This past Tuesday they laid my great-grandma Jennie to rest. Today she rejoices in heaven with the angels. Today she is home— after 98 years of a faithful life, she is home.
For several years grandma expressed great concern about what I was going to be when I “grew up”. I never really knew, but would try to explain some abstract dream job that included writing and speaking and traveling. She remained concerned. She knew I was created for a great purpose, and I think she was just trying to figure out what it was before the Lord called her home.
I am still in the process of figuring out my greater purpose– but over the past several months, it has become quite clear to me that this “greater purpose” isn’t going to fall on my lap or run into me at the grocery store. I used to think I would fully understand my calling after high school, then after I picked the right major, then after college, after I got a job, or after I got married. Still, no great epiphanies, but I am slowly understanding that my greater purpose is less of a destination, and more of a process. It is being the woman that God created me to be each and every day. My purpose is to live life to its fullest, with the goal of serving my Savior and drawing the world to Him. My purpose is to do life as it unfolds in the light of God’s grace, daily.
We are humans and we are dream-chasers. We are consumed by media telling us we have to be someone important to be someone at all. We are constantly on a search for something more, something bigger, something more fulfilling. Grandma Jennie may have been 98, but I believe she knew this about us and about our culture long before we realized it about ourselves,“You can gain the whole world and lose your own soul, Chelsey,” grandma would tell me over and over and over again. She also knew this concept was important to God, as three out of the four gospels record Jesus heading this same warning, I didn’t get it, until now. Until I see how much my flesh longs for the world, and yet my heart knows only my Savior will satisfy this great longing.
This blog is my opportunity to be somebody for the Lord and to encourage each one of you to do the same.
Over the past few weeks I had several requests to start writing more again. This has also been the cry of my heart, but I didn’t know where to start.
Everyone and their dog as a blog…why would anyone want to read mine?
After grandma passed away last week and I started to write my memorial of her, my fingers flew and I was filled with joy. I quickly realized that I wanted to carry on her memory and her legacy through writing. And to do this I chose to name the blog after one of her favorite verses. Now is the time to do what I have wanted to do for so long– write.
What is this blog even about?
Well, bear with me. It may take a few discovery weeks, but for today I am writing to find my voice and to follow where I’m being led. I want the underlying theme to be a constant reminder that we don’t need anything of this world to have everything in Christ.
I want to be an authentic voice in a noisy world.
I want to use my gifts.
I want to share my thoughts.
I want to hear yours.
I deeply desire to encourage,
strengthen,
and speak the truth.
Although, this doesn’t mean there will be a constant serious tone. I see pictures, YouTube videos, life updates, book reviews, and maybe even recipes in the future!
So, here I go…
One last thing- the picture on the top is a photograph from a famous Dutch photographer, Ellen Kooi. I’m usually not an art person, but this picture caught my attention at a museum in the Netherlands, and it has stuck with me ever since. It resonated with me so much during that current life state, and has continued to find meaning in my life ever since. The woman is searching. Hoping. Longing…for something.
Aren’t we all?
