Center Stage.

Today I was hanging out with my friend Emily.  We talked about an array of things and meandered around town; it was lovely.  We are both in a musical together this summer, Singing in the Rain (which is my absolute favorite), and the show came up quite often seeing as it is very present in our lives right now.  We talked about our fabulous costumes, fake eye lashes, the awesome people we get to work with, and how nice it is to get to sing and dance...just because we can.  We decided that even though we may not be the best singers slash dancers slash actors to be had, we love musical theatre, and we love to sing and dance -- what more could we want?

Then it dawned on me that this is applicable to many aspects of life…

Instead of constantly focusing on being the best and getting noticed, choose to remember why you are doing what you are doing -- because you love it, because it makes you smile.  It's not about being the most important, it's about being so thrilled of your whereabouts and how you get to share it with others. 

People take notice to joy; they want in on what you have.  But it's hard to be happy when there is such a fight to succeed.  And even if you aren't where you want to be quite yet, find something good, something to be thankful for.  There is always good if you look hard enough.  And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. 

The biggest pressure in life is yourself.  So let's take a breather, folks.  Life isn't as bad as it's all cooked up to be.  And so I encourage you -- do what you do because you love it, do what you do because there is thanks to be had, do what you do because it brings joy to others.  

"...in Your presence is fullness of joy..."

Psalm 16:11

Real Faith.

Seeing is believing-- the common phrase a majority of humans abide by.  Sure we say we have faith that we will have a successful future or things will turn out for good, but when do we start to believe...before or after we begin to see results?

I was pondering this concept:  Do I really live by faith or only by what I see?

I'll be the first to admit that it is more easy to be hopeful when things are going right.  No problems, no confusion, no stress.  But hope and faith are two different things.  Hope is a feeling, and simply that.  Yes, it is important...so important.  Being down in the dumps will do nothing good for you.  But if hope is the only thing you have going for you, I guarantee disappointment will be right around the corner.  Hope cannot stand alone. 

Faith is an action; it requires work.  We need not forget that hope is in fact necessary to have faith, for faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).  But to me, faith means acting as if what I believe or am hoping for has already come to pass.  If I really believe something, I'll act like it.  All the blessings and promises that have been given to me are already mine, I just need to claim them.  Sure, knowing that they are there and available to me is comforting, but until I choose to draw on my faith and own them, they are nothing.  Faith without works is dead.

If I truly believe that my future is secure, if I truly believe that I have been called for His specific purpose and service, and if I truly believe that I am His child, I should act like it.  No doubt, no worry, no fear.  Boom.  It is impossible to please God without having faith (Hebrews 11: 6), and I cannot fulfill the will of God without faith.  Giddy up. 

"For we live by faith, not by sight."

- 2 Corinthians 5:7