A reason to fight

~Saturday Stories~

You go to school, 

You come back

Five hours of homework 

In your backpack 

And you try to smile at Dad 

When he asks

How you're doing 

Cause you don't want him to know that

Life sucks at the moment 

And it all seems hopeless

And you're putting up a fight 

But don't remember what the point is 

And you're tired of the pain

And you're tired of the bruises 

And the pills in the cupboard 

Get more and more use now 

Might've not hit rock bottom

But it's worse than normal 

And you're trying to find a reason 

To live until tomorrow

Look up now, look up now

There's a reason to fight

There's a reason to hope 

There's always, always a reason to go on

There is Someone to hope in 

There is Someone to trust 

Not sayin' life will be perfect 

But it's better than what you've got 

There's a reason to fight 

Look up now, look up now

You go to school, 

You look around

Five hundred lost kids 

Milling about  

And you smile at Dad 

When he asks

How you're doing 

Cause you want him to know that

Life's awesome at the moment 

And it all seems hopeful 

And you're putting up a fight 

But you know what the point of is 

And you're tired of the pain

And you're tired of the bruises 

But you know the One 

Who'll help you stop using 

Might not be extremely happy

But it's better than normal 

Cause you've found a reason 

To live until tomorrow 

Look up now, look up now

There's a reason to fight

There's a reason to hope 

There's always, always a reason to go on

There is Someone to hope in 

There is Someone to trust 

Not sayin' life will be perfect 

But it's better than what you've got 

There's a reason to fight

Cause we've had our low spots 

We've all had our dark days 

We've all had our storms 

That didn't seem to pass away. 

We've all had our nightmares 

We've all had our hearts split 

We've all had a time 

When the devil seemed to win 

But. Now. We. Know.

There's a reason to fight

There's a reason to hope 

There's always, always a reason to go on

There is Someone to hope in 

There is Someone to trust 

Not sayin' life will be perfect 

But it's better than what you've got

There's a reason to fight 

There's a reason to hope 

There's always, always a reason to go on

There is Someone to hope in 

There is Someone to trust 

Not sayin' life will be perfect 

But it's better than what you've got 

There's a reason to fight 

Friendships... hard stuff

~Friday for Friends~

Jamie Grace has a video about friendships: "Friendships... Sometimes They Hurt".

I have a story about giving up on a friendship I could have still worked on.

How about you? Have you had friendships that hurt? How did God help you through? 

Hope and Someone to live for

~Tuesday Thoughts~

 I get it. You feel stupid. Useless. Guilty. Worn. Not good enough. I can’t even count how many times I’ve felt that way too. It’s crazy. But you know what? There’s always this Someone I can turn to when life sucks. God. And I know this might seem weird or trite or just an easy excuse not to solve a problem, but it’s none of that.

  You see, God loves you like crazy. You think you love someone? I tell you, that’s nothing compared to how God loves you. He’s not delusional; He knows you’re messed up and I’m messed up and that every single human being is ridiculously messed up. He knows that and still loves us. Even better, He made a way that we can get out of this pit, this darkness that constantly envelopes us, these mistakes we make again and again and again.

  The Way to get out of it is Jesus. I know you might have heard about Jesus before. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have wondered about who He is and what He did, but then, looking around at all the people who call themselves His followers, decided it was a big joke. But it’s not. Because even though His followers aren’t perfect in their behavior, Jesus is perfect. He is God, yet He also became a human being. How? To be honest, sometimes you don’t know exactly how some things work, but you still know they’re true.

 So, Jesus came to Earth, lived on it without making any mistakes at all, and then paid for our mistakes with His death, resurrecting on the third day. He paid the debt we owed for messing it up. It’s like if you owed $100,000,000, to someone, and then that person went out of his way to cancel that debt. Now all you have to do is sign that piece of paper that says you believe him, that it’s a done deal. God can make your life into something way better than you ever imagined, and all you have to do is say that you believe He canceled your debt. Plain language, no double meaning, just talk to Him.

   Will life be painless? No; I did this at six, and life has been anything but painless. But you’ll have hope. Hope and Someone to live for, because that Someone died for you.

Beloved

~Monday Movies & Music~

"Beloved" is a song by Jordan Feliz. Here are the lyrics. 

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:7-8 (ESV)

You are loved!

Grace Notes by Dandi Daley Mackall

~Saturday Stories~

Typical Gracie: "Gracie trudged into Big Lake High alone, imagining that she was as invisible as the humid air that pressed in on her from all sides. Inside, the halls buzzed. ... Gracie took out her recording notebook, leaned against her locker, and observed."

Gracie has always been invisible. She doesn't really belong anywhere either. But that's okay. She has her website, where she is free to open up and share her insights. Anonymously. Exactly how she likes it. But then someone figures out it's her, and she has to do something before everyone knows. Because then... then nothing will be the same.

Gracie likes to observe people and notice different body language signs that betray what someone really thinks or feels. However, people are harder to deal with in-person. Gracie has to learn to open and ask for forgiveness. She learns that it is good to belong somewhere and NEED people.

Grace Notes is a pretty good and light read. It also contains some truth about God, though not much.

Grace Notes is the first in the Faithgirlz/Blog On! series. The later ones are Love, Annie; Just Jazz; Storm Rising; Grace Under Pressure; Upsetting Annie; Jazz Off-Key; and Storm Warning.

For more on Dandi Daley Mackall, visit her website and Facebook page.

Do good

~Friday for Friends~

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:9-10 (NIV)

Who can you do good to today? 

Be still!

~Tuesday Thoughts~  

"He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”" Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

Soccer season starts this week. There's a concert our choir class is doing on Tuesday. There is a job fair in our town on Wednesday. I am fundraising on Saturday and meeting with a friend on Sunday. 

Oh. My. Goodness. I should survive, but do I even want to know how many hours a night I'm going to be NOT sleeping? 

Still, in this and other crazy times, God is with us. He does want our time and our attention. So, hopefully even in our crazy periods of life, we'll remember the One who did way more for us than we can ever imagine . I hope we are still, and I hope we praise Him! 

How is your schedule? Do you take time to read the Bible, to pray, and to listen to God?