the "in between".

i love how on days like this, where everything feels so hard, and i have no energy, and their is no passion fueling my veins, and all i feel is overwhelmed at the stack of papers beside me, and the impossibilities pushing at my brain, and the low number that perpetually defines my bank account, and wholly afraid to step outside and pursue anything that remotely reflects taking a chance...inspiration creeps its way in.

inspiration is so stealth. you just pick up that book you haven't looked at in months and find the bookmark on a page that explodes with extraordinary encouragement. you look at your cell phone and find that your dear friend has sent you the most ridiculously random and hilarious text, you walk out to the mailbox and find a card handmade just for you, you read a blog and find that stranger living three states away is going through the same things you are and it just gives you such comfort. you finally paint that blank canvas and out comes the most beautiful painting your fingers have ever birthed. and it's just like that...it all pours out in one fell swoop, and you just stand back for a second, savoring the present moment, and whisper thank you's to God for pulling you out when the waters got to deep. He brings you back to safety. He doesn't let you drift out to sea, or sink into the deep. He does not leave you nor forsake you.

He inspires you. He uses His dear children, and He brings you back..to life...to the present moment, and suddenly that triple digit number isn't so worrisome. suddenly that stack of papers doesn't seem so tiresome. suddenly, you feel unafraid to step out the front door, and filled with faith as you take that blind step. suddenly, in spite of every reason to feel bad, you just feel good, capable and strong.

this in between isn't so scary. it is a season of life, and it too shall pass.

hold on to what you believe...

little girl, sad and alone, lift up your eyes to the blue blue sky and count the clouds as they roll over your head. little girl, what do you see? a dragon and a dog, a friend and a foe, a heavenly hope? sweet young lady, why do you hide? ignore the words of ignorant critics. they want to hurt you to make themselves feel better. remember they feel worse than you do. pick yourself up and smile at the world around you, it's a gift, precious to your young eyes. don't feel as if there is something wrong with you because you are not ready. one day you will be, and it will be beyond what you could have imagined for yourself.

today you are still a young lady. today you still have the world in front of you. today you have the chance to change it all, to live it all, to enter into the romance of it all. spare me your insecurities. spare me the woe of being alone. spare me the doubt of your beauty and wonder. embrace what is amazing about you, everything He has made in you, and made you to be.

grasp tightly what you know, hold it up to the light. don't let the darkness take what you have in your sight. death whispers words of defeat in your ear, don't give into that fear, instead draw near to the one who holds your heart, your dreams, hopes, and disappointments, in His safe hands. our hearts will always stumble over doubts, and hurts, over the things we don't know, or we are unsure of. we have to be unafraid of showing our weakness. we all have them, no matter who you meet, we are all weak in some way, that is undeniable. don't ever tell another that you are a disappointment, let them decide for themselves what to make of you, but don't let their decision define who you are. it's hard to admit that no one, no matter who they are, really knows the truth of you or i. but one does. and we must trust Him.

we must continue to press forward in spite of the obstacles and hindrances that have greeted you before and will bombard your path again. remember what you said, what you wrote, what you shared with other dear hearts, what you want for life now and life to come. with all your heart. keep going in that way. don't care for the things that have no eternal matter. what you do in your day to day, what people say, when you feel mistreated...let it go...and love. let it go and love. you can, you have, and you will. keep going, take a chance, take a leap of faith, and believe that the outcome you will find, you will be carried through, and it will, it does make sense...you will see it, sometimes. hold someone's hand, and remember He is always holding yours.

i will hold on, i will hold on, i will hold on, i can move the mountains with you.