or those heroes of mine who will listen and then say, “Me, too.” That stinks” or those who will admit that they don’t have answers…but they do have chocolate…. My healing comes from people who are not afraid to sit with me while I cry, or to just say “Wow. I don’t respond to “time heals all things,” or the inane “just give it to God” clichés. I do not like when people dismiss a person’s suffering with “Well, at least….” conversations. I do not like “all things happen for a reason” talks.
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If you’ve read anything of mine, you know I take issue with people who misuse God’s word, not out of their own ignorance (because I’m sure we all do that), but those who use it as a cop-out or as a diluted substitution for empathy or action.
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I’ve battled changing employment situations, challenging family decisions, my own issues with anxiety and depression, not to mention the challenges of moving to a new place and establishing new connections and new friends. I don’t feel the need to get into details, but I’ve struggled physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually for some time now. While we have been blessed and have prospered in many ways, I have also struggled a great deal. I think it started when we moved to Franklin a little over three years ago. I’ve been in a transitional period in life, a wandering in the desert, so to speak. I’m sure that’s the most elementary version of it possible, but even so, it sounds terrifying.īeing brought close to death, to the brink of existence, whether literally from chemotherapy, or figuratively from the circumstances of life, will either make us stronger, healthier or better in the end, or it will kill us: physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or in all of those ways. Through other treatments, you are strengthened and brought back from the brink, hopefully without the deadly cancer cells. I don’t know about it, personally, but I understand that chemotherapy treatments essentially take your body to the brink of death, creating a sort of “clean slate,” killing good and bad cells alike. I try not to hate things, but I hate cancer. Today, I’m thinking of dear friends who have battled different forms of cancer. There are days when we can’t decipher if whatever we’re going through is “it,” our final undoing, or if the details are just sparks in a blazing fire, forging our steely resolve. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” There are some days, no doubt, when we can’t tell the difference.
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Sometimes we forget…we’ve got to continue reminding each other. And it’s always important to remember that God’s got our back. This particular post of hers speaks to me because I’ve had some of the very same struggles, the very same thoughts. And I love her writing because all of that shines through. I’ve admired Betsy for a long time – she’s straight-forward, intelligent, and funny. And I grew up with Betsy’s husband Blake. My mom and her dad served on the yearbook staff together when THEY were in Freed-Hardeman. =) While I didn’t meet Betsy until our freshman year of college, our connections go back further. I’m pretty thrilled that my friend Betsy is our guest blogger today.