Cancer

 I heard the song Cancer, by My Chemical Romance today. I heard the cover, by Twenty One Pilots first, then I looked up the original. I don't think I've heard such a tragic song and honestly, I could cry every time I hear it, because I've never heard or been able to see such a real manifestation of what it is to have cancer and know you are dying. The death, or the fear of death, is not the focus of this song, the singer has already accepted death, they're mourning themselves and the loss they will feel at losing their loved ones when they leave. It's about feeling shame and repulsion or unworthiness at their own condition. It's about being sick of feeling sick and feeling like they're already walking around dead, falling apart and not really living anymore. I honestly like the cover better, for this reason: the music differences give off different moods from the one singing. The original feels more like a spiteful march toward death, full of anger and cynicism at dying and a fierce self-loathing and almost like he's punishing everyone around him with his attitude, because he is the one dying after all.
That version of the song is not wrong and it's not unrealistic, it's just not my favorite, it's more tragic. When we're angry, we close off the people who love us and the people we love, and you don't want to be that way to your loved ones when you're going to be leaving them. But the song is meant to be a tragedy, that's what cancer is, that's all it does, is cause tragedy. Even the bridge, where he says if you say goodbye, I'll ask you to be true- the original focus's on this part a lot more than the cover and I feel like was done on purpose- in the original, it's about losing someone you love and making it an endless, life-long, grief. The singer doesn't want his love to ever forget or replace him, but always love and mourn him.
The cover on the other hand is not as tragic, it does focus on the tragedy of cancer, separating the singer from his love, but the song never really ends- the fate of dying is left hanging in the balance. The mood of the song is not angry, but sad, not cynical, but hopeless, not hating himself, but definitely feeling unworthy, tired, broken down and unhappy about it- he's ready to change, whether it means dying or being healed. That's why I like this version better. The chorus is a continuous, “I will not kiss you, turn away, my sister and my brothers,” and he doesn't give as much emphasis to the bridge, only stating as a desire, a natural desire, not a demand before death. He's voicing his grief but not shouting it and putting it on everyone else in anger, he's just talking.
I haven't personally lost anyone to cancer, but honestly it's starting to hit home for me. I have a friend who is losing another friend to cancer, stomach cancer, and he's in the last stages, where he can't hold any more food down and he doesn't feel hungry anymore, and he is refusing anymore chemo. He is slowly dying and hearing this upset me so much. My family and friends are all deeply invested in natural and holistic medicine and I've heard countless stories of people surviving cancer. Now, hearing that someone, who believes cancer can't be cured through anything but chemo, is just letting themselves die, and now hearing this song of hopelessness. It angers and grieves me. I want to tell them the truth, but I know they won't hear it, because they've already decided they are going to die. It almost feels disrespectful to the family to try to come in with this miraculous hope they won't actually want to believe in.
It makes me think of sin. Cancer, I think, is one of the best examples for sin we have today. It's invisible until it's too late and it's caused by everything we think is perfectly fine and normal for us to consume. Some people aren't even willing to give up the things they like to test the truth. This song makes cancer look more like sin than I've ever seen, full of hopelessness and self-repulsion and unworthiness, grief and loss. I like the cover by Twenty One Pilots better because that person is open, open to redemption and open to healing were it to come- they're not angry at the universe for striking them with cancer, they're just suffering and expressing it. There's a little glimmer of faith or hope still burning dimly in that person. I'm really, truthfully, considering becoming a nutritionist, because I can't stand seeing this again and I have no true standing to say thing to this family, losing someone to cancer, because all my knowledge is second hand. It's probably even harder for people who have lost loved ones to chemo-treated cancer, to consider that it may be treatable another way.
I think the reason it angers me more is 'because' it reminds me of sin. People are letting themselves die because to them, and because of the lies the world has told them, there is no cure, this is life, life's unfair. It's not anger at the person for thinking and feeling that, it's anger at the lies and sometimes their unwillingness to test the truth. I know it's hard to look at a truth that appears so much like an unattainable miracle, and leap out and take hold of it. I know it's hard, but it's worth it, because that is something I've survived and I continue to survive every time I take another leap for something God told me was true.

Feeling Bored? Read This.

