purpose

The voices we choose to listen to

~ J.Lynn24 ~ 1 Comment

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Words have tremendous power. They can build up and encourage; they can tear down and wound.

To relay and comprehend words — even when reading — we use a voice. Each person’s voice is unique, be it the cadence and rhythm of their speaking voice or the personality and style of their written thoughts.

But what voices are we choosing to listen to?

The world contains millions and millions of voices, and so many of those voices are vying for our attention. Maybe it’s the latest must-see TV show or movie that uses the voices of actors to convey the voices of a director, producer and writer. Maybe it’s a company’s commercial for a “must-have” product that uses its voice to seep into your mind, thereby triggering your own voice that says you need to make a change to become better.

And there — right there — that’s where we become vulnerable. Because our own voices can be both our allies and our enemies.

I’ll speak for myself here, but I imagine I can’t be the only one when I say: Sometimes the loudest voice telling me I can’t do something is my own.

So often, I end up becoming my own deterrent. Because I listen to that voice. I give up on myself before I’ve even allowed a chance to prove to myself and the rest of the world around me that I can, that I will.

We tell ourselves we’ll fail. We tell ourselves we’re alone in the world. We tell ourselves we’re not good enough. We tell ourselves, “Maybe tomorrow.”

Sometimes the voices are like a mob screaming at us and sometimes they’re quiet whispers that snake through our ears. But each voice has the potential to drag us down in defeat, failure and loneliness. Instead of fighting, we convince ourselves those voices are right. We give up on ourselves before we have the chance to fail or succeed.

We’ll never get anywhere if we live like that.

Instead, use your voice to declare the truth and cut through those lies. Use your voice to speak words that are true, right, uplifting, pure, lovely, excellent and full of life.

And then listen to that voice.

Bikes, stitches and Aloe vera plants

~ J.Lynn24 ~ 1 Comment
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Gotta give cred to my former roommate who had cool stuff for me to take still life photos of.

Ever feel like you’re getting hit on the head with the same heavy hammer over and over and over again?

Yeah, that happened to me today. The same message kept popping up unexpectedly throughout this lovely crisp November Monday.

First, it sprouted as an idea while I was reading my Bible this morning. Then, it blossomed into a vine of connected thoughts while I was walking around my work building during lunch. Then, it branched out from another post over at the Beauty Beyond Bones blog. And finally, it snaked itself around my mind in the form of a song that randomly played on some stranger’s YouTube playlist.

And finally, I was like, OK, I get the picture. I’ll write about this.

So here it is: If your father truly loves you, he’ll want what’s best for you, right?

I remember when I fell off my bike when I was seven years old. I flew over the handlebars and skidded chin-first across the gravel driveway. Bawling, I proceeded to scamper up our super long, steep driveway to my dad who would know how to fix it. He cleaned my battle wounds and off we went to the hospital.

I turned eight a few days later, sporting a nice set of stitches on my chin and elbow.

A couple weeks later, I was scheduled to have my stitches taken out. Let’s just say one of those stitches was really embedded in my chin and it took a lot of tugging to get it out. Afterward, my dad led me out to the parking lot and took care of me as I heaved in the bushes by the car.

He then drove to a store and bought me a little Aloe vera plant. Most eight-year-olds wouldn’t be too impressed with an Aloe plant as a gift, and I can’t say I was at first either. But my dad told me to smear the Aloe’s goo on my chin and elbow injuries every day and it would help the scars heal. So I did.

I used that gift countless times throughout my life.

And that Aloe plant grew over the years, becoming Master of the Windowsill, spawning other little Aloe plants and still going strong when I moved out of my parent’s house years later.

My dad wanted what’s best for me, so he gave me a gift that was helpful, considerate and a blessing in the future, as well.

So let me ask you: If our dads here on earth care so much for us and want to give us the best Aloe plant gifts, then how much more will our Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him? (That’s a Jen version of Matthew 7:11, in case you were wondering.)

My dad’s great. I know he loves me fiercely, would do anything to protect me and wants the best for me. But even he doesn’t love me as much as Jesus loves me.

God has the best intentions for us. He isn’t holding out on us or baiting us with a gift, only to move it away before we can receive it.

