A Mountain Top Moment

P E A C E F U L

To choose a single favorite moment from our trip to Colorado is way too hard. I don’t know if I have an all-time favorite but there is one that has stood out more than the rest.

It was on the second day of hiking. We were driving through the mountains, trying to find our hiking trail, and no we didn’t get completely lost, but I finally just sat back in the seat and started to soak it all in… driving through the mountains, the windows down and the icy mountain air brushing across my face, my hands out the window feeling the breeze with the Jesus music blaring, yet all I saw and felt was a horizon filled with breathtaking snow topped mountains and peace.

This is my happy place. This is my moment. This is peaceful. This is priceless.

I realized in this moment that life is good. God is good always. And trials become good. Yeah we got kind of lost in the mountains but I was only lost in the beauty and majesty of this place.

Then… it started snowing. What could be better? It was magnificent. Glorious and perfect. You could see the clouds of blustering snow come in and covering the green tree filled mountain side. It only lasted for ten minutes or so but seeing that and knowing who created it was worth a thousand tree covered mountains.

- Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your Name - Chris Tomlin

During these moments the only words I could really say was thank you, God. My heart was full and I could not express exactly how I felt except thank You Lord for who You are and for the daily blessings that You give me—the both small and big ones.

“It’s a crazy life” accurately describes mine. The past month has been one of the best times of my life. It was a jammed packed life session but so worth every moment. My head rarely hit the pillow, my car ran and ran, my mind was constantly filled with thoughts, to do lists, test knowledge, and my hands never stopped moving.

I look back over the days and think of how incredibly blessed I am. God is good, always, and I see that more and more every day I live on this earth. My time in the mountains helped me realize that life is about the One who created all of this. I serve Him and only Him. My life, who I am, what I do or have just done (graduated for high school) is not about my accomplishments but solely about the One who moves mountains and calms the seas.

- I live my life to declare You are King -

I love my life. I truly do. I love the good times and the bad. I am growing to like the bad times more because it is when I encounter trials that I truly grow and see more of how great my God is.

James 1:2-3, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." (NASAB)

In the moment on the mountain I breathed for the first time in a long time. I couldn’t form all the words of gratitude that I wanted to say so I just said thank you over and over. Remember to take those moments in your crazy life to recognize God and thank Him for who He is and what He has done and is doing in your life.

Holla to my mountains… see you again in three weeks.

~Gracie

Happy Mother's Day to a Most Amazing Woman

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Of course I am tempted to start out with the cliché saying that I have the best mother in the world and mine is better than yours. But no, while I still may think that, mothers are not to be compared but rather praised simply for who they are. God knew we all needed different mothers with different strengths and weaknesses to teach us different things throughout life.

I honestly do not know how my mother does it. She is literally amazing. Somehow she manages to teach school to seven kids, she cleans, she cooks, she watches two adorable toddlers, she councils dad, she hardly freaks out about all the things that don’t go as planned each day, she makes everyone laugh, and somehow she manages to stay composed without pulling her hair out. And she does all of this each day. But I do not want to focus on all the “busy” things she does throughout the day but rather the women behind the actions. The reasons she does what she does every day without fail.

She is a woman full of sacrifice. Each day she gets up early to make breakfast for all of us famished animals. She chose to homeschool all seven of us for 13 years without fail. She could have created a career and gone after the world’s view of success, but no, she decided to be a mother and man am I thankful for that.

She never gets her nails done and drives us all around the country to wherever we want to go instead of going on a girl’s date (which she needs to go more often). She spends all of her time, her resources, her energy, she heart, and her life pouring into her family. Each moment she makes a selfless decision to bless someone else rather than giving into desires for self-comfort.

^ This is our relationship ^

She is a selfless woman full of humility. I have never seen anyone do the things she has done and gone through the situations she has witnessed and come out as graceful and selfless as she is. She is a woman clothed in Christ rather than expensive price tags and a fake image. Her beauty is in her heart. And her heart is the size of a mountain. All the love that she selfless gives to just her kids and husband each day is amazing. And it doesn’t stop there but she uses each opportunity to bless someone else with an encouraging note, a meal she prepared, or a kind word. She hardly ever does something that she actually wants to do but rather seeks out opportunities to serve others.

She has a servant’s heart. She never seeks to be recognized for what she does but is content with being in the background, serving away (well sorry, not getting away with that this year). She throws her whole heart into everything and finds her worth solely in Christ.

