Recently, Emily Pace, a Stoneybrooke alum who is a senior in high school asked if she might be a guest “muser” and offer some of her own thoughts. I love what she has written!
Have you ever looked through a kaleidoscope? Remember, it’s that toy when you were a kid that you would look through, then twist it and you would see this cool picture with colors and shapes? They are so cool because every time you twist and turn it, you see an entirely new image and your perspective changes.

Some times in life we get stuck looking at the same picture. And if we’re having a bad day it seems that just about everything is going wrong! Like when you wake up and your alarm clock hasn’t gone off, which makes you late for work, you don’t have time to eat breakfast and when you finally get to work, you think your day is as bad as it can get and you look down and realize you forgot your shoes.

Even though there are bad days and you feel stuck, remember life is like a kaleidoscope. It’s always changing. We may be surprised by what the picture looks like, just like when we give the kaleidoscope a slight twist and turn, but God knows what is going on. He will bring us through each twist and turn and through each dark patch, to show us something new and beautiful. Ecclesiastes 11:7-8 says “Light is sweet; it’s wonderful to see the sun! When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember that the dark days will be many.”

When I was on a mission trip in Mexico, my team and I were assigned to help serve breakfast at a homeless shelter. We had to get up early and leave at 6:30 am. The entire team was tired and a little mad that we had to get up and leave while all the other teams were still sleeping. Once we arrived at the shelter, the staff told us the pastor was running late and was not going to be able to lead the morning service. Our team stepped up and shared a lesson that morning. One of the little 6th graders on my team had the opportunity to share his testimony with a room full of homeless men. These men were amazed that he was so little and yet he was telling them about God.

At the end of the trip, I was talking with this little 6th grader and he explained that sharing his testimony was the best part of the trip and he knew he was going to be a pastor some day.

That morning, we were all a little upset about being up early, but our perspective was changed, just like the kaleidoscope picture changes with a small twist, and we were able to see a completely new picture. Although we may be having what seems like a bad day or are in a dark circumstance, God shows us the bigger and brighter picture in the end.

Emily is a Stoneybrooke alum (Class of 2013) and is a senior at Tesoro High School. She actively serves in her church in Children’s Ministries and the Junior High Ministry.  Her desire is to work in full-time minstry.