Don't Hold Back

We recently returned from our first Lowry family road trip of the summer! My sister lives in California and is home visiting this summer, so we try to cram as much family fun in as possible. Growing up I always loved road trips. I loved the feeling of adventure and the quality time it provided with my family. This trip did not disappoint! There was lots of fun and laughing! It also was preparing us for our next road trip later this month, which will be quite a bit longer.

This trip we stayed a couple of nights at one of our favorite beaches, Longboat Key, but the main reason for heading down there was to visit my Aunt Mary Ann.  She is in an Alzheimers home and it is always such a joy to visit! I love going and listening to the stories about she and my dad when they were growing up and I always learn new things about them I didn't know before. I never met my grandparents on my dad's side of the family, so I love learning anything I can about them. For instance, this trip I learned from my Aunt Mary Ann that my grandmother loved to play tennis! I love seeing my aunt laugh as old stories are being told, but most of all I love seeing how she lights up when you talk about the Lord.  I love how tender her heart is towards Him. It was my aunt who invited my dad to a prayer meeting where he was radically saved. As we were talking, Jon said to her, "you know, if you had never invited John (my dad) to that prayer meeting where he met the Lord, none of us would be where we are." And he went on to explain, if he had not had that encounter with the Lord, he probably would have never met my mom, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have married Jon.  She responded by saying, "you never know what one little thing will do for someone, so don't hold back!"

That quote really stuck with me.  How many times do we hold back because we are afraid of what people think? Or how many times do we have a passing thought of something that could bless or encourage someone but we never act on it? So many times it's not just a passing thought it is actually the Holy Spirit speaking to us and we just ignore it because we are afraid or even too busy to stop and think about those around us.  I want to be one that doesn't hold back. One who, when someone is on my mind I check on them or encourage and pray for them. One who smiles at a stranger. One who encourages a mom at the grocery store and tells her she's doing a great job. One who pays for the coffee of the car behind them in the Starbucks line just to bless them. One who, like my aunt, is not afraid to invite someone to a prayer meeting. Let's look around today and listen to what the Holy Spirit might be prompting us to do. Let's be bold and courageous. Let's learn to have compassion for those around us. Let's learn to not just think about it, but have the courage to act on it. Because, "you never know what one little thing will do for someone, so DON'T HOLD BACK!"

My dad and my Aunt Mary Ann from a few months ago

Views from our condo

Waiting for sunset

Watching the sunset is our favorite thing
at Longboat Key!
This year did not disappoint!

Pictures from last year's sunset

Hope

One of the hardest things I have seen over the years is to watch individuals lose hope. Hope is such a vital part of our lives and is a foundation stone on which our lives are built. When we become hopeless the rest of our house starts to crumble. Hope is the joyful anticipation of good things. It is the expectation that good is going to happen. Hope is a gift from the Lord. It is born out of the revelation that He is a good Father and has only good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). Out of that revelation we start anticipating His goodness. 

The best way I know how to describe it is a child on Christmas Eve.  They go to bed with hope and excitement about what is under the tree on Christmas morning and wake up with joy and elation of what they have been hoping for. They were anticipating good things. They weren't wishing for good things because hope is not wishing. It's not our lucky dice that we are rolling wishing something good will happen. Hope is anticipation. It's that excited feeling of knowing good things are about to happen.

Proverbs 13:12  says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life" (NLT). It's important to understand that unfulfilled dreams doesn't make our heart sick. It is when we stop joyfully anticipating those dreams coming to pass that our heart becomes sick. Hopelessness will make us sick physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is a virus that will spread throughout our whole being. Hopelessness is an enemy that wants to devour our whole life. Hope, on the other hand, breathes life into us. It gives us a reason to live. It makes everyday like Christmas morning. It causes us to love life, to enjoy it. It allows us to dream and to wake up everyday with a purpose. So let's hope! Let's go to bed every night like its Christmas Eve and wake up running down the hall, excited about what He has for us today!