On this day five years ago, I started a new project. A blog, built in the hopes of encouraging other young people like me, a light in the darkness. I was fifteen at the time, and I posted on it semi-consistently until after I had turned seventeen. It was a new adventure, and I loved it. I started it with two friends, and they posted as well every once in a while. I was young, and I had so much to learn, but I shared about what I loved, and I love it for that. I wasn’t afraid to talk about what I was excited about, even if I knew not everyone felt the same.
Over time, things changed. I began to be quieter. To not use my voice for things that mattered. As time passed, I began to be more and more worried about what other people thought. Anytime that I would share about a song, book, or movie that I liked, if people were negative about it, I started to mirror that. I became less enthusiastic about things I knew others didn’t like. And little by little, I started to lose some of that excitement and simple joy found in the little things.
Ever since summer of ’22, I’ve been on a bit of a new journey. Instead of finding my joy based on what other people like, and what other people think about things, I’ve been trying to find my joy rooted in Jesus, and in the simple things. Enjoying life in reading books I’ve always had but never got around to reading, playing old, nostalgic video games, and spending time outside. I’ve learned that there is such joy to be found in being grateful for the little things right where we are.
Too often I’ve been so mindful of the past, all the good memories and the way that things used to be, that I can forget to see how many blessings are all around right now. But looking to the past can sometimes help us determine how to navigate the future. We can learn from our past selves without getting stuck looking through the rear-view mirror.
looking back
With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to look back at some of the different things that were apart of this story. This was our mission statement for the Lighthouse.
The Lighthouse will strive to be a place of growth and encouragement for each and every fellow teenager, regardless of background. All are welcome here because God loves each and every person enough to unconditionally sacrifice his only son for them. No matter what happens, the Lighthouse will strive to be a beacon of light for other teenagers in today’s dark world.
I planned out the content months in advance. The day it launched, I took little notecards to all my friends at my homeschool choir at the time with an invite to the web address. I was dedicated to it and looking back, I really admire that tenacity. I could use some more of that these days. March 1st, 2019 had rolled around, and I launched my very first post, Let’s Go.
Then I stretched my storytelling side a little bit with an original short story to go along with the launch, fittingly called The Lighthouse. Road Map laid out some of my plans for the blog’s future, and the Story of a Book showed more of my heart for the website, always seeking to give the glory back to Christ.
From there, I did all sorts of posts at different times. Many were unpacking different topics such as unconditional love, friendships, or peace in hard times. Some of the posts reviewed certain things, such as movies, games, or books. Things like Lessons from a Sheep Dog, Minecraft, or Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Really I just wanted to talk about stuff I thought was cool, so I tried all sorts of different types of things, and it was fun!
Midsummer 2019 kicked off with In With the New. Then I tried something brand new, something I still think is super cool: Foxcroft. Foxcroft was a serialised story exclusive to my blog. It followed a young guy named Kit and an island as far from tropical as you could get. It was split up into chapters, kind of like a tv show would be, and it was pretty awesome! It was a fun creative outlet for me and a way to share my storytelling side with all of y’all. The series was never finished properly, but who knows? Maybe it’ll come back better than ever someday 😉
We closed out August with a fiery call to action with Bring the Fire, and continued on into fall with Foxcroft chapter and a few other posts here and there. Be a Window is still one of my favourite messages. We celebrated Christmas with Where the Daisies Grow. Then Covid hit, and despite all that was going on, I actually started to really grow in my relationship with God and mature as a young person. I posted some of my favourite things ever, and I really recommend you look at these ones if you get the chance: Wonder, It’s Okay, and No Time for Caution.
shine a little brighter
After “No Time for Caution” in August 2020, I didn’t post any more on the Lighthouse. I started to get more involved and busy with different things, I made some new friends, and continued to grow. 2021 was a hard year. I lost myself a little bit. But God in His faithfulness continued to mold me in the fire, and purely because of His goodness I found my way back.
When you’ve been in a dark place, you have a greater appreciation for light, even a small light. And through some of the challenges that the Lord brought me through, I grew in gratitude and my joy became rooted in Him. I let go of some of the worldly dreams I used to have, as God refined my passions and interests and helped me see how those things could bring honour to Him instead.
“Shine a little brighter” was the Lighthouse’s tagline, and I love that. But I realised this along the way–it’s not about us shining brighter as if the Light that we have is something we can make brighter on our own. Our goal is to reflect the Light of the World, not try as hard as we possibly can to be our own light in the world. That gets pretty exhausting, because we burn out. But if our hope is set in Christ, and He is our light, then we just get to reflect Him, and He transforms our hearts into His likeness. He may have to walk us through a refining fire to do that, but He walks with us. We don’t walk through fire alone.
If the Light of Christ dwells within us, we will not be shaken. We may struggle in this life–we are not promised an easy life, but Jesus promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
what’s next?
This post might read like the end of a story started five years ago–but that’s actually not the case. Think of this as the beginning of a new chapter! Most of you now will see this on my new website, josiahkirk.com. My old website, thelighthouse19.wordpress.com, will be shutting down soon. You can go take a look through things over there though, if you would like to, for the next month or two. But every post from the Lighthouse, every comment, everything–has now been migrated to right here on this website. Nearly every post that I have published over the past ten years has been migrated over to one central place. In fact, I have a category here specifically for the Lighthouse, so those posts will live on here, and hopefully be pretty easy to find, should your curiosity be piqued.
The story of the Lighthouse doesn’t end with the old website. It will continue to live on right here, in the message, the heart behind this little corner of the internet, and in all of us who found shelter in an old Lighthouse during its time.
The old Lighthouse will never burn out. It will stand tall, rain or shine. The lights will never go out. If you’re ever in a storm, look for the glow on the horizon, legend says you’ll always find it.
Keep the lamps burnin’, crew.
The Treehouse 