There is a first time for everything

This is my first time blogging...and I'm a bit nervous about it. I'm quite certain that no one cares what I have to say. But I'm going to try and we'll see where God takes this. After all "there are no limits when we place our future in God's hands," that is what my pastor said in yesterday's sermon. It struck me as very profound especially since I am attempting to break into the writing world with little to no experience...just a story in my head and a desire to entertain and touch another life.

Is my story any good? I hope so. Do I have the time to write while chasing down three kids under the age of five? Probably not. But all things are possible with God and I'm hanging onto that verse like it's a life preserver.

So today's overarching theme is "try again". Yesterday's sermon was about how Jesus blessed his fishing disciples (John 21). They had spent the entire night fishing with no luck. They were probably exhausted and wet and weary. Suddenly they hear someone say "throw your net on the right side of the boat." Now if you're like me you hear that and think "don't you think I've tried that already? I've been out here all night. Believe me, I tried the right side!"

Well as many of you know, when they obeyed, they couldn't even haul in the net. It was so full of fish (the Bible tells us later in verse 11 that they caught 153). Finally Peter realized who had spoken to them and says "It is the Lord!"

Now isn't that just like us? We work so hard, all night sometimes, banging our heads into a wall, trying the same things over and over. Then when we finally get the results we're looking for, we're shocked when it's God that made the pieces fit all along.

As I was battling a bout of insomnia last night, flipping through the channels on our television, I came across the movie Shrek the Third, not something I would normally watch but in a very chaotic scene that caught my eye, someone says "each of you is standing in your own way".

My point is: nothing is accomplished on our own strength and by our own doing. God orchestrates everything according to His plan for each individual life. Am I meant to write? Who knows...except God. I will surely have setbacks in my endeavors but that doesn't define me. What defines me is whether or not I try again.