One night, a little over a month ago I asked Carly, “If you were going to plan a weekend conference, what would it be about?” She told me grace, because she’s learned more about how grace affects your life than anything else during her time in college. I asked her what her four main sessions would be about if she were to be the keynote speaker. She told me they would be: What is grace? Grace for today, grace for the past and grace for the future . I asked her which would she be most excited to give and she said ‘Grace For Today’ because thats what I needs most.We need grace for each and every moment like the song “i need thee every hour”. After processing through why this talk was so exciting for her to share about, I learned a few things about her fears, her joys, passions and how to handle walking toward the future.
First off, I met Carly at a conference. We went for a run together and talked about boys, and parents and struggles of body image; basically bonding over girly stuff. Carly is one of the most caring, real, and genuine people I know and the thing I love most about her is that she is so black and white. I don’t just mean she can pop, lock and drop it, which she can! but rather that there isn’t a grey for her when it comes to scripture. Carly is obedient to God’s word and I admire Carly for this, I’m not the same way.
When I asked her if she liked her now boyfriend back before they were dating she said, “I mean, he’s cute but..” She basically told me that because he wasn’t pursuing her at that moment it didn’t really matter. To Carly, when scripture says “do not awaken love before it is ready” ( Song of Sol. 8:4 ) that means you don’t entertain possibilities that are not yet. Some girls can say, “Oh, were just friends” but most girls use that as a way to dodge the question, not because that’s really how they see it. To Carly, God’s word is life giving and so to abide in it is more important than day dreaming. I’m really thankful for a friend who has such strong convictions about renewing your mind and setting it on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable. ( Phil. 4:8 )
It is important to daily renew our minds to the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Its important to fight mentally for that which God calls us to do, to say and to think. There is power in the mind. It doesn’t take much to know that, its all over the horror movie industry but you always have a choice which is not what Hollywood tells you. You have a choice to say yes or a choice to say no and the power is yours. In Christ Jesus you can chose life. Carly is an incredible example of this, and although she has her own set of struggles, she uses mental strength to carry her. Carly takes time with things like, organizing, listening to music, biting her nails (which her boyfriend also does), adventuring through nature, going out on the lake, going to Zumba along with other things to relax and enjoy life. She says, “My destination is eternity, so my path isn’t going to be messed up ever.” At times there are moments of: “I can’t believe this is my story! Its different than I planned, wanted or thought.” Those are the moments of beauty in this life, “Keeping my eyes on God is good and for me, he has me on a specific path.” I will forever be indebted to her example of trusting in the one who says yes; yes in the good news of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
meet Carly:
Dear Samm, 