"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever." -- Isak Dinesen
"I walked a mile with Pleasure
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow
And ne'er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me." - Robert Browning Hamilton
And ne'er a word said she;
But oh, the things I learned from her
When Sorrow walked with me." - Robert Browning Hamilton
"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer." - J.R.R.Tolkien, The Two Towers
"Pain is never permanent." --Teresa of Avila
Growing up I probably experienced more physical pain than most people. I had many injuries and surgeries, and I learned and grew a great deal from those experiences. I learned how to sympathize with other people's suffering.
But the past two weeks, I have been learning about a different kind of pain - emotional, not physical. And I have to say I prefer the latter. I would rather break my bones or have another concussion than deal with losing people I love.
Yet as hard as it is, as much as I wish I could just fast-forward to the end and not be stuck here in the middle, with pain, I have seen many beautiful things come out of it. It has knit Robert and I closer together like nothing else in our marriage, and I have never loved or admired my husband more. I have received such great amounts of love and kindness and service from my family members, and I am so grateful for that. It has made me more appreciative of my children and more willing to be patient with their small faults. And most of all, I have seen and felt the presence of God more clearly in my life, even as I struggle with my inability to understand His plan. Pain changes us. We will never be the same people we were before...but we can only trust it will make us better if we allow it.
"Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning." - Psalm 30:5
