Worth Living For

    Oh, what a crazy life this is! We live as though we shall never die, but our days are numbered-each and every one of us. Still, God is gracious and He continues to forgive my short sightedness, and He has given me an amazing life. Even though it is amazing, it can also be tremendously hard sometimes to keep moving forward, but I have a list of the things that I believe make life worth living. Not complete of course, but it’s a start.  

• Listening to music in the car at night with your favorite people 
• Iced caramel lattes on a warm day 
• The Lord truly illuminating your next step 
• Warm sunny rays on your favorite grassy spot 
• The part in a book where the hero’s finally win 
• Ice cream
• The quiet hours of the night, left alone in peaceful silence 
• Smelling all the old books as you walk into a used bookstore
• Working so hard, you fall asleep immediately 
• Twinkle Lights 
• Going on adventures with friends 
• Finishing a fantastic book 
• Taking a picture that has a special memory attached 
• Laughing really hard 
• Biting into your favorite fruit
• Swimming on the hottest summer day 
• Having a theological discussion 
• Waking up in bed with a dog sleeping next to you 
• Feeling yourself fall in love with someone 
• Picking out an outfit that makes you feel amazing 
• Discovering a new favorite of something 
• Getting chills when listening to music 
• Slow dancing
• Watching a good movie for the first time 
• Being outside on a chilly morning watching the sunrise 
• Driving with the windows down 
• Worshipping with your whole heart 
• A stranger smiling at you 
• Working on something you’re passionate about 
• Hanging out in your favorite thinking spot 
• Cloud watching 
• Finding a new hobby 
• The feeling of anticipation as the lights go down in the movie theater 
• Your first kiss with someone 
• Playing games with your friends
• Smiling at a stranger who smiles back
• The reddish color you see when you close your eyes in the sunlight 
• Reading a Bible verse exactly when you needed it  
• Giving a genuine compliment 
• Jumping into a body of water for the first time in the summer 
• VBS music (cringe) 
• Getting hugs from people you deeply care about 
• Unique restaurant ambiences
• A person truly attempting to know and understand you 
• Walking through really heavy rain without an umbrella
• Receiving a perfect gift 
• Hugs that last longer than they should ;) 
• Dancing to a nostalgic song 
• Trying out a new recipe (even better if it turns out amazing!) 
• Feeling sore after a great workout
• Seeing someone from your past happy and healthy 

To Be Continued. . . . . . .

    The whole point, is that there are so many things that make life worth living. Some of those bullet points above, I had never even thought about before writing that list, but it doesn’t change the fact that those points are all there because I truly believe that they make my life worth living. Even if there was one point on that list above, life would be no less worth it. Life is so vast and wonderful, sometimes we just have to get out of our own way to see that not everything is as dark as we make it seem in our heads. I know that’s easier said than done, trust me I do. The idea behind making a list like this though is to really make yourself sit and think, because some things just come off the top of your head (i.e. ice cream) but others are buried so deep into who you are that you may not have even thought to look for them. 

    There have been many times in my life that I wanted to give up—to tap out, many times that I wanted to throw the towel in, many times that I wanted to look up at the sky and hurl curses. In my young life, I have known sorrow and pain and grief and heart ache. I have had to say goodbye almost as many times as I’ve said hello. I have watched sickness and death overtake dear friends. I have seen as lives fall apart in a moment, I have watched as many who claimed to love me have turned and walked away. I have been beaten down and pushed around. I believe that I have learned to deal with more sadness and sorrow than most other people even older than I. Yet, I still believe with my whole heart that God is real, that He is good, that He has a plan and a purpose for everything, and that he loves each of us enough to have given us a chance to choose Him. For that, I could not be more grateful. If He is loving enough to give us a life that we don’t deserve, then pardon me if I choose to make it as wonderful as I can. I will find the things I love and not just be willing to die for them, but to live for them as well. I want to go through life with such passion and vigor that when everything around me is falling apart, people will have to question why there is still a smile on my face. And then ladies and gentlemen, I get to do what I was made to do and point them back to the one who holds all of this, all of us, in the palms of His hands.