I cannot begin to describe to you all how my year has been. It has been full of great blessings as well as some unexpected twists and turns. At times, it has felt like it’s difficult to keep my head above the water. However, I have learned that we have to take both the good with the bad.
This year, I lost one of my very best friends; it was something that I would never have imagined would happen; but as a Christian, I know and trust that the rain will come. It always hurts when it rains; nonetheless, the rain still must come. I will never devalue loss; but I cannot deny what is uncovered after the rain comes.
Rain unveils much. It washes away what was lost, it prepares the ground for what will come and it softens the earth to allow what roots us to grow even deeper which exposes the roots of our character. As the storm comes, and the winds blow, the thunder roars and we are flooded with rain, who are we? Are we the person that we have claimed to be, or are our words just a claim?
I constantly pray that I am doing and displaying the character that wholly and fully represents who Christ wants me to be and often I screw up. I do not always make the mark, but I am a work in progress. I value honesty, integrity and believe that it is not enough to say who we are, but we must walk our words into action.
As easy as these words are to say, what we do not tend to understand is that encapsulating consistency, honesty, and integrity may lead to hurt and pain. This is not done out of intentionality, but, as we model these behaviors, it reveals the character of those around us. You all will not believe how many people I have told, Ask me if you have any questions or Ask if you need something; and the questions never come and the something is never asked and all you hear are the whispers around you.
Now, trust these words as I write them, it is never a bad thing to see the leaves fall off of a tree that has been shaken. Leaves must fall in order to see the true foundation of what is around us which again reveals what truly grounds us. The fallen leaves may bring hurt, sadness, and pain; but, soon after, the rain will come and wash away your loss, the ground will be tilled to reveal new earth and your roots will go deeper and you will see new life.
In all things, remember the rain. The rain shows the truth of who we are and gives us the opportunity to continue and ground ourselves in who we say we are; or we may choose to keep pretending. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, the choice becomes ours when we remember the rain.
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