Treasuring the Little Things
Treasuring the Little Things
So, what do Landon Carter, Jacob Black, Edward Cullen, and Peter Kavinsky all have in common (other than the fact that they will make any girl swoon š)? Well, they point us to Christ by giving us an earthly glimpse of what His love for us looks like.
For the past 3 months, I have walked past this line of trees, admiring their beauty and then ultimate barrenness, realizing how drastic things can change in just a short time.
This New Chapter
Today I begin a new decade of life. This day seemed to come so quickly. I never imagined myself in my 20s. I have always looked up to people around me in their 20s and now I have become one of them.
Today also marks the beginning of this blog. I never thought I would ever do something like this, and yet I never thought Iād be 20, so here we are. I have always enjoyed writing, especially creatively, but in my recent college years, my love for writing has really been squandered by the constant churning out of paper after reflection paper after research paper and on and on it goes, the continual work never seeming to end.
However, as the whole world has come to a screeching halt due to the pandemic affecting us all, we have been forced to stop this constant churn of life and essentially recreate what life looks like for each of us. During this quarantine, I have felt the full spectrum of emotions every single day ranging from the immense sadness of precious time lost with friends, to the mundane thoughts of simply clicking from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting. At times, Iāve even had the content feelings of enjoying all of the free time that the Lord has given us to focus on Him and our own self-care. Letās face it, weāve all been asking for the gift of time to rest and focus for a long time and now we finally have it.
Also during this quarantine, I have basically stumbled upon hobbies that I never knew might interest me. I have been baking and cooking most days of the week, actually reading for pleasure, and working out practically everyday. My job has also given me the privilege of running all of our social media accounts (shoutout to Young Life Chicago Near North) and in this, I have really come to love the idea of creating content, branding a page, growing a following, getting more people engaged, and all the other social media buzz-phrases out there. Through researching these topics and attending multiple free online masterclasses with social media professionals, I stumbled upon one sentence in one of hundreds of emails I found in my inbox every day that read, āStart your very own blog today!ā Suddenly, the lightbulb went on and at that moment I realized that I truly love writing and am in need of a place to simply process what Iām learning in life, where I yearn to grow, what God may be showing me, and all of my sometimes jumbled thoughts. If this quarantine has taught me anything, itās that everyone has their own thoughts and opinions and we all are just searching for someone to listen to us. Listening is getting increasingly harder in todayās culture with all of the constant noise that we take in on a daily basis. Therefore, Iām not looking to simply add to the noise thrown at you, but I know that I donāt often take enough time to process the things Iām learning, taking in, and all of my experiences, so I hope this outlet will help me in this way.
I chose My Pencils Have Memories as the name of my blog because this was one of my momās favorite memories of when I was little. And, looking at it now, it seems to still apply. Before school started every year, my mom would take me to buy new school supplies. Needless to say, this was one of my most favorite things ever. I absolutely loved, and still do, buying school supplies. One day, as we prepared to go shopping and were taking inventory of what we already had, my mom asked me if we could get fresh new pencils to start the year. I hesitated for a moment and with a furrowed brow looked at my mom and said, āBut I donāt want new pencils. These pencils have memories!ā
This one little sentence sums up me. I hate change on a small scale. I hate getting new pillows. I hate giving away jewelry. I hate throwing away old shoes. I hate changing traditions. But shockingly enough, Iām ok with change on a big scale. I love to travel and visit new places. I love getting a new car. I love changing classes every semester. Itās the little things in life that are the hardest to let go of. They may not have the biggest lasting impact on my life, but they were with me everyday getting me through the large changes of life.
So, today as I embark on this new decade of life, filled with so many new and exciting adventures that only the Lord knows about, I pray that the little things in life will be treasured the most. May the everyday moments with God draw me closer and closer to Him, even just a little at a time. May the special circumstances I get placed in shape me in ways I could never imagine. May the simplicity of good laughter with friends lead me to praise the Lord for His lavish blessings. May the sweet little humans that I (normally) have been entrusted to take care of every week point me to Christ in their ever-growing mind, body, and soul. And may the pencils I write these detailed memories with never be forgotten as I strive to glorify and serve God with my life.
