good.

This is the good life.

One of my newly discovered favorite authors/speakers/feel kinda like my she's my BFF (no offense, Tay Swift) Annie Downs shared this profoundly simple statement. This life I am living right now? Today? It's good. Not always because what is happening around me feels good but because I live life with One who is eternally good.

With Him, this life is a good one. It's a promise that isn't based on how I feel or what I do or what circumstances life brings. It's a promise based on a unchanging, unshakable, life-giving foundation. It's a promise based on the sure, true, steady characteristic of His goodness.

"Surely His love and goodness will follow you all the days of your life."

-Psalm 23:6

They follow me. Two friends named Goodness and Love that I will never be able to escape - and never want to escape. Because there are some days when those two are all I have. But with His goodness and His love, I can brave the sometimes cold, harsh winds of life as they whip around me without a care in the world.

Yesterday I turned t w e n t y - s e v e n. At the beginning of 2016, the idea of turning 27 made me want to crawl underground and never emerge. But as His goodness and love have been following me, I'm learning to embrace the good life Jesus has for me.

Because living in Nicaragua and learning a new language has somehow changed the functioning level of my brain, I have become extremely forgetful. Some call it transitioning but I'm well past the normal transitioning stages. I still can never find my keys and forever can't remember simple English words. { Don't get me started on my inability to use basic sayings and phrases in the correct context. } So I'm constantly looking for ways to remind myself of things: sticky notes on the door, lists in my planner, notes in my phone, writing on my hand, ect.

This truth about the good life - about His unending goodness - I needed a constant reminder of it or I knew I would forget. So here is my daily reminder: two rings of teal and gold. Two reminders of the way His love and goodness are always with me. He is always with me. When I get caught in a moment of loneliness or disappointment or frustration or sadness, they catch my eye and the truth wraps around my tender, weary heart...

Ella, this is the good life. Be brave, stay strong and live it.