we all have something to share
The week I moved in with the Hodges back in February, Tam put up a blog post to let people know. It was short and sweet, but beautiful (and still brings me tears to this day). In it, she asked everyone to share something that would help strengthen my heart.
“I would love if you’d be willing to share the biggest piece of wisdom in life that you have.”
The responses that flooded in were absolutely incredible. They were filled with encouragement… truth… wisdom… love. I am as amazed now as I was then at the incredible friends God has blessed my life with. I may lack in many areas, but this much I know is true: I am rich in friendship.
Anyway… I was reading back through all those amazing comments again tonight, and I got a lump in my throat when I came to Gitz’s.
“don’t let fear have the power. be faithful to the struggle and live to fulfill, not understand.”
There is still so much for me in her words. Maybe even more today than back in February.
And while I wrestle to understand the full meaning of those statements and how to live them out in my own life, I have to smile with tear-filled eyes because Sara showed me how.
She is my greatest example of not letting fear have the power, being faithful to the struggle, and living to fulfill rather than understand.
Just… wow.
With how impactful (why isn’t that a real word?) all the comments on that post were to me, I’m going to cheat and just ask you Tam’s question again. Because you guys have some seriously good stuff to share, and I can use every ounce of it I can get my hands on!
So — without first looking back to see what you shared on Tam’s post back in February —-
“I would love if you’d be willing to share the biggest piece of wisdom in life that you have. Maybe it’s an old saying handed down from your Grandparents. Or, a favorite verse. Or something you’ve learned in your own life-journey. Perhaps share words of encouragement… Whatever it is, share it here.”
I know we will all be better for it.
@amykiane says:
This just dawned on me a few weeks ago as I’ve learned to live with a grateful heart. Sometimes the best decision you can make, the one you know God has lead you to, can also bring the most hurt. But if we keep serving, if we stay faithful and foster a grateful heart we will be covered by His peace.
@gritandglory says:
hard truth to learn and know, amy…
@jtaylorwrites says:
My biggest piece of wisdom thus far
Live my life purpose filled. In the moment. Beyond the confines of my current circumstances. Beyond my trials. I am Blooming Where I am Planted.
@gritandglory says:
so so good!
Tomorrow will not necessarily be the same as today…so press on.
@e_j_reading says:
:o) I love this. At one point fairly recently the only thing that got me through day after day was the phrase “This too shall pass”.
@gritandglory says:
mmmm…
@gritandglory says:
thank you jesus…
Nothing I have ever done or will ever do surprises God. My life, the good, the bad and the ugly are all well known to Him. He saw it all and made me anyways. I’m not a disappointment to Him. He has me right where He wants me for His pourpose.
@gritandglory says:
and for this, i am so so thankful…
@e_j_reading says:
Knowing God without pain and darkness is good, knowing God despite pain and darkness is great, knowing God IN pain and darkness is priceless.
If we have been entrusted with living in pain lets strive for the later, to know him IN the pain, to choose to change the bitter into bittersweet,and maybe one day into just sweet.
@gritandglory says:
WOAH. THAT, dear girl, THAT, is heart-opening truth. “knowing God IN pain and darkness”….
@dubdynomite says:
Don’t let pain paralyze you. Great athletes play hurt a lot of the time, and still make a huge impact. Your pain does not define who you are or what you can do.
Pain wants you to focus on getting relief, and that makes you act selfishly. Don’t let pain motivate your actions; do what you do in spite of it, not because of it.
@gritandglory says:
play through the pain….
powerful.
I’m struggling right now with feeling like I have any wisdom at all, but I will share my favorite verse of encouragement…Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
(NIV1984)
@gritandglory says:
that verse has always been so meaningful to me…
God I miss her. More than I’ve ever missed anyone in my life. I don’t know when that pain goes away. In a way I hope it doesn’t because it reminds me how close we were, how real it was.
Sigh.
Anyway. Wisdom. I have none. I’m learning more and more that I have none. I’m learning in lots of very hard ways how to stop before speaking and pray (Learned that from Ellyn) and how to adjust my attitude based on what a servant would do (learned that from Sacred Marriage). I’m not very good at either most of the time, but I do think there’s lots of wisdom in both of those things.
@gritandglory says:
“God I miss her”… me too…
@julespreever says:
Keep moving. Love is in the little moments. Run to them.
@gritandglory says:
love that, jules.
@traceepersiko says:
That’s some great truth.
Learning that faith is really believing in a God who is illogical, sometimes unrecognizeable, and beyond my understandings. All equals me being on the right path.
@gritandglory says:
yes and amen!
@ilaughoften says:
“people will lie, talk, mock & influence you til the day the Good Lord calls you home, it’s what you choose to listen to & allow to penetrate the Fathers’ love that will define who you will become. For he [satan] came to steal, kill & destroy, draw close to the Father’s voice, cause in the end – what He says is all that really matters”.
a wise young woman (my grandmother) said this to me, during a time in life where there seem to be no light. lonliness seem to be the only thing obtainable. This has been so true getting older and learning to completely rely on Him.
Love ya friend, from the great pnw!
@gritandglory says:
beautiful!
i’m pretty sure i didn’t share something back then, but if i may, i will share something now. :o)
many of the things that hurt most in life will actually serve to bring about our healing if we let them. when we pray with an end in mind of making our lives easier, just making the pain stop, we may be asking God to usher us right past the thing that will help shape & mold us into who we were always meant to be. i don’t think that being “healed” means that we live without pain or scars or wounds — i think it means that we let those things teach us to see God, life, ourselves, others, and the world rightly — as we were always meant to.
love you, alece. <3
xoxo,
kirsten
@gritandglory says:
i owe you an email – big time. but this…? these words? from YOU? woman, you have my heart in knots… and a lump in my throat… i don’t even know how to process this… YOU, my dear amazing friend, are my role model…
@soleufracio says:
Take big risks. Their scary, uncomfortable, and you may cry a bit, but they are always worth it. Always worth seeing more of your character, God’s character and why life is meant to be lived to the fullest.
@gritandglory says:
YES!
I’ve been thinking so much about Gitz this week – I seem to be running into things that make my heart grip with remembering her and yet thanking God for her life…
Ok how crazy, just as I was typing this someone walked into my office and picked up the plaque I have with Gitz and her words on it and I got into a whole conversation about her… that seems to happen quite frequently and I love it :)
The best advice I have gotten has also come from her “Choose Joy” – and that gives my heart such freedom and has really changed my life so much and I’m so grateful
@gritandglory says:
choose joy…
my eyes feel instantly with tears and my heart overflows with gratitude and — damn, i just miss her.
me too friend. And seriously, I cannot tell you how many times either you, or Mandy, or my friend Thelma, or someone on twitter has posted something in remembrance of Sara and it has completely validated this “missing-ness” in my heart… I have her all over my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The missing is so worth it for the time we all got to have with her…
since the first time i heard FOOTPRINTS it was special and helpful to me.now it means so much more to me.in 2009 i was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis.yes the desease that took sweet sara.it attacks each person differently but we learn more from each other.for me it has attacked my spine,hip,joints,and caused a bump on the back of my neck that hurts real bad.i just found out i have low thyroid and that my asthma is back.i am tired all the time and some days i am unable to funtion.i have about 5 steps to get in/out of my home.this is a big struggle for me.i no longer drive because i am so tired i am afraid i would not be able to stop myself from sleeping and i could do this behind the wheel.what could happen stops me.as i go thru this journey,i know that when i look back and see alot of single steps this would be my darkest moments and HE would be carrying me.this helps me so much.i wish i new of sara before her dying days[during this time when she was dying it spread like wildfire thru all the support groups for AS.so many of us wish we new her in life and before death.from what i read about her she was so much stronger then i.thru reading and learning about sara i learned to face death and not be afraid.i had decided a long time ago what i wanted when i die but never had courage to speak it out loud.sara gave me the courage to speak my mind and make peace with the possibility that this thing could kill me.in 2009 i had been inmitted into the hospital and one ? they asked was: do you have a living will?my responce :no.then they asked:do you want one?i have had this burning on my brain ever since,maybe soon i will
@gritandglory says:
oh colleen… i just want to hug you. and sit with you. and get to know you and your amazing heart… please please PLEASE stay in touch. please.
i will and thank you for blogging.i love to read your stories,i no longer can read books but blogs are so much easier and helps me get thru the days.
@tonyjalicea says:
Love gives. Humility receives.
@gritandglory says:
DANG. that’ll preach.
Nothing. No thing. Not ANY thing. No thing you have done; No thing that has been done to you; Not ANY thing past, present or future. NO THING. NOTHING, can separate you from the love of Christ Jesus. not. any. thing.
@bahava says:
oh sweet gitz. she is so wise.
i think the words that get me and that i so struggle to trust when circumstances don’t seem like it are “truth always wins out.”
@gritandglory says:
yes. yes. yes. i am still waiting to see it — to experience it — and meanwhile, trying to still hope for it to be true.
Nothing. No thing. Not ANY thing. No thing you have done; No thing THAT HAS BEEN DONE TO YOU; Not ANY thing past, present or future. NO THING. NOTHING. Nothing, can separate you from the love of Christ Jesus. not. any. thing.
@gritandglory says:
the way you wrote that? so dang good!
I think recently I’ve been struggling not to get caught up in my definition of what God’s promised and wanting things to happen on my schedule. If that makes any sense, and then in an advent devotional I just started I read this, which really resonated with me.
