10,000 reasons

Six months of being back home. I remember on a run back in Heidelberg, South Africa, the Lord telling me that I would go back home and continue to see and realize that He is good. That His goodness doesn’t end just because an experience ends, but that His goodness will continue because He is never changing, steadfast and that is just who HE IS. The past six months haven’t looked exactly like I thought they would. There have been hard moments for sure. When I wrote my blog post “dreaming” I didn’t necessarily have in mind where I find myself today. But at the same time, the past six months have been sweeter and better than I could imagine. There is a song out now called “Honey In The Rock” and one day while running I had the thought: “if rocks are hard and honey is sweet, could it be that even in the hard places and moments in life, there is a sweetness to be found?” I think the answer is yes. I think that the Lord can use hard moments in life to bring us to a place that we have to depend on Him in a way that we wouldn’t necessarily have to when life is going smooth and easy. I think the Lord also uses the hard moments in life to allow us to see Him and His character in a way that we wouldn’t otherwise. I think the hard places in life, if we allow it, brings us to the sweetness of more of Him.

The Lord has taught me a lot recently about contentment and the gift of “today.” It started out by me jokingly saying the phrase “you never know what a day might bring” to coworkers… and then to friends… and then to family. But it turned into the Lord building upon my joke and actually reminding me of the truth found in scripture. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14. Another “joke” the Lord built upon was me telling coworkers “hey we’ll never have the same day again!!” And those two jokes combined actually have been teaching me a really sweet lesson: that we don’t know what each day will bring, and we’ll never have the same day again. Heck, we’re not even promised tomorrow! So why worry about the future? Or why live in the past? Yes, yes, don’t get me wrong. Planning is good. But holding onto a plan so tightly can sometimes cause you way more disappointment than you expect. The Lord has been teaching me what it looks like to plan and dream but also laying those plans and dreams at His feet and being willing to trade it in for whatever He has— because His plan is ultimately better because He knows the beginning to end of our story. I can look back on the past six months of my life and confidently say that even though my current reality wasn’t in my “top 5 post race plans/dreams”, it is actually better than I could imagine it to be and I can clearly see how the Lord has had His hand on each day and moment to usher me into the place I am now. And since tomorrow isn’t promised, wherever I find myself in the present, today must be the place the Psalmist called us to to rejoice in: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24.

The Lord has been so gracious and kind to allow me to look back and see His goodness all at work. 
-I can see His goodness in how I’m able to be close to family again and have new life giving conversations with them. 
-I can see His goodness in how He has allowed everyday life, and even my 8-5 job, to become a new ministry. 
-I can see His goodness in the specific people and patients He allows me to see while working in the dental field. 
-I can see His goodness in the place He has allowed me to work and more importantly the people He has allowed me to work for and with. —seriously this is BIG. In a world where most employers only see their employees as a number or data, I have been so blessed to work for employers that see AND care for me as an individual. The Lord has been so kind to place leaders in my life that know the calling the Lord has put on their life and helps/enables me to live out my calling. 
-I can see His goodness in the new/old friendships He has allowed me to create and cultivate in the workplace— making it a place that I love going to because I get to be with my pals.
-I can see His goodness in how He has allowed me to stay close to my friends from this past year in trips and conversation.  
-I can see His goodness in how He meets me at just the right time with songs or scripture that He continued to bring into my life at just the right time this past year.  
-I can see His goodness in the way He shows up in my life time and time again— and by “show up” I really mean He opens my eyes to see how He is intentionally working for my good and His glory.

The Lord taught me so much about His goodness last year and I can look back and see how He continues to build on it day after day.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely still have days where it is hard. I have days where the difference of what I thought life would look like and the reality of what it does becomes a little more distinct. But its in those days that I’m reminded that the Lord says “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

The Lord meets me right where I’m at, wherever I may find myself— and He meets you there too. There are some days I can feel Him close and see His goodness clearly, other days it takes me a while to figure out. But even on those days I know that faith isn’t a feeling nor is it seeing. Instead its “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” Hebrews 11:1 and one thing I’m sure of is this: “I’m still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27: 13-14.

The past six months have been sweet and I’m excited for what’s ahead. 
He’s worthy of it all.
Just like the lyrics to the song 10,000 reasons says: “for all Your goodness I will keep on singing, ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.”

MK