Sometimes, yes, we need to wait for His gifts. Sometimes, yes, that waiting is really hard. But He really does know what’s best for us, at the best time.

God has a plan and purpose for us greater than we can even imagine. He has a gift for each one of us.

But it’s up to us to receive that gift.

I could have refused to use the Aloe’s gel on my scars. It was smelly and sticky and sometimes those pointy ends stabbed me as I tried to glean the gooey innards from the plant. This was a gift?

But I accepted my dad’s gift to me and it helped heal me. If you looked at my chin now, you would barely see the scars where those stitches were.

Sometimes all it takes is trusting that your Father knows best. Because God’s gifts for His children are good. Hope, joy, peace, love, freedom and so much more. Not only do these gifts from God increase along with us, but they also heal and mend — just like that trusty Aloe vera plant.

 

God’s plan for you and me

~ J.Lynn24 ~ 2 Comments

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You know what? I love God.

Every morning, I start off my day with reading my Bible. Recently, I’ve been reading through the book of Jeremiah, and this morning I came to chapter 29.

I’m sure you’re all like, “Yeah, yeah, Jen, you’re going to go to verse 11.”

Yes — but only for some of it.

I read Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'”

Now, if you don’t mind, I’d just like to insert what I wrote down this morning after reading that:

So often, we read and quote Jeremiah 29:11 by itself — and for good reason, because it’s an amazing promise from God and a source of hope. But I know I failed to see it in context before. After reading through Jeremiah, the promise and hope found in verse 11 means so much more.

God had allowed the Israelites to be captured by the Babylonians because they had openly rebelled against Him. He offered them chance after chance to turn back to Him, but they refused and continued to disobey.

So, the Babylonians captured the Israelites and took them away from their city as captives.

But God still offered them hope.

Jeremiah 29:10, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.'”

He gave them the promise that they would be freed in 70 years. And not only that, He then told them (in verse 11) that He knew them and wanted to give them a good future. That’s beautiful.

Even now, we know that we’re going to go through some hard times, but God lets us know that He has ordered our steps. Even though we may not know how long it may take to be freed from the struggles or chains, He has promised us freedom and this good will, if we choose to follow Him.

But don’t stop there — verses 12 and 13 are so good too! Jeremiah 29:12-13 — “In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”

Let me just say I had no idea I would absolutely need those words today — and let me tell you, I absolutely needed those words today.

But God knew.

And let me just say: Even if you find yourself in one of the worst storms you’ve faced, God still knows where you are.

More than that, He knows you.

He formed you for a purpose, and He won’t just leave you hanging.

No, if we choose to love Him and follow Him, He promises us a future filled with hope and good plans.

God isn’t the only one involved here, though. We have to make the choice to follow him. We, as humans, can choose to disregard His promises and follow our own paths, like the Israelites did in the verses above.

But know this: God doesn’t break His promises.

Just keep swimming

~ J.Lynn24 ~ Leave a comment

During my run today, I found myself facing a hill that was more daunting than the rest. It was long and steep, rocky and littered with roots just waiting to trip me up.

Without any prompting, I thought, Just keep swimming.

Just keep swimming

Yes, it’s a quote from Finding Nemo. Yes, it’s a movie for kids.

But for that moment — for this day, when tragedy and hate strike again — those words were so fitting.

Just keep swimming.

On days likes these, it can be hard enough to just keep treading water, let alone swim. But it’s when you stop moving, when you stop treading water, that you find yourself drowning.

And that’s what any enemy wants you to do. To stop trying. To give up. To stop moving forward.

The only way to make it up a hill is to take one more step. And one more. One more.

Sometimes that step is a step of faith. Sometimes that step takes all the willpower we have in us.

Sometimes that step is a step to prove to those haters trying to instill fear in our lives that we will rise above. That we will reach the top of the hill.

That we’ll keep swimming and keep moving forward.

embedded in the moments of growth

~ J.Lynn24 ~ Leave a comment

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As an adult, it is easy
to reflect on your life
and pinpoint various
moments of growth —
but as a child, those times
of growth are often
challenging and arduous

for embedded in the
moments of growth
are moments of pain —
growing pains that ache
and throb — subtle thieves
that attempt to diminish
your achievements

for embedded in the
moments of growth
are moments of forbearance —
a patience that must be
learned — as others grow
at a faster pace, while you
wait and wait and wait

for embedded in the
moments of growth
are moments at rock bottom —
when you’re buried under
stress and expectations —
the heavy soil impeding
your journey to the sun

but it is from those moments —
the pain, the long-suffering,
the rock bottom —
that measurements gain meaning —
for once you reach a certain height,
it is then that you can look back
upon that low point and say,

“That point right there —
that’s where I’ve come from.”

