Joy today

I’ve written before about grace today. But “joy today” just might save my life.

I’m living a chapter in my life in which God has made me feel that it’s autumn because I gotta let go of many things. Sometimes I feel it’s a good thing to be pruned by the wind, like the autumn leaves. But another side of me cringes because: What will I have to give up? Will I make it out alive? And then comes winter, what will I do then?

The autumn colors are glorious but the crisp cold air of change has been making me shiver these past two days. Fear of the unknown has been enveloping my mind, causing me to think things I’m embarrassed of. I’m afraid of the future and how I’ll fare in it. I’m afraid of not making the right choices. I’m afraid of moving away from people that I love dearly. I’m afraid of new things and of not being able to manage them.

Last night a red nose nestled my pillow and a bit of tears still flowed. I cried out silently. And as I warmed myself under my blankets, the words “Perfect love casts out fear” rang in my head. They’re from 1 John 4:18. And I could almost hear God tell me “hide in my love” after I had just said “I want to hide in a cabin forever!”

This morning I was translating a message by John Piper for my mom. And at some point I clicked on another message I had never read and found something perfect. Piper is talking about using acronyms to help him remember what he ought to. This is his description of one:

AIMS: For Christ-consciousness Throughout the Day

This is what I need all day long. Reminders of massive truth. If my mind is empty or worldly, my faith languishes. My joy in Christ weakens. I need truth. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

My mind needs glory: “Set your minds on things that are above” (Colossians 3:2). I need to think on excellent praiseworthy reality: “If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). But my mind drifts into banal and trivial things. And my soul shrivels.

What shall I do? I “will call to mind” amazing things about God (Lamentations 3:21). I will “remember” his all-gracious covenant (1 Chronicles 16:15). I will set my mind on “the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). I will “consider his wondrous works” (Psalm 106:7).

How? Among other ways, with AIMS. Through the day I will pause and ask, What are your AIMS? And I will answer:

A Alive. I will call to mind the stupendous truth that Jesus is alive. (Luke 24:5–6)

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.”

I In. I will remember the breathtaking reality that Jesus is in me. (Romans 8:10).

“Christ is in you.”

M Mighty. I will ponder the all-comforting fact that Jesus is mighty. (Matthew 28:18).

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

S Satisfying. And I will savor the sweetness that Jesus is satisfying. (John 6:35)

“Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

(Taken from Desiring God Ministries, found in "Santification in the Every-day life")

I’m imagining what will occur in me if I know and remember not just that Jesus is alive but that He is in me and He is mighty and He is satisfying. What a life I’d live! Definitely devoid of fear because while fear is human, He has not given me a spirit of fear for I have become his adopted daughter. Look at this awesome verse:

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15).

His children shouldn’t be afraid of anything. He’s the boss of the Universe and all things! Could it be then, that I am really afraid, not because He’s not in control, but because I question His love for me? I think so. And the rest of the "perfect love" verse tells me so: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

While His love may prune me and send winds and storms to shake me, His love makes me strong. While in His love He may hurt me, like he wounded Aravis’ back in The Horse and His boy, He knows what is best for me and why He does it. He knows what I need to learn, where I need to go, with whom it’d be best that I get there and He doesn’t want me to be afraid. He comes to comfort me!

I just reread The Horse and His boy and if you haven’t read that book of the Chronicles of Narnia, then this might be quite unclear. I’d love for you to read it. If you love Jesus or wonder if God is real and about His dealings with your life, seeing He is God, that book is a beautiful and fun way to help us grasp the fact that God gives and He takes away, God blesses us and gives us hardship. He does both in love.

And so why does joy today save my life?  Because today I remembered, as I prayed through that acronym and my mind could see sunlight, that God doesn’t leave the key to tomorrow’s joy in today. If I’m fretfully looking for it today (which is all I could do, I can’t go to tomorrow yet), I won’t find it. What is in today is today’s key for joy.

So maybe I can be very afraid about the future, about how I’ll fare then, if I’ll be happy with my choices. But I can only know that true Joy is found in Jesus and He only gives tomorrow’s joy key tomorrow. But He has promised to give me today’s joy key today.

