For those in the middle of a storm.

MORNING THOUGHTS ☕️: 14 years ago today, I was still in the hospital with acute diverticulitis. Let me tell ya…there wasn’t anything cute about it. I spent June in the hospital, November in the hospital after my colon burst, and January in the hospital when they finally removed half of it.

Life had already started shifting for me 2 years earlier in 2008…but this…this shifted it even more. Long-term stays in hospitals and near death experiences can do that.

I learned to be weak. I learned to rely on others. I learned the power of prayer and being set in a community that loved me well and prayed hard. I learned that today is all we have and we aren’t promised tomorrow. I learned that there are a lot of sick people, hurting people, and families that love those hurting people…and that while they are hurting and trying to survive…the world goes on outside the hospital walls. I learned that Jesus is super close to the sick and the broken hearted. He shows up BIG time by sick beds. I learned that life is fragile and cannot be taken for granted and that a ton of the things I worried about or thought about really didn’t matter at all. I developed a keen awareness that everywhere we go…there Jesus is because he’s in us. I learned that your atmosphere matters…we turned my hotel room into a sanctuary with lovely bedding and lovely lamps and lovely art painted by people who were praying for my recovery. Nurses would get off of their shift and just come to BE in my room because they could feel so much peace. This was such a picture of the peace we can cultivate and feel in the midst of a storm. It’s real. It’s tangible. It’s for us to access. I learned to fully rely on God’s strength because I had none.

And so. What was an “awful thing”, as you can see, was a great thing. The life lessons and weapons I left that hospital with time and time again were worth more than gold. He really, really, really uses it ALL for good.

If you’re in the middle of a storm right now, I hope this finds you and encourages you that one day, you’ll look back and realize all you gained instead of all you lost.

xox.eb