Life

I have had dinner every night for the past few days with a man named Storly and his family. He is the manager at Radio 4VEH and his wife does communications there. He is from Haiti, she is from Wales and they now live in the US. Talk about diversity. Last night he shared the story of how the radio station began, and she talked about her life working in Africa for World Vision (Arica, you NEED to meet this lady.) She then went into the story of how they met and how they ended up in the US, what a story.  After they finished their story he made a statement that I keep catching myself thinking about. Not in these exact words, but he said that how their life has fallen into place perfectly, even though they had some MAJOR troubles, they all happened for a reason, and no man could ever have planned something to work out so well. It makes me think of my life, which has been far from perfect. I have had so many things happen in my life that it seems unreal I lived through them and while they were going on I was sure I wouldn't. I won't go into details but I just want to say this:

Life is not about living a perfect life, with a white picket fence, and being comfortable or always happy. If that is how your life is, feel blessed because very few people have that life. As I think back to the heart break I have been through I realize that I don't want it any other way. Life is too short to always be thinking about how you wish your life was falling into place. Life is about loving, which will probably involve heart ache at one point, caring more for others before yourself, serving with your whole heart, taking leaps of faith, being uncomfortable but having full faith you'll eventually become comfortable with being uncomfortable, and enjoying the beauty of life as we have been given it. Sometimes I think about how I thought my life would end up, boy was I wrong. My junior year of high school when my life had been 100% totally flipped upside down, if you would have told me that in a few short years I would be married to a metal musician who wanted to become a pastor I would have laughed in your face. If you would have told me that I would be living a life 100% wrapped around my Savior I would have called you insane. I didn't want to be like those people who I knew to be judgmental of people who might be a little different. Now I serve 7th-12th graders and teach them to love the Lord with all their heart and never leave out those who might be a little different. My students are amazing kids and I pray that are the ones who change their school and how it treats those who are "poor," uncool, broken, hurting, or just a little different. Being different is good. 

I am 24 and married to the most amazing man I have ever met. He is strong and faithful and I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else. And I promise you that if God had not put on his heart to try out for that very first play almost six years that I would not be where I am today. He has changed my thought about so many things, that I was too scarred to give a chance. He is passionate about the effect music can have on a life. He is never selfish and loves hard.

As I was growing up and I wanted so bad to be an only child, now I can't imagine a life without my brother, sister, and sister-in-law. They are the most passionate people I have ever met and I can't wait to get home to go see them soon.

My father is the strongest man I know. He is the most seriously hysterical man ever! He is softer than people realize. I can't imagine having another dad.

My mother is a hard working and caring women, who knows how to completely love. She had overcome more things than most people can imagine and my life without her would be broken. 

I have amazing grandparents who care about me and love me so much.I haven aunts and uncles and cousins who help complete the hand the Lord has dealt me. 

I have strong and passionate friends who always stand up for what is right and always put others first. 

How everything works into place is something that man cannot do alone. The plan for my life that has NOT been my plan and is more perfect than the one I created so many years ago. My life is not easy, but whose is? To be honest the hard things we all go through in life are the things that make us who we are. The things we love, the things that break out heart, or make us laugh, or cry, the music that we enjoy, or hobbies, our passions, make us who we are. People think I'm crazy for coming here so 3 weeks without my husband, but I know that I was called to be here, and he was called to stay home. People think I'm crazy for coming here at all, with or without him, but my passion for this place makes me me. Why would I sit in my comfortable house when I could be sitting her sweating and changing the lives of people who live here to change the lives of the people who are broken and hurt and lost and searching for something more than the concrete walls of 
their homes. 

So after you took all the time to read this long blog, if you remember nothing else I ask you to remember this. Our lives are so perfectly imperfect. You are loved and made in the image of the flawless Creator. Things may be hard, but I promise you that those hard things will only be hard for awhile, then you'll see the purpose. Life is so perfectly put together by perfect hands that why should we question anything?

Live your life out loud! Don't be ashamed of the passions you have, take leaps of faith no matter how crazy people think you are. Love hard, put others first, and don't be afraid to shout from the rooftops how perfectly imperfect your life is.

"I may not have a perfect voice but I'll still sing at the top of my lungs, until my days are done."