Life is filled with joyful, beautiful, and peaceful moments but the sorrowful, ugly, and chaotic moments are so much more demanding that we can lose sight of the beautiful and be discouraged by the ugly. I find myself in this dilemma more often than I would like to be. This week comes with lots of emotions and remembrances, and it is easy to sink into despair. Yesterday, seeing flags at half-staff, my mind wandered back to that morning of much uncertainty and fear. Our teacher in-service was a lovely distraction from those thoughts. Most of the time, it is hard for me to determine if it is better to sit in my thoughts and grapple with the ugly or to quickly move on to a distraction to improve my mood. Big emotions take time and effort to work out in an appropriate manner. If I have a difficult time as an adult with a lot of tools in my belt to work through emotions, I know our little ones have a much harder time expressing themselves when big emotions come their way. Big emotions call for a lot of patience, with myself and with others, and a lot of guidance from the village of supporters around me. Asking for guidance, wisdom, and help isn’t a sign of weakness, but of courage. If you are sitting in the ugly today, be courageous and reach out to someone to help bring you back to a place of beauty.
Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
This is my command - be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT