Strength in the Middle

If you seem to think life gets easier on the other side of the valley, perhaps think again...because there's a fight that stirs even when we pass through the loneliness of this new territory.When the crowd's died down and learning to walk again takes a renewed mantra.Because even if we're just trying to make it to the end, there's so much we often forget in the middle of the valley. Friend there's truly a beginning and there's an end to every suffering...But what we do in the middle really matters too.Because our response to suffering seems to be louder than anything we often say. I believe, It's because healing happens here. People meet God here and find healing here too. I've found it's all too easy to become paralyzed in the midst of pain.And we have to resist becoming swallowed up by it...Because it's here we create something absolutely beautiful, when we speak in the midst of our pain.There's so much to living like this...we carry Christ into our broken world when we live like this. And wherever brokenness exists, healing is found. It's here we become proof of who God is....Because the beauty of brokenness exists inside our healing. And this is where peace is found in the middle of the valley...Even when we feel like our world is crashing down,God's working.Even when we feel like we can't breathe...or life seems just seems all too overwhelming...Know there's peace in the valley, friend...When we quiet all the noise within...peace is found.It's here stories of brokenness are penned and written. Not to be read as a eulogy, but shared across tables.  Because honestly, the rescue we've been begging God for, is often brought through someone he sets beside us.And being vulnerable in these seasons while resisting doing it all alone, is where insecurity and loneliness lose their strength. ---I remember it like it was yesterday.As I stood at my mirror that Sunday morning, I saw my reflection and I wondered how we were going to do this. Because these kinds of things aren't supposed to happen, I didn't have them written in our story. They broke the steadiness I'd spent years asking God for. Joe was about to stand in front of our church family like he's done so many times before, but this day, it was quite different. You see, just a few days before he'd discovered something strange growing on the side of his neck. And these are the kinds of things people spend years trying to avoid, the deformed growths we don't want to be seen. Yet as I stared into the mirror that morning, everything inside of me wanted him to walk off the stage and hide. Yet something stirred strongly within and told me, this time we needed to do this differently. I felt like God was cupping my face in that moment to get my attention.As he kindly but firmly told me...'this thing that's about to sweep you away- is to be lived in the midst of people...openly, rawly up close and real.'As I felt God speaking this over me, I heard him calmly remind me how Joe peacefully left the house that morning. And friend, this is exactly what we chose to do. I think in the image filtered world we seem to be creating, there's so much more to this kind of living needed these days.I know it's not easy and it doesn't always seem pretty to look at.Because when we're bleeding out all we wan't to do is find something to stop it from gushing out. But the truth is somewhere inside each of is a wound in need of some healing.And there's something comforting inside this kind of truth. But we can't begin living this way until we give words to what we're all going through. Sharing our souls in the midst of the hard, isn't a sign of weakness.Because we can't let our world tell us the kind of beauty they're looking for, define for us what's real, how to create our stories or even how influence grows a following.  Because I believe its only what gets lived out totally authentic that captures attention. ....It's not popularity that measures the wealth of a soul, but what bleeds out when its tested.Friend when we unwind and allow our fraility to be seen, others learn they're really human too. You see, that girl that keeps looking at us like we have it all together needs to see us for real.Because otherwise, we become the girl everyone wants us to be rather than the ONE God  wants us to be. ---And as we're caught up in all God has for us these days, I'm trying to remember there's a sacred beauty in walking like this. There's a rhythm to our footsteps these days, even if they're a little clumsy and unsteady.Because we can spend the entirety of our days waiting for change to come or we can live inside the days we're in.  And honestly living life like this can seem kind of crazy.It's living like this that uncovers secrets and its where all we've been hiding gets seen.  But its also where shame gets left behind and we find the kind of love we've been looking a lifetime for. And although being human is painfully hard, it's the most beautiful thing we're given.It's where we live through the deepest part of suffering and experience the most beautiful part of love all at the same time. And sometimes, we are the reason someone else is able to survive...It's not us really, it's living our live's completely unveiled that gives another the strength to continue on.And if you haven't experienced this kind of living...you really need to. Because although living in the midst of suffering is hard, awaiting our healing can be one of the most HOPE-FULL things we do. And I suppose I'm not really here to offer you much advice or even tell you how to survive your hard season...I'm merely here to tell you if your heart is feeling like its busted up in a million little pieces and you're feeling pain all over your body....Just know you're not alone and there's people who want to listen, who want to walk beside you and who want to walk you to the other side of your healing.