Doodling

I’m a doodler. My scribblings abound. Sometimes sketches, but usually I doodle in words. It’s unpredictable when some gem of wisdom (or silliness) from the past will pop up. I could be rummaging through a drawer or box filled with papers (from those ancient days when mountains of paperwork were saved and occasionally organized) — or reading a book where a little piece of paper is found nestled among the pages, seemingly waiting for just that moment of discovery. Like unearthing hidden treasure, seeing my distinctive writing scrawled across the page produces a spark of curiosity, a little rush of joy. These words that spoke to my heart in the past, ready to engage again — a moment of meeting my younger self. With the find comes a flashback to days gone by, a snapshot of a joyous event or perhaps a period in time filled with sorrow, when I was valley-walking. Memories stirred, emotions reencountered.

The little index card of this photograph was tucked away within a box of my now grown children’s school papers. Written 7ish years ago when the gales of life were blowing with hurricane force. With the discovery came the rush of memories — of dark, painful, sorrow-saturated events. Of a loved son lost and dying to the destructive force of substance abuse. Of a grieving mother, lost in her own way — she was dying too. 

But God…
was holding me close, sprinkling people and words across my path to point me to His truth and grace. Words to cling to when it felt like I was going under. Sweet, life-sustaining, depression-battling words of hope.

“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” 
(Thank you Corrie ten Boom.)

“Therefore, no matter what you face this year, God will be doing 10,000 things in your life that you cannot see. Trust Him. Love Him. And they will all be good for you.” 
(Thank you John Piper.)

*****

Dear struggling friend, know that God has not abandoned you. He promises to walk WITH us through the waters, WITH us through the fire. He loves you in ways and to depths that are humanly unimaginable — incomprehensible. When your days seem lost to the chaos of this world, to the chaos of your thoughts, know that you’re not alone. God is with you. In the very moment that seems most unbearable, most unsustainable, He’s at work — always moving, always loving — always for your good. All these puzzle pieces, the glorious, the painful, the seemingly mundane fragments of our lives, will one day fuse into the beautiful, whole masterpiece that is our life. Resting in this knowledge, our aching souls can find peace and purpose in the waiting, in the living of today.

Trust Him. Love Him. And doodle a time or two. Your future self will thank you. 💕

*****

“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”Ephesians‬ ‭3:17-19‬ ‭ESV‬‬