HOPE
Well hello sweet friends! It’s been a quick minute since I’ve posted a blog! 2020 I came to realize was a new space for so many people around the WORLD (can I get an amen?!) for me, I figured out it quickly became a season of healing and learning and growing.
With all that healing and learning and growing going on, I was still writing but posting needed a break. So here we are, winning at life one step at a time.
Heres a few things that have permeated my spirit this last year that I hope encourages you today.
The FIRST thing I learned this season is that to keep going, to keep thriving — Your body, spirit and mind need HEALING! Not just one and done healing, but maintenance healing! (totally my own word and a revelation for me !)
I’ve been a type 1 diabetic for THIRTY- ONE years now! That’s a long time for being alive without an entire organ of your body not working! So I found supplements that helped me heal from the inside out. I also found out that workout routines can change as your seasons change without feeling guilt about it! (what a light bulb moment! ) It’s okay that some things that used to work don’t anymore and its okay to look for something new.
I also found new spaces to fill my Spirit and mind. Through just trying stuff I found what didn’t work and what did for my mental and spiritual health! (we all have needed a whole lot of that this year, am I right?!)
The SECOND thing I I RELEARNED that HARD is NOT always BAD. Growing means not staying the same. Not staying the same means stepping out into something that is not what is right now. This means trust and faith are exercised as you step from what you know into something that you don't know YET. Stepping into something we don’t know is HARD because the trust it takes to make the step means letting go of control. HARD is not always BAD, but it requires trusting and letting go.
the THIRD thing I discovered and experienced is the POWER OF HOPE. the Bible says to go through trials with JOY. Somehow I thought that the subject of the joy was the trial - meaning that I was supposed to see the actual trial itself as good. Though there can be truth to that, after reading James one (New Testament) over and over I realized that the subject of the joy is not the trial . The subject of the joy is knowing there's hope because of what's COMING. We can feel all the feels, go through the mud and experience grief and pain and sadness. We can AT THE SAME TIME have joy because we know that when we look ahead there is a future promised us, a kingdom waiting for us, and a character completed and whole as a result of the journey.
I don’t know what your journey through a world of Covid has been through this year. I will not pretend that it was a year of mountain tops for you. For some it’s been full of valleys, for some it’s been rewarding despite lots of pain, and for others its been a mix of all the things. I DO KNOW that through the hard there is always opportunity in our perspective, and in those opportunities the choice to see and experience HOPE.
Where is hope? When you can't find it in the mud, know that HOPE shines in a Kingdom that stands forever, and shines for you. Know that YOU were made with purpose and worth to fit into that kingdom knowing that it was made for YOU.