Day 21: The End

It's hard to believe it's already the last day of my 21 day blog challenge. Where in the world did March go?! It's funny that my last post would fall on April Fool's Day. I seriously didn't plan that. I am not a fan of practical jokes. I mean, the definition alone brings back bad memories. A practical joke is: a prank or trick usually intended to make the victim appear foolish. Well, being that I am an extremely gullible person (either that, or I just trust people too easily), I usually end up being the one looking foolish. It doesn't bother me much anymore when I fall for something. I can just laugh it off now. But it used to make me feel really stupid and embarrassed, and it affected my self esteem. I'm all about having fun and laughing at jokes, but I don't like to be duped. I'm not a party pooper and I'm not trying to bash April Fool's Day traditions. I'm just saying that, in my opinion, there's enough deception in the world every day as it is, without devoting an entire day to it. 

OK, rant over. That wasn't even what I wanted to write about today. But, I've been very open and honest with you over the last three weeks, so why stop now, right? :) Besides, now you know two things about me that I've never told you. A. I'm gullible. And B. I don't like April Fool's Day. So, there you go. Josh learned this about me when we were first married. We made an agreement that we would not play April Fool's Day tricks on each other, and we've stuck with that agreement. Just one more reason why I love him.

For my last post of this challenge, I want to talk about two words. "The End." As I've been approaching the end of these 21 days, I've been surprised at myself for actually sticking with it even though life has been really challenging. There have been several days where I wanted to forget about it and just quit. I started out really not wanting to do it, and now I want to keep writing. I want to continue to share my story. It's inspired me to pick up where I left off on writing my first book. And it's been really healing for me to be so open and honest every day. Whether or not I will continue to blog every single day, I'm not sure yet. But I know I will be writing frequently again.

I have a feeling that "the end" is really just the beginning for me. I don't know where it will lead, but as long as the Lord is leading me I know it's going to be amazing. I'm excited for this new chapter in life. Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. I know that I am better on this Day 21 than I was on Day 1. Now comes the challenge of being patient and waiting to see what God calls me to do next. This blog challenge certainly has stripped me of any pride I may have been tempted to feel. It's been rather humbling actually, and I'm grateful to God for what he's taught me through it.

I wanted to say, "Thank you!" to all of you who have been reading my posts. And also thank those of you who have left comments and kind encouragements. I sincerely pray over each post and the people who will read it. I pray you will be encouraged and find glimmers of hope in your darkest situations. I pray you know Jesus and have a relationship with him. It is the most important relationship of my life, and it's the most important relationship you could ever have. I pray you will always know how much He loves you and that you can trust him with your life.

So, dear readers. Until.... Keep your eyes on Jesus and know that "the end" of something is just the beginning of something greater.

Love,

Tracie