Sara. Caitlyn. Julia.

So, as of late, I have been repeating a few lines in my head over and over: Two come from songs. One comes from a movie.  One is short. One is medium. One is long. But no matter their length, I hope their content is as impacting for you as they have been for me.

#1

"Compare where you are to where you want to be and you'll get nowhere"

I have been listening to an obscene (in the very best way) amount of Sara Bareilles' new CD, Kaleidoscope Heart. Hidden among track number two, otherwise known as uncharted, is this little nugget that is so peppy and upbeat, but holds so much truth. It made me think: How many times have I compared where I am to where I want to be and ended up feeling overwhelmed and under-accomplished.

I mean, I am 27. When I was 19, I assumed that by 27 I would have two kids, a part-time job working in my dad's church, living next to my parents, with a gate that separated my back yard from my parent's so the kids could run back and forth...however the truth is that I am 27, married (*to the very best man imaginable), no kids, no gate, no church, with parents who live 400 miles away. I am not exactly where I wanted to be.

And for a long time, (and, let's be honest some days still) I sulked and cried because my life did not end up as planned. But comparing gets me nowhere. Not only comparing me to me but me to you or you to me. It does neither of us any good. So from now on this little phrase is my mantra. If I compare where I am to where I want to be I will get nowhere.

p.s. another song among my fave's from this jem is called "let the rain". Again. It is hidden among a catchy melody but holds unending amounts of truth. Rather than having me gush about it. Go buy it. Consider it an investment.



#2

"What I thought I could handle, what I thought I could take, what I thought would destroy me leaves me stronger in its wake" -Caitlyn Smith, Crushed and Created

Enough said.


#3

Last week, my mom took me to see Eat, Pray, Love because if you know either of us, Julia is our queen. The following is a scene in the movie when she is in Rome and visits a seemingly dingy place. The dialogue, however, reveals the true beauty. Enjoy:

“A friend took me to the most amazing place the other day. It’s called the Augusteum. Octavian Augustus built it to house his remains. When the barbarians came they trashed it a long with everything else. The great Augustus, Rome’s first true great emperor. How could he have imagined that Rome, the whole world as far as he was concerned, would be in ruins. It’s one of the quietest, loneliest places in Rome. The city has grown up around it over the centuries. It feels like a precious wound, a heartbreak you won’t let go of because it hurts too good. We all want things to stay the same. Settle for living in misery because we’re afraid of change, of things crumbling to ruins. Then I looked at around to this place, at the chaos it has endured – the way it has been adapted, burned, pillaged and found a way to build itself back up again. And I was reassured, maybe my life hasn’t been so chaotic, it’s just the world that is, and the real trap is getting attached to any of it. Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.”

The last two sentences in particular had me in tears in two seconds flat. All of us have that thing in our lives that is our ruin. You probably already have in your mind what yours is. For me, it was a significant (or rather, two) ministry pain my family endured. For years, it was our ruin. 

For too many years.

For years, I felt burned and pillaged but now I see how it has become my transformation. I am still in the process of trying to view it as a gift. But I'm sure I'll get there...