It sounds like the set up for a joke…
What do Hurricane Irma, turning 45, becoming a Grandma, dealing with chronic illness flare-up and undergoing major surgery all have in common???
I wish I had a better punch line.
They all played a part in me taking a 3-year hiatus from working on the vision God gave me.
I’m not proud of it, friends. I considered glossing over it and continuing my blog as if the 3-year silence didn’t mean anything. But it did mean something. It marks a time in my life where I just didn’t have the capacity to continue the great adventure I had just begun.
Friends, the last 4 years have been HARD years. What I described above was the last 4 months of 2017. 2018 was a year of recovery- all I can say about that is, believe your doctor when they tell you how long your recovery from surgery is going to take. DON’T think you’re better or more resilient or more invincible than everyone else who has ever had that surgery. That is a lie straight from the pits of hell!
Thank goodness 2018 was a year of rest and recovery though, because our 2019 felt like another chapter out of the book of Job.
We went:
from life-threatening pneumonia in January and February
to breaking my foot and spraining my ankle in one graceful move in March
to losing our dog in April
to finding out our daughter was pregnant with twin girls in May
to learning that one of our granddaughters wouldn’t survive past birth in June
to waiting and crying out to the Lord for healing in July and August
to our family living through the reality of that pregnancy and birth in September
to losing my dear sweet mother-in-love also in September
to multiple PA – FL trips during our granddaughter’s 6-week NICU stay in October
to being laid up for two weeks because my back went out in November
to spraining my other ankle on Thanksgiving Day
to finishing the year with a Christmas that only highlighted our
brokenness and bereavement.
Man, we couldn’t wait for 2020 to roll around! Things could only get better from there, right? We all know the answer to that one. Well played, Covid- we didn’t even see you coming!
We all just lived through 2020, so I’m not even going to go there! Instead, I’ll go here…
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:21-26 NIV
God’s mercies are new every morning—
yesterday morning, every morning last month and in all the months before that;
tomorrow morning and every new tomorrow morning to come.
Even in 2019 and 2020, because of His unfailing compassion,
God showed mercy in a new way every day.
He was my Portion- my Sustainer.
I was not consumed by it all, because I was consumed by my All in All.
THAT has been the Beauty in the Between in my life for the past 3 years.
This is where I did, and do, and will, find my hope.
So, let’s continue this journey together, because even though I’ve been silent here for 3 years, oh my Lord, do I have a lot to say! New things have popped up for me: a speaking ministry; more consulting; songwriting; a podcast and book in the works; and more to come! I can’t wait to share it all with you.
So I thank you for your patience and I invite you to continue with me in this journey as we search for— and find!— our Compassionate Savior. HE is the ultimate Beauty in the Between!
Onward Together!
Pamela