I absolutely hate when life is unsatisfying. It feels suffocating, like my days are zooming by in flashing episodes, whether good or bad, they're not lasting and are only potent enough to entertain me for a moment, but the second I'm no longer engaged in anything, my life suddenly feels aimless. I spend those aimless moments trying to escape the feeling- go onto Facebook or Instagram- distracting myself with pointless posts and information that for some reason feel important and worth wasting my time on in the moment. But that's all it is: living in the moment, where priorities are warped and everything moves so fast, we don't have time to consider how pointless this all is, or how empty we feel. It's funny how I used to think I was just bored, but suddenly I can clearly feel the difference between being bored and being dissatisfied; being thirsty.

I don't know if it's just me or if everyone struggles with this too, but I just have so much trouble staying satisfied by God. I spent years looking and searching and intently pursuing things I thought would satisfy me, and the few scraps I've attained during my pursuits may have appeased me for a time, but they and the happiness they brought me didn't last, only leaving me feeling more empty than before. One day I was tired of it. I was praying and crying and so freaking done with spinning my wheels in the mud and asking God for this and that and whatever He gave me it and whatever I got myself, it never had anything lasting about it. I could feel those unseen forces whispering to my heart, so many heavy lies and I sat up, angry, and I said, “God- You're not a liar- You said You love me- You said You're grace is enough and only You can truly satisfy me- if I can't see or feel Your love- I'm the one with the problem- I'm the blind one- I'm the numb one- show me- show me how You love me- if You're grace is enough- I believe you- satisfy me- I don't know how You will and my flesh is afraid it won't feel satisfying- but I'm not looking to satisfy my flesh- You do whatever You say is enough- whatever I need, not what I want and You will be enough.”

I always tell people: you need to choose what you want to believe. I wanted to see proof of God's love, proof that He was going to give me the desires of my heart, before I truly surrendered to Him- I didn't realize it at the time, but I see it now. I kept saying I was giving this and that up to God, but deep in my heart, I wasn't, because I wanted it, and if He wasn't going to give it to me, I didn't know what I would do- die or die trying to get it myself. Luckily, I surrendered to God's love before reaching it myself, because not long after, when I was feeling ever so satisfied in God's love, that desire resurfaced and fell into my lap, and although it was wonderful and beautiful and almost everything I wanted, it turned out to not be what I expected, and not near satisfying. In fact, it brought more service than peaceful satisfaction.

But it took surrender and it still does every day. I had to surrender to God's love, before I was going to see the faithfulness of it in my life. I had to submit myself to it before I was going to feel it with certainty and believe it in the deepest parts of my heart. I had to choose to believe that God loved me more than a person could. I had to choose to believe that only He would satisfy my and that He would, in fact, satisfy me. Not believe it in my head, but hold onto it in my heart, like hoping on a promise and telling the Nay-Sayers, “I believe Him- He promised and I believe-” And never forget that YOU are a Nay-Sayer. You are going to be the hardest one to convince and the one harassing your own beliefs the most. You have to tell yourself what you're choosing to believe and hold onto to it every day.

I forgot about all this- I've been feeling so dissatisfied lately and wandering around without purpose. We spend our lives in pursuit of satisfaction, whether it's security, relationships, building a family, having wealth and being successful, or being recognized- none of these things will satisfy us. I can guarantee it. Some people say, we're not meant to be satisfied, that if we were, life would be boring, aimless- I agree- because being 'satisfied' in the things of this world does only leave you feeling aimless or let down- we need a constant pursuit and we need stability at the same time- that's why knowing who God is, is the only thing that will ever satisfy us: because there is an infinite universe to discover, of the character and love of God. I've heard people say that they don't want to go to Heaven because it will be boring- bad things won't be allowed to happen- what will there be to do for eternity? To live for- to fight for? Stories are life and no one wants to read a story where nothing bad happens. Sometimes we think the same thing about being satisfied with God- that once God satisfies us, all conflict in our lives will cease to exist, but if it did, our lives would still be aimless, there would be no growth, no purpose, no fight, no victory.

We need satisfaction in our lives but we also need pursuit. To be satisfied in God is not to be pulled out of all suffering and hardship, but to have a way through it. It's to be satisfied by your relationship with God, in the face of all pain. It's to have something to pursue that never runs dry, never fails you, never turns you away, never ends- there is always more to know of Jesus. He is both the Rock on which we can stand, supporting us in times of trouble, and the love of our lives, running excitedly toward the goal He has for us and calling us to pursue after Him, to run beside Him. He takes your hand, dragging you on behind Him, wanting earnestly to show you what's on the other side of each hill, and the hills never end, there's always another you can travel with Him, but they are full of valleys of rest, where we can sit and just enjoy Jesus. This is what satisfies- to spend the rest of your life, here and in eternity, getting to know God.

