God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. –Anonymous
19 years ago today
I stood at the edge
of a great abyss
in life
a part of me,
not known until that time,
had awakened
now I had a choice to make,
to accept –
or deny –
this part of myself,
which was revealed
in such a wild,
drastic,
unexpected
and overwhelming manner
I knew this would be
what, ultimately,
saved,
or
destroyed,
my life.
as I stood,
still in innocence,
not really knowing –
yet, somehow,
knowing in every way –
the costs,
the benefits,
the responsibility,
the awareness.
the long dark road ahead,
the excruciating valley years to come,
the sharp, rugged climb up the mountain.
19 years ago,
on this day,
I struggled
with all of this.
I made certain vows
concerning the choices
I would make through
my time of learning:
I would only follow love.
No matter how I failed, I would remember it is not about how good I am. I would try to live the words of Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount.
I would never make a choice
simply to benefit myself
or to get money.
I would learn to be truthful and fair and be the person I wanted to be.
I would be honest with myself – always – especially when I was wrong, or made a mistake.
I would stay aware and learn – so I would not make the same mistake twice.
I would make the best choice I could any given moment, and then move forward the best I could with no regret.
I would do my best and give my best.
I would look for good things every day.
That day I said ‘yes!’ to life
I jumped off the cliff
and began…
for good…
for bad…
to make my choices
from a new place of radical trust.
the rest is my history…
🍎
AL
All of my life I searched for truth and wanted to be beautiful
All my life I kept on moving looking for my home
All my life I played the part that someone else said was beautiful
All my life I lived afraid I couldn’t play that part
now I knock upon your door hear what my heart’s been longing for
welcome home
you belong
you are here
where I love you,
I want you
welcome home
won’t you stay
in my arms
I will hold you,
I need you
I won’t ever leave you
you are home
you are never alone
welcome home
I will sing you a song
I will build you an alter
I will shout to the hills
I will rise to the sky
I will bake you some bread
I will drink to your honor
I will dance in the rain
I will celebrate always
🏡
AL
Character. Strength. Intelligence. Style. That makes beauty.
💞
— Diane Von Furstenberg
A man looked for meaning.
For his very place in life.
He searched high and low.
He’d often hear a whisper, calling
his name from the other side
of what seemed like a door.
A door that remained hidden
from his ability to see.
Frustrated, he’d knock on
everything that resembled
a door. Turning here,
and there. Turning
just about anywhere.
Then one day,
unannounced,
it opened.
And he realised that he’d been
knocking from the inside.
And that the whisper
had been an echo.
The echo of his own soul
reminding him that
he was already home.
💞
The Whisper and the Echo by Nic Askew
life: acoustic & amplified 