I just received a wordpress notification – ‘Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com! You registered on WordPress.com one year ago! Thanks for flying with us.’
How time flies! Within this one year,I have learned and grown so much. As much as I have not been consistently blogging, I feel like it is a little part of my life now and I am ever thankful that I get to pen my thoughts, songs of the day and reflections.
My blog has had over 5000 views (not much, but I am thankful for those views!) I pray and hope that in some little way, God was able to touch the heart of each viewer through what He has encouraged me to write. Be it my daily struggles, my Christian walk, my testimony or just the songs that I post, I hope that you have been able to see the God that I see, and love the God that I love.
With this, I leave you with three points:
1. Update on Lent
It’s the second day of Lent and as promised, I am trying to give up pessimism. Today didn’t start out too well, given that there was an essay due, I still don’t understand land law, and exam preparation is looming. It reminded me of how difficult it is to give pessimism up. I realise that there are days where I literally live for pessimism. I thrive on pessimism and the worries of my life. If there are worries, I worry. If there are no worries, I worry more. Thus, it has been hard to hide the clouds and bring the sunshine out in my mind.
Also, there is a fine line between pessimism and being realistic. I suppose that I first started out being realistic, but that evolved into pessimism. But then again, I think the key is relying on God, because that reliance will allow me to be realistic about God’s outcome and optimistic about His plans in my life.
2. Live the YOLO life, live the Christian life
Having just come out of the Christian Evangelism week run by Durham University, I have been encouraged by the searching, curiosity and exploration by so many non-Christians. Yet, I also sense a lot of hesitation. Of course, there is a need to come to a coherent and reasoned decision to become a Christian but if this decision takes a long time to reach or think about, it eventually dies. It eventually becomes a decision not to become a Christian not because there was a clear decision not to, but rather because the interest waned.
I believe that every important decision in life should be made after much contemplation, and not through the waning of interest through time.
Besides, what have we got to lose? It’s like bungie jumping, take a deep breath and jump! It’s about the experience, the adrenaline, the excitement, the emotions.
If hypothetically, God does not exist, what have you got to lose? You lived your life with hope, assurance and love. And if God exists, even better! You made the right choice! You only live once, so don’t waste chances.
3. God loves you
If you haven’t already gotten the feel of my blog, it’s about His love. It’s about His guidance and relentless love.
There has not been a day that I thought a god could actually truly love me, my darkness and weird habits. Yet, in the bible, Jesus dwelt with the tax collectors, the poor, the prostitutes. I was all of them combined, but God chose me. I have been purified and lifted up as His princess.
You may not think He loves you, but that definitely does not change the fact that He loves you. How do I know that? Simple. Because Jesus saw everything you did and are doing now, but chose to die on the cross for you 2000 years ago. He looked into the future and saw you, and wanted to take your punishment. It’s like the song I used to sing as a child and I slowly began to understand the weight of those words:
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all
The greatest love of all of one that is willing to die for another. I cannot imagine a greater love.
And if you don’t feel it, well the best love is one that is reciprocated. Let Him into your life and let Him show His love. 🙂
So PTL for the blessing of blogging. Throwback to nights when I’ll run for the laptop to post a song or verse. Or those half an hours trying to type out a whole excerpt from a book. Or those emotional posts where I poured my heart out.
It’s been a wonderful experience and I can’t wait to write more.
In His love,
Isabel
Reason To Sing 