Friends, this blogpost has been a work in progress. Here’s how it started:

 

I’m tired of being imperfect. It’s getting really frustrating at this point having to exist as a fallible human being. You’d think I would’ve made peace with my limitations by now, but unfortunately, that’s not the case…

 

And immediately after typing that, I tweaked a muscle in my neck and had to lay prone on the floor for several minutes. Then the rest of my week became a cycle of ice, rest, and becoming more aware of my physical limitations. Thankfully it is much better now, but yikes “Pride cometh before a fall” was felt very acutely.

Have you made peace with your limitations? Have you accepted your boundaries? A friend once reminded me that boundaries are nice little picket fences with gates that let people and commitments in and out. Walls are stone blockades that don’t let sunshine, people, or anything in and end up isolating you. And open fields are impossible to maintain.

Last week was the Sara Groves concert, which served as a benefit concert for Syrian Refugees through World Vision (learn more here if you’d like: Crying for their country).I heard a message in the Sara Grove’s lyrics, a reminder that sometimes in life we are given a load that is too heavy to carry, but yet we are propelled forward to find a solution.

And I pray for an idea
And a way I cannot see
It’s too heavy to carry
And impossible to leave

-Sara Groves

This world asks much of us, and often takes more than we want to give. Even if our own lives seem to be going well, we are often burdened with the plight of others. Spending several summers working with children who had been neglected or abused I had to constantly remind myself of the small victories, and the small part I got to play. Because I couldn’t save those kids, and they often taught me far more than my meager knowledge could give them. But I still rejoiced in seeing them go on summer field trips for the first time — seeing one child conquer her fears and ride a horse. Did she completely meltdown several minutes later? Yes, but she didn’t remember that part. She remembered riding on a real, live, horse and that we worked together to get her there.

What fears do you need to face and conquer? Who do you need to ask for help?

A wonderful lady who worked alongside me last year, put together a notebook full of beautiful shots of nature. She said that research had shown that even just LOOKING at a picture of a nature has the same calming effects as being in nature. How incredible and awesome is our world that the Creator has made for us, that even just a snapshot can inspire awe?

 

 

I know this,
There is beauty in the way of things

– OH Hellos, “There Beneath”

There is so much beauty in this heavy world of ours. As we carry our burdens around like weary travelers, occasionally, the Ultimate Tour Guide of life prompts us to stop and see things through his eyes. Our eyes are warped and seeing dimly, and his see clearly. I found unlikely beauty in the alley behind the cake shop. I know, I know, instagrammers and band album covers have long known that brick walls are great for photo ops. But do you find beauty in it when you are there? When there’s no filter and you can smell the odors drifting over from the Mexican restaurant mixed with the scent of boiling oranges? The overflowing recycling bins and the sun desperately trying to peek out between the buildings?

 

Who doesn’t love the look of unstirred iced coffee? The dark and light are separated. Briefly meeting in between. Then you take a spoon to mix it up and the perfect contrast is ruined. At least you get to drink a cold, sweet treat.

I don’t know about you, but my life feels like such a contrast. the good, is very very good and the bad is terribly dark. And I want Christ to come and make things right, to reconcile it all.

 

 

 

I want to accept my limitations with grace. I want to embrace the beauty in my life with the eyes of Christ. This is my prayer.

 

 

-Katrina