Nothing & Everything.

A loss occurs.
Emotional tearing away.
Physical bruises remain.

something has been taken away
change happens.

Pain is injected into your daily life.

Whether this was an ugly surprise.
Or the suffering had been on the horizon.

You must move forward with pieces scattered.

But you know Truth.
You know healing.
You know Trust in restoration.

But this.

Is.
Different.

It is not a sickness to be healed.
Or freed.


A pain that remains.
The new normal.

Nothing. Will. Ever. Be. The. Same.

You seek prayers.
You seek counsel.
You seek books with answers.
You seek momentary numbness.

You seek.
You find.
Love in the depths.
Grace in the moment.
Empathy in the cries.

Yet.
It remains.


Healing might not come this side of Heaven.
We are not guaranteed full release.
Full freedom.
Full walking away scar-less.


Some times we are never the same.
We can never go back to what we used to know.
Who we used to trust.
The empty words we used to say.

If we have hope secured.
And eyes to Eternity.
Our healing is coming.
Our freedom sure.

But maybe not now.


That does not diminish His Power. 
The all encompassing Presence.
The tears on His face.
The understanding.

You are not alone in this mess.
This pain.
This sharp newness.

Good will come.
Sweet moments of the deep ache lifted.
Sunny mornings.

But it will remain.
And so will He.


That's beauty we find here.
He is constant.
More consistent than the anguish of soul.

A life time of pain is worth an eternity of glory.


Hold fast.
He is near.



..

Among Thorns.

I made a bold decision.

I bought some dirt.
Flower seeds.
And a small yellow flower pot.

I'm growing daisies.

I hate flowers.


But I'm trying.


I've been taking one picture every few days to watch the progress.
I'm amazed at these things.
They are growing.

Slowly.
But surely.

I honestly don't know what I expected.

They're doing what they were created to do.


It's the silliest thing.
I feel completely ridiculous.
But they make me feel like a little kid.



I check on them every morning at the kitchen window sill where they sit.
And genuinely become excited at their simple progress.

What sweet little flowers.
I sound absurd.


But I'm learning.
And that's a good thing.


I appreciate how I'm being taught some of the deepest lessons in the most precious ways.



"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin..."



..