About Let my Life be a Light


This is the fourth time I have penned the "about" section of this blog. It's amazing how much can change over a short time. I joyfully started this blog in 2015 with a desire to encourage others unto knowing Jesus more; it's a funny thing to reflect and see in a previous introduction how I was exuberantly sharing with you about my unique love for flamingos and woeful disdain for math. PRAISE THE LORD for growth and change; I sounded a bit like....the overly enthusiastic fifteen year old I was.

After barely finishing one sentence, I would suddenly rush into a new one that perhaps had nothing at all to do with the last. It makes me smile. I had no degree or formal training in writing (other than high school, if that counts), and I could tell that I wasn't nearly as polished as the articulate writers I knew of, but there was passion within my soul to share. So we stepped forward.

I spent over two years as a writer and visionary photographer for the Overflow Blog; this opportunity proved to be invaluable training in expressing truth in fresh, creative, yet timeless ways. I contributed articles, photography, and graphics. I could not see any of those fields the same way I had previously; Jesus was filling me with passion to share His ageless Truth in our modern day. He was worthy when He intricately formed this world thousands of years ago, but He is also worthy TODAY. And He has given me such delight in speaking that very concept again and again. I truly believe it is by the inspiration of His Spirit that I find sweet delight in capturing photos, penning the latest way I feel immensely convicted, and designing new graphics containing Biblical truth.

My heart's longing for this blog is that you would find hope, encouragement, conviction, and ultimately encounter Him here.

 Hope because this is a very broken world where even the loveliest life experiences eventually leave us feeling empty if we have not further known the Author of all things good and right. In my own life, I have found a deep longing for comfort after walking through multiple traumatic seasons; what I have discovered is that my God is a God of compassion who heals the broken. It's my prayer that the broken--desperately searching for a small ray of sunlight--will find strength, the courage to continue on, and refreshment as they encounter capital T truth. He is far more than a head-knowledge concept or intriguing blog post. As we yield our everything to Him in utter and complete abandon, we discover the lives we were created for. To know Him and make Him known.

It's my prayer that you'd be encouraged here because I know you can easily find 1,000 things that would discourage you today. Sometimes amid trials and temptations, we gasp for a breath of fresh air. It's hard here. We are sojourners passing through; we're citizens of heaven in world full of evil. We say with John, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20), aching for the day when we will be with the Lover of our Souls, face to face. We may have only a moment until then, or perhaps a lifetime. Be it the latter, I want to come to the end of my life and be able to reflect on His faithfulness.

Every blog post contains personal lessons He has been graciously teaching me; please know that I don't wish to tell you anything here that I don't also cry out to Him to bring forth more fruit in within my own soul. I am making mistakes, having to confess and make things right, and often discovering that I have a million miles to grow in every way. Yet we rest in His presence, knowing He is enough and entirely sufficient even in our lack. I've previously made the mistake of looking up to other Christians with the idea that they're almost perfect; it was rather tragic for my soul when I had to untangle things I chose to believe without consulting His Word. Please don't make my mistake; I am a broken, fallen, needy human being who will be every thing she's not supposed to be apart from the grace of God. If you think I'm anything, do realize that this blog is not an ongoing webcam. You see only a snapshot of me; I need His grace, and am constantly having to remember to abide, rest, and depend on Jesus for strength to walk in the things He calls His children to. I'm broken too; without Jesus, I can do nothing at all.

May your soul experience sweet conviction here. Heavenly conviction that leads to greater joy! If you're a type-a first born like me and tend to feel like the pressure is on whenever you're convicted, may we take a step back for a moment? "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the Vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:4). I need Jesus. If I think I can ever change by my own willpower, apart from the work of His Spirit, I will be sorrowfully disappointed with the results. I need to get this in my head: apart from Jesus, nothing in my life will change for the better. Self-help will not do. Only Christ-help can alter a soul. May your heart be encouraged onto a further pursuit of the Most High, enabled by His help. Condemnation is from the enemy; it speaks "you'll never change," "if they knew your past," "can you believe how many times you fail?" These things are not the Father's voice. Jesus is a good Father who never condemns or abuses His children; those who are in Christ are free from all condemnation (Rom. 8:1). Take this truth to the bank, my friend. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). "I have chosen the way of Truth. Thy judgments I have laid before me" (Psalm 119:30).

Lastly, if this blog does not cause you to want Jesus more, then it's just hay, stubble and wood; of no eternal value. A.W. Tozer has said: "There are found to be increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself [...]They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water [...] For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth." [1] My desire for you, as a reader, is that your life would be marked by ardor for Christ and kingdom. May your existence be one of excellence in pursuit of the Highest. May the utmost desire of your heart be for His name to be lifted high in all the earth. “Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act. All he does is good and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For such a man, living itself will be a priestly ministration. As he performs his never-so-simple task, he will hear the voice of the seraphim saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory’ (Isaiah 6:3).” [2]


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[1] A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2006), p.13,15
[2] Ibid, p. 130-131