circle.

i’ve never fully explained the story of these bracelets. so here goes.

many moons ago, there was this guy who was friends w my sister. and one day she casually gave him a bracelet. and he wore it and never took it off. then they broke up. and he kept wearing it.

I don’t know why he kept wearing the bracelet, but to me the important thing here was that if mack had never given him a bracelet in the first place, she never would have discovered how much it meant to him. and he never would have had the chance to wear it. At the time I had this issue with being nice to other people. a fear of rejection or something. but this exchange made me realize that i’ll never know if they’ll wear the bracelet until I give them a bracelet.

you don’t know if they’ll wear the bracelet until you give them a bracelet.

I thought this was a completely romantic and beautiful idea, so I purchased a hundred dollars worth of bracelets. and mack and I just started giving them to people, whoever came to mind. most people were really grateful for them. several people wore them often. a few wore them all the time. it was a test of sorts. to see how much our gift meant to people.

we ran out and I ordered more. we started mailing them to people from our pasts. mack mailed one to a guy in Georgia who had been in love with her. he was struck and drove to florida to see Mack. they had a great time and now they’re good friends.

eventually we stopped caring about whether people wore the bracelets or not and just gave them out with no expectations. sometimes people don’t know what they need, or don’t know they need it yet. we were just doing our part and letting everything else play out according to itself.

what we didn’t realize was that we were just two young girls in the middle of a giant movement of love & motifs & the beauty of living in fort myers florida. apparently these bracelets have quite a following in the fort. they’re everywhere. they’re in gift shops. they’re on the arm of the kayak rental manager. they were on the skinny wrists of emma, who passed away.

After Emma’s passing, her brother wrote her a letter. he said this:

You knew that everyone came from somewhere that we don’t need to necessarily understand, but the most important thing is to listen and to love them.

amen.

so if you’ve ever received one of these bracelets from me, you are a part of something bigger than you know, and I don’t fully know about it either. but apparently life is short and there’s no time for pettiness, or for worrying about how someone will react if you extend love to them. you don’t know if they’ll wear the bracelet until you give them a bracelet, so get out there and be the person you were created to be. and don’t worry about the ramifications, because you really have no control regardless. don’t worry about understanding everything, or getting your closure. just be patient, just accept that the supernatural ruler of the earth is all-knowing, and everything is arranging perfectly in ways you might not grasp. trust the timing. live a life for others. & just like cling to truth.

I keep thinking about everything that has happened in the past year of my life. all the people I have met who have changed my life. I thought i’d wanted to move to miami and chase basketball players around. but I can’t believe how many people i’ve met this year. they’re all so great. and a lot of them showed up at riverside at 4:30 this evening. i’m just so grateful for this time, and for everything i’ve experienced. none of it would have happened this way if I had tried to run away & seek some sort of urban ego-serving greatness. so anyway. I am finally discovering contentment. so that’s great. this whole life arrangement has shaped me into a better person. god is constantly creating you. <- let him do it. he knows exactly how to make you who he wants you to be.

soli deo gloria