I’m still recovering from the exposure but I already felt well enough to do all of our laundry today! At around 5pm this evening we got back on the road toward Rapid City. The film crew is coming tomorrow and we need to be ready.
During the trip we remembered a talk that Brett gave at our church four years ago, just one year after our happy newlywed life had completely fallen apart. It was about how we were coping with our suffering and we wondered whether it might encourage some of my readers. We decided to listen to it again and see what we thought.
My heart almost skipped a beat. Would it bring back a lot of painful memories? Would it make me cry uncontrollably?
My sweet Brett’s words did bring up a lot of emotions, but thankfully not a crying festival. In the end, it challenged and encouraged us and we decided that it would be worth sharing on the blog. I hope some of Brett’s words will resonate with you and fill your heart with courage.
I also want to take a moment to acknowledge that many of my readers are not Christians or even religious at all. If that is you, I just want to say that I am so honored that you are following my recovery journey! My goal in my writing is to be myself without alienating those who believe differently than I do. It’s a hard balance to strike but I’m doing my best.
If you do believe differently, then perhaps this talk won’t resonate with you. On the other hand, perhaps you will find encouragement in seeing how a person of faith wrestles through issues of suffering. Either way, I want you to know that I respect you and I want my blog to be a place where everyone can come away with a little more courage and hope.
Secondly, if you are a Christian, I just want to acknowledge that this talk is missing one very important piece of how we are called to endure suffering: Lament. Lament is something we’ve been thinking a lot about recently and we’re just now learning how to do it. So, I just want to reassure you that, yes, lament is an appropriate response to suffering and it is still an expression of trust in God. In the end, I think our approach to suffering will be healthiest and most beautiful when it’s a natural cycle of lament for things lost, gratitude for things gained and hope for a new earth.
So, without further ado,
Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering
By the way, Brett and I made a beautiful PDF of my favorite resources for suffering souls. I created the content and he made it look fancy with his superduper graphic design skills. It’s available for free to my email subscribers. Click here to sign up and receive 5 Resources for the Suffering Soul.
