Out Of Survival....Comes Strength

"Peace I Leave With You; My Peace I Give You. I Do Not Give To You As The World Gives. Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled And Do Not Be Afraid."

John 14:27

"I Have Told You These Things, So That In Me You May Have Peace. In This World You Will Have Trouble. But Take Heart! I Have Overcome The World."

John 16:33

"Be Strong And Courageous. Do Not Be Afraid Or Terrified Because Of Them, For The Lord Your God Goes With You; He Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You."

Deuteronomy 31:6

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desire can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."

Ayn Rand

I say survival...

You say strength...

I say I didn't have a choice...

You say strength...

I say determination...

You say strength...

I feel weak...

You say strength...

I still find myself on the floor some days...

Curled into a ball, crying over the past year...

The days are getting fewer and fewer in between...

I know someday the pain will ease...

So much pain...So much loss...So much gained.

This is where the pain still lingers:

20 year marriage over.

Broken home for my boys to be raised in.

The intimacy that comes within a close relationship.

The friendship my husband and I had forged.

The loss/gain is a close equal because after having a year to self-reflect, I see my losses as a good thing so in turn that puts them in the gain column...

I may have lost my innocence however I gained experience...

I may have lost trust however I know that it can be earned back...

I may have lost my self-esteem however I gained my self-respect...

Yes my heart was broken however I learned the true meaning of unconditional love...

I may have lost control however I learned acceptance...

I thought I needed validation however I learned my validation comes from Him and within...

I thought my happiness depended on another person I learned my happiness depends on me...

For me it was a matter of survival...

I could just take it or I could rise above it.

In the beginning...

I took it...

I grew...

I took some more...

I grew some more...

I took even more...

I grew even more...

Then I started to rise above the situation...

During my rise....

During my survival...

Yes my friend you are correct - I gained strength.


JEREMY CAMP
Cast All Your Cares On Him For He Cares For You
He's Near To The Broken And Confused
By His Stripes Our Spirit Is Renewed
So Enter In The Joy Prepared For You