CHANGING the World, One Smile at a Time.

Post 1. It begins. Thoughts become words. As I begin this first post at 3:46 AM on a Sunday morning, I am listening to Christmas music. Quite out of the ordinary for November 2! But I love this stuff, I'll get to that more in a minute.

I am so excited to start putting some of my ideas out into writing. Now I have never proclaimed to be any good at this, but I think that God gives us all gifts and passions, and one of mine is sharing with people, whether it be my own story or a story I have heard that changed me. Change. Now this is something that has been on my mind a lot the past month or so, especially since I graduate in May. But the central truth I have come to understand is I can't change anyone myself. I may have people in my life who are going through things and I want so bad to change their situation or to change their mindset, but I can't. The only thing I can do is change myself and change my own surroundings. I have learned that change is good and bad. Good, because it forces us to examine what really matters, what we can lose and what we can't live without. Bad, because its painful. To purify gold, it must be past through fire multiple times. This is done to make gold into its purest form possible. Humans are the same.

We must pass through fire (experiences) that burn us at our core, cause us to sweat a little, and we change, hopefully from bad to better. But it's the change and the process that we look back on and realize all that pain had a purpose.

It's amazing that a God who never changes is constantly pushing His children to change. Change their mindset, their location, and their lifestyle, just so He can show how much He doesn't change and His love is never faltering.

So I guess that is why I love Christmas music so much, because it reminds me of a God who is always there, amidst all those shops and Santas that will be coming our way soon, at its core, Christmas is still a celebration of a God who has always loved and over 2000 years ago said, 'Enough is enough!' and sent His son to show us Purity and Sacrifice in its highest form.

For a first blog, this may be long, but I can think of no better way to start this than with the idea that God doesn't change, we must change, and God will use our changing to change the world...hopefully one smile at a time!

Let the Change begin!