As my thoughts begin to turn towards what I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, one thought has been continually crossing my mind: I am thankful for the messy moments in my life.
Looking over moments and snap-shots throughout my 19 years of living, I know that I have been truly blessed. I have experienced great memories from meeting new friends, attending three different high schools, being on my high school swim team, being a final four finalist for Brio Magazine’s Brio Girl 2008, cheering on the Gators at countless football games, awesome road trips with my family, experiencing my love for design and communications grow, and just watching God at work in my life. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for!
Looking through these amazing memories, I also know that there have been some major messy moments in my life as well. Surprisingly, looking back on these moments, I am truly thankful for them. Jordan Vale (Meadowbrook Church’s C20 leader) said this past week that “broken bones are a part of God’s redemption story.” This quote really resonated inside of me. Looking at all of my messy moments, I see now that it was in those very moments, that God was shaping me into who I am becoming. Without those times, I believe that I would be a completely different person.
In the messy moments of life, I am learning to TRUST God in ways that I never have before. I am learning to love being me–failures and all. I am learning that perfection is over-rated and unattainable. I am seeing true beauty, not its airbrushed counterpart. I am learning what loving people really looks like. Messy moments sure don’t feel fun at the time, but they are stepping stones to drawing me closer to the heart of God and making me the broken-down Jesus girl that He wants me to be.
God, thank you for the messy moments of my life. They truly have become defining moments. They are beautiful to me.
It’s beautiful to me, Your holy mystery. I’m standing here in awe of how You make everything. So beautiful to me, someday I will see how You hold this wounded heart and make it perfect and complete. And it’s beautiful to me. (“Beautiful to Me” by Kerrie Roberts)
