10 Songs To Give You Hope

     I actually compiled this list over two years ago, forgot all about it, and came across it recently. All of the songs below still encourage me, give me hope, and bring about an intense wave of nostalgia. Sometimes music speaks to the depths of your heart in ways that nothing else can reach. I love this list because I feel like it encompasses so many aspects of my childhood, teen years, and early adulthood all rolled into one. I've always been drawn to music that speaks truth. I like songs that are raw, honest, and real. Music can speak life into our soul or it can drain it. I've always admired artists of all genres and spectrums who sing anthems about truth and life. Life is cluttered and chaotic oftentimes, but the truth of that needs to be conveyed. Hope can rise up within us as we respond to the truth and life in songs.

     I pray if you are going through a rough time right now these songs encourage you, too. Also, feel free to share some songs in the comments that bring you hope and have special memories.

1. Swim by Jack’s Mannequin

Its all about “swimming” ahead and keeping your head up, being expectant and hopeful for brighter days and no matter how far we start to sink, we can always pull ourselves back up above the water.

2. Love is On Its Way by The Jonas Brothers

This song holds special and personal significance to me. The Jonas Brothers were my favorite childhood band and their music was with me throughout a lot of changing and challenging seasons. This song is such an encourager! It is written to “young hearts”, as the lyrics say and its all about becoming who you were truly meant to be and even if you’re hurting to always remember that “love is on its way”.

3. Beautiful by Mercy Me

I would listen to this song on repeat in early high school and it always makes me cry because its just so powerful. I struggled a lot with self-worth and body-image in the past and this song is all about being His and understanding your worth in God. It says you are “treasured, sacred, and His and all the lies you’ve held inside so long are nothing in the shadow of the cross.”  I couldn’t resist including it because it has been so healing and freeing for me.

4. Fighter by Jamie Grace

This song is all about people’s individual situations, stories, and struggles. But despite the challenges in their lives, they “throw a fist up, feeling stronger everyday”.

5 You Are More by Tenth Avenue North

This song is all about healing from the past. It talks about being “more than the choices that you’ve made and more than the sum of your past mistakes”. Its about being brand new and not defining yourself by your past and looking confidently toward the future.

6. Save Your Heart by Mayday Parade

This song is especially important in our culture today. We all give little pieces of our heart away as we grow, learn, and go through relationships. The song talks about “saving your heart” for the right relationship.

7. Warrior by Demi Lovato

I get chills every time I listen to this. In this song, Demi is open about all of her insecurities and past issues, but she talks about being a “warrior” and proudly wearing her scars from her past. I think it is an opening for lots of young girls to share their stories confidently, too.

8. Fifteen by Taylor Swift

This song makes you laugh and cry all within 5 seconds. Any girl that has ever been 15 can relate completely. Its kind of a silly little song that confirms that you’re not alone in the world as a teenager and that its okay to feel oddly in between child and adult. She talks about friendship and first heartbreak and it sort of serves as a confirmation for young teenagers that its going to be okay.

9. Souvenirs by Switchfoot

This is a good song to invoke positive memories and recall happy times. It also helps to realize the important people in your life and to enjoy each and everyday and treat it as a “souvenir”

10. Brave by Action Item

Action Item has so many positive and uplifting songs and this one is simple, but powerful. Be brave every day.

Forever Friend

This marks the end of an era for me. As I sit here and sip my coffee way too late at night , I am flooded with a flurry of emotions. This is the end of a book series that I have genuinely grown with. Twenty-one books later, this series holds my tears, my mistakes, my victories, my joy- because I have read the books throughout so many seasons of life. First introduced to The Christy Miller series at only thirteen, I was captivated by the honesty and rare elements of the story. I had never read a story so relatable or met a character that felt so much like my friend. Christy was and is my forever friend. At thirteen I did not fully understand or want to welcome in the love of Jesus Christ. All of my teenaged years were spent running away from God- the God who I knew was recklessly pursuing me, yet I could never seem to slow down and let Him catch up. I couldn't seem to let the weight of His love and mercy enchant my heart. The funny thing is, though, while I was petrified, broken, and running away from Him, I was simultaneously reading about Christy's adventures falling in love with Jesus and seeking a relationship with Him. Reading about her pursuit of Jesus didn't scare me away, even though I wasn't ready; it only fascinated me and continued sparking my curiosity. As I grew with Christy and the experiences in her life, I began pondering more on God's love and the invitation He was offering to me.

Today I am in love with Jesus. It didn't happen overnight and I am still growing with Him each day. I am certain, however, that He used this book series as one of the many ways to capture my heart. I am a lover of words and reading; that's how I see the world- through words and stories and strings of beautifully-crafted sentences. The stories in these books spoke to me in ways I'm not sure anything else could have. There are so few books like these, if any. The Christy Miller series follows the life of a girl throughout her high school years, her college years, her married years, and her baby years. Robin Jones Gunn has created something remarkable and inspiring for young women- a relatable tale about everyday life and what it means to follow Jesus as you grow. How awesome is it that I was able to read the High School years books in high school, the College Years books while in college, and the Married Years books shortly after getting married?

