You are Stronger and Braver than you Believe

 I was recently speaking to a friend of mine who has cancer. We talked about all of the things that only us cancer patients know, our affinity for bagels, and our lives. 

If you know the man, you know he is a force. He is joyous, gregarious, and quite a presence. I've known him almost my whole life and we talked about some of those memories and what he had taught me through them. 

What he had taught me and my siblings was that we were stronger and braver than we believed. He always made us do things we were scared to do like hold the giant slimy ocean fish we had just caught or ride the four-wheeler. As little kids this was challenging, but afterwards we were always grateful that he had pushed us beyond what we thought possible. In the end, we always left proud of what we had accomplished. And it didn't hurt that he kept a drawer of full-size candy bars as well.  

I have been rolling this lesson and sentiment over in my mind the last few days. It will pop into my head at random times- you are stronger and braver than you believe. It feels like a sentiment that many hearts need right now.

It has been a challenging few months for me actually. I've felt a lot of the pain of the world as I try to manage my own fears of cancer and life's uncertainties. I have watched my dear friend care for her mom and then be with her as she died. I have worked with children who have been sexually abused by their parents. I have been stressed about covid and then even more stressed from the isolation of being stuck in the house again. In our little town we can't even go to the grocery store easily. It has been a lot for my little heart to handle. 

And then I hear it in my head again. 

You are stronger and braver than you believe. 

And I feel my heart bursting to tell everyone I know and don't know that we will get through this season. I preach it to myself as I preach it to you- everything can still be ok. The sorrow, stress, and frustration seems so overwhelming, but one day we will congregate again, go to concerts, hug each other tightly, smile and laugh with ease. The sorrows are great this year, but this is not the end. 

For many of us, we feel like crawling into bed and putting the covers over our heads. Perhaps, like Rip Van Winkle, we will wake up in another time. But this lesson from my dear friend is for all of us- we can face the scary thing head on. We can stand in the face of the wind and rain and declare that pain and hardship will not be victorious. And when it feels like we can't, when the fears and uncertainties threaten to overwhelm. . . 

well, then look beside you. We are all here cheering you on.