Healing Wounds

The words 'you'll heal' are powerful.But...How do we prepare for re-entry following a hard season?Because we've all had a scab fall off a wound and break open again. And the fear of this can sometimes shake us up more than we'd ever admit.We don't always know the way upwards when we're climbing out of valley....this my friend, is where we practice climbing without a harness and free fall our trust into God's arms. Because we don't know if on our way out of this valley-if something else is going to take our breath away.And if we let it our unspoken mess can break us in two just wondering these things.This friend, is where worry is birthed, it cracks our hearts wide open until we cringe at the steps forward.I know because this is exactly where I am today.As I sit here on a flight heading to a conference- it's the first time Joe and I've been apart since his cancer scare. And if you've ever experienced trauma you know just little steps forward can be hard. Because we finally figured out how to keep in rhythm through the past year and walking a different path for a few days can feel a bit awful. It can make you want to huddle together and never be apart.But sometimes the very things, which break us truly make us into who God needs us to be.And maybe the most healing and courageous thing we can do is admit our brokenness when we feel like this...when we're safe enough to be blatantly honest.I could feel the ache inside of both of as I was getting ready to leave. Because there's comfort in continuing on and not ushering in any changes.---When we went on a trip together recently, we both noticed how life had changed us. We couldn't take some of the more rigorous paths and our unsteady feet prevented us from climbing trails but there's something quite sacred with this.You see, sometimes the cross we carry is enduring the pain and discomfort we've been living through. Because it's here that others see us making it through the valley. And they open up and share their own scary scars with us right there.Because none of our brokenness is the same, it's all unique to who we are.---Last night I saw this standing right in front of me...As a young mom chased me down to tell me she's been carrying a piece of her story all wadded up. So as we stood there and she bravely unfolded her story -I was in tears. Because when you see a survivor living and breathing a story of loss and she tells you the way you've been walking through this valley has been softening her heart, it makes what happened matter in Heaven.And when she decided to let it all come out- I heard her say the words, 'it's all because of you'.You see, Joe shared a prayer about this when he was first diagnosed. He told God if he had to have cancer for someone to come to Him..'then I'll do it'. I remember when he first uttered these battle-strong words. But hearing him repeat them last night struck me and had me all torn up in tears. Because he was saying, even after all of the horrible chemo pumped into his veins, even with all of the spinal chemo and even through all of the surgeries and pain, even now it was all worth it-What was it worth?One life coming back to God?As I watch Joe still daily live with aches & pains, even then he dared to speak these words- 'If that's what I had to go through to get you back to God- so be it, it was worth it-you are worth it'.What are you going through and who could you speak words like this over?What kind of broken mess could you say is worth a life coming back to Jesus?As we're making our way back to health and mending our wounds-God's been busy mending souls of those who've drifted away. Those who are watching us carry our wounds up to God.And this reminds me so much about how love truly heals wounds -God's love for us powerfully mends our one broken heart and that same love mends all of the busted hearts beside us too!