She is wise. My goodness, so very wise. I come to her at least once every week and explode into an explanation of how my life is going to fall apart. But, within moments she calms me down and puts things back into perspective. She is a constant encouragement to me. I know that if mom can make it through the day, there is no doubt that I can. The Spirit never fails to work through her to get to me.

She is a woman of commitment. She is committed to her husband who she faithfully loves no matter how much of a dork he is. She is committed to walking with Christ and raising her children. She is committed to showing everyone she meets a little bit of Jesus.

This kind of comes close to how crazy we are

She is my friend. As an 8 year-old I never thought of my mom as being my friend. Now I wouldn’t know what to do if she wasn’t my friend. We talk, we laugh, we pray, we cry, we encourage each other, and most importantly we love. We love each other and Christ. It is a blessing to have gained another friend that I know will never judge me or turn their back on me.

She is strong. She is an encourager. She is modest. She is a life giver. She is a Proverbs 31 woman.

Proverbs 31:25-29, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teachings of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.” (NASAB)

And to all the other mothers and godly women who have also impacted my life, thank you. Just because you never had kids or do not yet does not mean that you are not a momma to someone. Women are designed to nurture and love on kids. Thank you to my mother’s friends who are like my second mom, my teachers, instructors, coaches, youth group leaders, the list is long of women who have left an imprint on my heart that will forever remain. Thank you all for being wonderful, God filled role models.

I feel like I still cannot completely put into words exactly how I feel about my mom, she is simply incredible. I hope one day I will be at least half the woman and mother that she is. She is inspirational, full of wisdom, absolutely adorable, completely hilarious and full of life, she bears the weights of this world with grace, she lets the love and light of Christ shine through her in everyone she interacts with, SHE IS GOLDEN.

Proverbs 31: 10, “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far beyond jewels.” (NASAB)

 And I know she is golden only because of the Christ living within her.

When spring and summer roll around and she forgets to plant flowers, dad and I remind her that she was met to raise children not plants. And can I get an AMEN to that?! ;)

7 of her blessings

I love you with all my heart, Mommy!

~Gracie

Perfect Life? Perfect Senior Prom?

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Life is beautiful. Life is not always easy. Life is not always about you. Life is about serving. Life is about being a good friend. Life is about dancing. Life is about enjoying the moment. Life is about laughing. Life is about being crazy. Life is about crying (only occasionally). Life is about taking chances. Life is about relying on God. Life is about faith. Life is about adventure.

Life is about so much. This is life on a smaller scale. But in the big picture. . . What is your life about?

Is it about success? Fame? Money? Goals? Family or friends? Just having a good time? Relationships? Food? God? Faith?

It may be one or two of those things. It may be all of them or none.  Each individual is different. There seems to be a variety of different answers and explanations. Whatever it is that we are seeking in life we want it to be fulfilling and make our lives more perfect. Right?

Well, I am here to tell you today that your life is not perfect and it will never be completely perfect, but that is OKAY because GOD IS PERFECT and HE IS IN CONTROL. He knows the plan for me (and for you) and that should be enough. We just need to live each day with the mindset of honoring God and being chill with whatever circumstances He brings our way.

After senior prom two nights ago it hit me how perfect and imperfect that night was. It is an accurate example of how the rest of my life feels right now. It was a beautiful night full of glamor, pictures, crazy dance moves, yummy food and awesome friends. It was wonderful. But it was nowhere close to perfect. I had friends who got engaged (that part was perfect). And I had other friends who were hurting and confused that night.

Was it a good night? Definitely. Best (and last *tear*) prom ever. However it was a complicated night. A lot happened. It is just how each day of my life goes and I am so thankful for both the happy and bit more challenging moments. I learned and grew from both of them as I do every day.

Life is about perspective and response. The saying that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it is SO TRUE. It is taking those breathing taking good and bad moments and choosing to look at them positively. It is not discarding the negative elements but you have a choice to be a conqueror. God is always there to hold your tears, to give you comfort and strength-- He helps you truly conquer. He is also always there to rejoice with you. He is with you through thick and thin— confusing times and beautiful moments. He is the rock that does not move.

Whatever your life is about it should revolve around Christ. Without Him in my life, personally, I would literally go crazy. Throughout the day I am constantly thanking Him for the blessings, the special moments, and the difficult times. I am asking for strength. I am seeing His council. I am communicating with Him daily and it helps me to see more clearly the choices I have and it brings clarity to my life mission.

My life is the farthest thing from perfect. I am okay with that. I am not striving for a perfect life. I am striving for a Christ centered, godly life that brings honor and glory to my Creator.

