Small

Again with the music my friends! I just can't get enough it. This week... playin' on my local iPod is some seriously rockin' Country love! WOOT! And yet again Carrie Underwood has taken my attention. Her most recent song to just throw me for a loop is called "So Small", which I think I may have blogged about in the past. However, this song is so incredibly true. Take a look:

What you got if you ain't got love
the kind that you just want to give away
It's okay to open up
go ahead and let the light shine through
I know it's hard on a rainy day
you want to shut the world out and just be left alone
But don't run out on your faith

Cause sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand
What you've been up there searching for
forever is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else seem so small

It's so easy to get lost inside
a problem that seems so big at the time
it's like a river thats so wideit swallows you whole
While you sit around thinking about what you can't change
and worrying about all the wrong things
time's flying by
moving so fast
you better make it count 'cause you can't get it back

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand
What you've been up there searching for
forever is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else Seem so small

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand
What you've been up there searching for
forever is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else
Oh it sure makes everything else Seem so small


Recently, I've looked back on my life over the past year. It's been a rollercoaster and I've faced many challenges and struggles. However, as I sit here and look back on everything that's happened I seriously feel like it not all that bad. At the time my break up and school struggles seemed like something so overwhelming that I couldn't even make it through the day...

And I remember having arguments with the Lord, pleading that He would take it all away. The great news is that He did take all that pain away and replaced it with His eternal grace and love. It didn't come all at once and it took TIME to get to where I am today....but even in my darkest hours, I was able to press forward
one
step
at
a
time.

Simply with the love of Jesus holding me up along the way... and giving me little tid bits of grace.
And as Carrie says, "Sometimes that Mountain you've been climbing is just a grain of sand." In the grand scheme of things, those devastating months of my life were just that - a grain of sand. And that grain of sand has made me stronger, more aware of my needs, and in the long run a much happier and appreciative person. Thank you Lord for carrying me through the trials of life and teaching me along the way - for I know that the mountains are often a grain of sand that you use to bring forth your blessings and future hope.

Just remember when you're in the valley, there's always a mountain of hope and blessings for you on the other side - much greater than you can ever even imagine. It just takes TIME to get there....

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, pleans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

:-)

Disconnected

Recently, I've come to the realization that I'm surrounded by people, yet there is an overwhelming feeling of disconnectedness that comes while living in today's society. How is it that we can be standing right next to someone in an elevator yet lack the ability to even say "hello"? Or how do we work day in and day out with dozens of people yet know nothing about them? Where they live, who they love, where they go outside of the office. . .

We are disconnected from each other. But, we're also disconnected from God and from the physcial world in which we live. Currently, I'm reading the book "Sex God" by Rob Bell (thank you readers for the suggestion!) - and it's amazing how many quesitons come up out of one little book. In Chapter Two (Sexy on the Inside) Rob specifically describes the disconnect we as humans have with the world around us. As the chapter concludes, he says, "You can't be connected with God until you're at peace with who you are." How true is that?

I know in my own life when I surround myself with standards that the world puts in place, I struggle with being myself and the person the Lord has called me to be. It's when comparison becomes a part of my everyday life that I see not only my relationship with the Lord crumble, but also my human connections. Society around me would have me worried about what I look like, what size I am, what kind of designer purse I do or don't have. The world would have me judge others so that I can pick up and praise myself. How selfish is that? What in the world gives me the right to sit on my high and mighty throne and point the finger at everyone around me? The truth of the matter is the more I point and judge, the more depressed and disconnected I become. And when I'm disconnected, not feeling and living and encouraging towards/with those around me, I've lost myself in the oblivioon of this life. Unable to sustain relationships and live for the one who created me.

Wow... "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." - Hebrews 12:1

Here's to choosing to live a life of connectedness with those around us. Loving, living, and enjoying life - together.