Why Must Sex Be Consensual?

Why is it so important that there be clear consent between two people before having sex? This sounds like a dumb question- because none of us, want to be made to sleep with someone without our consent- but really, think about a clear answer- if it's so important and commonly believed, there should be a simple answer. Just like, why is it so important not to jump off a bridge without a secure line? Because you will hit the ground and die. Just as common sense clearly states not to jump from certain heights without a line, so it states sex must be consensual. So why? And why does it take us a little longer to come up with answer to this question than it did for the other? They're both common sense- what's the deal?

Here's the easy answer: it's wrong. But that answer doesn't hold up with everyone and many would say right and wrong are subjective, so let me give you the straight answer.

Sex is sacred. Just as the deep parts of a person's heart and soul are sacred and the knowledge of such things must be earned through trust and worthiness- so are the inner and hidden parts of our bodies. Nakedness is special, it's meant to be treated like the deep secrets and dreams of our hearts, not kept in shame, but kept out of value. It is valuable, like a painting that must be paid to see, because if it's posted on a street in public where everyone can see, it's not valuable, it's public. If it's hanging in a home where only a select few have seen it, then it's enjoyed by those in passing, but not cherished and not special. BUT if only one is allowed to see it, to explore it, to know it's strokes and every color used and see all the hidden things added in, quirks and imperfections that make it unique. If only one has seen and knows the painting, it is more valuable to that one person, given the right to see it, than it would be to the world of people who have the ability to see it, but not the right.

You have to earn the right to see someone's nakedness- to explore their body or touch them- the right is given- to those they trust with it- to the one they choose- and they have “the right to refuse service" to anyone they deem unworthy.

In dating and getting into someone's pants, it's common belief that it only takes being “liked” by someone or sometimes “loved” to reach this place, but deep down, it takes proving yourself. The world would have us believe sex is not special, it's just pleasure, and any guidelines or processes you choose to find someone and/or reach that pleasure peak, is simply personal preference. I mean we do choose people we trust, most of us anyway- some are desperate enough to be sexually gratified by whoever they can get. They hand out that consent like it's pennies- we've got so many we don't know what to do with them- but having a wealth of pennies doesn't make you rich- it devalues the pennies- they mean nothing to you anymore. Consent to sex becomes worthless to us when we give it out like that. It means nothing, it doesn't need to be protected or cherished- and you're setting yourself up to be treated in the same way: undervalued. I don't blame them- if I had had the opportunity I would have done the same- I know I was desperate enough to share my inner-self, emotionally and physically, just to feel loved.

The problem is, just because you let someone in, doesn't mean they love or even like what they see- and I'm not talking physically- I'm talking about 'you.' Someone may find you attractive, the most attractive person on the planet, but getting them to that point doesn't guarantee that they see or understand or know or cherish 'you.' Isn't that what we want to be loved for? Our hearts? Our souls? Yeah it takes time to find someone- I've never met anyone who loved me or knew me or understood or cherished me- not in that way- maybe my mom lol. I'm not looking for perfect love either, just the desire to love perfectly- the motivation to cherish me in all my quirks and imperfections.

Can we all agree here- that nakedness is sacred to us? No one wants to have their nakedness posted for everyone to see, no matter how attractive they consider themselves. Now why in the world is it so shaming to have our nakedness shared with the masses? Or even just one, whom we did not give consent? Why is the feeling ground into us, that our bodies are to be concealed and only revealed to those we trust? It's not ground into us from childhood, society is trying to teach us differently- it's absolutely everywhere! So why is our nakedness sacred? Is anything in this world so naturally and instinctively sacred to us? Life maybe- how can sex and the life of another person or living thing, both be equally as sacred? Society wouldn't tell you the life of someone is as sacred as keeping nakedness concealed. Why is that?

Because the sanctity of life is universally cherished- no one knows what happens after you die and common sense says not to risk someone's existence on the unknown afterlife. But we all know what happens after sex- it's just physical- if not done violently, it doesn't hurt you- right? The physical world proves as much- but what about the intangible? Sanctity is intangible isn't it? So why judge the sanctity of something by the physical outcome and not by the intangible outcome?