Reason, Purpose, and a bit of March Madness

~ J.Lynn24 ~ 2 Comments

IMG_1553Man, the month of March has flown away in a mad flurry, taking with it my perfect March Madness bracket. But, like Coca-Cola keeps reassuring me, it’s not my fault the teams didn’t cooperate with me. That’s beside the point, however.

So, what is the point?

To put it clearly: The point of this post is to contemplate the point of reason, the point of purpose, the purpose of reason, and the reason for purpose.

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Not clear enough?

Throughout the month of March, the word “reason” resonated in my mind and I jotted down phrases using the word as they came to mind. For example:

               Give me one good reason why…

               Let me reason with you…

               Without rhyme or reason…

               I found a reason…

               I am here for a reason…

The definitions for “reason” all pertain to the mind, as they deal with explanation, thought and understanding. Essentially, they focus around rationale and logic.

As humans, we tend to look for a reason in everything. We want a good reason as to why we should buy a particular brand over another one. We give reasons for why people, banks or companies should invest in us. The reasons, explanations and justifications we give are based on a process of logic.

For instance, while some people might fill out their March Madness bracket willy-nilly and hope for the best, there are a multitude of others who use reason to create the most likely-to-win bracket.

You consider each team. How have they performed in the past? Do they have notable injuries? Are they experienced? What’s their offense like? What’s their 3-point shooting percentage? How’s their defense? You attempt to logically account for unexpected twists, justifying a #15 seed upset over a #2 seed because crazy upsets happen all the time. In a process of reason and logic — and a bit of guesswork — you attempt to create a perfect bracket.

Isn’t that similar to life, sometimes? We go through life, logically assessing what steps to take in order to get to a certain place, to achieve a certain goal. We plan everything out, submitting to the fact that an occasional upset might happen that disrupts the process.

But we’re almost never prepared for those upsets. Just like there’s no way for you to know that Arizona (#2) will lose to Xavier (#11) and screw up your bracket, there’s no way of knowing you’ll tear your ACL in a college intramural flag football game, forcing you to learn how to walk correctly again (speaking from experience here).

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When those upsets happen, we begin to question the reason behind it all.

It’s easy to wonder, “Why am I going through this?” We try to justify it, thinking there must be a logical reason for it. But it’s hard to understand why these things are happening to you. When that injury blindsides you, or a relationship falls apart, or you lose a job, or you feel alone, or…

There can’t be a logical reason for those upsets in life, right?

Maybe, reason needs to give way to purpose.

Purpose: The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.

What’s the purpose in a March Madness bracket? Some do it for fun; others do it for money; and some do it for the promise of eternal glory when you — yes, you! — achieve that elusive perfect bracket.

Until that perfect bracket is shattered and your somewhat depressed, befuddled brain remembers the purpose of the entire March Madness basketball tournament — one team’s quest to successfully hurdle all of those upsets in its attempt to achieve ultimate victory.

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Maybe, the reason we experience upsets in life is to realize, remember, or reinforce our purpose… in life, in relationships, in your abilities.

When you finally heal from that injury, you no longer take for granted the ability to walk, sit, or sleep without pain. When you start a new job and are overwhelmed with training, you remember what is was like when you were overwhelmed while searching for a job, thinking you would never find one. Or, when you recognize someone who is hurting, you are able to help them because you went through the same hurt.

Maybe, instead of looking for a reason behind everything, we should be looking at our purpose in everything.

How writer’s block and an old poem resulted in thoughts on trust

~ J.Lynn24 ~ Leave a comment

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I’ll be honest here: I was having a brain fart. Or a writer’s block. Or something.

So, I put on my music and considered writing a poem instead. But when opening Word, I glimpsed a poem I wrote on December 20, 2016. I opened “The musical river” and read it. Reading that spawned another idea, which led me to my blog and prompted me to write the following words: “I’m still not quite sure how I want to get a point across. So for now, I have another exercise.”

