I see you sitting over there with your head in your hands
And the mess life’s made of your best laid plans
You really want to shake your fist
But you don’t know who to blame
Well you can blame yourself or the man upstairs
Or the guy on the screen who says he cares
But all the shame and the blame won’t change a thing
What’s done is done
But grace has just begun

- "Something Beautiful," by Steven Curtis Chapman

We've come to the end of our series on desiring something beautiful. Realizing you've already got it was the first step. Accepting the fact that the desire is acceptable was the second. And now the final one:

Believing it can happen.

Actually, this one is the hardest for me to live out a lot of the time. I will fully admit that I haven't been through nearly the amount of crap some people have, but I've dealt with just enough to wonder, sometimes, if the crappy parts of life are all that's out there.

I have dreams, like anyone else. I've thought I knew which doors to go through before, but thus far, most of them have fallen through. So when new opportunities arise, I tend to withdraw. I let my terror that I'll be hurt again overpower the knowledge of Who is on my side.

And God’s says
I’m gonna turn it into something different
I’m gonna turn it into something good
I’m gonna take all the broken pieces
And make something beautiful like only I could
So put it all in the hands of the Father
Give it up, give it all over to
The only one who can turn it into
Something beautiful
Something really beautiful

All of the closed doors in my life have led to things better than I could ever have imagined. I love where God has taken me. I love watching where God has taken other people who got the opportunities I wanted. Through it all, that shows me that He has a better plan for me than anything I could come up with.

That doesn't necessarily make it easy, however.

We know the world got broke when it took the fall
And here we are living in the middle of it all
Longing, waiting for the day when everything’s restored
But the best of the beauty that we get to see
While we’re living down here in this “yet to be”
Is to watch God take the most broken things
And to hear Him say,
“When I get through, you’re gonna be amazed”

"I have to give it to God every day," I said over breakfast to my best friend the other day. "And that's a hard thing to do, but it's harder to hold on to something that I have no control over yet."

It took a while for me to learn the importance of giving the desires of my heart to God - and, for that matter to learn how often we Christians take Psalm 37:4  out of context - but once it became clear to me, doing so was my only logical option.

Here's the deal: Everything God's done with what I've given Him has completely blown me out of the water. Am I still waiting on some things? Sure, but like the Israelites in the wilderness, I come back to what He's done before and lift those memories up as my stones of help.

That's all I've got on the song. (Don't worry. As usual, the rest of the lyrics will come at the end.) Here's the thing: God wants to do good things in your life. Do those occasionally look like trials? Yes. But He'll bring good out of those.

I didn't think getting diagnosed with type one diabetes would be a blessing. Honestly, most days it feels like a curse. For one thing, it made me more grateful for the days I'm given. For another, it's shown me how much I'm loved by other people. You would not believe how freaked out people get when they see a diabetic chick eating Skittles.

Beauty out of pain.

I didn't think leaving school for a semester would be a blessing. In some ways, it wasn't super great for me. It did give me time to figure out how to do life as a diabetic before going back to college and it's kept me humble. Admitting that I'm a semester behind academically and probably won't be able to graduate on time honestly isn't easy, but I've finally gotten to that point where it matters less.

Beauty out of pain.

I didn't think that constant episodes of heartbreak would be a blessing, but if anything, it's strengthened my other relationships. I have to depend on God completely for my fulfillment.

Beauty out of pain.

My point here is, you have no idea what God is doing behind the scenes of your life. I promise you, though, when He's done, you're going to be amazed.

‘Cause I’m gonna turn it into something different
I’m gonna turn it into something good
I’m gonna take all the broken pieces
And make something beautiful like only I could
So put it all in the hands of the Father
Give it up, give it all over to

The only one who can turn it into

Something beautiful
Something beautiful
Something beautiful
Put all the pieces in His hands
And watch Him turn it into something beautiful

God’s gonna turn it into something different
He’s gonna turn it into something good
He’s gonna take all the broken pieces
And make something beautiful like only He could
So put it all in the hands of the Father
Give it up, give it all over to
The only one who can turn it into
Something beautiful
Something really beautiful
Something beautiful
Something really beautiful