It's okay to be sad.

The past year has been so powerful for me.  I learned that my inner voice is so powerful, yet I had to silence myself in order to make out her verses.

Some wonderful and delightful discoveries happened for me this year.  I look forward to sharing some of those with you in the coming months.  What I can earnestly tell you is that the brightest moments seemed to be borne of sadness.  Why is that?

I realized that if all had gone according to plan, I may have been too distracted to propel my spiritual and emotional growth, or my plans for the future.

Complacency.
 Jimmy Carter once said, "I hate to see complacency prevail in our lives when it's so directly contrary to the teaching of Christ.".

Those who know me best know that I have always been a very spiritual being, and my belief in God has always been strong.  I recently learned that it's not enough.   
(I can never force my views or my growth on any other individual, but I can share with you what I have personally learned and discovered.  You will choose your own path.)

Sadness made me fervently seek some answers.  Those answers brought me back on my own personal journey and relationship with God.  All my life I've tried to follow this narrow path, with a laundry list of rules.  I recently found that it's so much simpler for me than I had ever realized.  Love.One.Another.  

Loving your neighbor as you love yourself.  If we love others that way, wouldn't everything else just fall into place?  

What if we all did our part?  I find that as people we often commit to "doing our part" when things are okay.  Where humanity often falls short, is when things are tough.  Do we have the ability to commit when it's the hardest to do so?

Recently I've been assimilating my life experiences, my joys and my pains with what I'm learning in Bible studies.  Interesting.  This is what I found...  Answers.  

Before the last supper, Jesus dressed in a loin cloth washed the feet of the disciples. He set an example for us to follow.  If the Lord did that, then why can't I love and help my neighbors the same way? 

My pastor recently said something that made me think.  He said that when we find it most difficult to love another the way Jesus showed love for others, to look at that person with a new set of eyes.  Look at that person as your brother/sister, husband/wife, mother/father, friend, a person who needs your kindness and protection.  That really hit home for me.  Isn't that what we all want?  To be treated that way?

I have found a way not to reject my sorrows or despair, but rather to harness my sadness in such a way that it has brought me closer to the answers that I seek.  Who knew that they were written in a book some couple of thousands or years ago, waiting for me to receive them with an open heart?   Did you know?