True Courage

 “True courage is the ability to embrace what we don’t understand.”     Inky Johnson

For the past several years, I have been writing letters to my children at Christmas.  Just a little memory of the past year of something we shared together.  Last year Em’s letter began:

“But a life had been exchanged for a life, and heaven was watching”  Mitch Albom

No one knows why some people are given some of the hardest things to deal with.  I wished I could answer that for you, but I can't.  One thing I do know, is that God has plans for good and not harm.  There are times that I am scared that you won't get back up and try again.  I'm pretty sure, I would have given up along time ago.  But Em not everyone's life is what they had planned.  I know mine hasn't.  And if I could go back there would be much I would change.  But here's the thing, I can't no more than you.  I just have to keep getting up again and keep going.  There are many days I struggle to do that.  Every time I see  you get knocked down.

I have heard many people say “I heard God tell me...” or that God talked to them and I couldn’t understand why I could not hear his voice.  But then I realized he was talking to me.  He did that usually by something I read or something someone said.  In this case, He talked to me through the letter I wrote Em last year.  I ended her letter with Inky Johnson’s quote on courage.  

You see, when I sat down to write this blog about courage, I didn’t know where to start and that’s when I went back and read my letter to her.  My first thought about myself and courage was to look at the word embrace.  Which means to readily accept something.  And in that case, I can say I have no courage.  But what Em has taught me is that even though we may not embrace everything we don’t understand, we can use faith to keep moving.  To get up the second or third time you’ve been knocked down.  To tell yourself you are good enough and you can get back to the top of that mountain.

Today is one of those days when I needed encouragement and I found it in the most unlikely place.  In a letter I wrote to her.

I believe it’s through this that God is talking to me and she’s right there tell me Mom, it’s gonna be ok.