How does non-consensual sex affect our spirits? It hurts, it's disarming, degrading, devaluing, objectifying, dehumanizing. I think it's important to note that Christianity is one of the only religions to address the sanctity of sex. Why? We've come to believe that it's just another rule, whether from God or men, that sex must stay within marriage, and it's just to take away our chances at pleasure, because having sex before or outside of marriage 'doesn't hurt anyone.' But if sanctity is intangible, lets not look at the physical outcome, but the intangible one.

What no one wants to believe anymore, is that sex binds you to a person, letting someone in like that, trusting them with so much of yourself- all of yourself- trusting them while being at your most vulnerable place- giving them access to the most valuable thing you have- consent to your inner-self, body and soul. You have to be close to that person in that moment, to be so vulnerable and be enjoyed instead of scorned and pleased instead of hurt, it knits your spirit to that person. And when the moment passes and that person leaves, because they like your body but not your heart enough to want to stay to know more of you, and only you, for the rest of their life, well, that binding on your spirit and theirs is ripped apart. When they become repulsed by some part of your heart or hurt you because they really only cared about pleasing themselves instead of taking care of or cherishing you, that binding is ripped apart. It hurts. You let them in and they didn't love everything about you- they didn't want to even try.

I used to think marriage and relationships were about finding someone who fits with you, who was like-minded or similar or just liked you- I used to believe you had to find the person who matched you and just for some reason loved you, because you two were made for each other- and everything would fall into place- but you can't go in on it like that. People aren't made for each other- not like that. You won't love them all the time- you won't find them attractive all the time- 'But it's not about you.'

You have to want to love someone- you have to choose someone you are willing to love and take care of, willing to explore the inner-parts of their heart for the rest of your lives, no matter what you find- that's your person and you want the best for them. Someone you want to help heal and nurture, to be the wonderful person they have the potential to be.

This is why the Bible says sex is to be within marriage- it's sacred and valuable and needs to be protected to protect your heart. Marriage isn't just the person who will satisfy your sexual needs for the rest of your life, or the person you have the most fun with, or the person that will make the best partner when things get rough- it's not, about, you. Marriage and sex, hand in hand, are meant for the person you find and decide, I want to love you, because you need someone to love you, and as imperfect as I know you are and as unworthy as I know I am for the job, I want to be that person.

It's Official: I'm All Washed Up

I hate dishes. I'm twenty two and I live with my parents. I've never had a job besides babysitting. I don't have my drivers licence. I'm over-weight. I'm single. Every day I can, I spend hours writing, and every day I do, I feel like a failure by nightfall. I've been writing for four years, with nothing but songs and poems to show for it; I'm wondering if I'll ever finish a story at all. It's official- I'm all washed up. I will always be here, doing the dishes- drying the dishes that come out of the dishwasher by hand because the stupid thing is incapable of drying them out- leaving the cups my hands don't fit into in the drainer because if I stack them in the cupboard wet, they'll smell.

I'm going to be twenty three in six months; I'm going to be an aunt in about eight. My youngest brother is going to get his drivers licence before me. I want my licence, but driving is expensive. I want a job, but I have a commitment until the end of Summer. I want to go back to missionary work in Russia, but I'm broke. I want to lose weight- but is it possible for me to maintain it if I want to write? I want to eat better in general, but that seems impossible in America. I want to be independent, but I share a room with my sister, and I know she needs me until she's graduates; she get's mad when I spend the night at a friends house. I want a husband- although I'm happy to say that desire isn't as demanding as it used to be- I may not need to marry at all. I want to finish a damn book. I've never cussed in my life, much less on the page. Maybe I too badly want to finish a book.

None of this even matters, because most of all, I want to do what God wants me to do and I don't know what that is. I can write, I can draw, I have hands to work. I can take care of kids and I'm getting better in the kitchen. I can sing and write songs. I can do what I'm told, I can do what I have to, and I can do what I'm afraid of, but I can't succeed anywhere without God's blessing. I know He has me where He wants me right now and if He wants me to write, I'll finish something in His timing; I just don't want to waste that time on something He isn't going to fulfill. I'm stuck here in this place for the next three months at the least and maybe longer if He wills it. I honestly don't mind doing dishes, I just feel so unproductive.

