Thoughts on change, grace and learning the hard way.
“It’s sloppy theology to think that all suffering is good for us, or that it’s a result of sin. All suffering can be used for good,
over time, after mourning and healing, by God’s graciousness. But sometimes it’s just plain loss, not because you needed to grow,
not because life or God or anything
is teaching you any kind of lesson.
The trick is knowing the difference between the two.”
Shauna Neiquist was born to an American church figure Bill Hybels & his wife Lynne Hybels. Shauna literally grew up in church.
Drawing from her own experiences in a season of pain and chaos, Shauna shares her deeply personal struggles with career changes, several miscarriages, marital stress, financial worries & life-altering loss.
In these short essays, Shauna meticulously unwraps the hard truth that there is always something beautiful coming forth from the broken pieces and parts of our lives.
"A tribute to life at the edges, Bittersweet is a love letter to the bittersweet and sacred work that change does in us all."
Thoughts on CHANGE
Are there things you possess, places you frequent or scents you keep around because of a certain memory?
Do you ever listen to a song that reminds you of a place, a person or a season in your life?
I know I am not the only one that shivers at the thought of change. It has a way of revealing our inner most fears & landmines. Change does not stop. Instead, you will have one after the other. The trick is to embrace the idea of life as a beautiful mess.
CHANGE, has a way of revealing & dissecting our inner most desires, both in the best ways & the worst of them.
Change is an opportunity to rise up from your comfort zone and shed your skin as you reach for the horizon.
With much certainity as we know anything, change is bound to happen. Our knowledge of this truth will therefore help us know how to respond to this in line with our values & what we stand for.
Thoughts on GRACE
As Shauna Neiquist writes, you realize from her tone & style of writing that she wishes there were 1000 things she could have done differently. She argues that what keeps us stuck in this place is our own collection of fear & anxiety.
"I’m learning. It’s human to struggle. It’s human to nurse a brokenheart, to wonder if the pain will ever let up, to howl through your tears every once in a while. And the best, most redeeming, exciting thing I can
imagine,from the smashed-up, broken place I’ve been, is that something beautiful could blossom out of the wreckage."
Extend yourself the grace that you so easily give to others. Life is a journey & we cannot keep moving forward if we keep turning back & are haunted by the past. Growth, especially triggered by change takes time. And time is a process - continued progress of existence.
Learning the hard way
Life has a way of sometimes instructing us rather brutally. It is times like these when we need a safe landing spot.
We often find ourselves on paths that weren't ours to walk in the first place. So we leave bruised & bleeding seeking for help.
Seasons when we've gripped tightly to unrealistic expectations, those unspoken of and have in the end settled with fractured egos.
Shauna Neiquist from her experience shares a few notes on this - Choose what in this life you will do & not do. Trust an All-knowing God & wait out the storm. Figure out who your support system is & be that for them too.
For those that think the damage has been done and all is irreparable, in the words of Shauna Neiquist I will say, "Our hearts are more elastic than we think, and the work of forgiveness, transformation and growth can do things you can’t even imagine from where you’re standing now."
Lastly, the hardest truth that Shauna learned from her grandma, "Money among other things, doesn't buy happiness." It's not even yours in the first place, we are only stewards of it, of everything in this life. Now, I'm not saying that we should glorify suffering. I am saying that money, among other things should not be the center of life, leading to the corruption of your heart. None of it will matter in the end. Instead, all of it will be for others to inherit.