I hope that as these small things are penciled-in to my life, God is able to erase the edges which I have drawn to create a beautiful mosaic of my life, connecting all of the details together in order to help me grow into exactly what He wants me to be for His glory. I do know that God uses each of our gifts in the Church and I hope that this blog and the sharing of my memories, thoughts, emotions, and conversations with God will be able to help someone in their walk with the Lord, even if in the slightest way. Thank you for taking this journey with me as I process life in this new decade, in the middle of my college years, and as I yearn for the future but not knowing what this space is for me yet.
With Love,
Hannah
People have always told me that the friends I make in college will be lifelong friends, but they never explained how hard it would hurt to lose one.
These past few months in all of our lives have been more than unexpected, and yet itās just one tiny little hill in the grand scheme of the trail knowing that relief is on the other side.
10 Unique Things to Baseball
I know, I know…you are reading this headline saying, “Why does Hannah think baseball is so special?! It’s such a slow game with nothing exciting!” Well, if you read my last blog post, you’ll see that I believe those who say that are simply uneducated on the sport and don’t know what to watch for. This post and my next few posts will (hopefully) help you understand a little bit more about why baseball is the best sport out there!
Let’s jump right in and talk about 10 simple, yet interestingly unique things to Major League Baseball.
#1 – The managers of each team where the same uniform as the players. If you notice, in every other team sport, the coach typically either wears a suit, or clothes fitting for athletic activity. However, in baseball, the managers wear jerseys and numbers just like the players.
#2 – There is no clock in baseball. For some of you, this is why you don’t like baseball, because it “drags on too long.” However, this fact makes the game truly interesting. There are countless times that I have seen games take a complete turn in the matter of one play. Strategy and specific plays can be fleshed out because there is no time limit.
#3 – Just as there is no clock in baseball, the game could potentially play to infiniti. Baseball games cannot end in a tie, therefore, they must play until someone wins. With no clock, there’s no telling how long some games may go. In fact, the longest baseball game ever played was 8 hours, 6 minutes and had to be played over the span of 2 days, almost tripling the typical game length.
#4 – Players can eat during the game. Have you ever noticed some players chewing while up to bat, or spitting things out while they are waiting to field the ball? Well, some players eat seeds while they are playing, or chew tobacco, or even gum. Similarly, players can even eat in the dugout or go into the locker room to eat while the game is happening.
#5 – The field of play is not regulated. Every Major League Baseball field is a different size and shape. Some outfields measure past 400 feet from home plate, and others are less than that. To me, this makes visiting stadiums interesting to see what each and every field is like. This also can affect individual player’s statistics because what would have been a home run at one stadium, doesn’t go past the fence at another. I love this graphic to see all of the MLB field sizes compared:
#6 – Similarly, this is not specific to baseball, but some stadiums are outdoor, some are indoor, and some are a mix of both. Personally, I strongly dislike only indoor stadiums. I think baseball should be played outside. It is a summer sport and should be enjoyed in the sun. But I do understand the climates that are really hot and humid so I appreciate when a stadium is built nicely that can be indoor and outdoor.
#7 – Out of bounds baseballs can still be played. In other professional sports, when a ball goes out of bounds, the time either stops or the player/team gets a “do over.” In baseball, both the offense and defense can play the ball in multiple different ways.
#8 – Each and every play of each game can be recorded exactly how it takes place. Someone who hasn’t seen the game can look at the scorecard and know exactly what happened in the game. No other sport can you track exactly what happened in every play and with every pitch. Personally, I keep score at every game that I attend and have several scorebooks filled to the brim of great baseball memories. Whenever I look through them again, I can look at the games and know verbatim what happened.
#9 – Baseball has the longest season of any sport. In some cities, especially here in Chicago, it can snow on Opening Day and the last day of the season.
#10 – Baseball has its own song! We all know and love the American classic Take Me Out to the Ballgame. No other sport has its own song, nor do all of the fans stand up in middle of the game to sing a song together all at the same time. What a fun way to celebrate the uniqueness of baseball and show how awesome it is!
Next time you go to a baseball game, I hope you notice some of these things. Thanks for reading and hope that starting today and in the coming weeks as you read more, you will come to love and appreciate baseball just as much as I do! š„°
With Love (for baseball ā¾ļø),
Hannah
We are currently reaping what the past generations of Christians have sown, and however good or bad the seed was, we must deal with it now.
Just Four Letters
Love: one little four-lettered word. How much difference can it truly make? We use this term too often in everyday life to show our admiration for objects, people, articles of clothing, music, and even food. It can mean anything from a strong liking to a life-long commitment and the word gets thrown around so easily. So, what does it actually mean to love, to show love, and to treasure love?
