I've heard many people talk about their 'life verses'. I've seen them tattooed on skin, printed on stickers, stitched onto letterman jackets. But how do we pick a life verse? How does a life verse pick us? How do we know when we've found 'the verse'?

I've read a few verses here and there that I've always enjoyed. Isaiah 41:10, Psalms 46:5, Proverbs 31:25, and many more. Verses that have been applicable in specific times in my life, but never verses that applied to the entirety of my existence. It's incredibly difficult to find a verse to assume your entire being. Your entire existence.

Truth be told, I didn't think I'd find that verse. That singular one that was the definition of who I am.

I do, however, have a life word. Funny how I found that first. My life word is 'endurance'. I adopted this word at the end of my junior year in high school when my U.S. History teacher was saying farewell to me. He was a teacher who had been continually involved in my life, showing me how to move forward from some very difficult and dark times. He told me, that my life was defined by my motivation to endure. No matter how difficult things got, I still woke up the next morning, got up, and continued onwards, hoping to see a better horizon in my future. Little did I know just how dark life was to get from that moment on, and how pivotal that single little word would be in showing me how to pick myself up from the pain of that summer.

My entire life has been about endurance. Endurance from continued pain, pain from being told I was never good enough for anybody, pain from believing the things everyone told me, pain from feeling different than everyone else. But alas, I've learned to endure. I used to get caught up on the opinions of others, caring about what others thought, and what others said. Then came a day, where I realized; it didn't matter what everyone else thought about me as long as I learned to love myself. So I did.

A lot of learning how to love myself came through the outpouring of my faith. It took years to realize that a face without makeup, was more beautiful than a face full of it. Endurance became easier when I could shoulder my pain on Jesus, and lean on Him to help me to see me how He sees me.

One of the ways I found best to connect with Jesus was to read my Bible. It's now my mission to finish the Bible in a year. I'm 37 books of the way through. Today, I attempted to tackle another book and felt the urge to read Hebrews. I opened my Bible to Hebrews, a book I had read many portions of before, but never the entire way through.

As my eyes scanned the pages of Hebrews, I came across a section titled "God's Infallible Purpose in Christ" at the end of Chapter 6. This section talks about God's promises to Abraham in Genesis, and how because there is none greater than God, God swears his promises on Himself.

I had read this portion before and remembered the preaching about it in a church service earlier this year. However, it was the next verse that brought me to tears. It read:

"And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." Hebrews 6:15

It struck me, here at this moment, sitting in my booth at POV, that this was my verse. This was the verse that had and would continue to define my life.

My entire life has been about patiently enduring onwards, but to what? Enduring for the purpose of life in heaven with Jesus. That's the promise. That's my entire purpose. It's why God created me. To endure through the pain of this life so I can share His love with those who surround me, to then become one with Him in heaven.

So I'm excited to share with you today, my life verse:

Hebrews 6:15

Always,

HMS