Therapy is the reason for this blog.
Well, I guess I need to be honest and admit that it's for therapy, and also for hope. When I sit and look at everything going on not only in my own life but around the world, I go crazy with the thoughts {words} rolling around in my head all day long. So, this is an effort to get some of those out. I don't plan on many people really reading this (and maybe I should hope they don't,) but in case you do, I hope that explains a bit.
So, yeah. Cheap therapy. For me. Maybe for somebody else. Either way, it's worth it.
Now, a little explanation for the name. Life is rough, and I know that it is rough for everybody. None of us will walk away unscathed when we leave this life. A couple of months ago, we found out that my dad has brain cancer. He had a large tumor on the right side of his brain that was starting to affect him in some weird ways. A couple of CT scans later, and they find a tumor. He has a form of brain cancer that is called GBM, or glioblastoma multiforme. It's bad. Like, really bad. The more I learn about it, the more depressed I feel. But, I'm sure this blog will be filled with plenty of information on that subject (because of my aforementioned need for therapy,) so for now I will get back to the name of the blog. Just after his diagnosis, I was staying up at my parents' home and was doing my hair in my little sister's bathroom. Tucked into the side of her mirror was a piece of paper with the following:
"The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is the way you use them."
Hmmm.
A bit profound, especially at that point in my life. We all struggle, and we all get hit so hard that sometimes we don't feel like we will ever get up, but that's just it, isn't it? If we don't get back up, we will never know where we could have ended up instead. Over these past few months, I have found that often, it's not even my own decision to turn those blocks into stones, but it has been another person grabbing me and pulling me up and over those blocks, giving me a place to stand. You never really know the profound effect you can have on somebody just by being kind, or simply smiling as you walk by. It's been interesting to see how people react when they know things are kinda sorta falling apart in your life... and I will be honest that it has taught me some great lessons about how I should treat others who are struggling. {And why don't I just say this here... I know we might feel uncomfortable and afraid that we will say the wrong thing (and sometimes we will,) but the people who are suffering KNOW that they are, so let's not try to ignore the elephant in the room. At the same time, we have to respect if they don't really want to expound-- but it's always better to say something than to act like nothing is wrong. Just sayin'} We all hurt for different reasons, and for some of us, using a stumbling block as a stepping stone is more difficult, no, almost impossible, at certain times.
Regardless of how poor the prognosis for our lives, if we sit in a fog of depression each and every morning, or if we feel completely inadequate because we sit and compare our lives and measure our self worth against the picture-perfect fantasies that people post online, it really is all about how we view it. I'm not saying that it's easy to do, because I'm pretty sure I haven't figured it out yet either. However, I know that there is a greater plan that the Lord has made for each of us, and while it may be hard to understand or accept, sometimes we have to accept the gut-wrenching idea that good things fall apart. No, perfect things fall apart and can come crashing down all around us, and they really don't make any sense at all. But, we never know what it will look like when those pieces are put back together. And that my friends, is hope.
Pure, unblemished hope.
XO-
Jessica
