one girl's journey

So, I've been going to this book/Bible study & it's been great & challenging for me.

It started out with a deep look at the 23rd Psalm. Those infamous words that many of us know by heart simply because it is often spoken at funerals. The shepherd & his flock & how He promises to care for us. We like to translate "care for us" on our terms....like so many other promises in the Bible....making God fit into our version of the story rather than the other way around. The last lesson was about wisdom & discerning wisdom & the books of the Bible where you find much insight here.....Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon & Ecclesiates. Good....I wrote it all down. Because I do desire to walk with wisdom....I want my eyes to see clearer & my words to be those of, well, wisdom. And then one thing she said has stuck with me....suffer well....and teach your kids to suffer well.....

Oh, the idea of true suffering for me is more than I can write down. It's those haunting fears that creep up when I can't sleep at night...my greatest fears of suffering - I truly don't think I can talk about. And to do that well? Honestly, I don't really want to suffer - much less to do it well. And I trick myself into believing that if I just avoid the whole topic of learning to suffer well all together that I will never have to really put it into practice. Like that's my call.

And then there's this girl that I knew back in college. A truly remarkable girl. One not too different from this girl. And she was on a road that required much suffering.

And she did it well.

She had a place like many of us do - online where we share our thoughts & stories - and I'm so glad she did so that so many can be a part of her journey. Her amazing amazing journey.

This is just a part of it.