Overcomer

Some days I feel overwhelmed and completely alone, and some days, I, well...still feel overwhelmed, but am completely humbled and baffled by the love that surrounds me.

Professors who could not be more gracious and are far more concerned with my health than the deadlines for their class.

Classmates who give me notes without even wondering when I'll be able to pay them back for the favor.

Memories of my best friend when I run into our favorite professor and how she will do anything necessary to protect me, even from 4400 miles away.

Boys who let me overreact freaking out at them, and then when I apologize, tell me it's fine.

Girls who just sit and listen to me vent when my heart hurts.

Sisters in Christ who text me just to see how I'm feeling today, encourage me, and then send me a music video that they just know I need to hear.

And the singer of the song who tweets me to remind me yet again that I am loved.



Little did this friend (or I) know, but this word "overcomer" would pop up again and again in my life today.  From friends, from professors, in my thoughts as I listen to Sanctuary sing lyrics like "You stay the same through the ages, Your love never changes, there may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning. And when the oceans rage, I don't have to be afraid, because I know that You love me, and Your love never fails."

I am an overcomer, but it's not my own doing.  It's because of Him.  It's because of what Jesus did; victory is already mine, even when it doesn't feel like it.  It's because of the love He has put in my life on all sides, people who push me forward when I feel sure I can't take another step.  It is because of the confidence of who I am in God, and the incomprehensible love that He has for me.

Ryann says I'm changing the world just by being me...I say I'm changing somebody's world because I can't help but let the light that saved my life shine through me.  I couldn't do this on my own, and I wouldn't want to even if I could.  It's because of the community I found by following Jesus that I'm still fighting.  People I have hugged, and laughed, and danced with, and people I may never get to see this side of heaven.  Me, my story, my life, they're all just a part of the bigger picture.  I'm a puzzle piece that fits into the grand story that God has written out for all of time.  And maybe, just maybe, I'll have a legacy that stands after I leave this earth.

I am overcoming this struggle that I am walking through every single day.  Because every single day God is faithful to remind me in ways big and small that He is here and He is with me.  Sometimes I just get so caught up in my own head that I miss those signs.  But there's no way the God who knows the number of hairs on my head would let me be alone in this, even for a second.

Mandisa's "Overcomer" has been on repeat a lot today.  It's helped me get to know all over again the confidence that comes with being a child of God.

I am an overcomer.  But it's by the grace of God alone.