The Tapestries of Our Lives

I have recently read a book by Paula Rinehart titled "Strong Women, Soft Hearts." This book really helped me identify what was happening in my heart and encouraged me to stay open, to stay vulnerable...

She writes, "You know you're an adult when you start to realize that some sorrows in life will never go away. You learn to carry them with you in ways that enrich rather than debilitate your life, in ways that make you wise. But the dark and knubbly places in the fabric, the tapestry of your life, remain. It matters where you go from here. It matters to you and to everyone you love. It matters to God. For the secret you stumble on is that if, once hurt, you open your heart and let God take you by the hand, he will lead you to a better place than you have known. Not necessarily easier, but a place of freedom and even joy. Pain is a special province of the heart. And in the providence of a merciful God, he is able to convert it to something golden. Something good. There are inevitable losses in life. But there is one thing you do not have to lose- your heart. Some tragedies, [like the death of Nikki], cannot be prevented. but the tragedy of losing heart can."

Friends, I urge you to keep your hearts open, letting the Lord do the work that He needs in order to bring restoration to your life. We live in a world that is terribly broken, yet there is light. When God seems silent and distant, we take comfort that He is near us. "The scandal of God's silence in the most heartbreaking hours of our journey is perceived in retrospect as veiled tender Presence and a passage into pure trust that is not at the mercy of the response it receives."- Brennan Manning

Since Nikki's death, I'm feeling the desire to serve back in Africa. After Ethiopia and Egypt, I am even more drawn to that continent. I will be graduating in May and then... who knows. Please keep me in your prayers as I look into a few possibilities- in the near future as well as long term.

Lord, I pray for these fellow readers tonight, that whatever is going on in their lives, they listen to Your voice, resisting the temptation to close off their hearts out of fear. Thank you for being near to us when hope sometimes seems lost. We rejoice in our coming Savior. Heal our wounded hearts and bring us closer to You. Amen.