THERE'S A PLACE FOR US.

Have you ever longed for a different world? 

As readers and writers, I think most (if not all) of us can answer that with an emphatic YES. I'm sure we've all wanted to go to Narnia at some point in our lives. Or maybe Middle Earth, or Neverland, or whatever your favorite fantasy world is. 

Lately I've been feeling a deep longing for another world. In moments that feel so very imperfect, so anti-shalom, I'm reminded that this corruption is not what we're destined for. 

When the hard work of every day seems to be leading nowhere.

When your soul is worn from praying for an unsaved soul who almost ran out of chances. 

When the news is full of people killing people. 

When you ache for your friends to know a life of fulfillment in Jesus. 

There are a million other things that can cause us pain and make us long for freedom from this world. But here's the wonderful thing- someday, that will happen. 

There's a place out there for us

More than just a prayer or anything you've ever dreamed of

So when you feel like giving up

'Cause you don't fit in down here

Fear is crashing in 

Close your eyes and take my hand

This song from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has been running through my head recently. It's such a beautiful reminder of what is in our future, if we are saved by grace and living for Jesus. 

Maybe it can seem a bit morbid to talk about. After all, short of the Lord coming back, your life here has to end in order to get to heaven. But it's not death I'm longing for- it's peace. Perfect peace, light, harmony. 

Just stop and think about that for a minute. There's a place where all that exists, in perfection. Shalom. There's a place where we can live that way for. ever. And someday we, as His children, will do just that. 

Everything we've ever longed for? Peace, joy, to not be lonely anymore? There's a place for us. God promised not to deny us any good thing, and He's prepared a place where we will receive everything good that He sees fit to give us.

And perhaps that's partly why those fictional worlds mean so much to us.

I'm not at all implying that heaven is meant more for creatives than non-creatives. Heaven is equally for each and every one of God's children, and it would be tragically wrong to suggest otherwise. BUT, I do think that we as writers, readers, other-world dreamers, can long for heaven in a bit of an extra-special way. We spend our lives wanting to visit or even live in a world other than the one we live in. 

I used to wonder if I should feel guilty for feeling that way, for so desiring to step out of this world and into a fictional one. God created this world for us, and it's amazing. It's imperfect, but it's what He gave us to live in, care for, and serve Him with. Worlds like Narnia are fabricated from a finite man's mind- it's not real. So are we disrespecting God and His creation by looking beyond the world we live in and dreaming of living elsewhere?

I truly don't think so.

Let me be clear in saying that we absolutely should appreciate the world God made. It's exactly what He intended for us here, so we shouldn't disrespect it. After all, God didn't create it to be corrupt- humans made it that way. So yes, we should care for our world like He wants us to and know that it's home. 

But I believe we were made to long for another world.

    They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

         -John 17:16

We don't belong here. It's ours to do with as we will for right now, but in the long run it doesn't belong to us and we don't belong to it. We're just living every day getting closer and closer to the day when we'll finally get to go to heaven and leave behind all the pain and suffering and worry and death. 

Why do we read? Why do we watch movies? Short answer: To escape reality. To leave the real world behind for a little while and take a peek elsewhere. To find hope and light and belonging when we can't seem to feel it real life. 

Perhaps God even smiles when we read a book and long to be in that storyworld. Perhaps it deepens His ache to pull us out of this corrupt world and into His perfect one, because He sees that we're not content here. That we were made for more. 

When the water meets the sky

Where your heart is free and hope comes back to life

When these broken hands are whole again

We'll find what we've been waiting

We were made for so much more

Oh my.

We were made for so much more.

How powerfully exciting is that?? We weren't made for this grueling life we live down here. For the doubt and the weariness and the heartache. That's where we are right now, and God wants us to give Him glory while we're here. But ultimately, we were made for fellowship with the King and Creator of the universe. For life abundant, without sin or death. 

Think of the happiest moment of your life. Or the most beautiful sight you've ever seen. Now magnify that times infinity and beyond. 

You still haven't touched the wonder that heaven will be.

Life is hard down here. We experience pain beyond what we could have possibly imagined we could endure. People hurt us. We watch horrible things happen in the world around us. 

Friends... when the corruption of this world wears you down, remember you're not going to stay here forever. There's a place for us.

So hold on 

Hold on

We could be the kings and queens of anything if we believe

It's written in the stars that shine above

A world where you and I belong

Where faith and love will keep us strong

Exactly who we are is just enough

There's a place for us.

So, next time you read The Chronicles of Narnia, or Lord of the Rings, or whatever story that has a world you're wistful for, remember- someday, we'll have our chance to experience a journey to a wonderful land of paradise. We'll stay there forever. And it will be better than anything we've ever longed for.

Don't give up. One day we'll move to our forever home, and there will be joy and fulfillment like we've never known. That's where we belong. 

SHALOM

SHALOM.

It means peace. Wholeness. Completeness.

The way things are supposed to be.

