at the beach

my first kayaking trip (note: bring snacks + water next time). gma and gpa visiting. blueberry donuts. long car rides + cramming all the luggage on the car floor. waves splashing. taking lots of photos. foggy skies. new camera card = new possibilities. discovering 'rogue one' on netflix (will be watching this again soon!!). going to the library to plan new teen events. early morning rising. working at the CSA. walking a total of 600+ steps to get to the beach. all-you-can-fill frozen yogurt (get cookies and cream it's ammaazinngg). falling asleep in the car ride home against gpa's shoulder. new shoes. wading in the water. ice cream. mozzarella cheese sticks. watching 'the finest hours' again. snuggling with 5 yr. old sis on the couch. barefeet + walking on the beach. falling asleep with your bedroom light on. extreme nerf wars. talking about photography with my gpa. almost being done with our house redo. baking bread. frizzy beach hair. hugs. lots of hugs. saying goodbye. "it's the hardest part. the leaving." as my gpa said yesterday. being busy. learning to be more patient with myself and my limits. striving/learning to crave Jesus and His word more. enjoying every moment. living life. <33

the world needs more encouragers

the world needs more encouragers.

sometimes, a bit of encouragement, or even a smile, can be the difference between life or death. it could make a difference that you may never even know about on this earth

"keep going. keep writing. keep doing what you're going." someone said that to me recently and wow, I never knew a few simple words could really mean so much. but it's true.

we have to keep going. we have to keep writing. we have to keep doing what we're doing. WE are the generation that can stand strong and defeat the "normal" YA books of today. we are the writers. the voices. the storytellers.

we can break the silence.
we can do this.

But it's not easy. It's not easy to stay strong, follow Christ, and stay on the straight path. It's not easy to be abnormal. face it, it's hard. It's gonna be hard. We don't just start on the straight path, we stay on it. life following Jesus isn't normal. it isn't easy, but it's worth it. This is why we need to encourage more. We have the power, why don't we use it?  We have the power to make an impact. We have the power of encouragement - the power to make words that are clean, enjoyable and God-honoring. The power to smile, to speak words to strangers, friends, and family and tell them about Jesus. 

We all have superpowers. Let's use them.