Like a Lighthouse

I have been debating for awhile whether to start a blog or not. I love reading other's blogs and I feel it's a fun way to write, to share about oneself. If you don't know me, I love to read, write, journal, and scrapbook all my hundreds thousands of pictures. :) So I decided to try a new way of sharing and treasuring our lives. Plus I'm trying to get away from Facebook. So thank you for coming to read.

We all have hopes, dreams, plans for our life.  But sometimes things happen, change, that cause us to stop, think, and wonder more so of which direction God may be leading us.  Many things have occurred in my life, in family, in friends' lives this year already, both joy and sorrow, and it has caused me to think more, ponder what God's plans are for me, for us.  I am going to be honest, I hope this season(s) has brought me in a closer relationship with Jesus, but it's hard to trust completely with your entire heart and soul, when answers don't come.  I have cried out to Him, and repeated many times over, "My grace is sufficient for you.  My grace is sufficient for you." ~2 Corinthians 12:9  Something I came across recently talked about why God has us wait--- He wants to build our faith, to build our dependence on Him, to build our trust in Him, even when things seem like they will never get better. It's these times that are the most important, that we grow in faith and trust, to depend entirely on Him. These months have also given me more down time, quiet time, in which I ended up reading and walking and thinking a lot. There is so much that we can learn from the authors while reading.  And I think in each season of life, we grasp at different parts. 

I want to write more about my books I read this summer, but one in particular gave me the inspiration for the title of my blog, and to actually just sit down and say, Yes I am going to start a blog! The book is called, "The Prayer Box" by Lisa Wingate.  The book has nothing to do with a blog, but it brought me lots of inspiration, I just wanted to share a few. The book is about a young, single mother who moves to a new place and gets a job of cleaning out a house of an elderly lady who passed away, and starting life anew. She finds these boxes full of letters to God that this elderly lady wrote throughout her entire life. I want to share a few parts of the book/letters.

"And then I wonder, am I to think of a way to aid this neighbor? Is this why I have seen him today? Can these tired old hands still cup the water, pour it out? This old body that creaks and groans with small efforts, can it yet serve? What does a lighthouse do? I ask myself. It never moves. It cannot hike up its rocky skirt and dash into the ocean to rescue the foundering ship. It cannot calm the waters or clear the shoals. It can only cast light into the darkness. It can only point the way. Yet, through one lighthouse, you guide many ships. Show this old lighthouse the way."

I believe we are like a lighthouse. We may not realize how we impact others each day, or we may feel down and don't think we are making a difference. But we are all so important. We each guide many ships (people). We may not be a well known person, such as Blessed Mother Teresa, or Pope Francis, but we still matter. The little things we do, such as sitting with a husband and holding his hand while life support is being removed from his wife of 56 years. Or sitting down and reading a book to your 3 year old child because they asked you to, even when you have a long list of 'to-do's'.  Or even just hugging someone silently, not giving any advice, but allowing them to cry on your shoulder, because that maybe all they need right now, just to know someone loves them.  We can all share the water of grace with others, we can all be lighthouses. 

"Help them to show the world that our greatness is not in things we do for ourselves, but in things we do for others. In power that channels itself into kindness, in a hand outstretched in love."  

Again the water of grace-- kindness, love, compassion. That's what Jesus taught us while on earth. Do for others, help others, care.

"Like beach glass, the wood was more beautiful because of its journey, because of the things it had been through.  Some of the hardest things you go through will teach you the most. Don't let other people tell you who to be. You are loved just the way you are."

I've come across sayings similar to this a lot recently. Beautiful people do not just happen, they are beautiful because they have known defeat, known suffering, known loss. They have an appreciation, an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness.  

"Dawn comes after darkness, and with it the promise that what has been torn by the sea is not lost. All of life is breaking and mending, clipping and stitching, gathering tatters and sewing seams. All of life is quilted from scraps of what once was and is no more--the places we have been, the memories we have made, the people we have known, that which has been long loved but has grown threadbare over time and can be worn no longer. We keep only pieces. All colors, all shapes, all sizes.  All waiting to be stitched into the pattern only you (God) can see."  

God is weaving the most beautiful web of our life. He has the perfect plan. I pray that I can grow in my understanding and trusting of His powerful message of love.