The hardest, lowest moments of our lives can bring us joy, self-discovery, and growth in the most positive of ways.
I was talking to an older, more experienced woman this week, and she gave me the true honor of letting me into her life. She told me a lot about her past: an ended marriage, relocations, family, loss, and forgiveness. All I kept thinking while she was telling her story was how hard of life she had lived. What she said at the end blew me away. She said, “ I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am now without learning all those lessons. My mind and heart would be too small.”
She didn’t face the challenges and the hardship in her life with disdain. She faced them not only with the will to grow and overcome, but also with joy and forgiveness.
I do not know of a better example of this in the bible than Paul while he was in jail. He was joyful about his imprisonment and its role in establishing the Christian faith.
In fact, while in jail he said, “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9). Paul was a cheerleader of the people while in jail. He was able to see the bigger picture of his imprisonment, and see the positive role he could still play in people’s lives.
My conversation with this lovely, courageous woman helped me realize that the hardest moments in life are the ones that are shaping and molding you into the person God knows you can be, and that’s something to be joyful about.
Have a joyful and safe fall break!
Callie
I was talking to an older, more experienced woman this week, and she gave me the true honor of letting me into her life. She told me a lot about her past: an ended marriage, relocations, family, loss, and forgiveness. All I kept thinking while she was telling her story was how hard of life she had lived. What she said at the end blew me away. She said, “ I wouldn’t be nearly as happy as I am now without learning all those lessons. My mind and heart would be too small.”
She didn’t face the challenges and the hardship in her life with disdain. She faced them not only with the will to grow and overcome, but also with joy and forgiveness.
I do not know of a better example of this in the bible than Paul while he was in jail. He was joyful about his imprisonment and its role in establishing the Christian faith.
In fact, while in jail he said, “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9). Paul was a cheerleader of the people while in jail. He was able to see the bigger picture of his imprisonment, and see the positive role he could still play in people’s lives.
My conversation with this lovely, courageous woman helped me realize that the hardest moments in life are the ones that are shaping and molding you into the person God knows you can be, and that’s something to be joyful about.
Have a joyful and safe fall break!
Callie
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