Whatever stuff you are going through—the happy and the sad, let God be a part of it. I am so thankful for each and every trial He has given me in just this past week. Sure they were hard days to overcome, but with God they were (and are) so much bigger, better, and more rewarding than trying to do it on my own.

Do not be a perfectionist. Be a Christ follower. Be a joy (& peace) seeker. Be a perspective changer. Choose positive responses. Choose the imperfect life.

Blessings,

~Gracie

A Life of Adventure

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-->> "An adventurous life does not necessarily mean climbing mountains, swimming with sharks or jumping off cliffs. It means risking yourself by leaving a little piece if yourself behind in all those you meet along the way."

Goals right here guys. Life goals.

When I first read this I was convicted because to me that is what adventure is. Adventure is doing the crazy, insane, wild and unheard of things in life. To me adventure is spontaneous actions, uncertain situations, unique ideas, different places and crazy things. While that is true, adventure is SO MUCH MORE.

True adventure is . . .

- Living with an attitude of adventure -

It is not waiting for the perfect time or event to suddenly become actively adventurous. It is a mindset of living each and every day with the people around you striving to impact them.

That is adventure. Giving of yourself to others. It is taking a risk on that person or thing without knowing the outcome. It is giving your all in every situation. It is living in the present and not searching for the crazy “things” to do in life. Part of the adventure is experiencing those things. However, it is giving your time, your money, your resources, your knowledge, your insight, your love and your self to others wherever you are without hesitation. That is what is going to change your life and change the lives of those around you.

Isn’t that our goal in life? To impact others? To encourage others? To take risks on other people because we care about them and not about the outcome of the situation?

My goal in life is to go on tons of crazy, fun, spontaneous and uncertain adventures to the beautiful places I’ve only dreamed about. However, those are not the only adventures I will be taking. Wherever I go, whoever I am with, whatever circumstance I am in, I will be living an adventure.

I choose to live this life where I am at. I choose to explore and experience all the wonderful moments around me, even if it is in my own front yard. I choose to not be worried about what others think of me or scared about the outcome of a situation because that is out of my control.

Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,” (NIV)

Christ wants to blow our minds. He wants us to capture the craziest adventure we can think of and He will completely take it to a whole new level. We cannot imagine what He has in store for us. The adventures and possibilities are endless. But they start at home. They start with Christ working inside us. They start with investing in others and embracing our daily adventures. Even the small ones. They are just as important as the big ones.

- We need to look at every moment, in every place, with every person for whatever reason as its own adventure worth taking -

Blessings,

~Gracie

Do You Want an Easy Life?

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“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Generally speaking I have not wished for this. I have always wanted an easy road to follow. One that I thought would mean happiness and success. But the truth is no one should want this kind of life. An easy life in reality equals a meaningless one because it never required effort. No sweat, no tears, no anguish, no fear, no pitfalls, no drama, no progress and no heart.

While these things may not be desirable per say, they are essential parts. Whatever we want to do in life will require some part of us— whether it be mentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually that we may not get back. Therefore, might as well take this opportunity and learn from it. Throw yourself in 100% and take pains with whatever it is. Think of how much greater the reward will feel once the goal is accomplished.

We all have to realize that life is a process. Many times our journey has several different parts. We will come upon the first step, then the second one that takes twice as long, and the detour, then the third step that gets flipped upside down and we finally reach the end. This is how our lives go and many times we get frustrated that they aren’t perfect.

But no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to attain a perfect life. We may look around and think that others have wonderful, easy lives. Maybe they chose the easy road and their life appears great, but inside they will be missing something. Something that they cannot find. That would be Jesus.

Life with Him is worth so much more than just a life. Life with Jesus means to actually LIVE life. It may be a difficult life, but with Christ life has meaning, it has purpose and hope in the future.

Instead of praying that all these struggles and pains go away we need to pray for STRENGTH to get through the hard days and difficult times of our life. Without these trials, life would get boring. We wouldn’t see God’s hand work and we wouldn’t have stories to tell or memories to share. 

We need to bring those difficult moments into a new perspective. Think of them as opportunities to learn and grow. Opportunities to strengthen our faith.

Embrace life’s struggles.

There is always room for improvement. Ultimately the storms and bumps in the road make us stronger, wiser and more appreciative of the joyful, satisfying moments we experience. Once we learn to embrace the struggles they will become easier, because we will understand that they do have a purpose. Nothing in life happens by mistake.

Christ is the only rock to lean on

I hope whatever trials are being thrown your way today you will be able to see the bigger picture that life is worth so much more than the struggles of today. I pray that you all will have hope knowing that God will forever have you in His hand.

Blessings,

~Gracie