These are so great. They’re a sampling of actual writings from high school students, almost none of which will probably grow up to be the next Jane Austen or Earnest Hemingway. Then again, I probably wrote some clunkers in my time as well.

There is no great spiritual analogy here. Just maybe some similes and metaphors to avoid in your writing if at all possible. But I think it’s okay to laugh at these.

Do you sometimes feel that you are either too much or not enough for some people? Do you have days when your words come out all wrong and you think back on prior conversations earlier in the day and cringe a bit? I do sometimes. I’m sure we all do at some point.

But thankfully God is always enough. His grace. His daily bread. Always enough. Sometimes it’s just enough to keep you going. Sometimes, it’s a super abundance far beyond anything you were expecting or anticipating. But God is always enough.

I’m also thankful that in Jesus, I am enough. Because of what He did for me, I am enough. I don’t have to prove myself to anybody or be more or less for people in order to gain their approval and validate my existence. I am enough.

The old saying goes that when the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. I’d also say remind yourself of your future. It’s glorious. It’s better than you and I could ever envision or dream. It will make you forget all those times and all those people who tried to make you feel less than.

In the mean time, remember that God is always, always, always enough. Always.

All the summer lovers might want to skip this one. This is your trigger alert: I’m ready for fall.

I don’t want fall tomorrow. That would be weird (and very unseasonal). But I do want fall to start on September 21. And I mean right on September 21. Not a day late, do you hear?

I’ve enjoyed my two-week trial subscription to summer, but I don’t think I’ll keep it, thank you very much. I’ve already sweated a gallon and it’s not even to the really hot part of summer. Plus, I think I’ve already been bitten and stung more than I like — and for me, once is enough.

There are so many things I love that come with fall. Two of my favorite holidays (plus Christmas, even though it’s technically in winter but might as well be fall since true winter doesn’t arrive in Tennessee until mid-January).

But I can live with summer. I figure all the hot sticky weather will help me learn to appreciate the cooler crisp temperatures of autumn more. Plus, I can wear a shirt all day without having to peel it off at the end of the day.

I am thankful God made four seasons. I’m trying to learn to love them all, though both winter and summer try my patience at times. I understand that each season plays a part in the cycle of life of birth and death, decay and renewal.

But fall also has pumpkin spice and flannel. Those are two of my favorites. So there’s that.

If you let it, all the bad news coming from everywhere can be overwhelming. If you choose to get your information from the news outlet of your choice, you will think that the whole world is headed to hell in a hand-basket.

But there’s a freedom that comes when you learn to let go of what you can’t control. There’s a beauty that comes from surrendering what you were never meant to bear in the first place. It never was your job to fix every wrong and to right every injustice. That has always been God’s job.

Your job is to trust and obey. Part of that obedience and trust comes in leaving to God what belongs to God and not to you. If you try to take on the weight of the world and all its myriad problems, it will crush you. But if you leave it in the nail-scarred hands, it will free you.

It also helps to know that while the middle of the story looks bad, the end of the story has never been in doubt. You can look to the last pages of the Bible to see that. There will be no more wars or rumors of war. No more death or disease. No more hatred and animosity.

There’s a wedding and a feast coming. And you’re invited. And, as C. S. Lewis put it in the last Narnia book, The Last Battle, this life will have only been the preface to the real story of heaven and beyond, where each chapter is better than the one before and where the story has a happy ending that never truly ends.

“Be present, O merciful God, and protect us through the hours of this night, so that we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life may rest in your eternal changelessness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen” (The Book of Common Prayer).

So much of this life is chaotic and unpredictable. So many of us wake up not knowing what the day will bring, hoping it will be good but fearing the worst. Things can change so very suddenly.

I’m thankful for a changeless God who remains the same through all our days. I don’t have to wonder if the God of tomorrow will be as good to be as the God of today. I know that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

That’s a comfort in these times where it seems almost nothing is guaranteed beyond today. So much of what I thought would last hasn’t. So many of the people I’ve grown accustomed to have gone away — either moved away or passed away.

But God is just as faithful as He was in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He’s just as faithful as He will be 1000 years from now. That’s the reason I can lay my head on my pillow at night and rest.