I hope that one day I can write books like these; a series that is timeless and inspiring to women. I highly recommend this series or any books by Robin Jones Gunn, for that matter. She is a kind, down-to-earth, and a very talented author who truly has a passion for the gift of writing that God has given her. Share these books with the girls and women in your life. I cannot wait to pass along this series to my daughters someday.

Thrive

 

Sometimes its so painfully difficult to not dwell on past choices or mistakes. Maybe I'm the only one, but I seem to have a constant reel of film spinning away in my head of past conversations and scenarios and the pause button is nowhere to be found. My failures and weaknesses seem to be on neon-lettered billboards as constant reminders. Some days I desperately want to shut it off as I over- analyze and jumble my mind with if-only's and what-if's. I'm trying to view life like a story, though. There are chapters with themes that link together- and it's always being written. As a writer, this is comforting  because it reminds me that my story is constantly changing, evolving, and growing, and it's never too late to keep writing it. At the same time, though, I want to embrace every part of it, instead of trying to erase the complicated and confusing chapters.

A new day. A fresh perspective. A changed outlook. I'm beginning to find serenity in the fact that God's mercies are new every morning. His love doesn't keep score or keep track of wrongs and His grace never runs out or dries up. His love is unchanging and it allows me room to make mistakes and become the woman He has willed me to be. Despite the past, I can have hope in the future and look expectantly towards the next chapter of the story, because it's not finished. 

Thriving amid adversity: Resilience. During dark seasons, don't stop writing your story. There is something so powerful about the ability to not just survive challenging circumstances, but to thrive through them. You do not have to be strong to be resilient; I think resilience is admitting that you are weak and exhausted, but choosing to keep going anyway; reminding yourself that today you can change your story and you can hold on for another sunrise of hope.

~And His Life Brought Light to Everyone~

     I know it happens every year, but this year it seems like a rampant disease around Christmas. To-do lists, pressure, exhaustion, and pure agony. Getting "ready" for Christmas has become less about preparing our hearts and WAY more about preparing for duties and responsibilities; making sure everything gets bought, and wrapped, and baked, and cleaned, and sent and woah- I am burned out just from merely trying to explain what most of us are actually experiencing. Christmas is all about celebrating new life-life that changed the world, but it's slowly sucking the life out of us all instead. 

     

We're all so overwhelmed, so busy, so on the verge of breaking with no time to stop and reflect. This year, in the midst of chaos, I have been asking Jesus to remind me that I am His daughter. I have been sitting at his feet asking him to remind me that I am free. Because of his miraculous birth, life, and death- I am free. I am free from pressures and judgements and expectations. I am free from my tendancies to worship perfectionism and performance. Because of Jesus I am divorced from the sweet, yet tempting lies that His love is based on what I do or what I have done. Because He entered the world, I am seperated from the false comfort that anxiety brings- I don't have to hide anymore or overthink anymore or stress anymore. I already know what He thinks of me: I am His daughter. I can burn my to-do lists and I can smash the stack of bricks weighing me down. I can rest in knowing that He died to set me free from all of those messes. I can sigh deep and Celebrate that He came to earth through a woman- a woman who had to let go and trust. She had an unshakable faith in God's plan and because of her willingness to obey and because she laid down every worry and fear, God used her in an unfathomable way. She gave birth to the savior of the world.

I can celebrate His birth and life this Christmas. My heart is brimming over with thankfulness for the precious gift of salvation made available to all. Because He was born, I can rejoice. I was brought life and hope.

     Often I still have one piece of my heart in the arms of Jesus and the other piece trying desperately to cling to the false comforts of the world. I know the truth, but sometimes it is scary to fully believe and submit and let it change me. 

     I am not interested in a life that isn't fully submitted. The concept of knowing about the life-changing love and grace of Jesus, but not letting it penetrate deep enough into my heart to radically change my life, terrifies and me altogether disgusts me. It's not enough to simply know and hear about the Christmas story- to know the stories of His life and death. I want those truths to change me to the core, to completely uproot the life I think I can build on my own efforts. I want the unexplainable and completely unmerited compassion, grace, and mercy to hit me like a freight train and remold my whole life, how I view each moment, and how I value others. I'm not interested in a cute, pretty telling of His life and birth- I want the whole radical truth of who He is and what He's done-overflowing into all that I do.

"We have been born into a new life that cannot be destroyed or corrupted and can't fade away." -1 Peter 1:4

So with that, I challenge you this Christmas, and at the same time I challenge myself, to not crumble under the unrealistic pressures and expectations of this season. Instead lets breathe deeply of the peace that He brings and sing loudly about His remarkable birth that has freed us all. 

Hope

In the midst of chaos, confusion, and disaster I don't have the words to say. My heart is silently overwhelmed, aching and jumbled. I want to have this dazzling outpour of something...anything..anything to make sense of what is happening, but instead I remain silent. In those moments I have to say: "Lord, I cannot. But you can." And there are a lot of moments when I cannot. 

God is the only refuge in the depths of turmoil. Alone, we cannot say anything that will make it better. I can't say anything that will provide hope. I can't say anything that will provide answers, because there aren't any. 

