That Most Brutal of Teachers

Well I’m back in the blogging game.

It’s been quite a while to be sure and I really have no explanation for my absence other than: life happened.

As it does, and as many of you could relate. And my God, has it been a stressful couple of months. When I say that I am tired, I really don’t mean physically. I mean that my soul is weary and that my heart is sitting like a stone in my chest. That kind of tired.

You know what I speak of; that time when the things you believed to be most secure in your life seem to be crumbling around you and there’s nothing to be done to stop it. So I stopped writing, and largely I have kept to myself as a way to get through this difficult time. But I haven’t stopped learning, and, if anything, I have learned more in a few short months than I could have ever anticipated. So now it’s time for me to start writing again.

“Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn” (CS Lewis)

So, in a rapid fast forward, let me tell you some of what I've learned these past months:

You can’t protect everyone, but you can sure as hell try.
 
Not everything needs saying, and sometimes there just aren't words.

Parents are not superhuman. Sometimes marriages just fall apart.

Everyone fights a secret battle.

Sometimes God is silent.

God’s silence is a time of growth, disguised as a time of destruction.

Those we love the most can hurt us the most and sometimes they lie.

Choose to love another anyway, even at your own expense - love is an act of giving, not taking.

We are our own greatest enemy.

Some dreams get shattered. Let new ones form.

Finding the "bright-side" is a matter of survival.

It's okay to be angry. Turn the music up and break something if you need to.

Never let another tell you how to think or feel, no matter who they are.

The best friends love you the most when you are the least lovable.

Trust is quiet.

The soul can learn a lot when it takes the time to “be still.”

Darkness is real. But if God is who we believe Him to be, then: fear no evil.

Give all.