All in all, I hope reading this has helped you a little in dealing with fear, finding joy and remembering that He who is in you is alive, mighty and satisfying. Let’s swim in His love, as autumn leaves fall. 

The story He writes

He told me "Why do you worry about the story that is already written?"
"Jesus, what if I don't like the story? What if my worst fears take place in that story?!"
"Don't I make all things beautiful in their time? Your story is no exception, the story of your family is no exception. I'm using it, what right now you cringe over, I will use to bring greater things. Think of it as a lion's den. Trust Me."
And it's a real battle to not give in to fear. Yet, He said the lion's den? What happened after Daniel came out of the lion's den?

I heard that story so many times as a kid. The King was aghast when Daniel came out of the lion's den alive and whole. He told Daniel "Truly your God is the living God" and he commanded his entire empire to worship the God of Daniel, who had saved him. That time in the lion's den, with the fear of maybe being eaten by beasts, is simply not worth comparing with what God was planning after that. 
Maybe the lions in your den seem like they're gonna eat you, like I sometimes worry in my own story, but God will bring us out and do extraordinary things as we surrender to what He has penned and planed since the beginning of time. 
Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for being the best writer ever! All those books that fascinate us, book-lovers, have stories that are left in the dust compared to the love, wisdom, power and beauty you put into our stories. Thank you for being so good!

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." -Psalm 139:16 (NIV)

To all of you, beautiful sisters out there

I want to share this, something about your beauty.

"In the beginning, our God spoke beauty because He is Beauty and the God of the Bible is an artist and what you must never forget is that you are His art. Touch your face right now and feel what you really are, what His Son whispers, “My masterpiece worth dying for, my beauty worth redeeming." -Ann Voskamp

I just wanted to remind you how beautiful you are. But most of all, your love (the Creator) wants you to know.

Thank you Jesus for my sight!

Sometimes I grumble about needing my glasses. They get in my way, they're unromantic, and they make me feel like I need to be careful rather than playful. But without them, the stars look fuzzy, loved faces meters away from mine look blurry and I'd surely end up waving frantically at a stranger thinking it's a friend.
I'm actually thankful for my gift of sight, Jesus. Increadibly thankful!
I'm thankful I can watch butterflies float by; the look of my mom's mouth wide open roaring with laughter and my dad's funny look while sitting next to her. I'm thankful I can see close to a hundred birds gather on phone wires and fly toward the horizon together. I'm thankful for the look of a couple in love dancing. The sight of my loved ones gliding through ice or stumbling a little. I love the sight of family or friends hugging each other!
I praise you Jesus for the gift of seeing happiness in the eyes of those I love. I praise you for how I can spot a dandelion and watch its dancing seeds fly away. (Even if it's into my mouth...Sandy!) I praise you for how I can see the Christmas lights shine and the manger scene make a child smile. Oh and the look of people's goofy faces! I praise you for the sight of words on paper or on a screen through which I keep in contact with friends far away, and I praise you for sight of the street that takes me to my best friend's home. Thank you for the sight of little kids with open arms running to me! And for the sight of the glistening moon in its many phases. Thank you for the sight of my sweet mom whose presence rules the kitchen, thank you for the sight of her beautiful hands and that of her head peeping in by the door to say: "I love you! Goodnight!". I praise you for the look of accomplishemnt in Adrian's face when he completes a drawing and likes his work or when he's concentrating on something. Thank you for the sight of Nina's curls, laughing face and the excited look she has when she comes to tell me something. Thank you for the sight of my dad's moustache, his hands at the wheel and the way he looks when he has kissed my hand. I praise you for the sight of the woods lighting up when the sun comes to greet them and the display of beauty when the sun says goodbye.
Not to mention the gift of touch, smell, taste or sound!
You've honestly made life great, beautiful, spiced up and intersting!
Thank you so much for my senses Jesus! I don't think I can properly thank you for things, but I'll keep enjoying them and I'll tell you more how appreciate them so, one at a time! It would be tragic to have one of my senses go missing and only then realize how blessed I am in being able to experience them to the full! 'Course, that's up to me. Help me, dear Love!