But God. 

But God steps in and He is the only one to bring peace and reconciliation to our jumbled, tired, and confused hearts. He is the only one who can comfort the brokenhearted, the scared, and the confused. He alone can restore and replenish all of His children who are righteously angry and hurting deep in their bones. He can refill them with His truth and living water. He can bring unity and light into the dark and twisted crevices that appear so far gone and out of reach. Innocent, lovely people have died. People that had a purpose and a story and families and life in their veins--and we don't understand--righteously, we don't understand why this keeps happening. We cannot comprehend the devastation that has happened. The hope of God is the only anthem of our souls. I will sing loudly about the strength that He brings, because what else is there? There is nothing left to cling to other than the hope that He brings and the strength that He provides when we cannot. Smack dab in the middle of unfathomable tragedy, His light shines brighter than ever before. His love is what binds together all of our wounds and ignites the fire in our souls.

These truths cannot be forgotten.

"They breathe out violence, but I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the world of the living."-Psalm 27:12-13

As we mourn and shed tears I can't even begin to comprehend how much more our father in heaven mourns as he witnesses acts of terror and hate so so far from His original design.

"He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life and God will wipe every tear from their eyes."- Revelation 7:17

All Things New

Every season of life is an interim or in-between period. Everything should be written in pencil, ready for God to move. 

I'm not a planner. I guess in a way I am, because I plan NOT to plan. Human plans are scary to me because they often leave little room for God's creative and chaotic directing style. Maybe some people would look at my life and see only a confusing amalgamation of sharp turns and bewildering discord. But God has helped me to see through His perspective: it is gorgeous and messy all rolled into one, with His hand woven into the little moments. He has helped me stop desiring a clean-cut, easy, comfortable life. He has dared me to not cling terribly tightly to my plans or my way. And actually, I feel freedom in allowing God's artistry to guide which way I walk. I feel freedom from myself; I feel freedom from the world's unrealistic expectations. I find joy in the chaos and I praise Him for allowing me to be in places where I must depend on Him alone, not myself or the life I think I've built. I can't accept a watered-down version of surrendering my life to God. This isn't always easy. Sometimes I wake up at 2 am and all of these questions are churning around and I feel it in the pit of my stomach. Sometimes I want complete certainty; something concrete- but that's not what we're promised. Living a life etched in pencil can be captivating and beautiful, but it can also be challenging and muddled. In those moments, though, God reminds me that He Makes All Things New. He has to remind me that truth over and over again; each time it stirs my heart to live more radically for Him. He Makes All Things New as he launches us into new seasons, introduces new relationships, gives us new purpose. If I tried to carefully craft and meticulously lay out how the rest of my life is going to sail until I'm 90, I would miss this. I'd be too busy trying to get myself back on the track I think I'm supposed to be on and I would turn my head and my heart away from the marvelous new things God is doing right before my eyes.

My life is not normal by the world's standards. I don't have a 5 year plan. I'm 21 years old, content, and married. I met my husband on twitter four years ago. How much more unpredictable can it get? I don't have career goals, but instead I have daily goals to experience and share God's love more deeply. God has changed what that has looked like in different seasons- I've been a manager, a mentor, a teacher, a cashier, a decorator- I've lived in Massachusetts, Texas, Maine. There's been seasons with school, seasons without it. But in every season, He is faithful, His grace is more than enough, and His provision is sufficient.  I'm confident in saying I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow, let alone next year- but I am content and on the edge of my seat for what God does next. I'll be His vessel, ready and willing to step with Him as He Makes All Things New.

A Writer

I am a writer. It has taken me a long time to embrace that completely because I'm not only a writer. I am a lot of other things, too. There are endless elements that make up each person- facets of life that are always changing; always growing. I am a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a traveler, a coffee drinker. I am in love with Jesus and everything that makes up the entirety of my existence hopefully points back to the unfathomable grace He has shown me; how He took my impossibly blackened heart and transformed me into His daughter, healed and set free from the strangling bondage I had enclosed myself in. And now, in addition to all of those things, I am freely welcoming the fact that I am indeed a writer. I've forced myself to stop saying someday, and instead I am embracing today. Today is the best day there is to write.

A writer writes, not because they have to, but because they want to. A writer doesn't write to add to a list of life achievements or to impress people with a stack of works that will eventually collect dust anyway. A writer doesn't write for money or for fame. I am a writer. And I write because I experience life through words. Long, strung-out, enticing sentences linger in my head until I rummage for a pen and scatter them all over crisp paper. As I go about my day, I willingly submerge myself into a sea of potential stories all around me; I cannot shut the words off and I don't want to. I am a storyteller, and a feeler, and a thinker- dispensing these ideas onto paper is my only option. I will no longer wait around for some grand moment; I will stop anticipating that I will someday be granted a special right of passage to give me permission to live life through writing. I will write for today. I will tend to the stories and experiences that I have been given and share them with the world that God has placed around me. Maybe after all of those moments and words have collected up, it will have transfigured into a larger work; a book. Maybe not. But I'm okay with that. So today I will write, because I am a writer.