Where do you see His beauty?

This morning I was reminded that God created man to be His greatest and most beautiful creation. 

How often do I find myself staring at the beauty around me not found in God's greatest creation? How often do I seek His beauty in nature? How often do I have terrible thoughts about people? About God's GREATEST creation? Far to often. Tonight I spent some time with other people, who I truly see God's beauty in, and then coming out here...

He's beauty is so much deeper than a pretty sunset, deeper than the stars, deeper than the sounds of the birds. His deepest beauty is inside others. 

Zephaniah 3:17

I have not been able to feed my spiritual self enough lately. I have such a desire for God's word, it's unimaginable to think of. This hunger for His word is so fresh that I'm still amazed at His promises, big and small! The greatest promise is of His grace, given through the blood of Jesus. What a gift! 

**This is not the verse Zephaniah 3:17, but I encourage you to go and look it up and be encouraged and empowered by God's promises**

To My Best Friend ...In Honor of National Best Friend Day

Best

/best/

Adjective

1.     Of the most excellent, effective, or desirable type or quality

Noun

1.     That which means the most excellent, outstanding, or desirable

Friend

/frend/

Noun

1.     A person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard

2.     A person who gives assistance; patron; supporter

Best Friend

/best frend/

Noun

1.     A persons closest friend

If you did what I just did, looking at those definitions with your best friend in mind you DID NOT agree that those definitions did any justice for them. My best friend and I’s relationship cannot be defined that easily. I think my best friend is 100 times greater than that. That’s why she’s my best friend.

Today was National Best Friend Day, and as hard as it is being 500 miles from my best friend it was worth celebrating.

I tend to be a very narrow minded, very selfish person. Especially when it comes to friendships. I never wanted ordinary friendships. I never wanted people who would act like they cared, and then talk behind my back. In high school I never wanted that to happen to me, and I never wanted to be that girl. So I refused. I worked to be the best of a friend that I could be. I wanted extraordinary friendships.

There is no really cool story, or defining moment to my best friend and I's becoming of friends. We had known each other for years through a ministry we did together, but it was only recently that I could tell she was the definition of a best friend. It happened rather quickly, and it is surprising we have made it so long without each other. Both she and I also were/are very iffy about the term best friend. I've had multiple best friends over the years, but none like Brittani. None that actually stood this far apart from your typical friend.

I made a list earlier this week about the qualities that made her "da best". It was a list of funny things and serious things, but a list that truly defined a best friend.

This "holiday" if it can actually be called that, is a great reminder to give thanks to our friends for being the best. From the late night chats that we have nightly, or the multiple chick-fil-a dates we've had, the introverting together, the phone calls while we took some of the longest drives alone, the movies, together and apart, the nights when she just sings, the laughs, the tears...that we know about but haven't actually shared, and all the other great moments we've had. I couldn't imagine life without her.

Life gets messy and crazy and emotional. We need a person to be with us in those moments. Life gets beautiful and exciting and awesome. We need a person  to be with us in those moments. We'll have plenty of people come and go in our lives, but a best friend is going to make it through the sticky parts. We'll have people jump in when we're flying high, and a best friend is going to call them out on that. We'll have relationships and break-ups, and we need a person for those moments too.

The number one thing that makes my best friend stand out among everyone else is her constant encouragement in my walk with Christ. There is nothing more important to me than my walk with Christ, and that walk isn't something I can do on my own. Life isn't a walk I can do on my own. We can't do any of it on our own, and we need people to motivate and push us forward. That's what a best friend is for. That's what my best friend is super good at.

Having a best friend is a need. Being a best friend is a need. We can't expect people to give and give and give to us, and not give anything in return. I aim daily to be as good of a person to my best friend as she is to me.

Happy National Best Friend Brittani. I love you long time.

-Holly

Growing Pains

As much as I want to tell you all the tasks we did this week, I'd rather share how God really stretched me this week. We didn't have a camp this week and we haven't had a work group for the past two weeks. There were a lot of tasks for us to get done, but the work load can get done a lot quicker with five of us working on it. So we also had an unusual amount of down time. 

 

I'm just put it out there; this week I really started to miss home. 

There are so many reasons as to why, but some of the bigger triggers were:

1. My little brother -- as soon as God starts to make some great movement in him, Satan shows up and knocks him back down. It's super discouraging for him, and there are just a lot of other factors...I hate Satan, he's a bully.

2. I miss my high school girls. I had time to have great conversations with a few of them, and it was really great but I also feel like I'm missing out on their lives. I also had one who had a crappy week, and I wanted nothing more than to take her to ice cream, but I couldn't. 
3. I miss my best friend. I really just need a hug, and to hear that I'm where God needs me. Growing in my faith isn't easy, but I know that He's got me. 

4. To top it all off, my home town flooded this weekend. I wish I could have been there to help, to help my mom get her house in order, and to help the community.  Instead I just got to pray and get updates from Facebook.  

 

I know that I'm not going to be able to do it all, and I know that the second I leave this place I'm going to wish I was back. As I have read my devos this week, I realized that I am not alone in the struggle of growing pains. As I read through some stories in the Bible I realized that God has brought every one of his servants through some large portions of growing pains. 

These growing pains are different than what I remember as a child.  Obviously they aren't physical growing pains. It wasn't till maybe two years ago that I would have had the relationships to miss or the relationship with my family to feel obligated to be there in a time of need. I wanted to adventure, and to go off to the ends of the earth doing God's works, but now I couldn't imagine doing that without these people in my life. 

 

My faith has been pulled and stretched in many uncomfortable ways, and coming up to South Dakota is one of the biggest steps. I love my people, and I love my family. I love knowing that they'll have my back at any moment and catch me when I fall. Physically I don't have them with me; physically they are hundreds of miles away. That's tough on my soul. 

These moments in life are worth the pain because I get to be a part of a bigger story. The story of Jesus going to the ends of the earth. The story of love. The story of victory. As much emotional pain I had this week, I had a great focus of one day Jesus is coming back. That promise pulled me through this week of growing pains, and maybe even stretched them out. I love sharing scripture and I love encouraging you friends to go and read it for yourself. Revelation 22:6-21 – This is a promise that Jesus is coming back. This is a promise that every physical, emotional, and spiritual growing pain we have is worth it because one day Jesus will return, and one day I will rest with him in heaven! 

 

<3 Holly