Word of Hope

The Easter message matters. We need to know that sin, betrayal, death, abuse, death, heartache, loneliness, depression, fear, anxiety, loss, confusion, and dead ends don't have the final word. It may feel like it, but all those things lose because of Christ. In him we are given (freely without strings attached) forgiveness, second chances, reconciliation, redemption, freedom from our past, and promise of hope in our future.

I'm OK

I heard the story of a little girl who was running to play and tumbled down a hill,  face-planting in the dirt. She quickly popped up and claimed "I'm OK." But then as she took a breath and assessed what had happened she realized she wasn't OK.  Her body hurt (and her ego probably did too), and she started to cry.

I think that's a lot like what we do as adults.  We tumble (as adults, more often emotionally or spiritually) and we pop up to tell whoever is looking on, "I'm OK."  And for a moment (or two) we might really believe we're ok. But then we start to assess our reality and we see (and feel) that we are hurt. ..maybe it's minor scrapes, maybe it's a bigger gash, maybe it's a bruised spirit, or a broken heart. Our reality is we're hurt.  

Sometimes,  when it's a minor injury,  we can take another deep breath and go back to what we were doing.  But other times,  when it's a big deal,  we have to slow down,  tend to our wounds,  and maybe even rest to recover fully before getting back at it. 

The truth of the matter is we aren't always ok, no matter how much we want others to believe that we are,  nor how much we want to believe it ourselves. And it's ok to not be ok.