God Is Love

Do you wrestle with something someone did to you a long time ago? You've forgiven them, you don't even see them anymore, but you know where they are and what they're doing. You know that they continue to do what they did to you, to others, that they continue to manipulate and lead people in the wrong direction. It kills me to think of the havoc they are reeking. And you can't tell anyone about the wrong they've done, because they, and others, have told you, it's a sin to talk about, even if those people aren't sorry or don't consider it a mistake.

Clearly, they have something to hide if they blackmail me into silence with, 'it's a sin- if you talk about you'll be dividing a church and if you desire to tell people, than you are a back-bitter, seeking division.' And yet they can't even- or they simply refuse- to see why they fear other's knowing what they've done. I desire to tell people because I feel slapped and then sworn to secrecy. I feel someone I love was slapped, I was still sworn to secrecy, again and again. Because their actions tell me they don't practice what they preach- and in that case I feel I should warn the people they preach to- with great urgency and longing do I desire to warn them.

I don't stay silent because they commanded it. I stay silent because God has shown me, all actions, evil and good, He has only allowed because in the end He'll use them for good. All authorities, good and evil, are allowed because God will turn the evil on it's head for His glory. God doesn't need me to swoop in and save the day, He can tear a empire down in a second. He can reduce a cartel to dust before you can blink. He let's evil continue because He's working. 

God loves us, so He lets us choose if we will act good or evilly, not forcing good upon us or into our minds. He doesn't want mindless, obedient robots, or children who do good, knowing He watches, because they're afraid of a punishment. He wants children, who do good because they love Him, who will feel convicted in their hearts if they did something offensive to Him, even in His absence, because they respect Him. So He gave us freewill, and if He were to remove evil completely from the world, we would no longer obey out of love, but out of nature, because it would be the way we were programmed, and you might even say we would be trapped.

That being said, evil is still evil. God wants you to have a choice, but He being good, can't let evil run rampant or unpunished, after all, He created you, and if a man created even a robot that malfunctioned and hurt someone, he would be held responsible, at the very least for cleaning up the mess.

I'm not blaming God for the evil in the world, but I believe, Him being good and unconditionally loving His fallen creation, decided to put the responsibility on Himself to clean up OUR messes. He didn't have to, He created something with much more intelligence than a robot, made in His own image. We know what good is, but we still choose to be selfish at the expense of others. 

Now, because God has allowed freewill and choice, people seemingly get away with evil acts. We experience it every day, from an unprovoked harsh word to an unprovoked sexual assault. Evil is evil and it keenly stings when you're on the wrong end of it. It hurts you like a drug addiction from the other end. 

Why does God allow evil when He loves you? He loves the person who did evil to you, so He gave them freewill, but where does that put you? The answer is in the truth that He loves you just as much as them. 

God, being perfect and all-knowing, is in the business of turning evil upside-down for good.

Look at Jesus death. God took the greatest act of evil and hatred- an attempt on God's life, while in the form of a man- and made it the greatest act of love and self-sacrifice the world has ever seen, using His death to destroy death. He takes the wise things of man and makes them foolish and the foolish, insignificant things of man and makes them the greatest, most significant mysteries. God's forte is using Satan's attacks against him. Knowing this, look at the evil done to your life and believe God will or has used it for good. He is all-knowing, we can only see from where we stand, He is everywhere, above, below, on every side, in every dimension of the heart. He can see intentions, He can see reactions and consequences, He fits together every act, evil and good, like a grand puzzle, that will in the end proclaim to the universe, "I am God and I have always loved you."

All of history has one running theme between God and man. God makes a covenant with man and man fails. Look at Adam, with only one rule, don't eat the fruit. Abraham, wait and I'll give you a son. Moses, here's the entire law, laid out in detail for you. Every time, man failed. Something to notice deep within this running theme, is the decisions made before failure.

In the garden, Eve spoke with the serpent, and doubts of God were planted in her mind. His very character was being threatened. She chose to believe a lie, that God was keeping the fruit from her, keeping knowledge from her, lying to her about the consequences, all she chose to believe, from a complete, silver-tongued stranger.

Abraham and Sarah were told they would be given a son, who would in turn give way to entire nation of countless descendants. They were impatient and chose to believe, God couldn't give them a son in their old age. They took the promise into their own hands, ignoring God's timing and taking what they wanted now. They believed a lie.