“There is no more powerful expectation that the patience in the promises of God, for He provided the Lamb and the Lamb is the coming King.”
@gritandglory says:
oooooh — i love that statement!
@crittyjoy says:
Our beautiful mutual friend Karen Hammons shared something with me last week that a friend shared with her and I keep pondering on it.
Risk Hoping. I have struggled this year with hope.
Life is a risk. Yet we live it. So why not risk hope too.
And one thing I am learning this year….
Life is an adventure meant to be lived fully. Every day. See the moments of each day and embrace this adventure. It’s what He has meant our lives to be.
Those words from sweet Gitz ring powerfully true in my heart tonight. Something I will definitely be remembering in the coming days.
@gritandglory says:
“risk hoping”… i know this to be so true. i feel the deep risk of hope even now… yet it’s a risk i so desire to take.
This is the best I’ve got & you know I use it every chance I get…
Don’t let the stuff in your past & your need to control what happens in your future hijack your present.
I’m trying to live that everyday!
@gritandglory says:
you know i love it.
@hopefulleigh says:
I’m a new Tara-Leigh Cobble fan and these words from her book Orange Jumpsuit have been ringing in my head since reading them last week:
“Weave the story lines of the life you want, plan the layout of your future home, write the list of necessary characteristics of your future spouse. But life and time will have their way with you. And in the end, that’s even better than what you planned. Truly. But it’s also uglier. You will be disappointed. That disappointment is vital- otherwise you would become an insufferable, entitled wretch.”
It goes on from there- well worth reading the whole book. We don’t know how God will use the ugly in our lives, only that He will. He redeems it all in the end. We need only choose whether we will recognize and see His goodness in our lives in spite of the bad.
@gritandglory says:
i’ve never heard of that book, but you’ve got me intrigued…
@JewelzSightings says:
Don’t live in hiddenness. No one gets healed in isolation. Live fully vulnerable with those you see God putting before you. To the depth that you are vulnerable will be the depth to your healing. It’s when we live in the worst of us that we are loved more for the telling. Know that it is not about what you do. It’s about what Jesus has done. Remember that every day, even on your worst day, you are the righteousness of Christ. He HAS made you holy, righteous, godly. You don’t have to attempt to be that… because you already are. Jesus finished the work. Now you get to live Jesus in you. All that he inherited you inherited. You are loved more than life itself. Need, desperately need, God and others. Don’t run from the stillness. It’s a gift where God becomes a verb in life. Don’t fear the silence, it is the place where fertilizer is applied to the faith of the soul. Remember that God is good, not based on what He does but on who He is….. Know that He will move heaven and earth to come for your, personally, by name…. You are His and He is yours…. These are my words of wisdom.
@gritandglory says:
hard truth, but ultimately freeing…
@sundijo says:
Always be accountable to someone. Don’t let your thoughts stay stored in your mind collecting unnecessary dust. Be bold. Never forget where you came from. 2 Timothy 1:7 is my life verse, and I fight every day to live like that. Some days are certainly better than others.
@gritandglory says:
so good!
Courage is not the absence of fear but the belief that something is more important than fear.
@gritandglory says:
A to the MEN.
@XCWATERBOY says:
life is too big and valuable and potentially amazing to be pigeon-hold by the culture or expectations of others. Live your life freely, honestly and with passion. You’ll be significantly happier than so many others.
@gritandglory says:
powerful.
Life is a story, a painting, a beautiful string of words unraveling in the hands of God. A story to express Him and His love and His glorious, infinite craziness. God’s a huge of wind of words and color and the truest goodness there is. When we die our bodies sink into the ground like leaves. Some are brown and tattered and some are red and whole–sometimes mirroring our souls, sometimes not. That inconsistency is there because God is so huge we can’t represent His consistent whole. Only He can do that. But the glory is that He will do that.
It’s God’s story, and in the darkness the light shines the brightest, and even the brown leaves will become dirt for a bountiful harvest someday. Our life, our particular string of words and color, cannot have resolution until there’s been the hardness. Until parts of us, or all of us, has been buried alongside the brown leaves, we cannot yield harvest. We cannot be harvest.
And one day, on earth or in heaven, we’ll step back and the unraveled strings of words will be a tapestry of glorious story. We’ll see God’s portrait there. And He Himself will stand behind us and put His hands on our shoulders and laugh and cry with us at the story, because the story will be the best story. Then we’ll turn around and see His face. His face will look like the portrait. Yet it will be so much more.
@gritandglory says:
for a girl who loves her some autumn like none other… this was perfectly beautiful!
For five years, I was able to stay at home with my kids. We lived in an extremely rural area and I couldn’t make a friend to save my life. Then, we moved to Louisville, KY, and we, as a family can’t be happier. . . except I had to go back to work. My husband got another job that wasn’t able to take care of all our finances. So, I work part time in the evenings. And, now, what I want more is to be home.