In my efforts to try to understand everything thatās been circulating the media recently and to know how Christ would want me to respond, I kept coming to John 13:34-35 which says, āSo now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples,ā which is strange because there seems to be much more hostility out there than love these days. It is chilling to think about all the sin that goes on in the world that we donāt even see, but that the one, true, holy God sees and is even heartbroken over. Itās hard for us not to be heartbroken over what we see even as humans. However, this little word āloveā changes things drastically.
Although it is right to feel the need to do something and respond, in all honesty, any sort of impact that we can have in this world wonāt make the kind of difference that we all desire. While we can make a temporal difference during our time here on earth, only Jesus can truly reconcile us all in the end. As believers we are called to stand up for injustice and fight for those who are the most vulnerable. Yet somehow that still doesnāt often feel like enough.
Humans will always be imperfect, impulsive, and self-righteous which should cause us to rely on God even more because without Him, there is no right or wrong and there is no justice. Who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong without some sort of standard to measure it? For believers, we have a moral compass because of what Jesus has modeled and taught us, but non-believers donāt have the same standard of right or wrong because itās all subjective without a standard (God).
Ephesians 1:9-10 tells us, āGod has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ – which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.ā Boy, does this sound AMAZING right now or what?
Christ creates life where there was once death. He conquered the grave when He died on the cross and He lives again so that we might partake in that as well. āHe broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good Newsā (2 Timothy 1:10). Jesus conquered death; so shouldnāt we SCREAM this from the rooftops?!
One of the many things that is so remarkable about God is how accessible He is. He is there for everyone, at all times, and in all places. Jesus came to earth to help the sick; not just the healthy. In a world where accessibility is getting increasingly harder to grasp, Jesus is such a breath of fresh air because He breaks down every barrier and division.
Although we donāt fully know Godās plans and purposes, we do know that, āBoth Gentile and Jew who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by Godās children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesusā (Eph. 3:6). He broke the power of death so that not only do we have eternal life and hope in Him, but also so all who believe have unending access to God.
Now, God didnāt promise an easy life, nor an easy task of sharing this amazing news, and Paul even writes in 2 Timothy, āWith the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News.ā There are many times, especially in light of recent events, we can feel tired and bogged down by the weight of how broken our world is and the immensity of the task before us as Christ followers to bring about justice because of our identity in Jesus. But, with all earnestness, while we are still on this broken, sinful earth, we must try, knowing that in the end, God will truly make everything right.
So, as John 13 tells us, we as Christ followers should stand out because of our love. If there is anything that we can truly do in this time, it is to love everyone around us more and more each and every day, even in the smallest of ways. What are some ways that you can show love to the people around you today? Even during a pandemic and our divisive culture, how can we show others that we care?
One of the biggest ways to love those around us is to have compassion. Often love and compassion are equated with each other, but I believe love creates immense compassion. Compassion is defined as, āsympathetic consciousness of othersā distress together with a desire to alleviate it.ā Compassion is the action which comes out of love and I think THAT is truly whatās missing in society right now. Those of us who are Godās children have an obligation to clothe ourselves with compassion. Sharing the Good News of Jesus is being the most sympathetic of othersā distress with wanting to alleviate it. God loves us so much that He has conquered death for us, He is always accessible, He is fighting on our behalf, and He will truly make all things right in the end. We can show that we care for the well-being of others and love each and every person that God has created in His image by sharing what He has done for them.
āMay you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from Godā (Eph. 3:19). I pray that everyone reading this will feel the love of God in tangible ways today, and feel the call and the urge to share this love with others. I pray that the Lord would give me eyes to see in areas I am blinded and to give me supernatural understanding for things I donāt understand in order to be the most compassionate I can be.
One little four-lettered word can make a world of a difference in peopleās lives, when it is an outpouring of the most perfect love there is which only comes from God. āIn this new life, it doesnāt matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patienceā (Colossians 3:11-12).
May Godās perfect love stir us to not only share it with others, but to stir in our own hearts an overabundant outpouring of compassion in our own lives to alleviate the distress of others to bring hope and life in the darkness.
āThis is what the Lord God Almighty said: āAdminister true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each otherāā (Zechariah 7:9-10).
With Love,
Hannah
My name is Hannah Forrider, I am an Elementary Education major at Moody Bible Institute, and was born and raised in the heart of Chicago where I still reside today.
