Riding the Big Waves

Tuesday night through Saturday morning of last week I spent on vacation at VA Beach with some friends. Friday was Beach Day, during which I spent the first 2 or 3 hours boogie-boarding. 


Boogie-boarding is the most fun when you're able to catch the really big waves, and ride them in. The hard part, however, is getting to those, particularly when the water is choppy with a strong undercurrent. Even when you manage to get out to the bigger waves, often times those big waves catch you before you're ready, and you wind up washing up on shore holding onto the boogie-board with one hand for dear life while the other hand is pinching your nose shut so you don't swallow the ever-delicious ocean salt-water...ok, so that's what I wound up doing, maybe I'm just the worst boogie-boarder on the planet ;-). 


I realized that life is much the same. Sure, you can take the easy way out and just sunbath all day every day and watch those daring enough get a wonderful adrenaline rush conquering waves. You'll die of skin cancer with nothing but a tan or sunburn to show for it. The waves are the adventures and trials of life. The little ones are great for training and getting a taste of what you're in for, but the purpose of the little waves is really to prepare you to conquer and ride the big ones. Jesus/God/the Holy Spirit is kind of a little bit of everything. He's the boogie-board which keeps you afloat when you ride the waves, or at least gives you hope of surviving, when the waves either catch you off guard or are simply flat-out strong enough to knock you over no matter how ready you are for them. He's the moon which controls the tides, He is inside you, giving you the strength to endure and to keep on going. And He is the beach, where you can eat lunch and rest in preparation for your next joust with the waves.


I read a quote one time that went like this: "The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.  ~Theodore Rubin." Or, as the Good Book says, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In this life you will have tribulation (trials/troubles/struggles); but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NKJV). So ride the big waves, knowing not only that they will never be too strong for you and Jesus to handle, but that they serve a good purpose in your life, making you stronger, and also making your life a lot more worth living.

Some Quotes

Pain is inevitable.  Suffering is optional.  ~M. Kathleen Casey

A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn.  ~Author Unknown

The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.  ~William Shakespeare, Othello

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.  I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.  ~Mother Teresa (<-- never heard it put quite so well)

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.  ~Frank A. Clark

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.  ~Mary Engelbreit

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.  ~African Proverb

Adversity introduces a man to himself.  ~Author Unknown

If you know someone who tries to drown their sorrows, you might tell them sorrows know how to swim.  ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter.  ~Author Unknown

(All quotes taken from: Quote Garden if you would like to see some more.)

Stubborn or Trusting?

Times are hard right now. Nothin' like a few financial struggles to make you realize Who's in control here. I saw a couple of rent checks on the refrigerator a couple hours ago, which reminded me: Oh yeah, rent is due. So I grabbed my checkbook and went downstairs to see the damage in my accounts. Yeah. It's up to God if He wants me to stay here -- if our landlord is gracious and can wait for my next pay check to be deposited, he'll get his rent. However, thus far I'm already behind on setting aside money for taxes, and I'll have to tap into that money for this month's rent, not to mention that e-mail in my inbox telling me my cell phone bill is ready to be paid. Next to come will be my credit card bill.

I keep worrying that I've just been stubborn up to this point, refusing to move back in with my parents and find a temporary home for my cat, Happy. I mean, first of all, I can't even tell you how much I don't want to have to pack everything up and get out of here so someone else can move in -- might I mention how most of the furniture would have to be taken apart in order for this to happen? Second of all, it's gotten to the point where I'm just in the way at my parents' house. Visiting is great, and my mom keeps hinting that she wants me to come back home. But between moving back from Lancaster and moving into the Deerpath Damsels' house, I was "a distraction" for my siblings who needed to do their school work, and my stuff was "spreading out". My room at my parents' is in the basement -- would you want to spend all your time down there? Me neither, but that's the only way all my stuff would stay down there as well. Needless to say, this a last resort option. I love my family, but I hate being in the way.

But anyway, after whining about how I really don't want to move back in with my parents, I realized what I was doing and told God, "I will praise You anyway. Even if Your plan is for me to move back in with my parents, I will praise You." And then I prayed for a sign about what I should do. So far nothing, but when I then went out and cleaned my car, I found several random items on my car floor about not worrying about tomorrow, or what I should eat, drink, or wear. 

The first thing I found, was a little "PASS IT ON Message Card". It said:

WORRY:  |    PRAYER:

BAD     |    GOOD

Got it?

And then it lists the verse, Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." 

"...with thanksgiving..."

I remember the prayer and supplication parts very well. But I often forget to thank Him, regardless of how it turns out. Because regardless of how it turns out, for some reason, it's His will, and part of His reasoning is: because He loves me. If He wants me move back in with my parents, it's because He loves me. If He wishes me to stay, then He will provide the means to do so, and it will be because He loves me. 

The second thing was another "PASS IT ON Message Card". It said this:

"I was regretting the past and fearing the future.

Suddenly my Lord was speaking:

'My name is I am.' He paused.

I waited. He continued.

'When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets,

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I WAS.

When you live in the future,

with its problems and fears,

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I WILL BE.

When you live in this moment,

it is not hard, I am here.

My name is I AM.' "

-Helen Mallicoat

Lastly, there was an old Notes page and at the bottom it says: How can we make prayer a bigger part of our lives?

Hm....by lacking necessary finances maybe? 

I have no idea how this next month is going to pan out. I start a third job (supposedly) at the end of this month or sometime next month, and I know it will be a hard transition -- possibly harder than I'm currently anticipating. Not only will it be hard because working in a coffee shop is something I've never done before, but for the first couple of weeks or so (until I get the hang of things and can pull my own weight), I will be making minimum wage plus tips, and the coffee shop will take most of my hours, so I can't exactly make up for the low rate with more hours at Curves (not to mention Curves doesn't pay well itself). But I know that God's will shall be done, and it will be because He loves me. I can always praise Him for that.

Worth It

Creation Fest 2010: A Tribute to Our Creator.

  Looking at all the people, I'm struck by what I see: A lot of people, here for a good time with friends and good music, some here just because a friend came, others forced by parents to partake in a Christian activity. It's hard to see who is really here to praise the Lord. I know there are some, like me, but most are teenagers who don't have faith of their own just yet.
  I look at the sea of people...and wonder if a difference is really being made...
  Then on a walk back from the jons, Samantha and I pass a guy and a girl on their way down, evidence of tears on the girl's pink nose and cheeks and serious expression, her arm around the guy, whose tears are still flowing; and I'm struck with a sudden revelation:
  This one is worth it all.