A Prayer

October 30th, 2016

Sunday

Dear God, 

Tonight, I surrender to You. My plans, my thoughts, my actions, my pride, my ignorance, my arrogance - take it all from me, and replace it all with Your truth. Replace it with Your grace. Replace my visions of worldly things with visions of You. Remind me of what my chief end on earth is - to glorify You and to enjoy You. Remind me that You are good - You have already proved this to me, and You will continue to prove it to me over and over. Comfort me, God, and let me know that Your plans for me are always good, even when I can't see them unfold. 

Tonight, I let go. I let go of whatever I'm holding onto so tightly that is not You. I let go with strength, and You comfort me. I let go with humility, and You comfort me. I let go with wisdom, and You comfort me. I let go in tears, but I am reminded of the pain that You suffered for me on the cross and how it is absolutely incomparable to the pain that I am feeling right now. I let go knowing that You are my only place of security. I let go, and I am reminded of Your love for me that surpasses all understanding and knowledge that a created mind could ever acquire. 

God, embed a desire in my heart to know You more and more each and every day, and to not only love others, but to share the gospel with them, with words that come only from the Holy Spirit. Give me the strength, motivation, and grace to breathe my each and every breath for Your glory, and to live each and every day for Your glory alone. God, use me in ways that challenge me. Take me out of my comfort zone and use me in ways that I would not expect You to - only to remind me that You're the one who works through me, and I can do nothing out of my own strength. 

Give me the strength to surrender. Remind me that surrendering is not a form of weakness, but rather, a form of strength and trust. I trust You. Lord, uncloud my mind and point my thoughts towards You and the ways that I can glorify You. Let me never focus on myself and my heart's selfish desires, but rather, let me focus on Your desires for me. When I face trials of many kinds, give me peace and comfort to sing your praises in the middle of whatever prison cell I'm in. 

Give me a doubtless faith; a faith that allows me to look You straight into the eyes while this storm swallows up everything around me. And if I look away from You, I  know that I will surely be swallowed up by the storm as well. But if I keep my eyes on You and Your goodness, You are glorified and I am fearless. Lord, You are my strength when I am weak. You make me brave. Faith is not something I can produce for myself but rather, faith is something You give to all those who ask. Neglecting to entrust my hopes and my plans to You is evidence of my unbelief. Help my unbelief, Lord. Help my unbelief.

You are always good, and You are always sovereign. Your love always remains. And You will always be holding me. You have always held me. You hold my future and You hold my past. And as I walk through the darkness, keep my eyes on the small steps that You light up in front of me, instead of on the unknown path ahead. Remind me of the joy that comes with being present, and rid me of the dread that comes with focusing on the future. Surround me with Your love until I am able to see and experience You face to face once I'm finally home. Until then, give me a faith free of wavering emotions. Clear my heart and my mind and reveal to me Your promises and Your everlasting, precious truth. 

Love,

Mackenzie

I don't know what to title this one. Just read it.

I've been wanting to write a blog post for a while now. However, I have struggled to find something to write about...well, I think I have somewhat of an idea, but it's going to be really hard for me to put it in words because it's not even clear in my head. But I do think something happens when you take time out of your day to sit down and just write out your thoughts, whether you know what you're going to write about or not.

You begin to understand yourself more.

I love to blog and write songs because I tend to be bad at talking. I am not good with arguments, I struggle to defend myself, and it's hard for me to express my emotions on the spot. If you know me, you definitely know this. But I think it's beautiful that I can just sit here and as I think, my fingers move and paint words on the blank space (baaabay, and I'll write your name!) of my computer screen. For real, I am not even thinking about what to say right now, like legit, the words are popping in my head and simultaneously showing up on the screen in front of me. How in the world do our brains work.

ANYWAY. ;)

So the other day, me and my sister Haley and my friend Alyssa drove to Appleton to go see the new movie, Priceless. You may have heard of it, but I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't. I won't spoil it for you right now (because it's an awesome movie and you should all go see it ASAP), but it's basically about this dude named James who sets out on an unexpected adventure to rescue women from human trafficking.

"Woah, woah, woahh!  Wha-wha-whaat? Who makes movies about that kind of stuff??"

Nobody. That's probably why you haven't heard of it.

"Not only that, but who does that kinda thing? Rescuing women from human trafficking? Who has that kind of bravery and strength? Who has that kind of respect and honor for women these days?"

.
.
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TO MY BROTHERS:

The world tells you...

You are lazy.
You are easily-angered.
You are selfish.
You are greedy.
You are careless.
You are sloppy.
You are unemotional.
You are indifferent.
You are controlling.
You are unresponsive.

But I don't believe that.

You are hard-working.
You are slow to anger.
You are considerate.
You are generous.
You are gentle.
You are structured.
You are emotional.
You are strong.
You are respectful.
You are attentive.

TO MY SISTERS:

The world tells you...

You are not good enough.
You are weak.
You are sensitive.
You are needy.
You are an object.
You are ignorant.
You are alone.
You are incomplete.
You are overestimated.
You are useful.

But I don't believe that.

You are enough.
You are capable.
You are compassionate.
You are independent.
You are a human being.
You are knowledgeable.
You are loved.
You are complete.
You are underestimated.
You are purposeful.


Don't listen to who the world says you are. You are so much more than that. Brothers and sisters, it's time we start believing this. Not only that, but it's time we actually start living like we believe it. Stop tearing yourself down, stop wishing you were someone else, stop listening to the radio and wishing that was the life you were living. We are made for so much more than this. Let's stop being lazy and get up and do something with our lives like we mean it. Men, start acting like gentlemen. Women, start acting like ladies. Look to your Creator to find your worth and identity, and nothing else.

Let us all start breathing every breathe and living every day knowing who we are to our King.

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"

Matthew 16:26