“Well, I guess the moral of this story is…” I waited until he looked into my eyes. “Don’t use who you are as an excuse for not becoming who you could be.”

He didn’t say anything. But he nodded after a moment.

And then, he turned on his iPod.

I didn’t realize this was the extent of my generation. In a culture where individuality is prized, we still don’t believe that one person can make a difference. We don’t believe that every choice matters and affects those around us.

We still don’t believe that our lives can change the world.

Read it: Change The World, Today?

Related: Making A Difference

I’ve touched on this subject before, but I’d like to return to it again. I am at the place where I need to be moving forward with decisions, answering the age-old question of “what is God’s will?” for this season of life. It’s tough. I’ve been feeling some pressure, not intentionally placed on me by anyone, but there nonetheless, to be involved in ministry of some sort.

The question is, do I HAVE to be in a quote, “ministry” to make a difference?

I am the girl who loves to laugh, hug on my friends, listen when someone needs to talk, cry at a song on the radio, go running beneath blue skies, and chop veggies with my chef knife just because it’s cool. Basically, I just want to love God, live the beautiful life He has given me, and see other people happy. That’s it. That’s how I want to make a difference – by being me.

There are many people – including friends of mine – with ministry dreams like a missionary or gospel musician, or having an outreach to young people. And I cannot match that. My dreams are of a more domestic sort. I definitely believe in living in view of eternity and what will really count in the end. But does that require our involvement to be what is deemed as specifically spiritual? Everything we do can be spiritual in the sense that God is everywhere with me. I am His child and I bear His likeness, and even though I falter at times, I believe that people will see Him whether or not my work label is expressly that of “ministry.”

The other night I read this blog post by Tom Neven at Boundlessline.org, and I was very encouraged.

As far back as I could remember, I’d wanted to be a writer. But I thought the only way I could serve God was as a minister or maybe as a missionary to Africa. (I’d already lived in Africa for several years at that point, so I had no romantic illusions about the continent.) I was genuinely torn between my desire to serve God and my desire to tell stories.

:: Read It Here: Butchers, Bakers, and Candlestick Makers

To do something for the love of doing something…is that not God-given? That’s why we sing, why we write, why we paint, why we grow amazing flower gardens and design intricate skyscrapers and do crazy things to get the perfect photograph. It is within us to love doing what God has uniquely given us us a passion for, and in following that passion we glorify Him. And I’m so glad.

Just some honest thoughts from my heart…

From a new-found favorite blog, Hope Road….

Compared to the extreme obsession with beauty rampant in our culture, though, sometimes it’s easy for me to excuse a seemingly innocent obsession with beauty in myself. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to look feminine or even pretty, or enjoying fashion. But we should be far, far more concerned with the adorning of our hearts than with the adorning of our outer appearances. And it is so easy to cross the line into a prideful obsession with looking perfect that can lead to putting other women down, objectifying and stereotyping men, or on the other end of the spectrum, harming ourselves in a variety of ways because we don’t meet our own or society’s standards.

- Read Here -

And if THIS is God’s perfect will for me at this moment, can I not thank Him for it? If this is precisely where He knows I must be in order to know Him more fully and glorify Him with my life, how can I complain? Do I really think I know my needs better than the all-knowing, all-loving Creator of the universe knows them?

I was having one of those days….one of those days where the sun is drowned out by the rain, your deepest longings seem destined to remain unrequited, and the present circumstances feel trying indeed. This blog post by Abigail Paul was exactly what I needed to hear…

Read: THIS is the will of God

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

- Hebrews 12:1-3

A very encouraging and gently challenging post on The Rebelution blog today:

When You Fail At Hard Things

Go here, read this:

The Character of Homeschooling’s Early Days

It’s brief and inspiring. We have such a legacy not only to cherish, but to uphold and further. What a blessing!