I’ve come to place where I have to be grateful, no matter what. I’m not sure that I will ever have things exactly as I want them. I may never, “have it all” but I can be grateful for what I have, to glad for the moment that I share with my family, and to be excited that I can share the love of Jesus where I work.
This has not been an easy lesson, and I still have to “go back to class”, but I have learned to take deep breathes and to be grateful for everything, even for being in a place where I don’t want to be.
@gritandglory says:
thank you, judy, for being painfully honest. really.
The hardest, most painful times are when God teaches the most precious lessons.
Embrace and endure the times of pruning and refining. Don’t try to abort or escape them. They are very necessary.
He always knows the true story.
Life is short.
Proper perspective is huge.
Someone always has it much worse than you.
To whom much is given, much is required.
Freely give what you have freely received.
“The will of God is never exactly what you expect it to be. It may seem to be much worse, but in the end it’s going to be a lot better and a lot bigger.” – Elisabeth Elliot
@gritandglory says:
yes and amen.
(and i love me some elisabeth elliot! did you know that?!)
Did not know that! Now I do. :)
I keep that quote in a small frame right here next to the computer. I want to get it deep in me. I’m definitely seeing glimpses of it becoming clearer and truer in my life.
@Homeschool_Mama says:
I’ve been thinking about your post for the past few days. I keep coming back to Ecclesiastes 3:1-14. The older I get the more I realize that there really is a time for everything. I’ve noticed, that as I go through these various seasons in life, that God is busy pruning – if I let go and allow Him too. I’ve also realized that when I allow Him to prune I come out changed, often stronger and wiser and hopefully a little more like Him.
On a side note, I’ve bought a canvas to paint a Choose Joy picture for my kitchen wall – just need to paint it now!
@gritandglory says:
that is so good. and so timely for me. i really don’t like “being okay” with seasons in friendships, but i need to be… sigh…
i would LOVE to see your canvas when you’re done. please send me a pic!
@marniarnold says:
Alece, the one thing I have learned over the course of the 34.5 years I have been on this 3rd rock from the sun is this…there will often be times in life when we need to simply “do it scared.”
I was raised in an environment where fear ruled the days, and in such an upbringing, it is easy to tuck tail and run every time I get wind of anything that challenges my comfort and security. Yet, every time I have given into the whims of fear…I always have paid a price I would have much rather done without; and when I have boldly faced my fear and pressed on through them, I have come out much better in the end. Henceforth came my life motto concern facing fear…”do it scared.”
Life will never be void of things to challenge us to the point fear rises up to try and take over who we are in Him. Fear is a big, burly giant that just needs a stone thrown at in the strength of God to take it down…we are all our own “David’s” in this respect. We have the power and authority to plow through fear and tear it down…but we will always feel emotions of itself in the process of slaying it. The point isn’t that we feel fear…it only matters how we let it affect our lives.
So yeah…that is what I have learned. Do I still get tempted…and even at times fall victim to fear though “do it scared” is my motto? Yep…but I know Whose grace I live in to help me out of the moments I fall even in within His midst.
@gritandglory says:
i live by the mantra of “do it afraid”… so i totally get this!
@lindseyfoj says:
Something my mom used to always say….
“Lindsey, be true to yourself and to the Lord. At the end of the day that is all that the Lord asks of you.”
Those simple words have helped me to weather many a storm, opinion, frustration, trial, decision…well, you get the idea…..it has changed my whole life…
@gritandglory says:
ooh i love that!
I have many words of wisdom, but they are all incomplete and I know it. :) The most I have for sure is what I am living right now: be yourself. Be authentically you. Even when the “you” you have goes against everything you know. There is a certain light that is gained from being authentically yourself that illuminates everything. Wherever there is pretense, there are always shrouds of darkness. The church has made a big thing out of this “without stain or blemish” thing. I think God is a real man, interested in a real woman … not an airbrushed cover girl. What we see as lumps, bulges, imperfections, celulite, wrinkles … he just sees as us. And he loves US. It’s oh so tempting to cover up and conceal; far too “safe” to make love in the dark. But “being perfect,” the way I am coming to understand it, is not about turning ourselves into a supermodel. It’s more about simply turning the lights on. Or, in the words of Coldplay, “Crack the shutters open wide; I want to bathe you in the light of day.”
Ha! That was Snow Patrol. Not Coldplay. :D
@idelette says:
I AM is enough.
These are the words I sat with this year. And with this: if “I AM” is and I am made in God’s image, then:
I, too, AM enough …
#exhale
I am enough.
You are enough.
#pressureoff
Much Love for these last two weeks of 2011. xoxo
I wrote out Charles Spurgeon words and put it on my fridge so that I can be reminded…daily:
Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition … Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, Divine Love would have put you there.