the Season of Change

Mini Short Story

An orchid sits on my counter year round. The first time I got my orchid was a year ago, and I was so excited. It was small, yet beautiful. There where 2 fully developed green leaves and a set of beautiful flower buds, in the summer. As winter came around, the buds fell off and the stems turned brown. 

I was thinking to myself, "Oh no, it died... that can't be right. I must be terrible at taking care of plants." 

Day after day, I continued to water it. I even put orchid food in the soil. Toward the end, I wanted to give up, but my little, fighting plant didn't. As winter ended and summer started coming, I noticed the stems looking greener. 

"Well, I can't give up now. I think it might be coming back." I thought while looking at it. 

It was spring when the stems started to form buds, a month after the stems started looking green again. I was so excited and couldn't wait for the flowers to bloom. About another month went by when I finally saw a couple flowers starting to push out. By now, there were 3 stacks of green leaves on top of one another. The forgiving, tough, little plant was fully bloomed throughout the summer. Now it is winter, and the process is starting all over again. 

  

Question of the Day:

Seasons might look like a desert at times. Even though nothing looks like its improving on the outside, there are still changes happening. Changes start on the inside before they show on the outside.

What's one change that is happen in you right now?

The Perfectionist

Mini Short Story

"I can't do anything right..." mumbles the teenager. 

After a fight with her friend, the 15 year old girl feels alone more than ever. She has never been good at communication and this was one of those times. The friends were at the park talking about each others lives. One of her friends brought up something sensitive to the group. Knowing her friend is looking for validation and a listening ear, she searches for ways to help her, but instead ends up saying something completely wrong. Even though this was not her intent, she realizes how much her friend seems hurt by it. She immediately apologizes and tries to reconcile her mistake, but it seems to have little effect on the guilty verdict.

Feeling embarrassed and frustrated with herself, she storms home. Once inside, she starts reading a book to calm herself down. After 30 minutes, the girl feels calmer. After she calmed down she was able to think a little more clearly. She decided to examine her past accomplishments. The one thing they all had in common was hard work and experience. To learn anything, experience is needed. How can we gain experience in any area if we do not make mistakes?

We are all learning every day. We all make mistakes; the important thing is what we do with them. We can't change the past, all we can do to is learn from our mistakes. Your identity does not rest in your mistakes, but it rests in your heart. The Bible says in Mathew 6:21 (ESV), "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I wrote this a while back:

"My strife is not unnoticed,
No matter how many times I think it is.
I can't leave this day until I know that it is okay:
It's okay to make mistakes,
It's okay to be me,
It's okay to admit I am wrong.
It's okay to say no,
Because this world does not revolve around me.
It's okay to be left,
It's okay to fail,
It's okay to not be perfect,
It's the heart that counts, not your performance.
It's okay to open your heart to others,
For the good Lord is here with me.
It's time to cling to the truth of who God's word says I am."

Question of the Day:

What can you learn from today?

Comments are welcomed :-) 

Be Confident in Yourself; Make a Small Impact Decision

Who are you?

I know who I am, and that is someone who wants to better the world. I am constantly faced with the mocking question of how am I going to do this. I just graduated high school, and what scares me is that I already know what I want to do with my life. Problem is the begging question of how am I going to get there. Guess it's part of life, there's no fun in walking a straight line. Even if I am the only one walking the path that is set before me, I will not give up. 

Leaders, followers and learners are all important. Followers are those who back the leader up and give that person power to make decisions. Without people, leaders are useless. I have been in this position many times before and there is power in being in this position. For instance, in marching band, students are 'followers' and the leader would be drum majors. Drum majors create the tempo for each song and provide ques to the musical directions, but without the followers compliance, drum majors would not be leading. When just one person of the group goes missing, the entire musical/visual performance is effected. Without the drum majors, there would be no set tempo which leads to no synchronous movement in the group.

In my life, I learned that it is useless to wait for someone else to step up. If you feel you need to be doing something positive, do it. Don't wait for someone else to start before you move. I have found that when this happens, there are many people who have the same mentality which ends up being a 'stale mate'. How would anything get done without leaders who are willing to be brave and make the first step. These people know who they are and find courage in that knowledge. They take the opportunities presented to them and step up.

Learners are those who are in the process of finding themselves. They kind of float between leadership and follower positions. Everyone is always learning, therefore we are always in this position.

Everyone in life is important. We all play different roles in our lives, floating back and forth from follower to leader. Each day we choose what to do with our present opportunities. I challenge you to step up and do something that positively impacts the environment. Do something for someone else, pick up litter, or check up on a friend/family member you have not talked to in a while.

Question of the Day:

What is one way you can be a leader today? 

Step out to contribute positively to the world.