I recently reread the Out of Time series by Nadine Brandes (aka one of my favorite series ever... not that any of you have any doubt about that by now), and it touched me just as deeply (perhaps even more) than it did the first time I read it. Which is saying something for a reread.

But what stands out so much about this story?

I've mentioned before how much I love Parvin and her journey. Hers is one of my favorite character arcs ever. And the entire story is incredible. But one thing in particular spoke to me this time around.

Shalom.

Something I'm passionate about is honoring God's will. I don't just mean choosing a career or spouse, but how there is so much that we might not even think about that is so far removed from what God originally intended. I have a LOT of thoughts about the state of this world and how what some might call progress has done nothing but harm to our society. I could go on for hours about this. (Maybe someday I'll devote a post to it, but today I'll try to spare you that rant.)

I've found new passion in devoting my life to rightness. To how things are supposed to be.

Every day I see anti-shalom at my job. It's one of the things that makes me really, really, really, really want a new one. Convenience is great, but after three years now of seeing how fast food has made people rely on other people to work hard so they don't have to, and treat other human beings like dirt... I truly wish it never existed. (I'm not saying you're a bad person if you eat fast food. I eat fast food. But with the awful things it brings out in some people, I wouldn't be sad to see it disappear from the face of the earth.)

There is so much that exists in this world that might seem harmless but has been twisted into something toxic.

Lately our world has been in desperate need of shalom. In every headline we see fear, anger, hatred. Anti-shalom absolutely everywhere.

And as harsh and hopeless as this sounds, there's nothing we can do to stop it. There won't be perfect shalom until Jesus comes and takes us all to be with Him for eternity.

But.

That doesn't mean there's no hope for shalom in this world. It doesn't mean our lives have to be completely void of it. And it doesn't mean that the world can't be greatly changed by it.

We just have to start it in our own lives.

How do I feel led to spread shalom? To pursue peace and rightness in my world?

I want to treat people the way I should.
I want to live and use my time in a way that matters.
I want to give of myself to help others draw closer to shalom.

And so many other things that can't be expressed. In short, I want my life to be one that supports and pursues shalom.

Put in prettier words by a song I've been absolutely loving lately:

I'd love like I'm not scared
Give when it's not fair
Live life for another
Take time for a brother
Fight for the weak ones
Speak out for freedom
Find faith in the battle
Stand tall, but above it all
Fix my eyes on You

// Fix My Eyes by For King and Country

(I discovered this song from the playlist Nadine Brandes created for A Time to Rise, and I think it's perfect for this topic.)

Ultimately, what does shalom mean for me in my life? Complete and utter surrender to God. The handing over of my life in its entirety into His hands, saying, "Here it is, Lord. Do with it what you will. Accomplish in me what You placed me on this earth for."

If I fix my eyes on Him and allow Him to saturate my life, I will find my own personal shalom. I'm not there yet. I'm SO far from there. Will I ever reach complete surrender to Him? Who knows, because as humans with a sin nature that's something maybe we'll never reach perfection in. I constantly struggle with it. But can't I forget about my own desires for a while and stop being selfish?

Can't I stop worrying about what will or won't happen if I don't get enough writing time in every day and just get back to prayer? Can't I just commit my life to God like He intended?

I want my life to be what it's supposed to be. To be complete, to be right.

I want to use my life to further good causes, to benefit others, to find and complete the tasks God has given me. I want to get uncomfortable and rise above the darkness and hatred of this world to shine a bright light for anyone who needs to see it. For anyone seeking shalom.

Bottom line: I can't make my toxic job a thing of shalom. But I can be shalom at my job. And the same goes for everything else in our lives, and for our world.

To quote another book series that's made no small impact on me:

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

How absolutely perfectly this describes how I feel every day. I can't undo the things that have happened and the far leaps our world has taken away from shalom. But I can be shalom.

And if that's all I'm meant to do in life, I think that's a worthy purpose.

Hopefully I didn't ramble too much here and the heart of what I'm trying to say came across the right way. It's hard to gather my thoughts properly on things like this sometimes.

But in case I've never said it before, I'm so thankful for the Out of Time series, and Parvin. It's amazing how God can use stories to impact your life, and He certainly has with this one.

I hope somehow these words have encouraged you. Let's spread shalom together.

PEACE IN PURPOSE

Hey guys! So, today I want to talk about something that's been on my heart for a while. It started in January- you know, that time when you're trying to make changes to your life and be the best, most productive person you can be.

Something I'm always thinking about (though definitely not always succeeding at) is how best to make use of my time. More specifically, how best to use my time to move my life forward. I have a job that I only stay at because I need it, and honestly, I'm always dreaming about the day when I can leave. Any plans that might get me into a better job situation, seem so far away into the future.

I'm always thinking about how to further my hopeful career as a writer. And it seems frustrating when I have so many unfinished projects and even the thought of publication is sooo far away.

And of course, I'd like to make a difference in the world whenever I can, too.

