Day fourteen –
If you’ve been reading my blog since the first one in this series then you have officially invested two weeks into 100 Beautiful Days! If that’s you then – thanks so much!!
Now that we’ve come this far I wanted to stop and explain just a little about why I started the series in the first place. It’s honestly been on my heart for over a year but I just couldn’t find the space in my world to commit to it the way I wanted, so I’ve had to wait.
The idea started because there are so many people in my life walking through difficult circumstances (me included). Some have suffered through an unexpected death of a loved one, some are fighting cancer battles, others are in a season of loneliness and some are just walking through a life that doesn’t look like they thought it would at this point. In each of these situations just putting one foot in front of the other has often been hard but time and again I’ve watched the power of faith, gratitude and positivity move them forward.
Digging deep and finding one small positive moment in a day, otherwise dark with pain, brings hope and keeps us from drowning in difficulty.
As I’ve watched these people in my life struggle, it caused me to think of how, so very often, we perceive the absence of hard circumstances to equal being blessed. I don’t know that we teach this necessarily but somehow it is perceived nonetheless. Friends! Let me make one thing very clear, the absence of struggles does not equal a blessed life! It simply does not. Do not buy that lie! In fact, the older I get, the more I understand that blessings are very often the hard, difficult seasons of life that come our way. Through those seasons we grow and refine our faith.
That’s why in 100 Beautiful Days it won’t always be “beautiful” because my life is a busy, crazy, chaotic, challenging, perfectly wonderful less than perfect life. I choose to see the beauty in every day but that does not mean every day is beautiful. The beauty is in finding the good in those I meet and in seeing God’s hand in every day that I live.
Sometimes we can see the bright spots and silver linings on our own but sometimes…when life really beats us up…we need someone to come along beside us, reach out and take our hand and help us see the light at the end of the tunnel. That’s why we’re here, me and you. I needed to focus my vision on the positive, journal the beauty in the hard places and I wanted you to come along too!
God tells us to encourage one another. In fact, in Hebrews the word says “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.”
100 Beautiful Days is my way of “stirring us up”. It was born out of my heart’s desire to encourage you –to encourage me – and to challenge us all to see life with childlike eyes and imagination. To celebrate the little things, be thankful for the good and see beauty in the hard.
Well, there you have it – the story behind 100 Beautiful Days. So, grab your coat and comfy shoes, some road snacks and lots and lots of coffee and let’s keep on this beautiful wonderful, perfectly imperfect joyful journey together.
joyinyourjourney.net 