Accept them both and keep company with the joy while the pain does it’s necessary renovations. - Ann Voskamp
Ann Voskamp - Do you know her? Ever since I found her, I feel confident that she is writing just to me. If you read her blog then you might think she's writing to you. I don't want to burst your bubble, but since this is my blog....I'm going to say it. She's writing to me. :o) I still can't believe that I was able to see her speak when she was in NC last summer. It was a small group of women, and she was incredible.
As Spring arrived, I thought I would feel relief. Relief in the beauty of colors and flowers and long days of playing outside. Instead, I feel a bit stuck. Our family is a bit stuck. I'm learning this "stuckness" isn't a bad thing, but it's a real thing. We are navigating how to allow Joy and Pain to walk hand in hand without one taking over the other. It's no secret to those who know me that I'm a fixer, a problem solver. This usually serves me well, but I've come to realize, this is something I can't fix. This is something we must walk through. I can't read it away, fix it away, or talk it away. I have to feel it, and trust that God is leading us on His path. It's no coincidence that these words, from Proverbs, are bringing me comfort.
"Trust in the Lord with all you heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
We trust. We don't understand, but we trust.
So, today, I feel thankful for Ann's words of honest encouragement. (Yep, I think Ann and I are on a first name basis. I met her, shook her hand, and she even gave me something...so we're practically best friends.)
Ann is speaking to a place in my heart that is broken. But, as she says, "We only are broken and this is beautiful: in brokenness, we are instruments in the hands of the Wounded Healer."
We are broken. We are beautiful.
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