone, but I ended up holding back my words because I felt like they really didn't matter.  On that day, however, I realized that words - especially positive words - really do matter!  God used that lady to encourage me and lift my spirits, and now it is my responsibility to go out and encourage someone else.  Not only I am blessed to be a blessing, but I am encouraged to be an encourager. 

John C. Maxwell said it best:  "Remember, man does not live on bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up."