But I don't know how long I'll have to work on those things before they change. So how am I supposed to stay sane in the meantime? Sometimes the thought of staying in current circumstances is suffocating.

Back around New Year's, I had been thinking about my relationship with God and how I needed to value it more and put more effort into growing it. I was feeling guilty about how I so often use time I could have been spending with Him, for useless things. Frivolous things. Or even good things, like writing.

The realization that He needed to be the first priority in my life was one that I didn't want to face, because that would mean some changes. But I began to accept it, and several things were speaking to me in the same way: Tracey's post about being rooted, Grace's post about our identity as a Christian, the movie Overcomer, the book Becoming A Woman Whose God Is Enough, and maybe a few other things as well.

I began to realize that I was a writer before I was a Christian. I focused so much time on becoming a better writer, on the writing/bookish community, yet I was neglecting my relationship with God. Fully aware that that should be the most important thing in my life, I still put it on a shelf and pulled it back out when I had extra time.

That's pretty troubling, isn't it?

And so I began to shift my viewpoint. I wasn't a Christian writer. I was a Christian. And I also happened to write.

So often I've been worried that I wasn't fulfilling my purpose, because I felt I wasn't moving forward in any area of my life. I wasn't going to college, I didn't have a job that benefited me in any way other than giving me a paycheck, and I didn't feel any closer to publishing a book. (Not that that was going to suddenly make me rich and solve all my problems, anyway.)

But I had to remind myself that none of that is my purpose. Writing is not my purpose. My purpose is to fellowship with and serve God. We're not made to write. Maybe we're blessed and equipped with the desire and the ability to write and do good things with our stories, but we were made to have a heart for God. And if we don't, everything else in our lives is going to fall flat.

I also recognized that I could not rightly expect there to be positive change in my life without making God a part of it. I want a different job. Okay, but why should God give me a different job, or contentment with the one I have, if I'm not serving Him there? Why should I assume my life will automatically be better somewhere else, if God is still second priority to me?

So I started making sure I spent time praying every day. I tried to pay more attention reading my Bible and soaking in the words. It felt good.

Then I failed.

I slipped back. I skipped prayer one day and then it was easier to keep skipping in the days following. I began to put other activities before God again.

I'm not sure how long ago that's been. But it's been off and and on since then. I'm sure most (or all) of you can relate.

Recent events (do I even have to specify?) have been making me so glad to have God in my life. Like, I don't know how I would stay sane without Him. And I've been reminded of how I need to be spending time in prayer again.

I don't really remember what the specific turning point was, although I know there was one. It may have had something to do with rereading the Out of Time series, because Parvin seriously inspires me. It may have had something to do with the fact that with everything going on, people need to be in prayer, and how powerful prayer can be, and how things can actually be changed by praying. Maybe it was Easter. I feel like a big part of it was the fact I'm starting college in the fall, and I've been trying to better establish my priorities and somewhat of a schedule before then.

But long story short, recently that passion has been returning, for wanting to grow myself as a Christian and then as a writer, or anything else.

No, I am absolutely not perfect. Just a couple nights ago I fell asleep praying so I gave up and did something else. I'm working on that, on making prayer and fellowship with God such a priority that I'm willing to push aside all my other plans and maybe stay up extra late just to get that time in.

This is not a victory post. All those things I said I did, all those ways I ignored my relationship with God? Yeah, I still do those things. I know I'm going to fail Him again because I'm human and I'm not perfect. That's not an excuse, but it's a reality. But for right now, I'm recognizing my faults and I'm working, together with Jesus, to improve.

I still don't like my job. I still fear the future sometimes (especially with college looming upon me). I still don't see any way some things are going to change anytime soon.

But if I'm fulfilling my purpose, doing what I was made for, what is everything else? If I'm living my life primarily for God, does it matter that I have an undesirable job, or that I don't have a book published, or that some days I don't have time to do anything else? If I dedicate my whole life and surrender EVERYTHING to Him, all other areas of my life will be blessed, even if it's not in ways I might have imagined.

No, God's not a genie. Spending time with Him most likely isn't going to magically change all the bad things in your life. But if it doesn't, it will do one thing: it will begin to give you peace in those things.

I'd wanted to write this post for a while, but I kept hesitating after I slipped a couple months ago. I felt like I should wait until I'd been consistent and loyal with it for a few months, or else what business did I have trying to inspire anybody?

Now, though, I feel like the time is right. I'm never going to be perfect, so there's no point waiting for perfection. But since all of this has returned to the forefront of my mind these past weeks, I'm writing this for myself as much as anyone who's reading.

I don't know if I've said everything I wanted to say in this post- in fact I can pretty much guarantee I haven't. I feel like my thoughts were all over the place and if there was anything else I wanted to say, I won't remember it until I hit "publish". And I don't really have a conclusion because, well, like I said: WORK IN PROGRESS. xD

But I hope this was an encouragement to you, and maybe something I said was something that somebody needed to hear. I'm praying for you, dear friends!