When Moses led the children of Israel into the desert, God had more than proven His ability and desire to protect and love them, in the plagues and miracles He continued to perform, but again and again, they complained, turned from, and cowered before God.

My theory of this theme is that God hasn't been shaking His head at humanity for thousands of years, but instead been waiting patiently, exhausting every excuse His fallen creation could give and trying to convince them of His true character.

All God wants is for you to believe the truth of His love and cling to it. Don't let what you see or feel change the truth to a lie in your heart or mind. Remember His love. I forget it so often. I can preach it to others but I seem to forget how much He loves me, that He literally desires to spend time with me. For me to pour out my heart to Him, even though He knows it all already.

Remember that Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Moses and all of Israel, all had good desires, they just exercised them out of God's will, because they refused to believe in God's ability and desire to take care of them. Eve wanted knowledge- instead of asking God, she took what He commanded her not to. Abraham wanted God's promise fulfilled, instead of waiting on God, he followed Sarah's suggestion and took a second wife, to produce an offspring now. The children of Israel were afraid and tired of eating the same thing for months. Instead of believing God was capable and desiring to protect them and fulfill their needs, they complained, turned to idols, depended on what they could see from their limited perspective, and decided God couldn't or wouldn't take care of them.

The entire story of our existence, God has been trying to convince man of His true character, but we continue to believe lies, even as Christians. God hasn't been stumbling through history, cleaning up after us, or been pouring out exaggerated grace to get our attention. That unconditional grace is His true character- it's what He looks like every day. It's not His Sunday clothes or His painted face- it's how God actually is- unchanging through all eternity. He wasn't trying to reign in His creation, to fill Heaven so we could serve Him for eternity. He wants us to individually, personally, intimately, know His character, to be gathered into His arms and taken care of by Him for eternity. He paid the price so we could know His character. His actions aren't for the purpose of showing us, 'Look at all I've done for you', His actions are the natural outpourings of His desire to be reconciled with us.

In the face of evil, depend on God to defend you. Believe God only lets people get away with evil for a time, because in the end it will play out into His will. All pain and suffering is only allowed if it will do good in the end. Remember God is in control and all evil act has it's purpose, or it would have never been allowed to be committed. Above all, remember God is love.

An Open Letter To Sadie Robertson

Dear Sadie,

You have been an inspiration to me. I'm 22 years old and a 17 year old girl, from Louisiana, I've never met, has shown me a sincere relationship with Jesus that puts me to shame and lifts me up to seek Him harder. I know you're not perfect, but Jesus doesn't ask for perfection, He asks for endurance and endure you have this far. Don't ever stop chasing after Jesus, no matter how many times you trip or fall. Get back and run, for your own sake, for the sake of those watching, for the glory of God, and that the worthy Lamb that was slain might receive the reward of His suffering: us. I haven't seen you compromise once in the spotlight, I haven't seen you falter to selfishness or pettiness once when the world's eyes were on you and it's because you've given so much of yourself to Jesus; His presence and image are so bright and visible in you. You inspire me more than any other young woman I know and I want to be like you, because you are like Jesus and you are so clearly satisfied by Him. A woman in love is more beautiful than any other, because she is satisfied and her eyes are steady on the object of her affections, and you Sadie are in love with Jesus, so very in love nothing can hide it and you let it shine; thankyou.  

An Open Letter To Shia LaBeouf

Dear Shia,

I am hoping desperately that you really have decided to follow Jesus. So many Christians have watched and loved you for such a long time, praying hard for you to seek and find God. How strange is that? Hundreds and thousands of people you've never, and might never- in this life- meet, have seen you and prayed for you. You don't know how torn I am at this news though; I feel like I'm holding my breath. I wish I could speak to you myself, about the things God has spoken and shown to you, and be comforted to believe the headlines by your sincerity and enthusiasm. It's crazy to think the connection we now have; the Bible talks about believers being “like-minded” and how that changes the dynamics of their relationships. That though they come from all walks of life, now share this love for God, this forgiveness and endless grace they've found and can interact as old friends because of this common ground that is now the foundation of their lives.

I'll pray that you don't become distracted by the world around you. Keep your eyes on Jesus; don't forget to cling to Him in everything. He is your defender. He's your healer. He's your strength. Jesus is everything you need and He is with you always.

Sincerely,

A sister in Christ