Carrying On

​You know those days when you wake up and somehow you’re already stressed? You open your eyes as you’re lying in bed trying to find the strength to face the day’s challenges. Your mind floods with your mental to-do list and how you’re going to find enough time in the day to really get those things done. On this list, you have some short-term tasks, but also included are those long-term tasks that you keep pushing off. You consider the previous days’ activities, trying to justify your desire to not do anything today. But as hard as you try, you know that you’re still going to have to get things done. So, you muster the strength to get out of bed. Stressed or not, you face the day. 

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​​Despite our longing for rest when it seems that things just keep piling up, we have to remember to live in the present. We can’t use the past to justify our future actions, or lack thereof. We get so caught up in the worldly things we have to do that we forget the most important thing God called us to do. 

​Henry David Thoreau reminds us of this with his quote:

“What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when you bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen.” 

Within us all is the Holy Spirit and He does make miracles happen. Each and every day, the Holy Spirit is working in us to help us grow in faith --- faith that gets us through those stressful days. While the past is what brought us to where we are today, we have to remember that the Holy Spirit is within us, guiding us in life, and leading us to what lies before us: A glorious rest in heaven. ​​

​On our heavenward journey, we will face trial and tribulation and days that leave us feeling worn and weary. But throughout it all, we are to keep our heads up knowing that the things of this world don’t matter compared to how the Holy Spirit is working in our hearts to strengthen our faith in the God who already has our life perfectly planned.
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​So, do not seek the world --- seek peace, seek truth, seek love, seek Christ --- because grace carried us here and

by grace we’ll carry on.
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​All the way from San Diego, California, Cait Seastrand is a Junior Sports and Exercise Science major at Wisconsin Lutheran College. God-willing, she will be a physical therapist for children, soldiers, or academy cadets for the police and fire departments. Until then, she is very thankful for the opportunity to have a family away from home here at New Beginnings. 

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