I want to know....

[stain_glass]

I want to know why people seem to always focus on all the bad things? There are so many beautiful, wonderful, amazing things that are there. There's so much hope and there's so much life yet all so many people can see is the death and the despair. Life isn't a picture...a picture is static...it doesn't move. It isn't real. Honestly, it's boring( yes I know, pictures can be quite amazing too but for this analogy..like wouldn't you take the real thing over a picture? wouldn't you rather have a flower that you can touch and smell rather than the drawing of one? a mountain rather than a photo?) so a picture is boring. Life is so much more than that. Life is animate. It's exiciting. It's like a field with fairies and a bubbling brook and a clear blue sky and lots of animals that don't need to be afraid and aren't. And there are so many flowers and the air is sweet. And there are birds in the sky and colors we've never seen. And things we can't even imagine and a warm...from the sun to warm us physically but also another warmth too...a love that hugs our very souls. And it's God. And his love for us. He just gives us a huge hug and says, "look, this is the world I made for you. It's a perfect world and you'll be happy here. You're safe here. This is why I died, so you could have this amazing thing." Sometimes we catch glimpses of this world he gave us, but usually we're blind. We can't see past the bad things and we can't let go so we can't really live. We can't trust so we can't really love. We're too caught up in what we think is real to experience what really is real. We can't laugh and sing and dance because we're too self conscious of what others thing. There's a song that says "I could dance a thousand miles, to tell of what you've done. and I could sing a thousand songs to tell of your great love." I love this song yet it bothers me...why could...why not will? I will dance, I will sing. Why not? Why not live? Society tells us we're living when we're really slowly dying. But here is life. Why do we choose to die? Why can't we see? Why can't we love and laugh? Why can't we live without getting hurt? Why not trust? There's just so much...why can't people see? His footsteps ARE all around...leading us from this ground. Honestly, several really bad things have happened to me this last week. Like stuff that...I dunno. Just really bad and painful. Yet God has been faithful. He's used it all for good. He's led me and kept me safe and blessed me beyond measure. He showed me so many beautiful things and beautiful people. People who love him too. And it's honestly been one of the best weeks of my life. Rationally, my week was horrible, irrationally somehow, it became awesome.

I love you God, so very much, and I praise your name. Thank you.