Well, let me just take it from there, because my writer’s block went away.

If you would, go to iTunes or Spotify or YouTube and pick your favorite song to listen to. And I mean, a song that really, really gets you — every single time you listen to it. (If you’re at a loss for a song, here’s one from The Piano Guys.)

Now, lose yourself… in the music, the moment…

***

The musical river

One musical note
doesn’t seem like much —
as a single drop of water
doesn’t amount to much.

Perhaps this note is a B flat
or a C sharp —
and perhaps this drop of water
falls from the faucet
or drops from the sky.

On its own,
that one musical note
seems lonely and without context —
and the drop of water
seems small and insignificant.

But when that one tone
is followed by other individual tones —
and when that drop of water
is joined by more beads of water —

together they define a new creation.

The musical notes
support each other,
lead each other,
pushing forward with a sense
of purpose and perseverance —
as the drops of water
join together to become
a single entity
that flows with elegant determination,
until, at last,

the end of a new masterpiece.

***

I’ve been thinking a lot about trust recently. In fact, I’ve been thinking about trust for the past couple of months. And when I thought of trust, my thoughts turned to trust falls. I’m sure you all know what a trust fall is, but just in case:

Trust is scary. That moment you choose to let yourself fall is a moment when you place complete control into the hands of someone else. You trust that person to ignore surrounding distractions and catch you, support you.

So, these thoughts were lingering in my mind, when I turned on my music and read this poem again. That’s when the following thoughts passed through my mind: Each musical note does a trust fall into the next one. Without the next note to catch the one before it, the music ceases to be.

The musical notes in your favorite song rely on each other to create the final outcome. Without that trust, their existence and ultimate purpose would be undetermined and meaningless.

I’ll let you ruminate on that thought for a bit.

I will trust and not be afraid

~ J.Lynn24 ~ Leave a comment

img_4026-newIn my previous post, I left you at a ledge with a decision to make: Would you stay content in the darkness or would you move toward the light?

That ledge is daunting. You have no idea how far the drop is or what you might find below — if you survive the fall. To jump would mean losing control. It would be a leap of faith — belief without logical proof that there is more than the darkness you’ve been in, that purpose can be found.

You jump.

Your heart pounds violently, and your stomach flops as you fall. You’re terrified and utterly helpless. You have no idea what will happen to you.

You continue to fall, until, suddenly, you’re submerged in cold water. Water rushes into your lungs and you try to keep your head above water. You tread water, but the water is deep and you quickly get tired. You try to swim, but you don’t know which direction to go. You yell out for help.

Then, you hear a voice say, “Here, take my hand.” You reach your arm out to grasp the outstretched hand. The person is in a small boat that has a lantern attached to the helm. The lantern’s light emits a warm glow that contrasts with the icy water engulfing you. The person hoists you into the boat and wraps a warm, dry blanket around you.

You don’t know who the person is. You don’t know where the person is going. But the person has helped you.

The person turns to look at you and asks you a question…

… and before you answer, I want you to remember that Princess Jasmine wouldn’t have discovered a whole new world if she hadn’t first decided to answer the same question:do-you-trust-me

Do you trust me?

An exercise in faith

~ J.Lynn24 ~ 1 Comment

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Imagine this:

You’re in a space with no light, immersed in complete darkness.

You stretch your arms out in front of you, seeking something — anything — for your fingers to touch and recognize. You move one foot cautiously forward, making sure there is solid ground underneath for you to step on.

With this carefulness, you walk around blindly, relying on your senses to perceive what is safe and what is not.

As your fingers and feet are exploring, you catch your breath. Your front foot has nowhere to go. The ground has disappeared in front of you. Realizing you are at a ledge, you take a step backward and return to the ground you know is safe.

You sit there. You lose all sense of direction. There is nothing but you and the stifling darkness. You begin to think you’ll never escape.

Suddenly, your eyes are jolted by a flicker of light.

It is small and distant, yet it radiates energy and purpose in the still darkness.

The ledge looms between you and the faraway light.

Now what do you do?

Do you stay in the darkness?

Or do you walk toward the light?