"Enjoy the little things‚ for they are the essence of life. Appreciate the senses I have given you; use them to their fullest. When you look, see. When you eat, taste. When you hear‚ listen. When you touch, feel. When you smell, let the scent fill your whole body. It is only when you take My blessings for granted that life loses its luster." -Jesus

Roses and thorns

I woke up this morning hearing my mom's voice calling my name and saying "Stephanie, you forgot to put the alarm clock on, get up!" "What day is it?" -I was that lost.
I got ready in record time and only thanks to Jesus I didn't miss my bus. But before I ran out the door I somehow managed to get a quote from my quote bottle, I read: "He who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers." I pictured a rose bush in my head and smiled, bearly thinking on the deeper meaning of that quote. I put it in my pocket for later examination.
In a few hours I was in school engrossed in a book, but I let my thoughts twirl downwards and with them went my feelings. It was like losing reasons to smile, reasons to sing, reasons to be happy. It wasn't the thought of one problem that troubled me, it was the thought of them all. I couldn't believe that even the beautiful day couldn't make a change in my mood. "I guess so" I thought. I excused myself, left my book and went to the bathroom to pray. Yes, to the bathroom. I told Jesus I didn't know what was happening to me, that I didn't want to just lose it, lose my joy and crumble at the thought of my little troubles that felt so big to my emotional side. I told him about one in particular, how I was missing someone very much, a person who most likely won't ever think of me as I do of him. When I was done explaining the matters of my heart, I waited for him to do the miracle in my heart and help me.
He did so wonderfully.
I decided I'd work on a project pending. I searched in my computer for something and the results showed a list of poems and stories about gratitude. No idea how it had anything to do with what I was looking for, but yes with what was in my heart. I remembered the quote about roses and thorns I had read in the morning, I had my answer.

I've been countin' up my blessings,
I've been summin' up my woes,
But I ain't got the conclusion
Some would naturally suppose.

Why I quit accounting troubles,
For I had half a score,
While the more I count my blessings,
I keep a finding more & more!

There've been things that weren't exactly
As I thought they oughtta be,
And I often growled at problems
For not a peppin' me.

But I hadn't stopped to reason
What the other side had been,
How much of good & blessing
Had been thickly crowded in.

For there'd been a rift of sunshine
After every shower of tears,
And I found a load of laughter
Scattered all along the years.

If the thorns had pricked me sometimes,
I've good reason to suppose,
Love has hid them often from me
`Neath the shadow of the rose.

So I'm gonna still be thankful
For the sunshine & the rain,
For the joy that's made me happy,
For the purgin' done by pain.

For the love of little children
For the friends that have been true,
For the Guiding Hand that's led me
Every threatenin' danger through!

Beautiful, no? I think so. And it's every bit true in my life.
George Matheson wrote:
"My God, I have never thanked Thee for my `thorn'! I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my `thorn'; I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross as itself a present glory. Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my `thorn'. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbow."

There's no roses without thorns.

Windstorms

"Looking back over my life, I can see the beauty that the windstorms have carved."

I want to be able to say this of my life, so I'll march ahead and face the storm.

Be truly beautiful

"There is so much beauty in being yourself!" -My sudden outburst when looking at a poster of Julia Roberts in the middle of a Mexico city mall.

The best monday

When one lives happy days, even when nothing outstanding takes place, but instead it's a string of many lovely, simple and worthwhile little things, one feels alive! -and doesn't want to forget what it's like. Those days make you realize how beautiful things are an every day happening. Sure the world is going in a spiral downwards...but someone told me you don't have to go with it. And I don't want to.
It's not about creating a blissful illusion or a reality that doesn't exist, it's just recognizing like Agatha Cristhie said, that being alive is a grand thing!
And in honor of this one Monday I've lived...I shall make an effort to love all Mondays from now on.
I was remembering recently a quote that read: "You wanna be happy? -expectant grin- then, be." -Oh...-
About this very day all I can say that I haven't already is:

Life, real love, truth, beauty and simplicity -these things can make me cry tears of joy almost any day.
Thanks for them God, they're the part of Heaven that's on Earth -smiles-

What I Know About Being Beautiful

My mom read this story to us kids a morning ago while we were having breakfast.

