Forever

So, my senior year is 10 school days from being over. And in one of my classes we have already taken the final, so now we're going to make freshman survival videos. I was just thinking about the one piece of advice I'd give to freshman me. I thought about it a lot, and I thought of some good ideas- respect your teachers and they will respect you, do your work, etc.
But I kept coming back to one thing. What is it, you ask? Well, after much consideration of what to pass on to the freshman I came up with this:

"Nothing lasts forever.

-Feeling like the new kid....won't least forever.
-Classes you HATE... won't last forever.
-Classes you LOVE..... won't last forever.
-Relationships....won't last forever.
-Stressful weeks that you think will literally kill you.... they won't last forever. (you'll make it, really!!)
-Great moments and easy weeks..... they won't last forever, either.

High school itself won't last forever. It's four years, yes. But it's ONLY four years. From the very first day of freshman year, all I wanted to do was graduate. It couldn't go by fast enough! I thought four years was a really long time, and that I'd NEVER get to senior year.There were times I wanted to quit, give up, and sleep til the next year. There were weeks I thought I'd never make it to the weekend because I had so much stuff to do. At times, I was stressed out to the point of no return. But, there were other times when I felt like I could do anything. But none of this lasted forever.
Looking back now, I feel like it all went by way too fast. The days that passed like months now feel like the blink of an eye. The endless hours of waiting for the bell to ring now feel like mere seconds. Basically, my advice is this: Push through tough/crazy/stressful times. You really WILL survive. Cherish the really great times. Before you know it, they'll be a memory. This four years isn't going to last forever. It didn't for me. "


As I thought about this tip for freshman, I realized it can apply to all of life. Nothing lasts forever. There are days when life gets hard. We feel like nothing-nothing else can go wrong. Then something else does go wrong, and we don't know what to do next. We all have bad days- sometimes even weeks or months. And we think we'll never get past it. But we do. We survive. There are really scary times when we have no idea what's ahead. And there are times when we are on top of the world! But, that doesn't last long either. Life is busy, calm, happy, sad, hard, easy, and everything else in between! It goes by so quickly. Things change every single day, and nothing really stays the same. Except God, that is. He's the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He has the same character he did when Adam and Eve were created. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but God does. I'm at a point where my future is truly scaring me to death. But I have to trust that God is absolutely in control. He knows what's coming, and he's already there. He's walking with me and holding my hand every step of the way. He won't let me go. My life won't last forever. But He does.


"The grass withers, the flowers fade,
but the word of our God remains forever." (Isaiah 40:8 HCSB)


Jesus, help me remember that nothing lasts forever. Not the bad times, the scary times, or the good ones. Help me remember that you are In control of every single moment. You have got it under control. I change on a minute's notice, but you remain. Help me to trust you.