By Enid C. Anfinson

"Pretty is as pretty does," Mother would invariably say when trying to assuage my wounded ego after some friend (and there were many) had exclaimed, "What a beau­tiful child!"—always staring straight past me to gaze at my sister Ida.
Ida's dark hair hung shoulder length in silky curls while my kinky locks popped back from Mother's comb in hundreds of tight corkscrew curls like the coat of a poodle. I knew I would never be pretty, and I resented it.
The summer that I was 11 years old, Lilla Haley returned to our town. For years I had been hearing the praises of this wonderful woman. Mother's friends never ended a coffee get-together without lamenting our community's great loss when Lilla moved away. Now after all these years, she was returning.
"Who is this lady?" I asked mother.
"Lilla," mother explained, "is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. She was a teacher and a nurse and always the Good Samaritan. She has helped find a good home for many a homeless child. She has helped everyone she knows."
I began to paint mental pictures of Lilla. She would be stately, regal, wide-eyed with long dark lashes, a breathtaking figure, and a fine complexion.
It was nine o'clock one morning, two days before anyone in town expected her, that Lilla breezed into our house. Mother was baking cookies. I was on my knees cleaning the cupboard under the sink. Ida was straightening her room.
I stared at the long-awaited Lilla, and my eyes popped. She was short, with a little stoop to her shoulders. Her sandy brown hair was streaked with white. But what was shocking was her mouth. With protruding jaw and uneven teeth, her mouth was badly misshapen.
After the glad cries of reunion between her and Mother, Lilla noticed Ida and me standing by the door, gaping. "Oh," she said, "I almost forgot you had two lovely daughters." Then the miracle happened. Instead of gushing about Ida's beauty, she looked right past her at me.
"That hair!" she said. "Let me feel it." I walked slowly to her side. "Beautiful," she exclaimed, fingering the corkscrew curls. "You'll never have to bother with curling irons as most of us do."
From that day until her demise at the age of 80, Lilla was a very special friend of mine, as she was to all who knew her.
One day I asked her the question that was on my mind: "Lilla," I said, "why are you so nice to everyone?"
She smiled at me. "Enid, I would have been the most miserable and mean person in the world had it not been for my mother. You know I am no beauty and I was very self-conscious about it. One day I blurted out to my mother, ‘Why do I have to have such an ugly mouth?'
"Mother gathered me in her arms. ‘Re­member always,' she said, ‘it is not the shape of a person's mouth that makes her beautiful. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes her beautiful or ugly. I'll promise you if you let only kind words come through your mouth, you'll be the most beautiful person in the world.
"‘But you will need help, and God is always near to help you. Just remember to ask Him.' I have tried all my life to do just that."
It was then I understood my mother's words—pretty is as pretty does.

"Pretty is as pretty does" -that phrase has more meaning to me in spanish, my mother language, "Eres tan bonita como te sientas". The direct translation would be: "You are as pretty as you feel you are".

...believe it.
As much as you think there are so many people much more beautiful than you are, that doesn't take away the fact that you are YOU and you are B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L.
It's so sad to see people whom I truly know to be of the most beautiful people I've met believe they are not, that there is something really wrong with them. In fact they think there's nothing lovely about them, that they're ugly and with plenty of imperfections and of all sorts. I'm not talking about the ones who voice these things cause they want someone to tell them otherwise. I'm talking about the beautiful people in my life who don't think they're beautiful, when every smile, every lock of their wild hair, every eyelash, curve and line say they are.
I don't know what you'd say, but I'd love it if you could join me on a campaign...to tell those beautiful people how they are pretty and lovely in the ways you think they are. Just tell them, you never know how much you could alter their life and change the course it takes... feeling beautiful is a human need I'd say, it's part of being loved and cherished and looked upon as special, incomparable. We all need that, we all want it, we all can give it.